Which surrounding Austin city is best known for hill country? (Spring: rentals, Home Depot)

[subiedude]

If someone said they wanted to live in Hill County with lots of parks/nature preserves, yet wanted to stay within 30 miles of Austin, what would you suggest?

[CptnRn]

Wimberley, Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Bee Cave, anywhere on the West side of Lake Travis, Briarcliff, SW Austin.

All have relatively better access to Lake Travis, Canyon Lake, Blue Hole, Guadalupe River, Guadalupe River State Park, Camp Ben McCulloch‎, Pedernales State Park, Hamilton's Pool, Westcave Preserve, Riemers Ranch Park, Pace Bend Park, Krause Springs. All of these lakes and the Guadalupe have numerous campgrounds and parks. IN the SW edges of Austin you have the Barton Creek Wilderness Park, Wildflower Center, Commons Ford Metropolitan Park, Stephenson Nature Preserve, Deer Park Maple Run Preserve, Blowing Sink Research Management Area, Goat Cave Karst Nature Preserve,

Farther out is Lake LBJ, Inks Lake, Lake Buchanan, Enchanted Rock.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by subiedude

If someone said they wanted to live in Hill County with lots of parks/nature preserves, yet wanted to stay within 30 miles of Austin, what would you suggest?

Wimberley, Lakeway and Lago Vista are extremely hilly - just look at Google Maps with the "terrain" option. Dripping Springs is not that hilly, but has more conveniences.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Wimberley, Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Bee Cave, Lakeway, Briarcliff, SW Austin.

I concur.

[subiedude]

Are those towns pretty sparse in terms of shopping. I don't mean "mall" type shopping, but more along the lines of Wal Marts/restaurants, etc...

[ScoPro]

If you had said within two hours drive ffrom Austin, I would definitely say Kerrville:

Kerrville, Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Or Marble Falls

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by subiedude

Are those towns pretty sparse in terms of shopping. I don't mean "mall" type shopping, but more along the lines of Wal Marts/restaurants, etc...

There are lots of restaurants and small stores of every type all over those areas. An HEB in Dripping Springs, Bee Caves and Oak Hill, a large mall & Target in Bee Caves. Walmart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble and many other stores in Sunset Valley, SW Austin (30 minute drive).

[Moonlady]

Define wanting to live in Hill Country. Do you mean you want to live somewhere hilly or you want to live a little more rural than "in town"? Lakeway is a beautiful area with hills, lake access and lots of parks and it is in close proximity to lots of shopping and not too far from Austin proper. But it's really more like a suburb of Austin than a rural area.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by subiedude

yet wanted to stay within 30 miles of Austin

I'm curious, are you planning on driving into Austin regularly? Is the criteria more "time" rather than "distance"? Some areas are only 20 miles away such as Lago Vista can easily take 90 minutes to get to downtown on a weekday.

The traffic getting into Austin from the Hill Country exurbs is the main reason we chose not to live there, sure it's nice, but if you want anything nice or close-in, it will be really expensive (400K+). If you move out to where it's affordable, you could be spending 2-3 hours per day in a car if you work in Austin. A coworker of mine lives in Lago Vista, and his car is only 3 years old, but has over 80,000 miles on it already. He has another 3 years to pay on it, and it's already falling apart with a voided warranty. Factoring in all costs is important when choosing where to live.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by subiedude

Are those towns pretty sparse in terms of shopping. I don't mean "mall" type shopping, but more along the lines of Wal Marts/restaurants, etc...

Weren't you looking to move in less than two weeks? & Rent 3 BR or more for a grand? (you seem to be asking questions, but not answering questions that might be helpful in being helpful.)

Some folks are recommending high end areas where you won't find "Hill Country" rentals for under 2K a month. Other areas mentioned might be a good fit.

But most importantly.....Where will your job be?? (you do have a job lined up....right?)

Then you can rent near it.....road trip it thru the Hill Country on weekends (like the rest of us) & then you can decide where your Hill Country piece of heaven spot is (with or without a Walmart nearby).

But where is your Job located??