Austin TX relo considerations -- feedback request (Round Rock, Spring: appointed, transplants)

[RefersHer Health]

Possible move in June 2019 and coming for initial visit next week (DEC 13) looking to get a feel and rule out communities. Would love some insight around our considerations. Thanks in advance y'all!

Family of 4 CA transplants looking for...
2700sq ft + home (existing/move-in ready including landscape); good high school; uncongested area of town; 30 min avg max commute to downtown; within 45 mins max to airport; prefer bigger lots with greenback; not 'cookie cutter' and not a golf community; proximity to day to day 'stuff' e.g., good grocery stores, doctors/wellness providers, gyms, yoga studios, restaurants, shopping etc.; health/wellness/active-oriented culture; community with some 'character' -- old and new -- not 'big box' dominated; liberal/moderate politics; community with a town center a plus; artistic community a plus; mixed demographic residents a plus; senior living options nearby a plus. Note: son will play either HS soccer or competitive with a league so proximity/quality program a consideration.

Initial research coming up with the following communities as first pass. Please confirm/correct/comment based on what we are looking for above.
- Bee Cave
- Circle C Ranch
- Dripping Springs
- 78750 zip
- 78759 zip
- 78735 zip
- River Place
- Lakeway
- Steiner Ranch
- Shady Hollow
- Brushy Creek
- Pflugerville
- Crestview
- Rollling Hills
- Cherrywood
- Allandale
- Brentwood
- Wimberely
- Georgetown (? Bad commute?)
- Sunset Valley
- Barton Hills West
- Bear Creek
- Canyon Creek
- Shady Hollow
- Avery Ranch
- Driftwood
- Leander
- Cedar Park
- Round Rock (? bad commute?)

High schools:
Vandegrift, Westwood, Lake Travis, Wimberely, Leander, McNeal, Anderson

[ashbeeigh]

You did a good job of narrowing down areas but there’s still some questions that need to be answered.

Circle c and shady hollow feed into Bowie. You’ll need to add that to your list. The schools in the crestview, Brentwood, cherrywood and Allandale area is not on your list either. They go McCallum. 78745 will be one of the more affordable areas, but they feed into Crockett which is not on your list either. It by no means compares to lake Travis, Vandegrift or Bowie. Bear Creek is either Akins or Hays HS, but I’m not 100% sure if that’s in Hays county or not. Akins is fine, Hays is fine too. I don’t believe there is a “Leander” high school, but I’m not familiar with the district in the way I am with AISD. Budget is going to dictate a LOT of our responses as to where to direct you. Lakeway, Steiner, Pflugerville, Round Rick, Georgetown,

Dripping, Wimberly, driftwood, cedar park snd Leander all will push your doable commute. Lots of people in Austin do it, though. The Circle c/bear creek/shady hollow area could be added to that list. I did the reverse commute anc heading downtown looked hideous.

[Austin97]

steiner and circle C are master planned communities and are the essence of cookie cutter.

brentwood, cherrywood, allandale, crestview are in the urban core. They dont feed to good schools, have small houses and generally no greenbelt.

I would look at the communities to the west of mopac and to the west of 360. A budget would help a lot.

If you have a high budget (over 1M) I would hands down recommend rolling wood, westlake hills, lost creek.

If you are more budget conscious in the 500-1M range, I would recommend northwest hills. I would also recommend jester, great hills, and river place, but they have a bit of a cookie cutter feel.

I do think based on your criteria northwest hills is a good fit.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

You did a good job of narrowing down areas but there’s still some questions that need to be answered.

Circle c and shady hollow feed into Bowie. You’ll need to add that to your list. The schools in the crestview, Brentwood, cherrywood and Allandale area is not on your list either. They go McCallum. 78745 will be one of the more affordable areas, but they feed into Crockett which is not on your list either. It by no means compares to lake Travis, Vandegrift or Bowie. Bear Creek is either Akins or Hays HS, but I’m not 100% sure if that’s in Hays county or not. Akins is fine, Hays is fine too. I don’t believe there is a “Leander” high school, but I’m not familiar with the district in the way I am with AISD. Budget is going to dictate a LOT of our responses as to where to direct you. Lakeway, Steiner, Pflugerville, Round Rick, Georgetown,

Dripping, Wimberly, driftwood, cedar park snd Leander all will push your doable commute. Lots of people in Austin do it, though. The Circle c/bear creek/shady hollow area could be added to that list. I did the reverse commute anc heading downtown looked hideous.

Oh, the Lions will be disappointed to hear you say that!!!

Home - Leander High School


You DID say you weren't familiar, so they forgive you

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Oh, the Lions will be disappointed to hear you say that!!!

Home - Leander High School


You DID say you weren't familiar, so they forgive you

Womp. Circle C, although master planned, has great bike lanes making it easy to bike and walk to HEB and all the mass produced things on Escarpment. I would want to be closer to Slaughter then 45, though, the ride from the south end of Circle C could be a pain \. Also you mentioned that the Brentwood, Allandale school isn't good. McCallum (92/100) isn't as top rated as Westlake (97/100), Bowie (97/100) or Lake Travis (92/100) (thinking TEA ratings this last year)....wow they have the same rating at LT! They do have a Fine Arts Academy that is top rated and the football team almost went to state last year. It is not Title 1, despite being in the "urban core." Here are the ratings - https://txschools.org/

[riaelise]

No budget provided, so it's hard to respond to your post.

very few areas meet most of those qualifications.

on one hand, you want a relatively quick commute (closer in core areas), but on the other hand you want a "town center", large lot, greenbelt (mostly suburban), character house, great high school etc. etc.

austin and the suburbs have a lot of cookie cutter housing, there's no getting away from that. to find a home with "character" in Austin, chances are it won't be on a large lot or near a greenbelt, unless you're ponying up some coin. You can find character homes sprinkled throughout the suburbs, some with large lots and greenbelts, but in exchange you'll have a longer commute. (FWIW, I don't mind that, because we strongly preferred a large lot/house with character) When i think of town squares, I think of suburbs like Georgetown.

[A-Tex]

Originally Posted by Austin97

brentwood, cherrywood, allandale, crestview are in the urban core. They dont feed to good schools, have small houses and generally no greenbelt.

What the heck are you talking about? Brentwood, Crestview and Allandale feed into great schools and there are many many many new builds in those areas that have large square footage.

OP, there are no places that will remotely touch all of your listed requirements, so you're going to need to prioritize. But most importantly, you need to state your housing budget because none of it matters if you can't afford an area.

[neddy]

Seems like you want what everyone e!se with a fam asks for. Leander isd has some great hs however the name is not Leander(for the good ones..love the principal though)..go Glenn!...in leander isd you have Vandergrift,Cedar Park,Vista Ridge,Leander and Glenn.what times are the commute..that makes a difference

[Antny12]

Leander has 3 high schools.

Glen is brand new

Rouse is more established

Leander high is the most established

[Antny12]

Another question that will greatly impact commute times.. are you willing to take tolls daily?