Driving to San Francisco to Austin TX in Dec???

[honeybear3529]

Originally Posted by ATX Wahine

Hi. I’m originally from SF but live here now. I’ve made that journey many, many times. You *may* encounter some snow in NM and AZ but unless it’s blizzard levels of weather, the interstate will be well-groomed and dry and you should do fine. So far it’s been a very mild winter and you may see no snow at all. You most likely won’t see any in Texas at all. It’s all dependent of course on the forecast but the southern route between CA and TX is usually winter safe.

We usually leave early, and stay one night in Phoenix and one night in El Paso. You can definitely do it in three days of driving.

How do you like Austin?? Do you regret it or miss it at all??? Do you think you’ll move back to the bay?
I live in Fremont area and I would like suburb with many young family (my daughter is one). Which outskirts of Austin do you recommend?

[mickey65]

When I moved to TX, I lived in the SF Bay Area and drove out here from there (by myself). I drove down to L.A. and got on I-10 and drove out to TX that way. I stayed In LA my first night, NM on my 2nd night and then in Junction City, TX on my 3rd night and drove thru the Hill Country to Georgetown (final destination) from there...


My sister and BIL (who live in Cedar Park), can drive to CA in 36 hours, going non-stop (taking turns driving). No thanks!

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by honeybear3529

How do you like Austin?? Do you regret it or miss it at all??? Do you think you’ll move back to the bay?
I live in Fremont area and I would like suburb with many young family (my daughter is one). Which outskirts of Austin do you recommend?

There are many good suburbs here. Where will you be working?

[ATX Wahine]

Originally Posted by honeybear3529

How do you like Austin?? Do you regret it or miss it at all??? Do you think you’ll move back to the bay?
I live in Fremont area and I would like suburb with many young family (my daughter is one). Which outskirts of Austin do you recommend?

Hahaha! Small world! I too lived in Fremont for some years. I’ve been here now for 13 years.

I like living in Austin. No regrets! I live in the Oak Hill part of town, on a couple acres in a more rural neighborhood about 20 minutes from downtown. Austinites and Texans are some of the friendliest Americans one can meet. They take the time to stop and chat and they are genuine and kind. Good people here!

The music and food here make me very happy. It took a few years for me to adjust to the hottest part of summer, but I absolutely love the thunderstorms and varied weather here. I definitely appreciate the lower cost of living, though I caution newcomers that it’s not as low as some may have you think. Still though we aren’t taxed to death here. I’m ethnically Hawaiian, and love the ocean, so while I miss having it in my backyard, it’s only a few hours away. A lot of people rip on Gulf beaches, but after a lifetime of wearing a wetsuit in the Pacific, that warm water feels great.

The thing I personally miss the most are the parks and open spaces of CA. Sure there are some really great parks here (I love Big Bend to death) but they simply can’t compare to the vast number of parks in the CA system and the wildly varied ecosystems of redwood and fern forests, mountainous hiking trails, etc. That is actually the number one thing that I miss.

I retired early (I’m 50) and go home throughout the year to visit, and come home with loads of linguica, Boudin bread, and See’s candy. lol. I appreciate CA so much more now that I don’t live there. Since I moved here 3/4 of my family has followed, and are now scattered throughout the Austin metro. Our father’s side are all Texans, and they just say “y’all just came back home is all”.

My best advice is to live close to where you work. Otherwise you’ll be signing yourself up for the same misery you are walking away from. So without knowing those details, I can’t suggest a specific location. There are a myriad however of wonderful family neighborhoods here. There are also a lot of folks here from all the different neighborhoods that will weigh in I’m sure. Public schools here are a far sight better than those back in CA, I’ll tell you that much!

Will I never move back to the Bay Area? No. If I ever end up back in CA it will be to a mountain retreat up near Arnold. I’m so done with the Bay Area.

[honeybear3529]

I will be working right by apple and visa. I was considering cedar park and round rock as I don’t want to live in the city. I prefer laid back family oriented places with good diversity. But I didn’t find any houses available in cedar park and round rock. If I go to Georgetown, would it be too far and won’t be diversed anymore?

[honeybear3529]

Wow thank you for the reply! Small word indeed! I was looking at cedar park and round rock as I am Japanese but there weren’t many houses available...maybe I missed the boat already.
Can you give me any moving tips? Did you buy a house first and moved? Or did you rent first and buy?Now I’m planning to visit to see the area but it’s a long long drive and It’ll probably take me 3 days or more to get there...

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by honeybear3529

I was looking at cedar park and round rock as I am Japanese but there weren’t many houses available...maybe I missed the boat already.

There are lots of houses for sale in the Cedar Park / Round Rock area, especially in the $300 - 600k price range.

[ATX Wahine]

Originally Posted by honeybear3529

Wow thank you for the reply! Small word indeed! I was looking at cedar park and round rock as I am Japanese but there weren’t many houses available...maybe I missed the boat already.
Can you give me any moving tips? Did you buy a house first and moved? Or did you rent first and buy?Now I’m planning to visit to see the area but it’s a long long drive and It’ll probably take me 3 days or more to get there...

My husband is a native Austinite, so for him he was simply coming home after a three-year Silicon Valley tour of duty. We knew exactly where we wanted to be, looked at the house we bought during a weekend trip to Austin, and handled closing remotely. Very easy process. Agents are used to out of state buyers and know how best to serve your needs. The best thing you can do is simply spend some time here. Figure out what part of town you’re working in and what part of town you like the most and try to find something in-between. I definitely recommend renting for a year if you aren’t intimately familiar with Austin. A much easier way to ensure buying the right house in the right area the first time.

[siaopao]

We lived in Round Rock for almost 10 years before relocating to bay area in 2011 and then moved back to TX (Cedar Park) in 2015.

We are a young family and feel like the quality of life for us are much better here. Yes, summer can be hot but you'll got used to is after a couple years. Texans are the nicest ppl - Polite and Genuine

Public schools are much better compare to bay. There are also Charter schools. North Austin, RR and Cedar Park have a lot of tech companies - NI, Apple, Cisco, Flex, Dell, so the ppl you will encounter will a bit like in bay area - young families and a lot of asian.

Everyone is different. Since you are new here, I would suggest you rent for 6 months before you decide where to buy. The bad thing on renting now is, housing price has been sky rocketing in the past few months and I think will continue for a while.

We drove from RR to Campbell when we relocate in 2011. We overnight at Tucson and LA. You can reverse the route.