Georgetown vs. Wimberley? (Houston, Austin, Round Rock: rent, houses, schools)

[faithr]

So let's say one is leaning towards a smaller town with access to Austin.
Are Wimberley and Austin comparable?
Pros, cons of each?

Thanks so much.
This is a great forum.

Faith

[Driftwood1]

You say " with access to Austin" in you're post. If that means commuting, you can pretty much forget Wimberley, its really not commutable to Austin. If you were to live 15 - 20 min outside Wimberley, closer to Austin it would perhaps be bearable, like an hour our so to get in, depending on where you worked.

Wimberley is a fantastic, great little town , no doubt, but I caution that one concider it very carefully, as it is a tourist/retirement town primarilly. Did you drive round the sidestreets or just visit the square? There are some pretty yucchy areas, trailers, messy yards, etc.. so watch where you buy.. but if you take Wimberley as an area its beautiful, houses up in the hills, etc. Remember also, you will drive 20 min for nearly everything you need , or pay Wimberley prices..

Best of luck..
Cheers

[austin-steve]

I think Wimberley and Georgetown are apples and oranges.

Georgetown is more of a town, evolved from farming/ranching business and now, with 130 coming through, becoming a true suburb of Austin. The commute down IH35 during drive times won't be fun though, if you need to work downtown.

Wimberley evolved in large part from people from Houston using it as a second home and vacation destination. To this day, the Houston Chronicle is in newspaper stands on the square. The square is more of a tourist shopping spot more than a hub of local commerce serving the residents.

There in fact are many permenant residents in Wimberley though, who love the location, the schools and the community. My wife's family has owned property there since her grandparents bought it in 1940 and we go there to swim in the creek and hang out several times a year. It's a nice spot, but I wouldn't want to drive in from there on a daily basis, though many people do just that.

Steve

[faithr]

Thanks for the replies.
Neither my bf nor I will commute into Austin. I work from home and he flies to NY every second week for work.
When I say access to Austin, although we won't be commuting, we don't want to hesitate to go into Austin for dinner or Hut's or UT basketball or to go to a seminar at UT (he is an economist and currently teaches finance at UVA).
We like the housing prices in both Wimberley and in Georgetown for the sort of house we are interested in (as opposed to Austin). We would prefer an already renovated historic home.
Georgetown may have more of the amenities we need on a daily basis, but I've heard such wonderful things about Wimberley.

[mark311]

I've lived in the Austin area for about a year and a half and I have been trying to get to know all the surrounding areas by driving around a lot, but I had never even heard of Wimberly until it was mentioned in this thread. After looking at the population report, it makes sense.

Georgetown probably has a current population of about 40,000 and from what this city-data site shows Wimberly only has about 4,000. Wimberly sounds like a really small town. My guess without having ever been there is that it doesn't have anywhere close to the amenities that Georgetown has.

[jwb123]

Though, this forum may have scared you off of Hutto - do some searching about that area. It's close to Round Rock conveniences, and you can hop on the toll road easy and get anywhere (Austin, Cedar Park, Gtown) really quickly.

And, it's got a lot of historic, not over priced homes.

[love roses]

Come out on a visit and see them for yourself. That would be the best way to get a feel. If you're looking at Wimberly, you could also look into Salado. It's North of Georgetown, and is almost exactly like Wimberly, with the shopping and artistic vibe, only North instead of South. Also, very similar topography.

[Mike78613]

too far from Austin for both towns, that's for sure.

[faithr]

Thanks to everyone for their input.
They both might be too far, but it does seem like Wimberley is really a small town with fewer amenities than Gtown.
We are visiting next month and can decide then.
As I've stated somewhere (maybe not on this thread) neither my bf nor I will commute into Austin. We only want access for college sports, shopping, restaurants and other Austin stuff. But we don't want to feel like driving in is a total drag, like it is going into DC from where we live in Northern Virginia.

[jwb123]

So, like I said in another thread - I don't know where in NoVa you are - but I grew up in Fairfax, and lived in other areas around there. ANY of these towns you are thinking of will be more a of commute to Austin, than what you have now going from Nova to DC... not just in work hour commute congestion, but poor traffic road planning - which leads to any time congestion.

You are going to have to prioritize (and likely rent for a year to get to know the area) the things you can't give on, and will be willing to give up on, and what's important and not, etc... I don't think you can have it all.