Questions about Steiner Ranch & Lakeway (Austin, Canyon: houses, rent, vacation)

[Annapolis to Austin]

Both of these neighborhoods seem to be pretty large and have homes that vary in price. Can anyone tell me if there are "bad" parts of either of these? I need to be in the lower price ranges and I like these subdivisions.......I guess my question is if I buy a cheaper home in either of these, am I sacrificing what makes the neighborhoods so great? Any advice?

[MJinAustin]

Steiner Ranch is nice all over. There are no "bad" parts. There are homes ranging in age from 15 years old or so to brand new. Older homes of course have things that need to be fixed or painted. The older, less expensive parts of Steiner are actually right in the middle of all the new neighborhoods, so you're good there.

[mckg]

Lakeway is a town rather than a subdivision. There are many areas to pick from as well as many price ranges. Since you didn't mention which range you're looking at, I can't be more specific. There are gated areas where you can find homes from the 400s (maybe a steal or two in the 300s) to millions, there is Lakeway itself with many price ranges probably depending on the age of the house and there are the multi-million homes. Do a search on the austinhomesearch website for 78734 (Lakeway) and 78738 (The Hills, Bee Cave and other areas close to Lakeway) in your price range. Everyone who lives in these areas essentially shops at the same Home Depots, grocery stores, etc and I believe they are all Lake Travis ISD (my kids are grown - someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that.) We live in a gated area which I thought would have an older demographic but surprise, surprise, 25% of the population is under 18! I gather that people used to think Lakeway was only for retirees but it seems to be getter younger and younger. We moved here in January and love the area. Have no need to commute to downtown but it's only 20 minutes non-rush hour so we go whenever we want to. This area is growing fast with a new medical facility on the horizon as well -- good for emergencies and only thing that had us pondering a closer-to-town house originally. Had lunch at the lake (Lake Travis) today and it felt like we were on vacation - a 5 minute drive and the beautiful view! Been to Annapolis and you get a similar feel out here.

There are RV parks and some subdivisions with no rules/hoa so you get pretty much anything there, but I'd connect with a realtor re specifics as I'm not too sure of the names of those neighborhoods. Frankly, we like the diversity of the area - 5 minutes drive either way and we've got anything from lake access to Buster's bbq and the Hill Country Galleria. IMO, serious shoppers still need to go into town or up to Lakeline Mall area for greater selection.

Good luck in your search!

[mandib]

There are no bad parts to either area. We lived in Steiner for 8 years. Just moved to Lakeway in March. I love Lakeway. There is new shopping here and it's a nice community. We left Steiner because it felt so isolated. The traffic across 2222 into town was terrible. Since moving here my husband (who works downtown) has been able to save nearly 10 minutes off his commute by going south instead of taking 2222.

I also like that our HOA dues are much much much lower than in Steiner (this may vary in different areas of Lakeway). In Steiner we were paying for all kinds of pools and community centers that we never used.

I have heard that the school district in Steiner is excellent, though. I can't say one way or the other as we don't have children.

[YvZ]

I am going to disagree with mandib. We went into an area in Lakeway that we DO NOT want to live in. The houses we went to look at was adorable but right next to trailers. The roads were not paved and there were more run down houses than new and looked after construction. Now to remember the street that we turned into... It was not towards Lake Travis. Let me quickly look. Okay got it, it was off of Debba.

[TexasHorseLady]

You were looking in Apache Shores. Apache Shores has been there since people went out to the lakehouse on the weekend or lived out there full time, but it was AT THE LAKE, it was not a fancy subdivision by any means. Now, it's an area that's in the throws of change, with everything from mobile homes to McMansions (and the occasional real mansion), and everything in between, sometimes on the streets next to each other. Doesn't mean the neighborhood is "bad", or that the people that live there are going to cause you any trouble or be anything other than good neighbors.

I wouldn't by any means call it a "bad area" - my daughter lives there, in an adorable house with fantastic views and her back yard backs up to the Balcones Canyonlands preserve. Some roads are more paved than others, and I think there are a couple of roads that aren't paved yet as they're carving their way as close to the preserve as they can because the property values are rising there.

But I agree, it's not for everyone. It's more towards the "Austin weird" end of the spectrum than Lakeway, right down the road, is.

[Annapolis to Austin]

Thanks so much for all of this info!! And thanks Texas Horse Lady for your info on Apache Shores as this is one of the neighborhoods I am looking at as well. As a matter of fact, the house I like best is in Apache Shores. I like the idea that it is not quite as "planned" as Steiner or Lakeway. My second choice house is in Steiner Ranch so I wanted to get some opinion on that neighborhood too. ps-I like the "Austin Weird" end of the spectrum!

Please keep the opinions and info coming, I appreciate everyones comments. Oh and just to make it easier to formulate an opinion, I am in the 250k-275k price range.

[TexasHorseLady]

Hmmm. My son graduated from St. John's in Annapolis and lived there for a while after graduating - maybe I should ask him for some frames of reference to give to you that he would know would make sense!

[austin_momma]

Don't know if elementary schools are of consideration to you. Leander and Lake Travis schools are both very good. Depending on where in Lakeway you end up, one elementary school being exemplary, the other academically acceptable. Check the school ratings for both Steiner elementary schools as well.