Walkable Neighborhoods? (Austin, Spring, Lockhart: rental, condos, house)

[2lizards]

Which Austin neighborhoods would be best for people who want to be able to walk to a commercial district, with bars, cafes, shops, etc.? I'm sick to death of driving to everything I want to do here in Knoxville. I'm looking for something that might have something of the feel of East Atlanta or Little Five Points (also in Atlanta). Are there any neighborhoods like that in Austin? If so, what kind of price range might I expect for housing (buying or renting)?

I'm sure that this topic has been beaten to death at some point in the past, so if anyone can point me to the relevant threads, I appreciate it.

[AustinGuy]

Originally Posted by 2lizards

Which Austin neighborhoods would be best for people who want to be able to walk to a commercial district, with bars, cafes, shops, etc.? I'm sick to death of driving to everything I want to do here in Knoxville. I'm looking for something that might have something of the feel of East Atlanta or Little Five Points (also in Atlanta). Are there any neighborhoods like that in Austin? If so, what kind of price range might I expect for housing (buying or renting)?

I'm sure that this topic has been beaten to death at some point in the past, so if anyone can point me to the relevant threads, I appreciate it.

The only neighborhood that is truly working out to be like that is downtown.

Other alternatives that allow you a small selection of things to walk to:

- SoCo area
- Clarksville
- Hyde Park

These areas are all very expensive to buy in, but fairly reasonable to rent in. I'd say the cheapest house in any of these areas will be over 300k and that will most likely be for something that needs a rehab.

[TheHarvester]

I'll add some neighborhoods, I'm in one off of far south Lamar. I can walk to Barton Creek and swim and hike, and I wan walk to a wonderful variety of restaurants and stores, medical clinics, "alternative" practitioners, a Buddhist center, Sun Harvest natural foods grocery, a drug store, basically everything I need. I'm technically in the Barton Hills neighborhood.

MANY neighborhoods in Austin are walkable, they're just not as groovy and intense as downtown. But for basic needs and pretty streets with nice yards and housing, there are tons. Rosedale is a delight, South First, Dawson and Bouldin are GREAT, and other neighborhoods are becoming increasingly walkable and concentrated. Even Manor Rd. near Cherrywood is half decent, and a real up-and-coming area is east 11th and east 5th (each in their own way.)

[AustinGuy]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

MANY neighborhoods in Austin are walkable, they're just not as groovy and intense as downtown. But for basic needs and pretty streets with nice yards and housing, there are tons. Rosedale is a delight, South First, Dawson and Bouldin are GREAT, and other neighborhoods are becoming increasingly walkable and concentrated. Even Manor Rd. near Cherrywood is half decent, and a real up-and-coming area is east 11th and east 5th (each in their own way.)

I definitely don't dispute that there are walkable neighborhoods in Austin but there are very few that provide a well rounded set of businesses and activities to walk to which seems to be what the OP was requesting.

It's good to see this starting to change in Austin with more walkable clusters starting to popup and expand. I hope this continues in a major way over the next decade. People moving here from other cities with truly walkable neighborhoods need to moderate their expectations for now since we aren't quite "there" yet in Austin.

The other issue with some of the neighborhoods that are currently walkable is that the business district will be on a wide and busy street like Lamar or Congress which discourages walkability.

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

...the business district will be on a wide and busy street like Lamar or Congress which discourages walkability.

That's the situation of my neighborhood, yet I do not find it to be as bad as I imagined before I moved here. I used to HATE South Lamar. It's a trashy-looking conduit for people to get from one place to another, yet you can live in a beautiful quiet neighborhood 2 or 3 blocks away and walk over TO Lamar (as opposed to walking ALONG it) and get a lot of basic needs met. But I agree with you, it's nothing like northeastern cities or Seattle or other places where walking on the business streets is a delight. Nope, not in Austin. Businesses are almost always located along the major thoroughfares, except in the places you listed. I think Bouldin/SoFi should be added to your list, though. It's pretty good for getting to most everything, including downtown and the "arts district" or whatever they call the stretch of Barton Springs Rd. with the auditorium, lyric theater, ballet, etc.

[2lizards]

Thanks all for the responses. I'm from one of the least walkable cities on earth, Knoxville, so I don't have particularly high expectations. I just want a place where I can take a short walk and buy a newspaper, or have a cup of coffee or a beer. I realize I will still have to drive out to the supermarket and things like that in most cities (apart from Boston, New York, Chicago, etc.).

[2lizards]

BTW, do any of the neighborhoods listed thus far have properties for under 200K? I'm finding that it's difficult to find any walkable neighborhood in any city for much less than that. It would be very difficult for me to stretch beyond that at this stage in my career (just starting out on a new one).

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by 2lizards

BTW, do any of the neighborhoods listed thus far have properties for under 200K?

OOPS!!!

No, unless you're willing to accept a low-end condo or extremely tiny fixer-upper in an up-and-coming neighborhood. This is a great strategy for getting into the Austin market if you're willing to sacrifice for a few years. The market for these low-end places in the path of hipness is going to stay strong for years and you'd be able to cash out or rent your place out after a while and use some equity (or rental income) to help you get into something you like more.

But it's WAY more expensive here than in Knoxville unless you live in a dump. And trust me, we have LOTS of dumps here. Vast areas of trashy 1960s and 1970s sprawl scattered around the NE and SE sides of town, and some funky small towns that seem to be stuck at low prices so they're quite a bargain, such as Lockhart. But the A-List neighborhoods are completely out of reach of your price range unless you're willing to take the smallest, least appealing home or condo in that neighborhood, fix it up, and gut it out for a couple years while your equity rises. Of course other prices will be rising too so... it's a dilemma for sure. Income disparity is a serious problem in the USA.

[Kent Myers]

Travis Heights condos can be had for well under 200k, Bouldin Creek is another where you may stumble across something.

[2lizards]

Thanks,

I was worried about the prices. The downtown condos I saw were even higher than ones in Intown Atlanta in some cases. It may be out of my reach in most cities. The only place I've seen so far that has the possibility is Chattanooga, but I think it will be a bit too much like Knoxville, and I'm ready to get out of here. It's a nice place, but I just don't fit well here.