West Austin commute times to 2222 and MOPAC... (Dallas, McKinney: custom home, neighborhoods)

[kensaggie]

We are moving to Austin this summer and we will be working around the 2222 and MOPAC area. We are wondering what the commute is like on 2222 and what west Austin area subdivisions would be within a reasonable commute time of 30-45 minutes on a run of the mill rush hour traffic day?

We have two young girls (9 and 4), one with special needs, and are beginning our search for a family friendly subdivision. We currently live in McKinney and drive to Dallas each day so we would love to get out of that driving lifestyle!
our price range is around 500k.

We have heard of Steiner Ranch and River Place...what is the commute time from thos esubdivisions?

Thanks, in advance, for all your help....

K

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by kensaggie

We are moving to Austin this summer and we will be working around the 2222 and MOPAC area. We are wondering what the commute is like on 2222 and what west Austin area subdivisions would be within a reasonable commute time of 30-45 minutes on a run of the mill rush hour traffic day?

We have two young girls (9 and 4), one with special needs, and are beginning our search for a family friendly subdivision. We currently live in McKinney and drive to Dallas each day so we would love to get out of that driving lifestyle!
our price range is around 500k.

We have heard of Steiner Ranch and River Place...what is the commute time from thos esubdivisions?

Thanks, in advance, for all your help....

K

Both are great neighborhoods & great schools.

Steiner:

- a 15 min. further commute.
- Bigger & more amenities.
- Middle School in Steiner.
- Further from the soon to be built HS.

Riverplace:

- Closer to town.
- Closer to to be built HS.
- 15 min. drive to MS in Steiner.

From 4 points (corner of 620 & 2222) the drive would be 15-20 min. at 6am & 30-45 min. at 7:45am.

You might want to also look at our neighborhood (Canyon Creek) as a third (option) &/or Lakeway to balance your info gathering.

Good Luck.

[llkltk]

Hi. I know the McKinney area and think you would like Circle C in SW Austin or Meridian which is also in SW Austin. It's pretty scenic. River Place and Steiner are nice and close to your work but Steiner is a little isolated. Meridian ranges from around 280K to the 500s. River Place is from about 350-750. Steiner is about 300-1 million.

[kensaggie]

Thanks for the info.....our price range is in 500k but can go as high as 600k if we choose....we dotn care about reslae or new...just what fits our needs

[gigi927]

River Place is generally about 15-20 minutes from 2222 and Mopac in no traffic. THe real backup is at 2222 and 360; once you get past that interchange generally the traffic headed toward Mopac is not that bad.

$500-$600K in River Place will get you a pretty nice house in the 3500 square foot range on a good sized lot. Our elementary opened up this fall, the high school is opening next year and they have now decided to proceed with our new middle school, which will be right at 2222 and McNeil drive, next to the high school. That is also slated to be done in the 2010 timeframe. The special needs programs in LISD I've found to be terrific. If you have any questions about RP, let me know - I live here.

You might also look at Jester Estates at 2222 and Jester. It's 5 minutes closer in, but is in Austin ISD and I don't know much about the schools it feeds into. You could also look in the Cat Mountain area which would put you on the "right" side of 360 and reduce commute substantially.

There are two other neighborhoods near me called Glenlake and Long Canyon -every now and again you can get something in there for under $600K but it's rare. They are all custom homes on much larger lots with great views.

As a correction to llktk - homes in River Place run from about $350 up to $3 million dollars. Steiner also has homes well above the million dollar mark. Obviously, not in your budget, but it just helps to illustrate home values here. I love the Circle C area but I don't think I"d want to drive from there to 2222 and Mopac every day if I had other options that were closer and also nice.

[gigi927]

Also consider Grandview Hills - right near 620 and 2222.

[austifornian]

In your price range I would also consider Jester Estates, Cat Mountain and Northwest Hills.

[S6Sputnik]

I agree with the above statements!
I do drive River Place to MoPac every day and I have found the drive time to be slowest from 7:30 to 8:30am when it takes 20-25 minutes. If you go to work at about 9:00 it will shave 5-10 minutes off.

my $0.02

[hound 109]

gigi, i didn't know about the MS being built near the Riverplace entrance, thanks for the info.

We looked at Jester (along with Riverplace, Canyon Creek & Steiner) & the schools are AISD but very good. (Can't remember the ES, but Murchison was the MS & Anderson was the HS). The problem was kiddo on a bus (or mom in a car) would have to go down the mountain everyday, cross 360 & then climb over the mountain to (to Far West & Mopac/Mesa) school.

Nice neighborhood, but having the ES in the neighborhood is a nice benefit.

[S6Sputnik]

Originally Posted by hound 109

gigi, i didn't know about the MS being built near the Riverplace entrance, thanks for the info.
Nice neighborhood, but having the ES in the neighborhood is a nice benefit.

The MS and HS will be going in behind the 3M facility