Would you rather commute I-35 North or South? (Austin, Round Rock: apartment, rental)

[49flavors]

I will be moving to Austin next month and need advice on which direction to focus my search for a rental house. Is there a difference in the traffic if I lived in Buda or Round Rock, for example? From reading posts, I'm under the impression that living in Cedar Park would be the worst commute? Thanks.

[Rae']

Generally going from the north into or through downtown is worse in the morning than the opposite. I think they're both bad in the afternoon, but maybe a little heavier, or longer time frame, downtown, or south of there, to the north.
Where are you trying to get? That would also make a difference.

[49flavors]

I will be working on the Central East side, not too far from the airport.

[Rae']

Maybe Pflugerville? It's northeast, and convenient access to the new 130 toll, which I think now goes right down to the airport (or will eventually).
My vote is to try to avoid I35.
Buda or Southcentral Austin might not be too bad either. Is there anything in particular you are looking for in addition to convenient work access? Like schools, shopping, suburbs, close to downtown, etc.
If you find something with convenient access to 71 down south, it's a straight shot w/not too much traffic. Some of those neighborhoods can be a little shady though, so you gotta be careful.

[49flavors]

Thanks for the info. That helps a lot! We have definitely considered South Austin. Is there a way to find out which areas off Hwy 71 are not shady?

An area that's not shady is a high priority. Also, a house with a large yard and trees so it feels private in our backyard. No kids, so maybe we can save a little money by not having to live in the high demand areas. We only plan to lease for 1 year.

[Rae']

Someone else on the board might better descibe some neighborhoods.
We were in an apartment about 4 years ago near 71 between congress and south first. That was a shady area (lots of police at night, car broken into multiple times, people working the corner, etc). There is an older neighborhood off 71 around Westgate and Manchaca. I'm not sure if it's shady, but it might be worth checking out.

If you have an opportunity to drive around the 71/360/290 corridor, you could get a better feel of the options.

[achtungpv]

When I drove up I-35 from Buda (exit 221) from '02-06, it took 30-45 minutes to get to downtown depending on traffic in the morning. At 4:30, it took 20 minutes to get home. Unless there was an accident it was only slow to 290 and then 60MPH+ the rest of the way.

[49flavors]

Thanks again for the great leads! It sounds like we need to focus our search on the south side.

I'm curious, does anyone have an opinion on Cedar Creek near Bastrop? Is it safe?

[kb4525]

Cedar Creek=waaaayyyyy to far. It is very safe out there(friends and family live out there off 21 and 71), but their commute is about 1 hr each way every day. Ever since they are added a light for the 130 toll road traffic backs up badly.


A GREAT area with easy access to 183 and Hwy 71 is anywhere on/near McKinney Falls. All new houses, and a relatively quiet area. We live off Wm Cannon and McKinney Falls, have lived here for 6 yrs in a newly built neighborhood and the neighborhood is very nice. There are alot of new homes, as well as ones people are trying to rent out/sell because of the bad economy right now, so lots of rentals to look for.

I am 10 minutes from the airport, 5 minutes to Wm Cannon and I-35, 5 minutes to Slaughter and I-35, 10 minutes to Buda and about 10-15 minutes (non-rush hour) from downtown. Getting to downtown the backway(via 183 takes even less time).

HTH-

Kristen

[Stevedawg]

I think Pflugerville would probably be a good choice.