Good/Bad Neighborhoods in Austin (College Station, Spring: apartments, to rent, loft)

[AC29]

I live in College Station and have been looking to moving to Austin in the near future. I've only been a few times and am trying to get a sense of what are the good/bad areas there. I've done a few searches and read back about 40 pages and have concluded from people that South East Austin is not a safe part of town. Also that South West Austin has better neighbohoods. I'm personally interested in a condo/townhouse/loft and have easy access to downtown and obviously something that's not going to cost me an arm and a leg. Any help would be appreciated!

[wisemommaerts]

Hello AC29. I grew up in B-CS. I thought I'd move further away but after being in Austin two weeks, I knew I was home. That was 9 yrs ago. I love living here. I started in East Austin off Riverside Drive. East Austin was scary at times. I road the bus to work downtown every day and was accosted and physically harassed several times. Then I moved to South Austin off Slaughter Lane near Manchaca Rd. I love it in South Austin (south of Ben White Blvd) aka Bubbaville. West Austin is "nicer" in the sense of being the million dollar area of town. North and South Austin are more affordable but also have areas that are really expensive. It's way more expensive here overall than B-CS.

It sounds like close to Downtown is where you woud like to live. Get ready to pay a lot. There are a ton of loft style apartments and condos being built downtown. I'm sure it will be more expensive to rent downtown compared to else where in Austin but if you want to be downtown maybe renting is a better option than buying. But I have to mention that my husband and I bought in 2000 because it was more affordable to buy a stand alone house with a 2 car garage and yard than move up to a 2 bedroom apt in our complex. And that was in 2000 & in East Austin so I have no idea how bad it could be today.

As far as access, all areas have everything you need. I think Austin has at least ten of every chain store. Sometimes I'm surprised at how many of the same stores one town can have. But there's not an area that isn't close to everything you need. Except of course way, way out in the burbs, but even they are getting everything.

If you have any specific questions/concerns let me know. I'd be happy to help in any way I can.

[car957]

I'm going to go with Wisemom on this. I also live near Slaughter/Manchaca Road. It is a great neighborhood deep in South Austin. I'm the rookie on my street in that I have lived here 2 years - all of my other neighbors have lived here for over 15 years. Its very stable and everyone works very hard to keep their homes in shape.

I love it here. I am 15 minutes from downtown, the HEB has everything, and we have really good restaurants and services with Southpark Meadows and the development at Brodie/Slaughter across from Shady Hollow.

[Cam886]

I am doing a project on Austin and i was wondering what is the best web site there is for Austin?

[Cam886]

Originally Posted by wisemommaerts

Hello AC29. I grew up in B-CS. I thought I'd move further away but after being in Austin two weeks, I knew I was home. That was 9 yrs ago. I love living here. I started in East Austin off Riverside Drive. East Austin was scary at times. I road the bus to work downtown every day and was accosted and physically harassed several times. Then I moved to South Austin off Slaughter Lane near Manchaca Rd. I love it in South Austin (south of Ben White Blvd) aka Bubbaville. West Austin is "nicer" in the sense of being the million dollar area of town. North and South Austin are more affordable but also have areas that are really expensive. It's way more expensive here overall than B-CS.

It sounds like close to Downtown is where you woud like to live. Get ready to pay a lot. There are a ton of loft style apartments and condos being built downtown. I'm sure it will be more expensive to rent downtown compared to else where in Austin but if you want to be downtown maybe renting is a better option than buying. But I have to mention that my husband and I bought in 2000 because it was more affordable to buy a stand alone house with a 2 car garage and yard than move up to a 2 bedroom apt in our complex. And that was in 2000 & in East Austin so I have no idea how bad it could be today.

As far as access, all areas have everything you need. I think Austin has at least ten of every chain store. Sometimes I'm surprised at how many of the same stores one town can have. But there's not an area that isn't close to everything you need. Except of course way, way out in the burbs, but even they are getting everything.

If you have any specific questions/concerns let me know. I'd be happy to help in any way I can.

i see u live here and know alot about it so i am wondering wisemom do u know any good web sites that give good info for Austin??

[TomCTX]

I'd go NW Austin personally. I think it's an easy shot to downtown. 15 minutes to a half hour depending on traffic. Check out the Arboretum and the Domain. Long term, the "second downtown" is coming this way, short term there are a ton of amenities, restaurants, bars and retail, and it has better access to the freeways than South Austin, IMHO. I lived directly between Mopac and 183. Lots of condos in the area and closer to both Lake Travis and Lake Austin.. Thats my two cents worth.

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by TomCTX

I'd go NW Austin personally. I think it's an easy shot to downtown. 15 minutes to a half hour depending on traffic. Check out the Arboretum and the Domain. Long term, the "second downtown" is coming this way, short term there are a ton of amenities, restaurants, bars and retail, and it has better access to the freeways than South Austin, IMHO. I lived directly between Mopac and 183. Lots of condos in the area and closer to both Lake Travis and Lake Austin.. Thats my two cents worth.

Actually, it's 45 minutes to the city in rush hour not 15 minutes. I live NW and I'm tired of it, ready to go SW

[TomCTX]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Actually, it's 45 minutes to the city in rush hour not 15 minutes. I live NW and I'm tired of it, ready to go SW

It's was only 45 minutes for me, if I stayed on Mopac all the way to the CC-5th Street exit. Try coming into town the back way by getting off at Windosor and taking that to West Lynn to W. 10th. It's not a lemming migration like Mopac, meaning you have to stay engaged in your drive, but I usually hit Congress and 6th in 25 to 35 minutes, from Mopac and Duval. Of course, once in a while... you know... bad mojo... I have a 2.4 mile drive now to lovely Riata Trace... Much better by any standard!

[atlanta hope]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Actually, it's 45 minutes to the city in rush hour not 15 minutes. I live NW and I'm tired of it, ready to go SW

How far out do you live in the NW?

[Plazamazda]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Actually, it's 45 minutes to the city in rush hour not 15 minutes. I live NW and I'm tired of it, ready to go SW

SW isn't any better.. at least NW Leander and Cedar Park have a freeway..SW Dripping Springs is a mess. the freeway just feeds into a bunch of lights.