Anyone move to Austin from Vegas or San Diego? (Round Rock: fit in, new home)

[jlukelv]

My wife and I are at an impasse. We currently live in Vegas and are tired of the schools and frankly, feel Vegas is not a good place to raise our kids (oldest of four is 6).

We are LDS and want to move to a place better suited for raising a family. I am originally from North County San Diego and things have changed a lot there but I still love the weather and beaches...but it is expensive (taxes, etc.).

Austin kind of came out of nowhere, but seems to be a draw, cant explain.

Can someone, perhaps with experience in either Vegas/San Diego having relocated to Austin help paint a picture of what to expect. We have looked at the Volente/Leander area and hear schools are great there and Lake Travis offers a lot to do. I hear things about liberalism and bad allergies.

Austin, or should I push to get back to SD?

[mark311]

Originally Posted by jlukelv

My wife and I are at an impasse. We currently live in Vegas and are tired of the schools and frankly, feel Vegas is not a good place to raise our kids (oldest of four is 6).

We are LDS and want to move to a place better suited for raising a family. I am originally from North County San Diego and things have changed a lot there but I still love the weather and beaches...but it is expensive (taxes, etc.).

Austin kind of came out of nowhere, but seems to be a draw, cant explain.

Can someone, perhaps with experience in either Vegas/San Diego having relocated to Austin help paint a picture of what to expect. We have looked at the Volente/Leander area and hear schools are great there and Lake Travis offers a lot to do. I hear things about liberalism and bad allergies.

Austin, or should I push to get back to SD?

I'm from coastal North County San Diego and of course you just can't beat the weather there (not even close). I currently live on the edge of Cedar Park and Round Rock. Leander is in growth mode, but I'd still classify it sort of like North Escondido/Fallbrook. It's not too far out from everything and it's growing a lot, but it still feels like it's pretty far out.

Areas of Cedar Park or Round Rock would probably fit in more with what you're used to in North County (especially if you were in Carlsbad or Encinitas). Of course it's a lot different, but you can definitely adapt if you can handle the heat. I would compare it more to moving to Temecula/Murrietta as far as what the Northern suburbs of Austin have to offer. The house that you could get in Red Hawk in Temecula for $300K now might be $200K in Cedar Park. The same house would be $575K in Carlsbad. Prices have narrowed quite a bit since the housing crash in CA. I have friends that have recently purchased closeout new homes in Murrietta that are over 3000 square feet for under $300K.

[dave bacon]

I was born in Marin, moved to SD at age 18, lived there pretty much for 35 years, and moved to Austin 5 years ago. I absolutely love Austin (except for the july/august weather), but I think a big part of why I like it so much is because it reminds me of Marin in the 60's, with the trees and lakes and socially aware people. The BEST thing about Austin is the incredible, friendly, cool people: I describe Austin compared to SD simply as "twice the quality of life at half the price"...

[hoffdano]

The liberalism of Austin is exagerrated all things considered. Austin is not like San Francisco or Portland for example. The city voted for Obama, but that doesn't really tell a full story. It is still Texas and Austin is just another flavor of it.

I have visited San Diego and enjoyed it a lot. I cannot credibly say anything about living there vs. Austin.

Austin should be a fine place for your family. It is not difficult to find and afford good schools. You should have no problem being LDS in Austin.

I live in the Lake Travis area and can say the schools are very good (multiple kids in and through K-12 so far).