Dripping Springs (Austin, Lakeway, Howe: custom home, unemployed, school district)

[jobert]

Originally Posted by die Eichkatze

No need to apologize, fairly accurate statement. I was raised there and my family helped settle the area....Kerrville is the same way.
I love my hometown, but I hardly recognize anyone now since people (mainly older) starting flooding the area in the 90's.

Western Travis and the other counties out this way have become a hot destination for the retired crowd, as these towns (Wimberley, Driftwood, Marble Falls, Dripping Springs, etc.) get name-dropped by my friends parents in Dallas, Houston, etc. on quite a regular basis.

Don't need to be in downtown Austin? Check. Don't need "excitement"? Check (no entertainment district, major attractions, etc.). Need good views to enjoy whilst you play bridge on your back patio? check. Want peace and quiet? Check. Don't need (or want to pay taxes for) playgrounds or sidewalks for the kids to ride their bikes on? Check. Don't need easy access to your town, so that the "rif-raff" in Austin will stay where it is? check. The people who moving out here like the remoteness of it, which is conversely is a huge drawback for anyone with a job in Austin. Dripping Springs (and almost every other town in the Hill Country) are tailored for older crowd. For them, it's nirvana and for good reason. The younger crowd with kids and white-collar jobs in Austin are the ones getting the raw deal in this situation.

[jobert]

Not to wear down the subject, (oops, too late) but I wanted to compare my theory with statistics showing the progression of age and ethnicity as you travel westward from Austin:

Austin:














Dripping Springs:


















Fredericksburg:

[hoffdano]

I'd say the data shows to some degree that Austin proper has an abnormal distribution by age because of higher education.

I bet San Marcos looks something like that. San Antonio less so.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I'd say the data shows to some degree that Austin proper has an abnormal distribution by age because of higher education.

I bet San Marcos looks something like that. San Antonio less so.

Even when disregarding the 18-65 demographic, and comparing the number of children/adolescents vs. the number of septagenarian/octagenerians, Fburg starts to approach a 1:1 ratio. Austin, on the other end of the spectrum, has an almost 4:1 ratio between these two groups. Assuming that no one else moves to Austin, we are already looking at the beginnings of a huge surge in the school-age demographic coming down the pipeline. (AISD, are you listening!?)

I also find it fascinating that parents with boys are more tolerant of AISD, while those with girls are more prone to flight for reasons they refuse to acknowledge. It's acceptable to raise boys in a diverse environment, and parents with boys only are more willing to accept that diversity. I have noticed this with own interactions with other couples with girls, a common theme among them is the decision to move out of AISD completely if possible. Compare the "under 18" demographic on the charts above. It's no coincidence that boys under 18 outnumber girls under 18 in the city of Austin. Compare that against any other majority anglo town on the west side, and you'll see the girls under 18 outnumber the boys.. much like the song "West End Girls" who lyrics focus on class, and inner-city pressure. The price some pay to "move up" because of this anxiety is an indirect version of a modern day dowry. It's a financial hit, and in a lot of cases the price of having future children is deferred into a more expensive house, and having a girl can signal the end of the road in terms of child-bearing. I know couples with girls only who are in this situation, they claim they are "done" and are looking at more expensive neighborhoods. The same thing happened to our family when I was a kid..because I had older sisters, my parents moved into the most expensive neighborhood in Dallas for nearly 25 years until the final kid (myself) moved out. At the time we were all children (70's and 80's), central Dallas was a complete cesspool and HP was the only decent urban option. My parents sacrifice and desperation (100 hour work weeks, never seeing their latchkey children) just to keep us in that area nearly drove them to an early grave. I think they still resent me for it.

[verybadgnome]

With all of the roadside development in Bee Cave/Dripping Springs the area is not as relaxing or pretty as it used to be, but..................people moving here from out of state wouldn't know the difference since they have no perspective.

[thedogatemyhomework]

schools are supposed to be very good - i believe, but can't remember where i read it, that they are now rated above eanes isd.

commute is not great, but if you are coming from a big city it may not be a big deal.

there are work arounds from the Y - 1826 to Mopac, as one poster mentioned. also, mopac traffic is so bad that sometimes the commute to far parts of austin take longer than to dripping springs.

there's a lot of hyperbole on this board. if you can come for a visit, check it out and test drive the commute during peak times.

[Lunawink]

I live off of 290 W towards Dripping Springs in Ledge Stone and my husband and I both work downtown. I'm sorry but the commute is NOT that bad. We leave at 7:00-7:15 a.m and I'm usually at my desk no later than 7:45, after dropping off my husband at his job. Coming home (6pm-ish) is a bit stop and go, but it moves and takes about 45 minutes tops. It's worth the drive - my house is amazing and I'd spend twice as much on it if it was in Central Austin, and I didn't want to pay that much and live close to the "college" crowd. DS area is not as pretentious as Bee Caves/Westlake/Rollingwood area (in my opinion, and I've lived there too) and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting something a little outside of the city with beautiful views and calmer living.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Lunawink

I live off of 290 W towards Dripping Springs in Ledge Stone and my husband and I both work downtown. I'm sorry but the commute is NOT that bad. We leave at 7:00-7:15 a.m and I'm usually at my desk no later than 7:45, after dropping off my husband at his job. Coming home (6pm-ish) is a bit stop and go, but it moves and takes about 45 minutes tops. It's worth the drive - my house is amazing and I'd spend twice as much on it if it was in Central Austin, and I didn't want to pay that much and live close to the "college" crowd. DS area is not as pretentious as Bee Caves/Westlake/Rollingwood area (in my opinion, and I've lived there too) and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting something a little outside of the city with beautiful views and calmer living.

I'll bet it was quite an improvement when the city (or TXDOT) finally opened the end of the 290 west freeway from 1 lane to 2 in front of Red's gun range.

Why on earth it took them several years to move a few concrete barriers over several feet and restripe the highway is pretty mystifying.

[gpurcell]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

I'll bet it was quite an improvement when the city (or TXDOT) finally opened the end of the 290 west freeway from 1 lane to 2 in front of Red's gun range.

Why on earth it took them several years to move a few concrete barriers over several feet and restripe the highway is pretty mystifying.

The reason is, quite frankly, insane:

TxDOT merged all of the westbound 290 traffic into a single lane for years so that westbound access road traffic would only have a single traffic lane to cross to be able to take a left on Joe Tanner Road.

Really.

[LongTimeAustinite]

I live in Belterra and I work downtown by the Capitol. In the morning my commute is 25 minutes (leaving at 6:30am) going through the Y.