Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was going to mention the same things THL and ScoPro just did. There actually are employers out this way, with Round Rock seriously trying to draw lots of medical professions and biotech. Hutto wants to draw biotech as well, since it shares a border with that side of RR. I think they are planning an eventual "medical center" type corridor, as I've read it.
This is highly interesting to me. Would it include research development and academia, not just medical care? Do you have any links?
The catch? Like some others have mentioned - extreme summer heat, periodic drought (have been in a pattern), high property tax rates, terrible traffic and related growing pains, no controls on development outside city limits, and lack of big city amenities (eg museums, perf arts on the level of larger cities, no pro sports, get skipped for large shows/tours, limited high-end stores.)
The lack of big city amenities doesn't bother me much because Houston is 2.5 hours drive and really great for those things. But if you enjoy these more frequently like I did before kids, this would be a problem. The heat, I'd rather deal with that than cold/snow. The water situation does scare me, water is going to start getting a lot more expensive.
The difference is 100 years ago those small towns were inhabited by farmers that worked the land and did not commute into Austin on a daily basis, hence the term bedroom community is appropriate today. Maybe if these communities concentrated more on job creation instead of expanding feeder roads into Austin they could rightfully escape that designation.
The suburban cities have tried in earnest to encourage job creation, but let's face it, the jobs that are created aren't relevant to many people and are primarily industrial and manufacturing jobs. Cities such as Hutto and Pflugerville are effectively landlocked with no access to any highways other than toll roads. Companies aren't going to relocate their employees or establish their headquarters in cities that do not have free highway access or transit options. Round Rock is probably the lone city that bucked the trend simply because it has access to I-35 (which is commuter friendly) and doesn't have a too painful travel time (like Georgetown). If I-35 wasn't available, I don't think Dell would have established its HQers there.
Pflugerville in particular has been doing a great job in trying to move away from revenue generated by rooftops and is actively pursuing business, but not at the expense of quality residential life.
Pipe dream.....believe me. The cost of living in Austin is pretty much the same and in some respects more expensive (that's the rub....with Austin being much smaller than Chicago). I'll give that gasoline prices are less....around 3.75/gal...but you will do much more driving here (and public transportation is next-to-nothing).
Random thoughts:
Property taxes are high (but you've heard the chorus "we have no income tax"), our property taxes in Austin are higher than our IL income/property combined (we lived in a collar county).
Energy costs are VERY high in Austin And btw....you need to be VERY careful about where you buy as utilities are deregulated. It's important to know what you are buying into. For example, lot's of people mention Plugerville. Plugerville is in the news recently because one of the water providers (can't recall which) is jacking up prices 60%. Those homeowners will pay a base rate of $100 a month...and that's BEFORE any water is delivered. (I'd suspect there are a few homes up for sale for that very reason.)
Utilities are tiered...the price per kw/gal increases as you use more. With a large family.... And don't get me started on all the "fees" that are tacked on.
Electric rates are high...and you will have the ac on pretty much from April (we have been running ac since mid March) thru November. It does not cool down enough at night to simply throw open the windows. And when it's cool enough to do so...pollen counts are high. Which leads to allergies...Austin is the "allergy capital" of the US.
Summers are HOT. Last year 90 days at 100+ degrees. 90 days. Brutal. You just can't let the kids play in the backyard all day long. IMO the heat is much more dangerous than cold.
I would worry about future water resources. Drought is a very big concern. It doesn't seem that Austin has much in the way of a contingency plan considering the projected population growth....except for praying for rain(!).
Insurance costs are high. Texas is prone to "events" (HAIL, flash floods, tornadoes, drought, wildfires) making insurance expensive. Your homeowners insurance....a deductible is not a flat rate....it's a percentage (usually 1-5%) of the INSURED value. So, if your house is insured for 300k, a 1% deductible will be 3000k. I mention insurance because hail events are a concern. The roof on our 13yr old house has been replaced already.
Housing is cheap...but construction is flimsy (most homes have cheaper, less energy efficient windows and very little in the way of insulation). Building codes are relaxed..for example, electric is not contained in conduit.
Food costs are the same. There is not much competition in the grocery store space. And next to no neighborhood delis (Boarshead brand is about all you can find at the deli counter here) or butchers. Restaurants are absurdly expensive considering....and the bar is low on quality. Say goodbye to good (inexpensive) pizza and Italian. I'll give that BBQ is good.
Landing a teaching gig...eehhh....Austin had a series of budget cuts....let a lot of teachers go. There is a lot of competition in the job market (it's a university town remember) and IMO there is a bias to hiring Texans. Salaries are less here.
Round Rock reminds me of Schamburg.
I would highly recommend your husband land a job before moving. And have you considered, perhaps, southern Illinois, Kentucky or Tennessee?
And...have you even been to Austin?
Last edited by kbchitown; 03-30-2012 at 09:21 AM..
Wait, so you're saying that a farming community that sends its produce to market is a bedroom community of anywhere it sends its produce? Really? So, if a company in Austin sells a product in New York City, Austin is a bedroom community of NYC?
Never mind. Clearly this is something that, like politics and religion, isn't going to be agreed upon, and it's a digression from the OP's initial inquiry, I think. I'll agree to disagree at this point for those reasons.
This is highly interesting to me. Would it include research development and academia, not just medical care? Do you have any links?
What I read was that they wanted to bring research development. It was an article in the Community Impact paper some time last year. They may have something in the archives.
The suburban cities have tried in earnest to encourage job creation, but let's face it, the jobs that are created aren't relevant to many people and are primarily industrial and manufacturing jobs. Cities such as Hutto and Pflugerville are effectively landlocked with no access to any highways other than toll roads. Companies aren't going to relocate their employees or establish their headquarters in cities that do not have free highway access or transit options. Round Rock is probably the lone city that bucked the trend simply because it has access to I-35 (which is commuter friendly) and doesn't have a too painful travel time (like Georgetown). If I-35 wasn't available, I don't think Dell would have established its HQers there.
Pflugerville in particular has been doing a great job in trying to move away from revenue generated by rooftops and is actively pursuing business, but not at the expense of quality residential life.
Have you seen the new Carts station in Taylor that sits along the train tracks? It has shuttle buses that run from Taylor to Round Rock, Georgetown and Austin. I'm guessing they placed it there because they anticipate that at some point there will be rail service out this way. 79 is a highway. There is also 685. You can also take Limmer Loop and 1660 to Georgetown and Round Rock for free. They've widened those roads in parts and are doing more construction near the hospitals.
I never say that, nor do I take anything seriously when people say that. It doesn't matter whether I agree with them or not.
Your taxes here are higher than they were in Chicago. You don't have to say "believe me" for me to take that on face value. But I don't think that is generally true.
Property taxes in Illinois are calculated in a silly way. Assess at 1/3 of market value, then tax that amount. I think though the effective tax rates are in the 2.5% range. But per capita the facts say homeowners pay more per year in Illinois, regardless of rates. Income taxes in Illinois are relatively straighforward. 5% of federal AGI, correct? Texas' income tax is even more simple. Zero.
Based on the "National Scorecard" for public schools, Texas' K-12 schools are meaningfully better than Illinois public schools. An example is 8th grade math performance:
Illinois also has the dubious distinction of two consecutive governors serving time in federal prison. I fully believe Rick Perry is ethically challenged, but I think Texas government is less dirty than Illinois government.
I'm not trying to pick on Illinois. Really. I love to visit Chicago. It is one of my favorite places to visit. It is vibrant, friendly, if a bit gritty. But when I visit Chicago I get to stay in the city in business class hotels.
The suburban cities have tried in earnest to encourage job creation, but let's face it, the jobs that are created aren't relevant to many people and are primarily industrial and manufacturing jobs. Cities such as Hutto and Pflugerville are effectively landlocked with no access to any highways other than toll roads. Companies aren't going to relocate their employees or establish their headquarters in cities that do not have free highway access or transit options. Round Rock is probably the lone city that bucked the trend simply because it has access to I-35 (which is commuter friendly) and doesn't have a too painful travel time (like Georgetown). If I-35 wasn't available, I don't think Dell would have established its HQers there.
Pflugerville in particular has been doing a great job in trying to move away from revenue generated by rooftops and is actively pursuing business, but not at the expense of quality residential life.
I35 (which Pflugerville is right on as is Round Rock - in fact, there are places where you only know whether you're in Pflugerville or Round Rock by looking at the tax records) and Highway 79 (which goes right through Hutto) don't count as highways? Who knew?
I never say that, nor do I take anything seriously when people say that. It doesn't matter whether I agree with them or not.
Your taxes here are higher than they were in Chicago. You don't have to say "believe me" for me to take that on face value. But I don't think that is generally true.
Property taxes in Illinois are calculated in a silly way. Assess at 1/3 of market value, then tax that amount. I think though the effective tax rates are in the 2.5% range. But per capita the facts say homeowners pay more per year in Illinois, regardless of rates. Income taxes in Illinois are relatively straighforward. 5% of federal AGI, correct? Texas' income tax is even more simple. Zero.
Based on the "National Scorecard" for public schools, Texas' K-12 schools are meaningfully better than Illinois public schools. An example is 8th grade math performance:
Illinois also has the dubious distinction of two consecutive governors serving time in federal prison. I fully believe Rick Perry is ethically challenged, but I think Texas government is less dirty than Illinois government.
I'm not trying to pick on Illinois. Really. I love to visit Chicago. It is one of my favorite places to visit. It is vibrant, friendly, if a bit gritty. But when I visit Chicago I get to stay in the city in business class hotels.
I am by no means an expert about Illinois property taxes, but a couple of other things to note. At least in our municipality, your property taxes were based on the average of your assessed home value for the last three years. Also, they would not take into consideration any distressed comparable home sales, which made it quite difficult to protest our tax bill. Our subdivision (a planned community of over 1000 middle-upper middle class homes) because of our high numbers of short sales and foreclosures.
In 2010, when we moved from Illinois, I calculated my property tax rate to be approximately 2.2% based on the purchase price of my home in 2003. We sold our house for $30,000 less than we bought it, so if the property taxes remained the same, I suppose the tax rate would be even higher. I would be curious to see what the situation is now since property rates have fallen even further in the Chicagoland area.
Illinois state income tax has also been raised since we moved, I believe from 3% to 5%. That is a sizeable jump.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
