San Marcos and Kyle (San Antonio, Austin: rent, custom home, neighborhood)

[BJB817]

Hi everyone. More questions...

I was wondering if there's anyone here that's familiar with Kyle or San Marcos. MY wife is exploring a job opportunity in San Marcos so we were just checking what the housing situation is in that area.

We've been to that area a few times now and my impressions are this:

San Marcos: While growing rapidly, it still has the historic downtown and university that make it a "real" community. I would think the city itself has a fair amount to offer as far as things to do. Plus my wife likes those outlets...

Kyle: Poster child for urban sprawl, bedroom community. Lots of nice new houses at a reasonable price though...

Another consideration is that if this comes together for my wife, I'd still likely be working in Austin, granted the 10 minutes or so difference in drive time isn't that great I guess. Seems like the bad traffic doesn't start until you get closer to 290, or at least that's been our experience.

Anyway, any other light you guys can shed on this would be most helpful.

Thanks, Brad

[southaustingal]

I have friends who live in San Marcos. They got a great house for a very low price. The only down side is the schools. Although the teachers are great, there is a large population of non-English-speaking kids, and the teachers have to meet the needs of those kids. My friends' kids are in the gifted program, which helps, but if they were in Austin, they'd be considered average, most likely.

I have another friend in Kyle. She likes that it's on the outskirts of town because she's a cyclist and can pick up country roads right from her home. Other than that, I'm not too familiar.

About the drive, depending on where your job is in Austin, you could be looking at much more than an additional 10 minutes' drive time. IH35 is horrible, and it seems like there's always an accident to back traffic up, sometimes for hours. In the morning during regular rush hour, you're looking at about 35-45 minutes to downtown, possibly longer if you take IH35. There are some back roads into town that will get you on the west side of Austin, but that can be pretty slow-going, too. If I had a choice, I'd take a job near William Cannon or Slaughter, definitely not north of the river.

[BJB817]

Thanks for the response.

As far as schools, even though we don't have kids right now, it's a definate future consideration. We have the same problem as San Marcos in the community that I currently live in regarding non-English speakers. I'm guessing in Kyle that wouldn't be as much of an issue, however, I'm sure the exponential growth happening there has the schools bursting at the seams.

Overall though it sounds like your friends like their repective communities, which is good to hear.

Actually 35-45 minutes to downtown from San Marcos doesn't sound that horrible. In the handful of times we've driven through during rush hour it seems like traffic moved along great until we approached the outskirts of Austin. I'm sure an accident or bad weather does make a huge difference though, like you mentioned.

Brad

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by BJB817

MY wife is exploring a job opportunity in San Marcos so we were just checking what the housing situation is in that area.

Your impressions so far sound right on the money, and my question is whether you want to be in a neighborhood or in the country. If you accept country then you've got a lot more options. Like my property 20 minutes southeast of San Marcos with 4.5 acres of land, 2 cabins that rent for $975 combined, and a beautiful eclectic custom home overlooking a pond.

But it's not right for most people, it's a weird floor plan.

Have you ruled out Wimberly and Driftwood? I love that area. Close to SM but scenic and rural.

San Marcos is overwhelmed by a large university and party scene right in the middle of town. It might not be a good fit for you depending on your lifestyle and age.

[bjlaprade]

Just how weird is your floor plan? How wonderful to be overlooking a pond. Do you have a lot of traffic in your area? How about the traffic between where you live and UT?

[deeptrance]

BJLaprade, my floor plan is absolutely gorgeous for anyone who wants to see the outdoors from every room, have a giant master bedroom and is OK with a small primitive kitchen. It's extremely unconventional and would take pages to explain fully. It's also fairly high-maintenance as it's true country living and you can't just relax and enjoy it. There are scorpions-a-plenty, lots of other critters wandering through the woods, fire ants that get way out of control, it's great for someone who wants to be involved with maintaining it all but it's fairly isolated and getting to Austin is a pain because there are no straight routes between there and here. It's an easy commute to San Marcos, though, and only 5 minutes from Lockhart.

[Muhnay]

San Marcos, is wonderful, very green, the local college there gives it some life, its easy to navigate, its easy to get to San Antonio, or Austin. I loved it when we lived there. Also have the outlit mall there for some cheep shopping. I think you'll like it.

[Rnelson]

San Marcos!

Drove from downtown Austin to South West Texas for 4 years 4 days a week. No problem at all and the country around San Marcos makes it feel like your living in a different country than Kyle's flat black soil farm land.

Also your resale in San Marcos is going to be better in the long run (:

[jread]

San Marcos is a great town. It's the only other place I'd live in Texas besides Austin.

[Rnelson]

Originally Posted by jread

San Marcos is a great town. It's the only other place I'd live in Texas besides Austin.

Second that.............