Thinking of relocating with my wife and five year old son from CT in late summer (Austin: apartment, crime rate)

[AwrightCT]

My family and I are thinking of relocating to NW Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Leander, Cedar Park in August of 2011.

Just have some questions about things. My wife has never lived outside of the Northeast, and I have not been in Texas in over ten years, though I am a native of Amarillo.

Wondering first about the crime, in NW Austin, and the other areas I mentioned. I want to make sure I am moving my family to safe, nice area. Also wondering about the pests, spiders, scorpions, snakes, etc..., that may have to be dealt with.

When I lived in Austin in 2000, I bug bombed my apartment, and I did not see anything in my place for 8 months, and I am wondering if this would still be a good way to keep pests out. We are planning on living in an apartment for the first year or so, while we evaluate things, and find a house.

I have also been hearing, and reading a lot about the problems with Feral Hogs in the area, and I am wondering just how serious of a problem it is. I want to make sure that it is safe to be there, since I have a 5 year old son, who really can't defend himself against such an attack.

I loved living in Austin, and I look forward to moving back. I just want to make sure it is going to be a safe, enjoyable place for my family.

Thanks,
Awright

[sinking]

I have a house in Cedar Park. If you have a house in CT I will trade with you.

All of Austin is pretty safe. Only about 37 murders last year. Theft seems to be a much bigger concern but the NW area seems to have the fewest cases of crime.

Insects and arachnids are plentiful. I have been fortunate to have fewer roaches and no scorpions compared to several roaches, scorpions, and spiders in south Austin.

I have never seen a hog.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by AwrightCT

I have also been hearing, and reading a lot about the problems with Feral Hogs in the area, and I am wondering just how serious of a problem it is. I want to make sure that it is safe to be there, since I have a 5 year old son, who really can't defend himself against such an attack.

There are hogs, but I don't think they're extensive enough that you need to worry about the kid. Obviously just be careful about letting your kid play alone in a heavily wooded or undeveloped area, which I would think you would already know.

[h886]

I have never seen a feral hog. Not even in a zoo. Sorry.

There are spiders, roaches and scorpions. Have your house sprayed regularly and don't put your hand where you can't see. A good general rule, but really, it's not such a big issue.

If you use even a teaspoon of common sense, I'm sure you will never see a feral hog either. Would I allow my five year old to roam heavily wooded areas outside of town on his own? No, but I wouldn't do that even if there weren't feral hogs.

[llkltk]

Crime is a non issue here. Same as any other city but not as rough as other cities in the country. I feel very safe in Austin. As far as the bugs, don't bug bomb, that's unhealthy! Get a pest control service, and you will be fine.

I think asking questions about schools, quality of life, etc. is more important than bugs!

[AwrightCT]

Thank you to everyone who has replied. I appreciate the help. Are the schools in the area still some of the best in the country? How is the economy in the area, is there job growth, or are people losing their jobs. What about the overall cost of living? Also my son has high functioning autism, are there state funded programs around to help him with his disabilities?

[curious1111]

Won't get into areas, schools, etc. since you seem to know what you want there. I will mention one thing. We planned to stay in an apartment for a year like you, evaluating the market, etc. We have a 5 yr old also, and a 3 yr old, and a dog.

1- If you have never lived in a 1000sq ft apartment with your family, you might be surprised how small it feels, quick, especially without a yard.
2- In my wildest dreams I cannot imagine doing #1 for a full year.

Just something to think about/plan on. We have an offer in on a house now, and we are in the option period. We have been in our apartment about 2 months. Not sure we could do much more than maybe another month or so. There is also something disruptive to not being where you will ultimately be. If I knew that we had to spend the rest of our lives in a 1000 sq ft apartment, we would get it all figured out and live off the love of our family, no problem. (Might get rid of the dog)... but my point is that it is emotionally tolling to know that you are somewhere temporary as a family.

We also found that a couple months was plenty time to get the market figured out.

my $.02

[hilsmom]

we've lived with a young child in about 1000sf for her entire life (she's weeks away from 5), plus a cat. Is it small? Yes. But it isn't a fate worse than death.

[rickc007]

I used to live in CT
Had more concerns there
Deer ticks, had to pull them off my Dog
Had mice in place for a while, had to set traps
This was a waterfront place in Fairfield County

The areas you mention are not high crime areas at all

Most people are concerned about the heat, I lived
through some brutal summers, as well as winters in CT.
You won't have to deal with the snow here :-)

CT had some really hot humid summers, but they only
tended to last about 6 weeks

The summers aren't really worse here, but they last longer

There are some very safe nice places to live in the towns you mention

[hbopp3671]

We just moved to Georgetown from Austin and we love it here. Crime rate is extremely low, one of the main reasons we moved here. We had a house built and so far I have only seen one small scorpion in the garage. As far as hogs, I have seen one dead in the middle of the road never seen one alive. My son just started Kindergarten at Village Elementary. It is a wonderful neighborhood school. Good luck with your search!