Californians coming to Austin area?? (Houston, Cedar Park: new home, job transfer, neighborhood)

[Stevedawg]

Join the crowd.

[TexasHorseLady]

Pretty much what lots of other folks here said. Whether you're moving from California to Austin or from Austin to California or from the city to the country or from anywhere to anywhere, don't complain about where you moved TO to get away from where you moved FROM isn't exactly like where you moved from. (As a real estate agent, I possibly see that more often than most, and I try to mitigate it whenever I can.)

That's what people don't like, and, sadly, more than a few Californians have done exactly that, making it bad for all the truly excellent folk who have moved here from there.

As long as you don't do that (and like I said, that'll get you disliked no matter where you're moving to or from), you should find the folks here quite friendly and welcoming.

Speaking of which, welcome to Austin!

[kylenamy]

Where in Cali. are you moving from?

[mimimomx3]

When, and if, you move to Austin, please don't try to 'reconstruct' California. Forget about 'Trader Joes' that all Californians seem so obsessed with. Stop bashing the fact we don't have this or that hamburger chain. Live and love the heat, the humidity, the Longhorns, the lake and you'll be fine.

[maverck11]

Thank you to everyone. So if you had to choose a place to live would it be Georgetown or SW Austin? Or RR? Just looking for your personal opinion and why? I don't want to pry into your business, however. But any perspective would be very helpful. And by the way, I have been a Cowboy fan since the days of the "Manster", Harvey Martin, Cliff Harris and Ed "Too Tall" Jones...just to name a few. Thanks Again to everyone who has and /or will give me some advice.

[TexasHorseLady]

Well, where are you going to have to commute to? I like both Georgetown and SW Austin, and Round Rock, once you get off the IH35 corridor, has its charms, as well, but a lot depends on the commute and, also, what you like in the way of a lifestyle. The good thing is, whatever it is, we'll likely be able to find it for you!

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by maverck11

Thank you to everyone. So if you had to choose a place to live would it be Georgetown or SW Austin? Or RR? Just looking for your personal opinion and why? I don't want to pry into your business, however. But any perspective would be very helpful. And by the way, I have been a Cowboy fan since the days of the "Manster", Harvey Martin, Cliff Harris and Ed "Too Tall" Jones...just to name a few. Thanks Again to everyone who has and /or will give me some advice.

Being a Cowboys fan is a good start!
In my opinion, where you live depends on where you work....I prefer SW Austin to RR, Pf or CP, but that's relative.

[Trainwreck20]

There are advantages to all three places.
Georgetown:

• Pros:
  1. More rural, or at least you can find rural areas and at a reasonable cost.
  2. The city is self-contained and not everyone works in Austin.
  3. Probably the least expensive housing option, probably lowest taxes.
• Cons:
  1. Longest drive into Austin, a pain if you are commuting, not an issue if you work in G'town.
  2. Least developed service industry - stores and restaurants have been coming in for some years, but still lag behind Austin/RR.
• Neutral:
  1. Probably the most 'conservative' of the three you mention.
  2. Nice University (Southwestern), enrollment ~2000 maybe? Beautiful campus.

Round Rock

• Pros:
  1. Fairly close in to Austin (especially N. Austin)
  2. Inexpensive housing
  3. Lots of options for shopping
• Cons:
  1. Very rapid growth, quite a bit of traffic
  2. Resale in some areas is difficult due to new construction options
  3. Probably the highest tax rate of the three (but should be similar to SW Austin).

SW Austin

• Pros:
  1. Close in to SW/W Austin, fairly close to downtown
  2. Can go months at a time w/o driving on I-35
  3. In Austin, so realtively cheap utilities.
• Cons:
  1. Growing, with associated traffic increases
  2. Most expensive of the three (but still quite 'reasonable')

These are just off the top of my head. I grew up in G'town, but it was only ~10,000 people back then. Loved it. Lots of open space (woods and land out of sight of houses) back then to go hiking, had a community feel to it. I currently reside in SW Austin. Really like it here, too. The houses are close, but I really like the neighbors/neighborhood, and have easy access to shopping and not much traffic. There is quite a bit of open space here, but not like G'town. I have not lived in RR, but the growth that has occurred there over the last 30 years is dumbfounding. It was very similar in size to G'town back in the 70s (definitely less than 20,000). The open spaces around the neighborhoods are disappearing fast

All three locations have very good schools, imho. There are better and worse, but none are likely to be a make-or-break item, it will depend more on the individual and the family.

[jwb123]

Live where you work.

My husband works at Dell - so RR was a given for us. He bikes to work. We also chose it because my sister and mom lived here, and we liked the neighborhood school, and district. We are into the heat, the longhorns and the lake - so I think we are doing ok I think we can still experience Austin, even though we don't live there full time.

[Phisch]

We moved from Cali. (OC) to Austin in July of last year. I can't say enough about Austin, it's gorgeous, the people are wonderful and people will say "ma'am" to me and the kids are so polite. There's a strong creative vibe, too, which I love.

A year before we moved, we spent several days' vacation here in Austin to make sure it was a good fit and to check out all the areas we wanted to consider living in. I highly recommend doing that. Even if you decide it's not for you, Austin is a great place to visit and that way you can get a feel for it. No matter how much research you do online, it's just not the same as being here.