Young British family coming for recce for possible move (Austin: house, school)

[A-Tex]

Originally Posted by alanesmith

I'd rent a place in Mueller - there's plenty of amenities and it's the most central. Avoid anything outside of the center unless you want to be back in Dubai traffic (stay between I35 and MoPac, and between Ben White and 183 - Mueller is the exception). All the central nbds that have been mentioned are fine, but Mueller has more stock and will be easier to source. Hyde Park and Rosedale are also good nbds to look in (that's where I am), but finding a place might be harder. Stick around til the summer and we can argue whether Austin or the UAE is hotter!

So where exactly in Mueller, Hyde Park and Rosedale would be those 2000 -2500 SF four bedroom houses for $2500/month be?

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Maybe the Mueller area and Windsor Park. There are ranch style homes and rents are about that for the older homes. Mueller proper may be tough with the larger size (more like $3500) but doable within the Windsor Park area. There is Bartholomew Park with a pool and if you get into Mueller they have two pools (I think?). Biking and walking would be possible in both areas.

Originally Posted by alanesmith

I'd rent a place in Mueller - there's plenty of amenities and it's the most central. Avoid anything outside of the center unless you want to be back in Dubai traffic (stay between I35 and MoPac, and between Ben White and 183 - Mueller is the exception). All the central nbds that have been mentioned are fine, but Mueller has more stock and will be easier to source. Hyde Park and Rosedale are also good nbds to look in (that's where I am), but finding a place might be harder. Stick around til the summer and we can argue whether Austin or the UAE is hotter!

Originally Posted by A-Tex

So where exactly in Mueller, Hyde Park and Rosedale would be those 2000 -2500 SF four bedroom houses for $2500/month be?

Not sure you can get the 2500 sqft townhouse in Mueller for $2500, more like $3500. If OP is flexible they'd be able to get something about 17-1800 sqft in a ranch style house in Windsor Park, though. You have seemed to have missed my post on the first page, A Tex.

[A-Tex]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Not sure you can get the 2500 sqft townhouse in Mueller for $2500, more like $3500. If OP is flexible they'd be able to get something about 17-1800 sqft in a ranch style house in Windsor Park, though. You have seemed to have missed my post on the first page, A Tex.

I did not miss it. I was replying to another poster -- and all the people who keep recommending areas that do not meet any of their requirements. While WP might meet them budget wise, not too many four bedrooms exist and the area, while gentrifying, continues to have large sketchy portions and horrible schools. It's not an area I would ever recommend someone land when moving to Austin if they don't have better options within their budget.

[Cardiff Giant]

Originally Posted by Englishrose123

We could open a fish and chip shop.

Yes! That would be swell. My neighborhood is probably too suburban for your tastes but we came from Manhattan 11 years ago and we love it here. It would be better with some decent fish and chips, however.

Having said that, I have no recommendations regarding neighborhoods. Maybe Mueller but I'm not sure what the rents are there. We'd have loved to live in Hyde Park (no, not that Hyde Park) but the value for money just wasn't there. Good luck!

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by A-Tex

I did not miss it. I was replying to another poster -- and all the people who keep recommending areas that do not meet any of their requirements. While WP might meet them budget wise, not too many four bedrooms exist and the area, while gentrifying, continues to have large sketchy portions and horrible schools. It's not an area I would ever recommend someone land when moving to Austin if they don't have better options within their budget.

Perhaps the OP should see the area before having a random stranger tell them that the area is sketchy and the schools are poor. Harris has amazing after school programs, middle schoolers go to newly competitive leadership academies or a mixed gender school with an innovation and world cultures academy and if you send your kids to Reagan they can graduate with an associates degree. Do you even live in the area or are you just watching the news? Please come and talk to the young families (such as OP) that are moving to the area before ASSuming that it's a bad area and should be avoided.

[COCUE]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Perhaps the OP should see the area before having a random stranger tell them that the area is sketchy and the schools are poor. Harris has amazing after school programs, middle schoolers go to newly competitive leadership academies or a mixed gender school with an innovation and world cultures academy and if you send your kids to Reagan they can graduate with an associates degree. Do you even live in the area or are you just watching the news? Please come and talk to the young families (such as OP) that are moving to the area before ASSuming that it's a bad area and should be avoided.

Lol.. to be fair, posting in an online forum is essentially asking random strangers to tell you their opinions about the topic in question from their own perspective. Who is to say that mine, yours or anybody else's opinion is more relevant than the other. All are just data points that the question asker would hopefully use as such in their decision making process and make the best decision for their family.

3 years ago when we were moving, we got a bunch of data points as well and made the decision we felt was best for us. I appreciated people telling me in their opinions, which areas that thought were good, based or ugly and when we visited we made decisions.

[coachtaylor]

I agree with the Mueller recommendation. It's at least worth a few hours of your time to check out while you're in town and meets a lot (but not all) of your requirements:

- Budget: $2500 won't get you 2000+ sq ft but you can get a townhouse for that. Or if you want to rent a 2-bedroom apartment for a couple months in one of the three complexes (Mosaic, Amli, Elysian), that should be plenty.
- Prefer ranch style: sorry, this one doesn't meet your specifications
- Friendly, safe, liberal: YES
- Walk to shops/restaurants: YES, there's a children's museum in the neighborhood, a farmer's market on Sundays, and a bunch of restaurants being built that are set to open in the first half of 2017
- Young families: Everywhere (including mine)
- Center of the city: Not far from downtown but still has a suburban feel
- Good schools: Not as good as the outlying areas but still plenty of options. The people here seem happy enough between public and charter options
- Fully grown trees: Cherrywood, right next to Mueller, has amazing mature trees and might be worth looking into. Mueller doesn't yet but it's not brand-new either
- Swimming pool: Yes, two pools (and playgrounds) at Ella Wooten Park and John Gaines Park

Honestly, from what I've heard NC is an amazing place and maybe better than Texas if you have a choice. But our families are here and we really love the Mueller neighborhood.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by jread

WTH is a "recce"?

Recce /ˈrɛki/ is a military term that has been borrowed by media production in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, derived from "reconnaissance" in the noun sense and "reconnoitre" in the verb sense.

[eirenecat]

Originally Posted by A-Tex

I did not miss it. I was replying to another poster -- and all the people who keep recommending areas that do not meet any of their requirements. While WP might meet them budget wise, not too many four bedrooms exist and the area, while gentrifying, continues to have large sketchy portions and horrible schools. It's not an area I would ever recommend someone land when moving to Austin if they don't have better options within their budget.

I completely agree with you, A-Tex. I did live in Windsor Park and we still own a home there. It is not at all where I would choose to live first if I had the desires/requirements that OP stated. The schools ARE horrible (with the exception of Maplewood Elementary) and there ARE some sketchy areas, particularly in the original neighborhoods bordering Mueller where our house is. Inside Mueller itself I am sure is a wonderful little bubble, but it is surrounded by a whole lot of less than wonderful.

The main selling point of Windsor Park is it is close to downtown, has some areas of slightly MCM-ish ranch style houses (outside of the new Mueller houses), and it isn't crazy expensive yet. The reason it is not crazy expensive yet is because the schools suck. That's just the plain truth--if they didn't suck Windsor Park would have the same price point as Allandale, Rosedale, Northwest Hills, etc. School quality along with proximity to the center city drive price, in most cases.

The shopping and amenities of Mueller are nice, but there are Alamo Drafthouses, HEBs, and big box stores in many other (nicer) areas of Austin, too.

[ashbeeigh]

For those questioning the Mueller reccomendation I saw this yesterday as I was driving to pick up my dog: 2037 Zach Scott St, Austin, TX 78723 | Zillow 1900 sq ft, 3/2.5 with an office. Not a ranch but if OP can spare 100 square feet and an extra $150 it would be a fit.