Chicago To Austin (Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park: best schools, pros and cons, income)

[tiyakhambadkone]

A little About us : We are a south asian (Indian) family. We live in Naperville, IL. It is a suburb of Chicago. We love it here except for the cold.

We want to move to Austin because in the past (many years back) I had a chance to stay in Austin for few months and I loved it. That time, I didn't have kids and my priorities in life were different. I stayed near the south side of Austin.

I would really appreciate if anyone can help me get answers to following questions:

1. We are planning to live in the north side near RoundRock or Cedar Park. Are there more Indian families living in these area compared to other parts of Austin?

2. How is the commute to downtown from say Round Rock? How is the traffic? How long does it take during peak-hours?

3. How are the schools? How is the reputation of north side charter schools? Is it hard to get an admission into a charter school like Harmony Endeavor or Meridian World School? What are the pros and cons of a charter school? Are public schools better than the charter schools?

4. Are there any things-to-do for kids in/near Austin?

Thanks.

[Need4Camaro]

#1 - From Googling:
-- Cedar Park is 0.57% Asian Indian or 34,250 inhabitants
-- Round Rock is 0.74% Asian Indian or 78,055 inhabitants

The Asian populations platonically are a bit higher... @ 9.7% in Cedar Park & 6.7% Asian in Round Rock

Comparatively in Naperville IL - 3.87% or 146,316 Asian Indians or 18.4% Asians in Naperville IL altogether.

From plain sight, It's not uncommon for me to see Asian Indian's in Cedar Park when I go shopping there. I can't speak for Round Rock but I wouldn't be shocked to see them there either...

All in all, they do have a presence here but expect to see alot less than you have in Naperville.

================================

2. During non-covid full out rush hour? .. .. Bring a good book or a fun app to play with on your phone. Truthfully, Naperville IL to Downtown Chicago is probably worse .. .. on the freeway, but Chicago's transit blows ours out of the water. We do have CapMetro which you can board at Lakeline which is a decent (not worth it) drive from Cedar Park but you're still looking at 45 mins to 1 Hr on the train. I'd say it will be approximately 1 Hr commute during non-pandemic peak hours.

================================

3. I'm not the best qualified, I don't have kids and schools weren't important to me but based on what I hear and read you shouldn't have problems with the schools in Cedar Park or Round Rock.

================================

4. I personally don't believe there is more for kids here than you have in Naperville. I could be wrong.

[Trainwreck20]

There are quite a few south Asians throughout Austin and the suburbs. If you want to to get some idea of the relative prevalence of Asians, you can go to the district web site and check out the school demographics for each school (elementary schools are the most area specific). For example, Brushy Creek Elementary in RR ISD is 16.7% Asian. This does not break out South Asian specifically, but you can use it to compare schools in a relative sense. A large portion will be South Asian, though. Westwood HS, one of the top rated HSs in the country, is 34% Asian.

I know nothing of the charter schools, but you are unlikely (from a ratings standpoint) to do better than a chain of schools that feeds into Westwood.

There are a ton of things for families and/or their kids to do in the Austin area. Most will require driving, though.

Btw, Cedar Park is in Leander ISD. Cedar Park is the largest municipality in the state without its own ISD.

[ashbeeigh]

The advice provided above is solid. When did you last visit? Please come down before relocating. You say many years back...Austin and the surrounding area has sñchsnged a lot.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Btw, Cedar Park is in Leander ISD. Cedar Park is the largest municipality in the state without its own ISD.

This is shocking. Did not know this. Cedar Park High, Middle, and Mason are all apart of Leander ISD as well?

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

This is shocking. Did not know this. Cedar Park High, Middle, and Mason are all apart of Leander ISD as well?

I couldn't tell you what district those schools are in, but I guess? They could be in RR or AISD, I suppose, at it all gets jumbled up in that area .

When I was a kid in Georgetown not THAT many eons ago, Cedar Park was around 500 people and serviced by Leander ISD.

[sloppymeg]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

This is shocking. Did not know this. Cedar Park High, Middle, and Mason are all apart of Leander ISD as well?

CPHS, CPMS, and CC Mason Elementary (guessing that's what you meant?) are all part of Leander ISD.


Leander ISD is quite large and covers a lot of land.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

I couldn't tell you what district those schools are in, but I guess? They could be in RR or AISD, I suppose, at it all gets jumbled up in that area .

When I was a kid in Georgetown not THAT many eons ago, Cedar Park was around 500 people and serviced by Leander ISD.

And there was a time, not too long ago, when Austin, Cedar Park and round Rock did not run into each other. I’m worried OP is in this headspace that the places they are considering are “out.” They are not.

[Need4Camaro]

I personally feel he is more so looking for something in similar suburban class, diversity and feel to Naperville. Naperville is further from the city core of Chicago than Cedar Park / Round Rock is to Austin but Chicago is a metro about 5x the size of Austin metro so that isn’t particularly surprising to me as Chicago turns suburban much further from the core than Austin does. Even the inner areas of Austin would be very suburban in comparison to Chicago so I don’t think that would really be an issue.

I don’t know that we have an exact Naperville clone. Cedar Park and Round Rock on average are alittle more affordable than Naperville but the avg income in both are slightly lower than Naperville as well. There are areas in Austin with similar or more expensive price points but not sure if the diversity stacks in the OP’s favor

[Austin97]

the area around avery ranch has a lot of indians. The area around yaupon (feeding into westwood) has a lot of indians.

Anytime you look at "asian" population there is roughly a 50/50 split between south and east asians.

The easier thing to do is look up schools and look at the population. Asian populations tend to gravitate towards particular schools and once it gets momentum those schools tend to become the best schools. As the westwood area has gotten too expensive they have sought out areas further north.

I believe charter school admission is by lottery. So luck of the draw. Meridian probably has a ton of applicants because it got rated so high. I doubt it is as good as the rating. It was only a few years old when it hit #1.