Thoughts on the Grove at Shoal Creek? (Dallas, Austin: HOA, house)

[headedtodallas]

We are considering moving to Austin. I started a job here recently and have been commuting from Dallas. We have three kids, ages 8 to 13. We like the idea of a somewhat walkable community, close-ish to my office in southwest Austin and to kids’ school. House budget $2M, could do more if kids went to public school.

There are a few single family homes in the Grove at Shoal Creek and I wonder if folks have any experience there.
Are there other families in the neighborhood?
How is the commute south on Mopac? I hear nightmare stories, but coming from Dallas, and NYC before that it doesn’t seem terrible.

We are looking at Austin Montessori and Headwaters - any experience with those schools?

Any other neighborhoods we should consider?

Thanks!

[atxcio]

It's a great location. Lived near there for 10 years. Pretty much smack dab in the geographic center of Austin, by where the population lives. So you are never far from anything. The development has been through years of planning with the city of Austin, and usually that ends up meaning they have to make it pretty nice all around. The developers are appealing to high net worth families, along with their mandated affordable housing component (like the Mueller redevelopment), and I don't doubt for a second they will get those high net-worth families. So many are moving here.

Probably a little overpriced right now, but if growth maintains even a little bit, it will only become less and less affordable.

Alternate locations? Look to NW Hills to the west. In your price range but older construction, however without an HOA and bigger lots which is nice. Not as walk-able.

[ashbeeigh]

My only concern would be the highway noise and getting in and out immediately at the stop sign near 45th and mopac. Id love to keep it on my areas to watch when/if buying us feasible for me.

[Austin97]

if your budget is 2m and you are commuting to SW austin, I would look at communities south of the river, like rollingwood which is in the eanes district which has the best schools in the austin area.

If you arent as concerned about schools, I would go east of mopac in 78704. It is one of the most walkable areas in town and homes are well under your budget. You could buy an older home and fully gut it. Headwaters has a downtown location so it would be an easy commute to headwaters.

The basic rule is dont commute across the river. For your large budget, part of it should include an easy commute.

I personally think the grove is extremely overpriced compared to mueller and is much less walkable.

[ScoPro]

What Austin97 said.
The road infrastructure around the Grove area isn’t going to improve any in the near future, so commuting south will only get worse from the present clusterbomb.

[headedtodallas]

Thanks everyone!

Re 78704, I like that neighborhood and it’s an easy commute to my office but I got the impression there aren’t many families there. Is that not the case?

Tarrytown is also a very nice neighborhood, but would that have the same commuting challenges as The Grove?

Mueller is great but seems like the commute would be even tougher from there.

[ScoPro]

Rollingwood is a good option even though the immediate neighborhood isn’t really walkable to a bunch of amenities.
But it is adjacent (other side of MoPac) to Zilker park and is easy bicycling into the west side of the downtown core.

[austin-steve]

I agree with Austin97 staying south of the River.

I would think less about your top budget and more about what attributes you seek in your ideal neighborhood. Many people relocate from CA and don't realize that their $2M "middle class" budget for SFBA Orange County, and other high cost locations, can be achieved in Austin for well under $1M.

So, if you search the forums and ask about the "best" public school tracks, private schools, neighborhoods with established amenities and access to good shopping, recreation, etc, you'll get a range of answers that do include Eanes ISD (expensive, older,homes best location) so more middle class areas like SW Austin in Circle C (which now has housing over $1M),Western Oaks, Legend Oaks (78749 zip).

Don't be afraid to consider strong, objectively "good" neighborhoods just because the housing is too far below your budget.

Steve