Mid-30s ultra-liberal NO KIDS couple with great dogs thinking of moving to Austin. Help? (Clarksville: to rent, crime)

[kimsalt]

Hey, all... my thread topic says it all. We are a mid-30s, ultra-liberal couple who are looking to move from Southern California to Austin. We don't much care for kids (don't hate them, but don't want to live near somewhere like a school where they'll be all over the place) and are very interested in figuring out where in Austin would be a good place for us. We're currently looking to rent, probably in the $1,000 range for a 2 or 3 bedroom that accepts pets. Does this sound do-able? Do you have any suggestions on appropriate parts of town for us? We'd love your input! Thanks in advance.

[farre1pg]

Hi there,

My roommates and I moved from cold lands of Michigan almost a year ago. We currently live in North Austin....and it is family heaven. We are looking to move to the downtown area as that is really where the action is. The rent is a bit higher though. Currently we have a 2 bed 2 bath place that is 1212 square feet for 1000 a month, however it is in an area with lots of families. We are now looking for a 3 bed 2 bath in the downtown area for 1500 and are having some issues with availability in our price range.

Areas that I have been told are a good fit for young professionals are Clarksville, Tarrytown, and Enfield.

Are you looking for more of an urban area, or are you interested in something in the burbs. The burbs are nice and you get more for your money, but there are more families. N. Austin is a nice area and you get a lot for your money, but then again you will have families. Downtown area is definitely where the action is. I would recommend anything around that area.

[farre1pg]

Oh and although there is no "rough part of town" the areas east of I35 are not as affluent as those to the west of I35. East is cheaper, but the crime is higher. Although there are no bad parts of the city.

[MJinAustin]

You might like SoCo (South Congress north of Oltorf)...it's hip and funky with local restaurants and boutiques. It's close to downtown and Zilker Park where you can walk your dogs. There are families who live in that area, but my feeling is that they tend to be of the more liberal and open persuasion.

Can anyone else speak to SoCo?

[atxcio]

Probably should look into the Domain, too. Might be a little too expensive, though, but probably cheaper than downtown.

[ramones85]

I live in Hyde Park and pay about that price.

There are not many little ones in our area, mostly college kids and grad students. (I only had one set of trick or treaters on Halloween). Our dog loves the town, and most of our neighbors have dogs. We've got a nice yard for him and the streets aren't extremely busy.

Happy hunting!

[llkltk]

I'm sure you will have kids someday so don't limit yourself to areas in case you change your mind.

[kimsalt]

I won't go into the long and short of it, but I will not be having kids. And I don't like them to be around me. I appreciate your idea, because many people eventually have kids but we will not be two of those. So I'm hoping to find a more adult area?

And thanks everyone for the great info... keep it coming!

[twange]

Originally Posted by kimsalt

I won't go into the long and short of it, but I will not be having kids. And I don't like them to be around me. I appreciate your idea, because many people eventually have kids but we will not be two of those. So I'm hoping to find a more adult area?

And thanks everyone for the great info... keep it coming!

We don't(and won't) have kids either, so I understand your position. We like them, it's just that we don't want to have our own.

Anyway, We live in S Austin(S 1st north of Ben White) and love it. We're a short distance(5 min bike ride, 3 minute drive) from SoCo, South Lamar, all the stuff on S 1st and all of the cool little neighborhoods in between. It's a 5 minute drive(7-8 minutes by bus) to Town Lake and downtown which is really, really great. Our jobs are close as well so we never have to get on 35 or MoPac unless we're going somewhere else. This is a crucial deciding factor here in Austin. Live as close to your job as possible. Traffic here can be heavy for a city of its size.

We can't even come close to buying here but right now we're content just renting(we've already owned and feeling over it at the moment). Anyway, there's a lot of different places to choose from and most accept dogs. We have a cat and a 40 lb dog. No problem. Most places have a pool(very nice when the temps get high), some sort of outdoor space, parking etc...For comparison, we have a decent-sized 1 bedroom and pay $775. Like someone else mentioned, you can get bigger and newer the farther from the city you stay. You'll need to weigh things out.

Another thing about living close in is that you're pretty close to a multitude of bus routes. Austin's a little behind as far as public transportation goes but the closer in you are, the more useful it becomes.

[llkltk]

Some people feel the same way about dogs, me being one of them. Can't stand dogs to be around me.