Cedar Park Town Center Neighborhood (Leander, New Hope: houses, school, zoning)

[eirenecat]

My best friend lives in Cedar Park Town Centre. I've been in there a lot over the past year visiting her and her son.

PROS: It's a very cute, walkable neighborhood with a lot of young families and built-in green spaces and park areas. My BFF's house is small and was about $185K when she bought it a year ago. The builder (or another builder copying them) did something similar with Plum Creek in Kyle and the neighborhood near Rabb Park in Round Rock. Her neighbors are very friendly and there's more of a community kind of feel to it than in my neighborhood in Northwest Austin.

The look of the neighborhood was made to evoke Hyde Park with bungalow-style older house appeal. It reminds me a lot of what they built in Mueller, honestly, only about a zillion times less expensive and, of course, much further out. Schools around there are good.

CONS: The neighborhood pool is very small and not really quite large enough for the neighborhood. The HOA loves to give citations for every small thing, with an associated fine. If you get irritated by HOA enforcement, you won't enjoy that aspect.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by eirenecat

PROS: It's a very cute, walkable neighborhood with a lot of young families and built-in green spaces and park areas. My BFF's house is small and was about $185K when she bought it a year ago. .

Yes, those very small (sub 1400 square foot) homes are still attainable for just under $190K, but anything closer to 2000 square feet jumps up to $250K very quickly.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by mark311

No, they might be in the process of building some townhomes along the back of that neighborhood, but Cedar Park Town Center is a DR Horton neighborhood with single family homes. It's actually within walking distance to Costco and a bunch of new restaurants so that's a great benefit and unusual for a new suburban neighborhood. And prices have caught up to everywhere else in that neighborhood with most homes being between $250K to $300K with some smaller ones as well that are a bit cheaper. Those DR Horton Craftsman style homes are very similar to the village section of Forest Oaks which is right next to Silverado Ranch.

Homes in Silverado Ranch (KB Homes is the builder there) are pretty similar in quality to those DR Hortons, but they're just not craftsman style with the alleyway garages. Silverado Ranch has standard garages that face the street in the front, where the garages for the DR Horton homes are in the alley. The downfall is that some models of the DR Hortons have tandem garages or even single garages in the very small homes. Electric dryer hookups (no gas), I think are traits that all of those homes share.

Interesting insight from mark, as usual. The newest section of CPTC has townhomes...the original neighborhood was/is single family homes, many with detached garages facing the alleyways behind the homes(Interestingly, many of the detached garages are attached to the adjacent garage). UNfortunately, not everyone parks in the back and some of the streets are quite crowded, especially if a guest or two would arrive. I like the style of homes, although there is a LOT of Hardi-Plank up there! As it ages, it does need to be maintained/painted...and that time is arriving now for the earliest homes(ca 2007-8). Does have a recreation area, although nothing you would call a 'country club'.

The area suffered a bit during the downturn, with many blocks 50% 'For Sale'. Took a while to catch up and then the additional phases just exploded in growth! One of our pet sitting clients didn't think the area between her house and New Hope would ever be developed...OOPS...they're now building on every square foot they can find!

Oh, yeah...did anyone mention FLAT as a PANCAKE Great for running and biking as long as you don't want any hill work! Easy access to the 183A 'spur' of the Brushy Creek Trail to catch a change in topography!

[Dabroncos1]

Live in Leander and often drive through the area-

Walkable- can walk to cedar park Rec center, cedar park center (hockey, concerts, etc), bunch of restaurants-shops and what not. The homes are really neat and different looking- garages are in the back and I believe there is alleys were people put trash cans and what not. It's in a perfect location to everything and the surrounding area is booming. Down the street from 183, th hospital, and tons of employers. Great school district. Can't really think of any negatives other than I'm not big on homes without attached garages.

[perticusrex]

Thank u all for the feedback! I'll be checking the house out tomorrow but from what it sounds like, is most likely ideal for us at this time. Thanks again!

[mamacatnv]

Originally Posted by tiffngio

Please be advised that 1/2 of the students currently zoned to Rouse High school will be re-zoned in the 2016/2017 school year. The boundaries have not been determined yet as the our being discussed in public meetings still.

I was going to mention this - there are several scenarios that are going to change up Leander and Rouse High Schools significantly - this will trickle down to the middle schools as well. I am not sure when this decision is going to be finalized but the various proposals under consideration are available on Leander ISD website.

The neighborhood the OP is talking about is cute, I like the area where the garages are in the back and the houses all face the street. The one thing I have noticed is that the streets seem to be narrow, there are few trees due to it all being new and the main greenbelt area that is between 1431 and New Hope (the connector road) seems to be pretty heavily traveled.

[tickledpink]

I live in the neighborhood and have lived here for 3.5 years so feel like I can offer some good insight. I love that there have been so many of the large oak trees preserved in the neighborhood, and each home has 3-4 trees planted. Landscaping is overall very nice. It's a very desirable area...We bought brand new for 159k 3 years ago and our same age house and floorplan is going for $220k now! Insane. Anyway, we really like the neighborhood. It's a good mix of different ages and families/single people we haven't had any issues at all with the hoa... cut your grass and keep your weeds under control and you'll be fine. Like others have said, you can walk to several shops and restaurants and there is a pond with a trail in the neighborhood. As far as housing goes, the neighborhood is complete now and has been for about 6 months or so. DR Horton has moved out. There is some development that will continue next to the neighborhood in the way of retail and office space, however.

If you have any questions let me know!

[perticusrex]

Originally Posted by tickledpink

I live in the neighborhood and have lived here for 3.5 years so feel like I can offer some good insight. I love that there have been so many of the large oak trees preserved in the neighborhood, and each home has 3-4 trees planted. Landscaping is overall very nice. It's a very desirable area...We bought brand new for 159k 3 years ago and our same age house and floorplan is going for $220k now! Insane. Anyway, we really like the neighborhood. It's a good mix of different ages and families/single people we haven't had any issues at all with the hoa... cut your grass and keep your weeds under control and you'll be fine. Like others have said, you can walk to several shops and restaurants and there is a pond with a trail in the neighborhood. As far as housing goes, the neighborhood is complete now and has been for about 6 months or so. DR Horton has moved out. There is some development that will continue next to the neighborhood in the way of retail and office space, however.

If you have any questions let me know!

Thank you for the insight! We checked it out on Saturday and really liked the area. The neighborhood was really quiet for being midday on a Saturday IMO.

Do you happen to have any opinion on the schools? We read/heard they are really good but also seems there is going to be some new zoning in the upcoming school year.

[mamacatnv]

Originally Posted by perticusrex

Thank you for the insight! We checked it out on Saturday and really liked the area. The neighborhood was really quiet for being midday on a Saturday IMO.

Do you happen to have any opinion on the schools? We read/heard they are really good but also seems there is going to be some new zoning in the upcoming school year.

I believe the zoning will go into affect the fall of 2016 when the new high school opens. It is my understanding that the major changes will be for Leander High and Rouse High students - that is where the major growth is and thus those schools are being the hardest hit with re-zoning.
Currently it is all under discussion with multiple proposals. My DD will not be affected as she will be a Sr and is therefore protected from any rezoning but I am curious what it may do to my property value. It may do nothing, our neighborhood is on a cusp of staying or changing - several proposals leave us as is and I believe 2 of the 8 options change our high school, time will tell.

I personally think that Leander ISD has great schools as a whole. We are in a Leander High School and are very pleased. Overall I hear good things about the district. It is one of the larger districts in the area encompassing Leander, Cedar Park, parts of Round Rock with a few other fingers into different areas.
The high school that is opening next year is #6 and #7 is slated to open the fall of 2020 - the district is certainly growing.

[JH6]

houses are nice but very cookie cutter. Costco and Home store have added a ton of traffic to the area. Depends on what you want I suppose.