What is considered the 'burbs' (Austin, Round Rock: relocating, houses, work)

[bikerider]

My husband and I are relocating to Austin in early November. We're looking at homes in the Lakewood neighborhood off of 360, just north of 2222. And also at homes in the Oak Hills neighborhood. I will be working in downtown off Congress. We have no children (and no plans), are very active cyclists and love the outdoors. We're moving from Atlanta (so familiar with traffic, but hate it just the same) and I have the ability to work somewhat flexible hours.

In reading the form, I continue to notice references to long commutes from th burbs. I have a couple of question I hope some folks can help me answer:

1) How will the commute from these areas (particularly from Lakewood) be to downtown?

2) Are these areas considered suburbs?

[atxcio]

Oak Hill I would consider a burb (It's a city on it's own)... I don't live there, so someone else may have a better estimate.. but I'd figure 25-30 minutes to downtown, depends on where in Oak Hill you are coming from. Traffic at the "Y" (intersection of 290 and 71 in Oak Hill) can be very frustrating, and there will be construction of that intersection for the next few years.

Lakewood is not a burb, it's a NW Austin neighborhood. I would say about 20 minutes to downtown. It's also a pretty convenient location for recreational biking (road & mtn)... if your handle refers to cycling, you might like it there...

[llkltk]

Lakewood is part of NW Austin, I would consider this to be a suburb. Not a suburb like Cedar Park or Round Rock but it is a small burb of NW Austin. It's kind of an old neighborhood, good to be off of 360 but the houses are all from the 70s.

[jenkirk]

I love Southwest Austin. I would suggest a home in Circle C, Shady Hollow, or north of Circle C. There are always tons of cyclists out and about.

The veloway is in Circle C. I have attached a link to a recent article about biking in Austin.

statesman.com | Your A-List: Best Place to Ride a Bike | Out & About

[tashina]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Oak Hill I would consider a burb (It's a city on it's own)...

I live in Oak Hill (if you are talking about the one in the SW) and it's not a city. Sunset Valley nearby is a small city, but Oak Hill is a neighborhood within Austin.

Oak Hill has no legal boundaries, and never was incorporated. So where is Oak Hill? OHAN arbitrarily defined Oak Hill as Starting from Travis Country in the Northwest, neighborhoods bordering Brodie Lane down to the Travis/Hays County line, following the county line on the south up to Highway 290 West, and then neighborhoods bordering Circle Drive and Thomas Springs Road and finally along the Southwest Parkway. And of course, everything in between. Roughly, the neighborhoods that fall within the Oak Hill zip codes of 78735, 78736, 78737, 78739, 78748, and 78749.

Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods (OHAN)

[atxcio]

I stand corrected, sorry tashina!

I just drive by the Oak Hill FD often, and just assumed... incorrectly.. that it was it's own city. The site you gave indicates it's mostly annexed to CoA now, so I'd agree it's a neighborhood of SW Austin.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by bikerider

My husband and I are relocating to Austin in early November. We're looking at homes in the Lakewood neighborhood off of 360, just north of 2222. And also at homes in the Oak Hills neighborhood. I will be working in downtown off Congress. We have no children (and no plans), are very active cyclists and love the outdoors. We're moving from Atlanta (so familiar with traffic, but hate it just the same) and I have the ability to work somewhat flexible hours.

In reading the form, I continue to notice references to long commutes from th burbs. I have a couple of question I hope some folks can help me answer:

1) How will the commute from these areas (particularly from Lakewood) be to downtown?

2) Are these areas considered suburbs?

Lakewood is definitely a suburb. I think it would take about 15 minutes to get downtown, maybe twice that during rush hour

[atxcio]

I'm not sure how something within the city limits could be considered a burb... maybe in older cities, but I think what most people would define around here as a suburb would be something like Cedar Park, Round Rock, Pflugerville, etc.

Lakewood is also too small to be a suburb, it's just a subdivision.. smaller than Jester or Great Hills, which are both farther out than Lakewood. The Arboretum is also farther out, and while "Arboretum area" is more like a suburb, I never hear it referred to as a burb either.

Suburb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[jclAustin]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Lakewood is part of NW Austin, I would consider this to be a suburb. Not a suburb like Cedar Park or Round Rock but it is a small burb of NW Austin. It's kind of an old neighborhood, good to be off of 360 but the houses are all from the 70s.

Lakewood is a development, not really a suburb itself. I would say it's in the suburbs, definitely not the city proper. It has several phases, I don't know the oldest phase, but many houses are from the 80's and 90's. It is older, but the landscaping is more established and the houses feel farther apart (even if they aren't). While it's an older development it does have a clubhouse, pool, and tennis courts.

To the OP:
Jester is just up the hill from Lakewood, there is an exit from Jester that comes out in Lakewood, the other entrance is off 2222.

Great Hills is closer to 183, more convenient because you can get out to Jollyville Rd and 183 or down to 360. When traffic is bad those few lights on 360, between 2222 and 183, can take 15 minutes to get through (if you don't know the back way over to Mesa).

From this neck of the woods to downtown is 20 minutes without traffic, 30 or so with traffic going the back roads.

A lot of people ride their bikes on 360 because of the wide shoulder, the trees are beautiful and the hills are a good workout.

[gigi927]

I live right near the Lakewood subdvision and the other posters are right - you're looking at about 20-25 minutes downtown with no traffic. It is a beautiful area and there are tons of bikers up here as well. I know there are tons of fans of SW Austin on this board and they outnumber is NWers anymore... but I prefer the much hillier terrain of this part of town. It's much more scenic - but that's just my personal preference!