What’s it like to be a teenager in Austin (Spring: houses, neighborhoods)

[greenhoover]

My Husband and I and our two kids ( 10 and 13 yo) are moving to Austin from Berlin, Germany. In Berlin, kids have a lot of freedom to be out on their own taking public transportation, grabbing bubble tea with friends, hanging out in the parks. How is it in Austin? Do kids who live in the suburbs hang out in the city, as well, or do they stick to their neighborhoods? What kinds of things do they do for fun when not in school? At what age is it normal for them to be off on their own?

Of course, I know this will vary kid-by-kid and family-by-family. I’m just looking for some general norms. Thanks!!

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by greenhoover

My Husband and I and our two kids ( 10 and 13 yo) are moving to Austin from Berlin, Germany. In Berlin, kids have a lot of freedom to be out on their own taking public transportation, grabbing bubble tea with friends, hanging out in the parks. How is it in Austin? Do kids who live in the suburbs hang out in the city, as well, or do they stick to their neighborhoods? What kinds of things do they do for fun when not in school? At what age is it normal for them to be off on their own?

Of course, I know this will vary kid-by-kid and family-by-family. I’m just looking for some general norms. Thanks!!

public transit is virtually non existent here. People are generally afraid of their kids being kidnapped so kids are pretty much taken from activity to activity by parents and generally dont roam the city. There will be a smattering of older kids, but generally you dont really see older kids out and about much at all.

There are a few areas of town where there is housing close to commercial areas where you can get that kind of lifestyle, but they are generally the most expensive.

Some of the suburbs are starting to get mixed use centers where that is more possible. 5-10 years from now I would expect there to be many more choices.

It is definitely possible to take public transit all over town, but things are likely much more spread out here so I would say very few teenagers do it. They would typically just have their parents drive them.

You can pretty much look at a map and see which neighborhoods are close to commercial areas.

The best area for what you are describing is probably mueller. Tons of parks and pools, lots of commercial areas nearby. But in the central core you can find areas where it is possible as well.

Balcones woods is a sleeper area that is walkable to the domain.

Some of northwest hills is walkable to limited commercial on Far west blvd.

Central core neighborhoods (crestview, allandale, brykerwoods, etc), ones along south congress etc.

It would help to know price range and job location

[blakely]

My cousin lives in Germany with her two teenage children, so I think I understand what you are talking about.

It's different here. Not that they kids aren't "free," but doing all the things your kids can do there requires an adult (or older teenager) with a car to get around here. We don't have a great public transportation system, and the suburbs and city are spread out geographically. So for your kid to get to the store or downtown often means that you or another adult drives them there. And because of that, it doesn't happen as often.

Some neighborhoods have parks, and we chose one so that our kids could walk/bike and play there with friends. Our neighborhood is safe for them to walk and bike around, but they really can't go far beyond the neighborhood easily without a car. That's not unusual in many areas of Austin.

Have you visited yet? I think this will become evident as you tour neighborhoods and see our limited public transport options (especially in suburban neighborhoods).

[Need4Camaro]

Compared to Germany and many European countries our transit is not only limited but practically non-existant. Its an altogether different world here. If you come to visit you will see this very quickly. There are only a handful of cities in America than can match even the worst of what Europe has to offer in terms of transit, Austin is definitely not one of them.

[greenhoover]

Thanks everyone! I haven't been to Austin since before I had kids I loved it, but was looking at it with very different eyes, of course. We will be visiting in the new year, driving around neighborhoods, visiting schools etc.

So no public transportation - got it. What if I drove my daughter and some of her friends into town and set them loose for a few hours to, say, swim at Barton Springs pool or grab a Frappuccino and window shop? That wouldn't be considered weird or irresponsible, right?

Otherwise, what do teens and tweens do when not at school? I suppose they spend time swimming in community pools or at friends' pools and hanging out at friends' houses?

[Trainwreck20]

Well, when it is non-Covid times....

The middle school and older kids do a lot of 'hanging out', more or less. We have kids very similar in age to yours. They ride bikes to each other's houses and swim at their pools (or the neighborhood pool). They also can ride their bikes to the local park and hand out at the creek/greenbelt. Starbucks and the ice cream places in the neighborhood are popular. There isn't a lot of kid-interesting shopping in the neighborhood, though. The summers are so hot that outside time tends to be limited other than at the pools.

We live in SW Austin, fwiw.

[blakely]

Originally Posted by greenhoover

So no public transportation - got it. What if I drove my daughter and some of her friends into town and set them loose for a few hours to, say, swim at Barton Springs pool or grab a Frappuccino and window shop? That wouldn't be considered weird or irresponsible, right?

Otherwise, what do teens and tweens do when not at school? I suppose they spend time swimming in community pools or at friends' pools and hanging out at friends' houses?

Yes, teens will swim or shop or eat food by themselves on weekends or after school. At what age? It depends a lot on the family (how careful/hovering they are) and the kid (how responsible they are) and to a certain extent, the area you live in. This might start at an older age than you're used to in Germany, typically middle school or high school. My kids could walk to eat food with their friends after high school, and sometimes back to the high school if their activity started later in the day. Playdates (kids playing at each others' homes) are also pretty common, or meeting at the neighborhood park or pool.

Kids also seem to have a lot of activities outside of school hours here that keep them busy, for better or worse. Sports, art, ballet, martial arts, tutoring, you name it. Many of those activities are coordinated with friends too. Carpools help a lot!

[Foamposite]

Isn't the centrally located part of Austin pretty walkable?
I was walking around East Austin during my stay there and I found it surprisingly walkable (I'm from New York). It seemed like somewhere that kids and teens could easily walk around too.

[Need4Camaro]

Downtown Austin is pretty walkable minus the transit factor, otherwise it’s an isolated bubble in cartopia

[ScoPro]

When my kids reached the age of 16 they drove themselves everywhere they wanted to go like I did back in the day.
Before that they would hang out with their friends in the neighborhood, and for school & sports activities we parents provided transportation. Our kids didn’t hang out in coffee shops.