What areas or suburbs are best? (Dallas, Austin: house, find a job, neighborhoods)

[MissMee]

It has been probably 20 years since I've been to Austin for any length of time, so I know things have changed since then. I was born and raised in TX (Breckenridge, in the middle of nowhere). I now live in MA, where I've been for 8 years. My husband is looking to find a job in TX. He actually prefers the Dallas area because he's been there, but there are several jobs in/around Austin. He's never been to Austin, so he has no clue what to expect and has given me the task of doing research.

Having lived in MA for all this time where the schools are very highly regarded as tops in the country, we are going to be fairly picky about school systems. But I also know that test scores don't necessarily mean squat since the teachers "teach to the test" most of the time. The company my husband is waiting to hear from is in Austin. I don't know that we'd want to be *in* Austin, but I don't know. Here's what I'd like to find out:

1. If we moved within the city limits, what areas/neighborhoods/schools are the best. We'd want a family neighborhood, large house (probably 5 bedrooms) and would probably not want to go over 450,000 at this point.
2. Knowing my husband, he'd prefer smaller suburbs that mee the above criteria. Which suburbs would be good?
3. I LOVE shopping and would need to be near it, so any area/town would need to be near shopping.
4. I have 3 kids, but only 1 is school age at the moment, so the area would need to be kid and family oriented, probably with parks, fun stuff, and maybe near the water.

Thanks!

[lattelizard]

You are lucky there are many areas of Austin that fit what you are looking for. I am thinking much of where you will be locating will depend on where your husband finds employment. Some suggestions are to look south at Circle C, a large subdivision conveniently located to shopping and outings; also look north to Far West this is going to be at the top end of your budget but you will find it most conveniently located to many areas since it is off of Mopac and very close to 183 (two of the major thoroughfares). You also may find a little more for your money if you look in Round Rock, Cedar Park, or Kyle. The commute is common and the areas have a lot to offer. As to the school districts, Far West is accessible to one of Austin's best public schools. The outer areas I believe offer better school districts (Kyle, Cedar Park, Round Rock or Pflugerville). Austin has grown so much and many of the aforementioned areas are booming where you cannot tell where one is beginning and the other ends. The largest growth is occurring in Kyle which is one of Texas' fastest growing cities and resides in one of the states fastest growing counties. There are many big name builders building in each of the areas like DH Horton. You can always look online and check out the floor-plans and pricing to give you a better idea.