probably moving-- real deal please (Austin, Round Rock: homes, neighborhood, movie theater)

[Lobo51]

Happy to have discovered this site and have read a lot of posts with interest.

I am hoping to relocate from South Florida to Georgetown. A city of less than 40,000 sounds like a dream to me - which brings me to my point. My reading about Williamson county tells me it is the fastest growing county in.......(?) Texas. I currently live in a lovely neighborhood which (unfortunately) is now surrounded by strip malls, all I hear is sirens and car horns, people run red lights regularly, if English is your only language you are sunk and I'm starting to get as rude as the people surrounding me .......I'm hoping the Georgetown area isn't in the midst of a MASSIVE population boom.

I won't hold you responsible for not being a for-seer of Georgetown -in-10- Years but your informed opinion is one I will value.
Thanks!

[southaustingal]

I'm not from north Austin, so I can't speak with complete authority, but I was in Georgetown last year and my impression is that it's connected by strip malls to Round Rock, which is connected by strip malls to Austin, which will soon be connected by strip malls to San Marcos, which is . . .

If you want small town feel, move further east or west of Austin and get away from IH35, which is *the* major highway from Mexico to Michigan.

[Trainwreck20]

I have not seen the rate of growth stats anytime recently, but it may have been that WC was the fastest growing county by percent (not raw number of people), which is not as scary, since it was (is) a fairly rural county for the most part.

I would guess that most of the growth is occuring in Round Rock and Cedar Park (the parts of the county closest to Travis County/Austin). Georgetown was a town of ~8,000 when I moved there in the 70's, and subsquently 'exploded' to ~20,000 or so by 1990 and has grown more gradually since. Sun City happened, so that accounts for more of the recent growth. All this growth has resulted in Wal-mart, Target, Starbucks, etc., which were never there in the 80's.

Anyway, I don't think I would worry that much about G'town growth, just get a place a little way off the interstate. There is someone on the boards here who just moved to G'town - something Iguana, maybe? - who might answer some questions.

[Rnelson]

Are you working in north Austin and RR our just looking for a nice small town? If your just looking for a place to settle down their are some really nice town just out side the city limits and for the most part a easy 30min drive to downtown Austin.

Dripping springs
Driftwood
Wimberly "very nice"

Just to name a couple..

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Anyway, I don't think I would worry that much about G'town growth, just get a place a little way off the interstate. There is someone on the boards here who just moved to G'town - something Iguana, maybe? - who might answer some questions.

Hi, yep, that would be me! Although we've only been here about 5 weeks, so I can't say I have a clue where things are headed. We bought here in part because we *hoped* there was good potential for our home to increase in value, but of course who really knows? It was a consideration, but certainly not the deciding factor.

We live off Williams Drive, and I see a lot of new stuff (banks, fast food, storage facility, homes, etc.) being built along that road. There's also a new 10?-screen movie theater that just opened and there is a good amount of road construction along the I-35 (new ramps, or maybe widening them? I'm not sure.)

So far, the traffic in Georgetown doesn't seem bad at all (but we come from LA, so traffic here will never compare!), NO ONE in Georgetown, or the Austin area in general, has been the least bit rude. In fact, I'm still trying not to be shocked when a total stranger says hello or smiles in passing.