Stores and restaurants in Leander (Cedar Park, Jollyville: hotel, new home, neighborhood)

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

If there are five restaurants in Austin where jackets are required, I'd be surprised. None are in Leander.

And the money you save will likely not go towards a Vegas vacation but to gas, tolls, and maintenance on your cars! Crystal Falls to Downtown is a hell of a haul. You could live closer in and buy a vacation place in the hill country!

But both downtown and the Domain are very reachable from Leander on the metrorail.

[BriansZ]

I live in Crystal Falls and love it, but based on your original post I don't think it will be right for you. While they are going to have a new grocery store at the entrance, that is still a couple of years away. And it will probably be 10 years until Leander is built up enough to have lots of restaurants and shopping. I believe they are forecasting 14,000 new SFHs in Leander over the next ten years, but it's not there now. Plus, if we have another dip in the economy all that could be put on hold.

Depending on where you work the drive isn't bad. I work in NW Austin and it's 13 miles from my door. I don't use the toll road because it doesn't save me any time over going down Lakeline, but that may change as more people move out here. I also have the option of working from home often.

Make sure to set aside some time to look at some resale homes closer into the city when you visit.

[neddy]

Well I disagree with the advice to take Leander off the list. There is not really a reason to. They are starting a huge new development next to CF onI forgot what it is called but it will be nice and very easy to get to Jonestown and Lake Travis and the Highland Lakes. We love living in the Leander area because it is so easy to get into the hill country where we do have a ranch. There are a lot of new houses being built out here and there is stuff to do out here also..inside 620 is not the end all of be all. Some like it some don't and I would hate to have to live where I had to deal with the Austin city Council..they drive me bonkers with the programs sometimes that they have! If you want a bigger city but still HillCountry look into the North/NW side of San Antonio along I 10.

[neddy]

Oh and you can be in Cedar Park from CF in about 5 mins with no vast empty tracts of land to drive through and run out of gas in the middle of nowhere..

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by neddy

Oh and you can be in Cedar Park from CF in about 5 mins with no vast empty tracts of land to drive through and run out of gas in the middle of nowhere..

Ok, this is going to sound snarky but I mean it sincerely (I really do) what will one find in Cedar Park when one arrives from Crystal Falls? Remember the OP doesn't live here and I have been past Lakeline Mall maybe 3 times in the last 15 years.

[RoadWarrior12]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Ok, this is going to sound snarky but I mean it sincerely (I really do) what will one find in Cedar Park when one arrives from Crystal Falls? Remember the OP doesn't live here and I have been past Lakeline Mall maybe 3 times in the last 15 years.

CP will be the closest bars, restaurants and shopping.

That said, the options are somewhat limited and much more family-centric. Personally, I'd draw a 5 mile circle around the Domain and look there - but that's just my opinion.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior12

CP will be the closest bars, restaurants and shopping.

Not for long. Cedar Park is landlocked, while Leander isn't. Longer term, Leander will be much bigger than Cedar Park.

[RoadWarrior12]

That kind of development is going to take years - just look at Avery Ranch. The retail/restaurant stuff there is just now getting to the point where there are a couple of options. The Leander timeframe is still a ways off, and certainly miles away from being what the OP is looking for (as is CP, for that matter).

[mamacatnv]

I live in Leander in the Crystal Falls development. We are in an older section with mature trees etc, we love it!

We came from Reno, NV last spring and love the feel of Leander. We do have a kiddo in high school so the schools and my commute to the hill country were major factors in our decision to reside in Leander/Cedar Park.

Within 10 minutes we have a Costco, Target, Wal-Mart, PetsMart, Walgreens, CVS, Home Depot, Lowes, decent movie theater and a plethora of small local restaurants as well as a few chains. We love In-N-Out but we love Whataburger more!

This is a suburb, it is not the city life. Its not a walk-able community etc. Crystal Falls continues to grow and I see signage for retail coming to the intersection of Lakeline and Crystal Falls which is going to include a Randalls (Safeway) as well as other strip mall type businesses.

Leander/Cedar Park still has open land, great parks etc.

With no traffic, I can be in downtown Austin at the convention center in 30 minutes.

[andrewtodd3]

The reason for looking into areas that are such a distance away from the city is that I want something San Diego can't offer. I love San Diego and it's going to be hard to leave. Unfortunately, it's ridiculously expensive out here (my condo will sell for $650/sq ft) so we need to move somewhere less expensive to start a family. The idea of a new house is that I may be giving up a lot of what I love but at least we'll be living in a house we love, in a great city.

We originally planned to buy a resale home but the only homes that have the layout we love are new builds. I'm told that this is because property trends in Austin run about 5-10 years behind the coast lines and the new builds are more like what we're used to.

The reason I'm hesitant about choosing Crystal falls is because so many people say it's in the middle of nowhere. Having said that, my feeling was that if we're going to have to drive/taxi to restaurants anyway we may as well drive a little further and live in a nicer home.

If we're going to be so far away it is very important the place we live is a community in itself (like Steiner Ranch or Rough Hollow) but it doesn't sound like Crystal falls is quite there yet. I don't think we're going to rule it out entirely but I don't have as much hope for it as I had before I opened this thread. We'll visit the eateries that have been suggested but it sounds like there is a lot more to consider.

Thanks again