transitable and safe areas of austin (Round Rock, San Marcos: relocating, apartments, rental)

[oaa1982]

i am looking at some areas of austin as I should be relocating soon for work and MBA. mainly, areas having some Muslim presence (a masjid or Islamic center) are importatnt for me. I came across some addresses but I am not sure which areas would be better in terms of affordability, safety, and availability of public transportation. the addresses are as follows:

North Austin Muslim Community Center
11900 North Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX 78753-2143

Islamic Center of Greater Austin
5110 Manor Road, Austin, TX 78723-4608


Masjid Ibrahim
1701 West Ben White Blvd. #3, Austin, TX 78704-7668


Nueces Mosque
1906 Nueces Street, Austin, TX 78705-5580


Islamic Center of Round Rock
906 B Sam Bass Road, Round Rock, TX

San Marcos Masjid
434 Comanche Street, San Marcos, TX 78666-5645

Any help would be great.

[Trainwreck20]

Numbering them from 1-6:
#1 is on the border between a farily high crime area (to the south of the location) and some nice areas (to the north and east). It is also convientent to Walnut creek park, which is a very nice park. Any apartment rentals would be in the rougher area to the south. Houses in the nicer areas will be older homes and not be cheap, I don't think, but not too higher, either. The Houses behind Walnut Creek Park are probably mostly 80's and some 90s houses, and the houses to the east are 60s 70s houses.

#2 is right by the old airport location. The housing in that area historically was pretty rough, with high crime and drug issues. I have not really been over that way in quite a while, though, so you may want to check out the area to see if there are some improved 'enclaves'.

#3 is right smack-dab in the middle of South Austin. There should be a range of areas nearby...some nicer some not so nice, so take a look to see. The area in general is becoming more popular (nicer/more expensive)

#4 is right near campus. Housing in the immediate area would be expensive and probably older construction. As far as safety, you would run into the typical problems associated with campus areas (noise and drunkeness, along with non-violent crime such as broken into cars, etc) and there is probably a larger population of homeless people in this area compared to any other.

#5 (In Round Rock) is a nice area, in general, although I am not familar with the specific address. This is probably middle-class affordable and there is also probably options to build or buy.

#6 (San Marcos) is right in the middle of town. Beautiful town, fairly low crime except for the potential 'college' crime mentioned above. I don't know much about the housing/rental market in this area.


Hope this helps.

[oaa1982]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Numbering them from 1-6:
#1 is on the border between a farily high crime area (to the south of the location) and some nice areas (to the north and east). It is also convientent to Walnut creek park, which is a very nice park. Any apartment rentals would be in the rougher area to the south. Houses in the nicer areas will be older homes and not be cheap, I don't think, but not too higher, either. The Houses behind Walnut Creek Park are probably mostly 80's and some 90s houses, and the houses to the east are 60s 70s houses.

#2 is right by the old airport location. The housing in that area historically was pretty rough, with high crime and drug issues. I have not really been over that way in quite a while, though, so you may want to check out the area to see if there are some improved 'enclaves'.

#3 is right smack-dab in the middle of South Austin. There should be a range of areas nearby...some nicer some not so nice, so take a look to see. The area in general is becoming more popular (nicer/more expensive)

#4 is right near campus. Housing in the immediate area would be expensive and probably older construction. As far as safety, you would run into the typical problems associated with campus areas (noise and drunkeness, along with non-violent crime such as broken into cars, etc) and there is probably a larger population of homeless people in this area compared to any other.

#5 (In Round Rock) is a nice area, in general, although I am not familar with the specific address. This is probably middle-class affordable and there is also probably options to build or buy.

#6 (San Marcos) is right in the middle of town. Beautiful town, fairly low crime except for the potential 'college' crime mentioned above. I don't know much about the housing/rental market in this area.


Hope this helps.

yes it helps, thank you for the effort.

I am interested in renting a small clean studio or a one bedroom apartment, do you think I can find something for 500 or 600 in safe areas? I am also interested in knowing how public transportation is like in each area..

[Trainwreck20]

You probably can find something in that range, although I am not sure about #4, that would be harder. Also, there are mostly older properties around #1, #3, and #4 which may be 'clean' but are not necessarily modern or fancy.

Regarding 'safe', I would not worry about any area except some areas around #1 and most of the area around #2 If you are male. I would be much more selective as a single woman in most of the areas.

[oaa1982]

what about transportation? I mean public transportation in austin in general. if any body knows which neighborhood would be better in available transit options...pls advise

[Spookmeister]

#1 is your best bet. There's a lot of public transportation in the area. Lots of affordable apartments west of the Mosque, between Braker and Parmer on Metric and other side streets in the area. I lived in the area and attended the mosque too...

[oaa1982]

Originally Posted by Spookmeister

#1 is your best bet. There's a lot of public transportation in the area. Lots of affordable apartments west of the Mosque, between Braker and Parmer on Metric and other side streets in the area. I lived in the area and attended the mosque too...

Great!

you think I can live there without a car? also, safe?

thanks

[Trainwreck20]

My brother lived for many years in the Rundburg/Lamar area (somewhat south of the actual address you mention), and safe was a bit of an overstatement for where he was. If you can find living closer to the address you talk about, then you are better off.

As for living w/o a car, my brother has not had a car in over 20 years and has lived in Austin the whole time; however, he is much more patient than me . The lamar location has good bus access, I think, and is close to a bus 'hub' (lamar/183), but it does not have many 'walking' distance places that I would be interested in (unless you really like 'Clicks' pool hall or 'Cowboy' nightclub...think that is the name). Anyway, for a combination of walking and transport, the campus location is probably the most convienent, but also probably the most expensive.

[Spookmeister]

The area around Rundberg & Lamar is known for having unsavoury characters loitering at all hours of the day but APD is constantly patrolling so there's really not much to worry about. There are a lot of ethnic stores due to the largely migrant population.
Further north on Lamar, where the mosque is located, is much safer for obvious reasons in this strange world we live in. You'll be surprised to see an APD squad car monitoring activities in the area at all hours of the day. Don't get paranoid and think they're after you. They keep the nuisances away.
The apartments on Metric are fairly cheap considering the location and its convenience. There's an ACC campus close by and the residents tend to be students there, or employees at some of the companies down the road. IBM, Dell, HP and The J.J Pickle UT campus facility are all within a few minutes. It's a 3-5 minue bus ride to the mosque, another minute to the park up the road. They're all within a brisk twenty minute walk from the apartments on Metric. There are sidewalks on the main streets, and plenty of shortcuts through the neighbourhoods. There is foot traffic when the weather is nice. There are stores and restaurants galore on Parmer, which is about the same distance/bus ride.
You can probably get by without a car for day time and early evening get around errands. I never really ventured out much at night. It's safe enough for me NOT to think you'd come to any harm beyond the ordinary risks you'd face in any city and state around the country.

[tphillips112]

Round Rock is the 13th safest city in the US!!