Shopping in Austin?? Distance to RR or GT (Houston, Round Rock: house, scorpions)

[CravenClan]

What shopping is available in Autstin and how far is it to RR or GT??

What shopping is in RR or GT??

Do they have starbucks there??

Better area to live RR or GT, with 3 little ones, and i am a stay at home mommy! Schools are super important too!!

Looking for a nice, bigger house, with neighbors that want to make friends, (not like here!) and YES i am from California.....But not the typical snobby ones, am down to earth, grounded in my marriage, and my kids ( not $$) are MOST important to me and my hubby! I'd love to see kids playing out side, parks, lots of green!!

What is the typical weather, are ther 4 seasons?? I lived in Houston when i was about 7, i can't remember.. We are used to HEAT, it is about 95-105 here in the summer months, but dry, we are more desert.

Thanks ANYONE who can help!!

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by CravenClan

What shopping is available in Autstin and how far is it to RR or GT?? What shopping is in RR or GT?? Do they have starbucks there??

GT shopping (off the top of my head): Wolf Ranch shopping center has tons of shops, like Best Buy, Pier One, Target, Office Depot, Kohl's (dept. store), Linen's n Things, Old Navy.

http://www.simon.com/mall/directory.aspx?ID=911

GT also has Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Walgreen's, CVS, a small Sears, Radio Snack, 2 HEBs (grocery store), Blockbuster, plus misc. Mom& Pop retail and plenty of other stuff I can't think of or don't frequent. There is at least one Starbuck's in GT, probably more! I don't drink coffee, but I've noticed that Starbuck's because it's next to the Chipotle Grill that we go to often. They are building more retail stuff here all the time, lots of banks, oddly enough. How many banks do you need in a 1 mile radius?

GT Chamber site lists some restaurants, other info:
http://www.visitgeorgetown.com/

We have to go to Round Rock for Lowe's and IKEA. RR also has an outlet mall. RR also has a huge shopping center near Dell, I think it's called Hester's Crossing? It's HUGE.

The new Domain mall in Austin has Macy's, Z Gallerie, and an Apple store. The Arboretuem area of Austin has Crate and Barrel, Circuit City, Whole Foods and REI. That's maybe about 20? minutes from our house in GT (non-rush hour).

Originally Posted by CravenClan

Better area to live RR or GT, with 3 little ones, and i am a stay at home mommy! Schools are super important too!!

hmm.... well, I dunno about schools in GT since we don't have kids. I'm sure others here can give you a better idea about schools. GT has a really nice park on the river, a lake, a tennis center, and at least 2 public pools, plus a rec center (not sure what they have there). I'm sure there is stuff for kids to do here.

Originally Posted by CravenClan

What is the typical weather, are ther 4 seasons?? I lived in Houston when i was about 7, i can't remember.. We are used to HEAT, it is about 95-105 here in the summer months, but dry, we are more desert.

Well, I think there are seasons here, but I'm sure some people would disagree with that! It all depends on what you're used to, and since you're in Temecula, I imagine you and I might have a similar perspective on weather.

We are from the San Fernando Valley, where it sure gets hot in summer. But like they say, it ain't the heat, it's the humidity. So it feels (to me, at least) VERY hot and icky here in summer. Miserable enough to keep me from doing anything outside except lounging in the pool. I grew up in the Midwest, but I lived in CA long enough to forget what humidity was like in summer! One CA weather thing I am NOT missing is the Santa Ana winds.

Last winter it was way too cold here for me for at least 2 months. Much colder than it ever got in LA. And it seems to be cloudy and rain a lot here. The clouds often come and go several times during one day. There are big crazy thunderstorms with pouring down rain. Big difference from LA where I heard maybe THREE thunderclaps in 8 years. I'm sure the rain and cloudiness here seems minimal to people from PNW or other areas, but to a SoCal-er it's seems like the sun doesn't shine all that much.

Sorry so long winded- hope that helps!

[CravenClan]

Thanks it did help!! How far is Austin fron RR or GT??

I think the thunderstorms would be neat (maybe not for long, but it sounds neat) I remember them as a kid, when i visited my grandparents in Maryland.

When you say cold, how cold?? Here in Temecula, a low in winter (nightitme) is 28...then it gets to 45-55 in the day. The sun always seems to shine, i guess that is what scares me about leaving....Although i read one thread, that weather is not everything, especially when you have kids!! Slower pace, sounds nice, and it sounds like there are a lot of conveniences, that i enjoy here, i just don't like the people here, it is not what it used to be!!

I read some things about bugs and snakes.....how is that?? I live on 5 acres here, and we have seem some rattle snakes , and we have a house in AZ, and have seen scorpions, they scare me the worst, i think they are sneaky! lots of black widows,too. My dad lived in Houston, and i remember visiting him and going to the kitchen in the night, flipping the lights on and seeing HUGE roaches, YUCK!!!

No place will be everything you want it to be, but there have got to be better places than here!!!!

[mark311]

Since you're in Temecula, I can give you some good examples as I grew up in San Diego and had friends and family in Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, etc.

You could definitely compare Temecula to Round Rock, but Round Rock probably has more in the way of stores. You pretty much have all the shopping that you would ever need. There is even an outlet mall in Round Rock that is similar to the Lake Elsinore Outlet mall but it's a lot nicer.

I would say that Georgetown could be compared to Murrieta. It's a bit further out and has less shopping, but it's growing quick and it's a short drive to Round Rock (like Temecula). You're looking at about the same distance to get to downtown Austin from Georgetown as it would take to get from Temecula to the Mission Valley area.

The weather actually is very comparable to Murrieta, but it's more humid in the summer here. I know for a fact that scorpions are abundant in certain areas of Georgetown. My parents live in Georgetown and scorpions are there, but the stings aren't that bad. The ones that they have run across are similar to being stung by a wasp. Cockroaches are around too along with mosquitoes especially at this time of the year from what I've seen. You'll definitely see more critters here than in Temecula, but it's not a desert, so you won't see nearly as many snakes.