Boston to UT Austin (San Antonio, Allen: appointed, rentals, condo)

[yellowstatus]

Hello!

We currently live in Boston, MA. My partner might receive an offer with UT Austin. I can work remotely, though I work in tech and commute to the main tech areas is a plus long term.

I have never lived in Texas and only visited the touristy things of the Alamo and the San Antonio River walk a decade ago. Never been to Austin. Some quick searching online brought up the North Loop and Allendale neighborhoods.

Key priorities:
- Less than a 30 minute commute to UT Austin, preferably by public transit, bike, or walking.
- Ability to walk and bike to do errands in general
- A quiet neighborhood, not on a busy street
- 3 br, 2 ba detached SFH or townhouse. I really don't want neighbors above or below, though on the side is acceptable. Under 3000sqft, preferably closer to 2000 sqft
- enough yard space for a vegetable garden
- reasonable schools, no children yet but trying. Not looking for the top

Target price is $1.8mm. We could probably stretch to $2.3mm. I know the Austin market is really hot right now, so I don't have a good sense of what's reasonable. I know we can probably afford the convenient neighborhoods, but I just don't know what they are.

[ashbeeigh]

Probably right by UT in Hyde park would be good. Some people will come after the schools in the area, but ridge top has a great bilingual program. Kealing has a fine arts magnet and Macallum is maybe too three in the district, behind Anderson and Bowie and tied with Austin high, in my personal opinion.

[blakely]

Congrats!

First thing to keep in mind is that public transit here is very limited. Nothing like the T or anything you have in Boston. A desire to use public transport to commute to work would severely limit your neighbhorhood choices.

That said, Hyde Park, the neighborhood directly north of UT, would be a good option and would be bikable (or walkable) to campus. It also has several student rentals, so keep that in mind if you do choose to live there. Hyde Park has a lot of older, charming homes and cottages on smallish lots, as well as a few modern additions.

Clarksville is also a nice neighborhood to the west of campus with some local restaurants (nothing like Boston, though!). Brykerwoods, Old Enfield and Rosedale would also be worth looking at, a longer bike ride or a short drive to UT. Westlake/Eanes has great schools, larger lots and some views, but would require a drive to UT unless you are an avid biker (my spouse bikes 10 miles to work). And yes, the market is crazy right now.

I'd also look at Northwest Hills. About 20 minutes to UT but offers proximity to a lot of the tech companies along the Loop 360 corridor and the Arboretum area.

[yellowstatus]

Thanks for Hyde Park, Clarksville, and Northwest hills suggestions. I grew up in a characterless suburb where major highways adjacent meant that driving was the only realistic transit everywhere. I am not opposed to driving or even commuting by car, but I would highly value a more multi-modal tansport kind of area.

Also, I saw Google is right in downtown. Are the other tech offices clustered downtown as well? Do most people commute downtown by car and park there or is public transit a common option?

[Trainwreck20]

Public transit is mostly non-existent for any type of tech job. There is one rail line that runs (infrequently) from the Cedar Park area to right downtown. Buses, while theoretically an option, are not fast and often several changes required. For the non-hot days of the years, biking is really not a bad way to go.

If your partner wanted to make use of the UT shuttles, those are pretty efficient for getting to campus. You can look up a map and check them out. the Far West area might be an option - lots of shuttles there, good schools, and some large (albeit older) houses/yards.

Most of the tech is not downtown, but there are a few places (i.e. Cirrus Logic).

[ashbeeigh]

I'd highly recommend coming to visit and see the area before deciding on a neighborhood, too. I think the Hyde Park area is the most bikeable of all the areas. The only section from maybe 51st to San Jacinto in the area I would be concerned about in near 32nd where the bike lanes disappear. You're kind of right smack dab in the middle of the sweet spot for great housing in the urban core. The Mueller area is also bikeable and not nearly as big of a trek as someone else said. They can take 51st to Lamar to get to hyde park and then get to campus. I think that's like 3 miles tops.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by yellowstatus

Thanks for Hyde Park, Clarksville, and Northwest hills suggestions. I grew up in a characterless suburb where major highways adjacent meant that driving was the only realistic transit everywhere. I am not opposed to driving or even commuting by car, but I would highly value a more multi-modal tansport kind of area.

Also, I saw Google is right in downtown. Are the other tech offices clustered downtown as well? Do most people commute downtown by car and park there or is public transit a common option?

Driving is the only realistic transit anywhere here too. Just about everyone who works downtown and doesn't live there, drives. We have a bus system, but it's horribly inefficient. Google, Facebook, and such are downtown. But Apple's new campus is in the 'burbs, so is Dell, Oracle, etc.

If you are expecting a city that's as walkable as Boston or has a similar transit system, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Austin is incredibly spread out.

[Need4Camaro]

Whole Foods is also downtown and they also hire for alot of tech roles.

[austin_mommy]

You might also want to look at the Tarrytown area given your budget. IMO the neighborhood has character and meets most of your criteria.
Other options:
- Crestview
- Northwest Hills
Many UT professors live in Westlake btw.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by yellowstatus

Hello!

We currently live in Boston, MA. My partner might receive an offer with UT Austin. I can work remotely, though I work in tech and commute to the main tech areas is a plus long term.

I have never lived in Texas and only visited the touristy things of the Alamo and the San Antonio River walk a decade ago. Never been to Austin. Some quick searching online brought up the North Loop and Allendale neighborhoods.

Key priorities:
- Less than a 30 minute commute to UT Austin, preferably by public transit, bike, or walking.
- Ability to walk and bike to do errands in general
- A quiet neighborhood, not on a busy street
- 3 br, 2 ba detached SFH or townhouse. I really don't want neighbors above or below, though on the side is acceptable. Under 3000sqft, preferably closer to 2000 sqft
- enough yard space for a vegetable garden
- reasonable schools, no children yet but trying. Not looking for the top

Target price is $1.8mm. We could probably stretch to $2.3mm. I know the Austin market is really hot right now, so I don't have a good sense of what's reasonable. I know we can probably afford the convenient neighborhoods, but I just don't know what they are.

I wouldnt buy right now, but typically 1.8m is going to get you anywhere in town.

at 1.8M you arent going to have an attached home and will have large lot (e.g. .5-1 acre or even more). It is possible to buy a 1.8 million attached home, but it is going to be a really nice downtown condo. Otherwise they barely exist (maybe the grove has some)

westlake hills and rollingwood are in eanes, about 15 minutes to downtown. Right now the homes are 2+ million but usually you can find plenty under 2 million.

Eanes has the best schools.

tarrytown is slightly more urban and is AISD, the feeders are pretty good for AISD and you would be like 5 minutes from UT depending on which side. on the east side of mopac, there is also rosedale, brykerwoods etc.

On the west side of mopac and slightly more north is highland park and then north of there is nw hills. They are all AISD and the schools are good but not amazing.

You generally want to live on the same side of the river as where you are working as crossing the river adds time to the commute.

Based on your $ you can expect a 15 minute commute. You would only get 30 minutes if you wanted to be more in the suburbs.