What's the deal with Manor? (Dallas, Austin: to rent, houses, safe neighborhood)

[nursejf]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and my family and I are moving to Austin from So. California in January. I'm originally from Texas, but the Dallas area, so still have many questions about the Austin area. I will be there to interview for jobs (Seton 38th street and St. David's 32nd street) and look for housing in 2 weeks from now. We hope to rent a house due to our chaotic household of 2 children - 1 and 3 years old.

Manor seems to be much more reasonable than Cedar Park/Leander, but just wondering why... the houses look just as nice...

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[texastea]

If you're renting and you're kids aren't in school yet, Manor could be a good place to live.

[Plazamazda]

They are more reasonable merely because of the school districts. Leander ISD is far better than Manor ISD

[atxcio]

How best to say this? These days, you wouldn't hear Manor mentioned in the same breath as Cedar Park. Manor has traditionally been a more rural, somewhat (mostly?) poor area east of the city. You will not be near any of the traditionally nice neighborhoods of Austin, and you will *probably* be near poverty. Manor residents, please feel free to correct me on this. Cedar Park, at least, is near some nice Lake Travis neighborhoods and many nice middle class developments. Maybe Manor is changing with hwy 130? Perhaps in 10 years it will be a nice place? If you are renting, you will probably get a good feel for the area.

[nursejf]

Thanks everyone. This has been very helpful. : )

[case44]

Originally Posted by atxcio

How best to say this? These days, you wouldn't hear Manor mentioned in the same breath as Cedar Park. Manor has traditionally been a more rural, somewhat (mostly?) poor area east of the city. You will not be near any of the traditionally nice neighborhoods of Austin, and you will *probably* be near poverty. Manor residents, please feel free to correct me on this. Cedar Park, at least, is near some nice Lake Travis neighborhoods and many nice middle class developments. Maybe Manor is changing with hwy 130? Perhaps in 10 years it will be a nice place? If you are renting, you will probably get a good feel for the area.

I'd give Manor a couple more years. They are up and coming and will eventually join Pflugerville as the fast-rising eastern suburbs. Manor is just one large shopping center and possibly one new housing development away from serious growth.

[NJ_expat]

I would second everything that's been said; I too am planning to move to the Austin area (who isn't these days) and I visited the Manor / Elgin / Bastrop area. Elgin had some nice spots but overall it did not feel like a safe neighborhood: graffiti, rural poor, bored adolescents, roaming dogs, alarm systems & 'keep out' or 'beware of dog' signs on the nicer houses. Saw what looked like a backyard breeder or two.

Bastrop and Manor were a little nicer but still some dicey spots in both with the aforementioned things, just they're more prevalent in Elgin. Myself, I don't much care about the people & social climate but I'd be afraid for my dog To have a dog and leave him outside all day in those towns while I'm at work is.. scary. Then again, gentrification will be creeping in on Manor and I did pass some expensive cars on the road in Bastrop. I noticed one new-looking cookie-cutter type housing development in Manor, and I'm sure there's more in the works. It'll just sprawl out toward Bastrop and Elgin too.

Buying and living in those areas is a gamble, is the short of it. Right now its got cheap acreage and low or low-middle income. You'll get a little land but you might have irresponsible neighbors.

[lago veteran]

come on! i did some contract work for the manor school district this spring. I likely interacted with several hundred of the middle and high school students, both boys and girls. guess what? they are all so backward out there that each and every child used those old fashioned "yes sir, no sir" words of respect when speaking with me. I ate in several outstanding rest/cafes. I spoke at length to the school staff (you know, folk that live there). they were all bemoaning the fact that austin was swallowing them up! They were thrilled that they had real dirt in their backyards where they could have a garden, where there were some big trees etc.
I agree there are many new neighborhoods, with starter to mid-level buyers. does that make them a gamble? did everyone who has responded here begin their adult life in a $400k house? I didn't, I began mine with a little bitty starter, and moved up.
I also have known cedar park before it "wasn't a gamble".............yup, when it's independence day parade was held on a partially blocked Hiway 183. now look what it has become. Certainly not a "gamble" if plain vanilla burbs are comforting.
the truth as i see it. if i had little bitty kids, and a job, then i would be left with little time other than my stay at home time, no time for shopping/dining/dancing.......so i would rent the biggest house/yard i could that was in a neighborhood full of other young families. I'm sure there are even swimming pools in manor.
I would not buy in Manor, mostly because of the school ratings. When it is school time, then that's when somewhere like cedar park is more appealing because your needs have changed. then it is all about the school, and cedar park/leander is absolutely a district that you would want your kids to attend.
I haven't been overwhelmed with news that Manor is experiencing a crimewave. Nor have I heard that cedar park has managed to eradicate all crime. the "boogie man" lives in manor, but he lives in cedar park as well.

[austin-steve]

The 130 Toll Road, and more to come, are really going to open up Manor. I am worried that, at present, most of the new housing is starter housing. There are some mid-range projects in the works though. Lots of flat farmland to build on. Schools have been given a boost by donations from Samsung, which would like to groom some future employees I'm sure.

I spent about 4 months remodeling an old farm house on Hogg Eye Rd. in 1995 in Manor. We ate almost every day at Donn's BBQ on FM 969. It was still very rural then. I wonder what the crowd at Donn's looks like today? Probably still blue collar, but I'll bet it changes a lot in the next 5 years as Manor booms.

For pure investment property, I'll still stick with South Austin though.

Steve

[love roses]

Bastrop has some Million dollar properties, so it's not all starter homes there. Lost Pines Resort is also there. The biggest problem (if you think it is a problem at all) is that those areas are still pretty rural. Graffiti, Poverty, bored adolescents, roaming dogs, alarm systems, and Beware of Dog signs, etc...exist in Travis County as well. So I second Lago Veteran on that.