good schools--surrounding Austin--not Austin itself (Leander, Lago Vista: real estate, house, travel)

[where_to_move]

Hello-
We are looking to live in suburbia, don't want to live in Austin itself, but to be <30 minutes from downtown just for evenings, like dinners, theatres, etc...
The highest we would spend is around $650k...of course, if could spend a little less, that would be nice, but that is what we are thinking.
What surrounding towns do you recommend?
TIA

[lindaluck]

Sounds like you would like Steiner Ranch. You may also consider living near Lake Travis, their schools are suppose to be very good and there are lots of nice places toi eat, shop, etc. Lago Vista is nice.

[lindaluck]

Eanes ISD is good, and it is close to town. Other areas in Eanes would be off of 360 like Davenport, Rob Roy.

[AustinTraveler]

You really don't need to look at surrounding towns if you want to be less than 30 minutes from downtown. There are plenty of places in Austin that will fit your bill. Like the previous poster said, Eanes is a good school district and a good place to start. The homes are expensive in that district but generally the area is the prettiest (imo) in Austin. Lots of hills and lots of land set aside as preserves.

Take a look at austinhomesearch.com and search by school district to get an idea of how much house your budget will accomodate.

[gigi927]

I agree that if you can get into the Eanes school district, that's your best bet. As an alternative, our neighborhood, near Steiner Ranch, is excellent and you can get a lot of home for your price range here. We are in Austin proper, but in the Leander school district. All of the schools in this area are rated exemplary. Steiner Ranch is great, but in traffic you might be pushing it to be less than 30 minutes from downtown. We are 10 minutes closer in than Steiner Ranch and we always get downtown in 20-25 minutes. Steiner only has one major entrance in/out and I understand that with traffic it can be a nightmare at times (I know picking up my kid from school there can be horrendous)!

As Austin Traveler said, I would look at Eanes, Leander and Lake Travis school districts on a real estate website. If you go too far north into the Leander school district, though, you're too far out from downtown and the schools are not as highly rated.

Or you can search 78730 zip code - that's our zip code - for an idea of what you can get. Good luck!

[TanikaW]

We live in Steiner Ranch and I love it. There are actually two entry ways in and out so I just avoid the major entrance during school hours. Other than that...I work downtown and I can be there in 30 minutes (not in rush hour of course) Rush hour is more like an hour for me. Steiner Ranch has an excellent school district, if you are looking at schools. $650K will go along way there. You can get around 3000 sqft for mid to high 300K. Not to mention the lake is near by and hills and trees. It is a very secluded community. I can't say enough good things about it.

Eanes is also very nice. We looked there first and I loved it. I just found that I could get a little more in Steiner and I really liked the side walks, etc since I have children a dog. Plus, I like to run/jog in the mornings.