Just moved but now may be moving again!!!!! (Austin, Waco: real estate, house)

[ccoutofsc]

Hello all,
To give some background we just moved from Columbia, SC to Buford, Ga (40 minutes outside Atlanta) in April of this year for my husbands job. Now a his previous supervisor has left Columbia and gone to a plant in Temple and wants my husband to join him. I love Buford and all it has to offer us in terms of parks and activities but if the transfer will be better financially for our family I will do it. I would like to know what are some good areas to live that will put him in a 30 min or less commute to work. The plant is the Mars plant in Temple that used to be a Doans dog food plant if that can help anyone give me better suggestions.

Now to give you info on our family. We have five kids ages 13, 11, 8, almost 3 yr old twins. My oldest two are boys who play travel baseball and my 8 year old daughter is in competitive dance. So it goes to say I want good baseball in high school as well as travel. We have many parks close by and great shopping and schools and I want the same in any area that we move to. I will have kids in each level of school next year so I want a good high school down to elementary. It would also be good to have some good half day preschools. I am originally from California and lived in Columbia, SC for 10 years that I really wish I could get back. We need to settle down and I know that moving our children in less than a year will have it's own problems but we want to make this our last move if it happens. I am researching early to hopefully be able to make any visits that we may do worth while.

[clarksvillemom]

This will be tough. Traffic is bad along the i-35 corridor. I think you're only choice is Temple or Waco. Waco is bigger so I assume would have better options for baseball and dance

[ccoutofsc]

Originally Posted by clarksvillemom

This will be tough. Traffic is bad along the i-35 corridor. I think you're only choice is Temple or Waco. Waco is bigger so I assume would have better options for baseball and dance

I read other post and Georgetown and Round Rock were mentioned. Is this to much of a commute for him?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by clarksvillemom

This will be tough. Traffic is bad along the i-35 corridor. I think you're only choice is Temple or Waco. Waco is bigger so I assume would have better options for baseball and dance

Dang...Waco is a pretty solid 30 miles of IH35 to get to the Mars plant...not a great start or finish to any day!(I will say I haven't been that way in a while...on purpose...and some of the never-ending 'improvements' may have actually ended. Still, that's not a commute I'd look forward to each day.)

[Trainwreck20]

Georgetown may not be bad, especially the north side. No idea on the amenities offered for kids now-a-days - probably much more than when I lived there in the 70s .

Ugh. Just check 'maps', and the Mars plant is a 38 minute drive from my old house on the northern side of Georgetown, so that may be pushing it.

Salado is a very 'popular' spot these days, but not sure if it is big enough for what you are looking for.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by ccoutofsc

I read other post and Georgetown and Round Rock were mentioned. Is this to much of a commute for him?

It would take him two hours of his life each day just for the commute...not to mention the wear and tear on the vehicle. On the other hand, my sister has driven from the Harbison area of Columbia to Orangeburg for nearly 30 years. You could expect the traffic along IH35 to be similar to the more congested highways around Columbia rather than the wide open spaces outside of the metro.

[10scoachrick]

Waco is closer to the size of Columbia; but no city in that area has the relative proximity of Buford to Atlanta in terms of being near a BIG city(that's maybe a GOOD thing!). Temple is about half the size; but it may still offer all you need for schools and sports. Real estate is going to be a fair bit less in Temple than the larger cities mentioned, I would think.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by ccoutofsc

Hello all,
To give some background we just moved from Columbia, SC to Buford, Ga (40 minutes outside Atlanta) in April of this year for my husbands job. Now a his previous supervisor has left Columbia and gone to a plant in Temple and wants my husband to join him. I love Buford and all it has to offer us in terms of parks and activities but if the transfer will be better financially for our family I will do it. I would like to know what are some good areas to live that will put him in a 30 min or less commute to work. The plant is the Mars plant in Temple that used to be a Doans dog food plant if that can help anyone give me better suggestions.

Now to give you info on our family. We have five kids ages 13, 11, 8, almost 3 yr old twins. My oldest two are boys who play travel baseball and my 8 year old daughter is in competitive dance. So it goes to say I want good baseball in high school as well as travel. We have many parks close by and great shopping and schools and I want the same in any area that we move to. I will have kids in each level of school next year so I want a good high school down to elementary. It would also be good to have some good half day preschools. I am originally from California and lived in Columbia, SC for 10 years that I really wish I could get back. We need to settle down and I know that moving our children in less than a year will have it's own problems but we want to make this our last move if it happens. I am researching early to hopefully be able to make any visits that we may do worth while.

- 5 Kids.
- Lived in Columbia SC, Cali & now greater ATL.
- needs LOTS of kids activities (with high level sports).
- Sounds like you need suburbia.

If it was me, I'd look at homes that feed into Georgetown HS or Midway HS (Waco suburb). Both Very Good (to Great) HSs and areas.

Belton is a nice town, with OK schools (& a small college), but is probably too pokey for you guys. Temple is not as nice (& the schools aren't as good) as Belton.

The commute is 35 miles (& 35 min.) with no traffic from Waco/Midway & 40 miles (& 40 min with no traffic) from Gtown. But if there's a wreck on 35 it could be an hour (or two hours) with either of these commutes.....I've been stuck in them.

What's your budget?

If you have the dough, I'd snag a nice home in a nice upper middle class area of Gtown (like Berry Creek) & hope hubby dodges the I 35 bullet on 4 out of 5 days of his commute. Benold is the best MS, so (with your crew), I'd go with a "?? ES; Benold MS & Gtown HS" track.

What's your budget for a home? Good Luck.

[ccoutofsc]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

It would take him two hours of his life each day just for the commute...not to mention the wear and tear on the vehicle. On the other hand, my sister has driven from the Harbison area of Columbia to Orangeburg for nearly 30 years. You could expect the traffic along IH35 to be similar to the more congested highways around Columbia rather than the wide open spaces outside of the metro.

Wow Harrison side to Orangeburg is really a commute!!!!!!! SO you think that Georgetown or Round Rock would be to much for my hubby?

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by ccoutofsc

Wow Harrison side to Orangeburg is really a commute!!!!!!! SO you think that Georgetown or Round Rock would be to much for my hubby?

The north side of G'town and a 'counter flow' commute may not be that bad, I suppose, but you would have to count on at least 45 minutes each way. It would be less stressful than the commute INTO Austin, though .