Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander (Austin, Round Rock: house, travel, lease)

[rox011]

Ok

I'm going to travel to Austin and I'm going to be visiting these cities Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Pflugerville and Hutto. We wanted a city that has the convinience of shopping and Dining, nothing fancy.
Can anyone tell me which one is to avoid or consider?
My husband is a driver for Fed Ex, how is traffic around 5:45-6AM? I believe the station is around the airport. He doesn't mind communting too much but I keep hearing traffic is horrible, just wondering if its worst then Miami FL.

[AustinTraveler]

The airport is in Southeast Austin. All of the cities you have listed are north of Austin. Is there a reason why you are not considering Austin?

[Trainwreck20]

You may want to look at Bastrop. It is somewhat limited in shopping and dining (but so are the cities you mentioned), but it is 'up-and-coming' and will probably improved markedly in the near term future. It is also MUCH closer to the airport.

[rox011]

Our price range is between 150K -230K. We saw a nice house in Georgetown with a large lot.

[Trainwreck20]

Georgetown has as good of shopping as any of those, except maybe Cedar Park, which is almost part of Austin. It also is as large or larger than any of those (again, CP excepted, maybe). There are a couple of threads about G'town on here somewhere (Iguana just moved there) and it has a lot going for it EXCEPT the long commute to the airport. The new toll-road (Hwy 130) may make it actually pretty easy, if not cheap, to get to the airport, but I have not really kept up with its' status. Leander would be the worst communte, and CP is no piece of cake. Hutto (or maybe Pflugerville) is the closest of those you listed. Hutto is also fairly rural (similar to Leander or G'town of days gone by).

[ericbramlett]

The new tollroads are going to make a world of difference. 130 is most of the way open, but not all the way to the airport. Here's a link to a .pdf that outlines what's going on w/ central texas roadways - http://www.commonwealthaustin.com/PD.../Tolls.web.pdf
With your price range, you have some options. If you want newer, and closer to the airport, check into Kyle/Buda. There are actually 3 new neighborhoods in S/SW Austin that fit your price range - Bauerle Ranch, Olympic Heights, & Rancho Alto. Give a few more details on what you're looking for, and we can probably help a little more.

[ericbramlett]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

You may want to look at Bastrop.

Absolutely. Bastrop is gorgeous. Rural right now, but going through a little "boomlet."

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by rox011

We wanted a city that has the convinience of shopping and Dining, nothing fancy.

Hello,
We've lived in Georgetown for about two months now. There is plenty of dining and shopping nearby. Oddly enough, stuff like that is closer to us now than where we moved from in Los Angeles.

There are tons of banks, two big grocery stores (HEB, that cracks me up), tons of fabulous local restaurants and chain restaurants, even a couple upscale places to eat. There's big box shopping like Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. Also other chain retail stores like Old Navy, Linens n Things, etc. Round Rock is close, and they have a big outlet mall (which we haven't been to yet, but driven past plenty of times) and a brand new IKEA. Round Rock also has Circuit City and Lowe's and who knows what else. Georgetown just opened up a brand new, all stadium-seating movie theater (at least 10 screens, I think).

There aren't any regular malls too close by... as far as I can tell the closest one is in Cedar Park. (You all please let me know if there's one closer! ) And we have to go to the Barton Creek? Springs? Mall in Austin to get to an Apple Store. We've also gone to some stores and restaurants in Austin's Arboretum area. The drive there isn't bad at all during the middle of the day. I'm sure rush hour is another story.

Not sure what your hubby's commute to the airport would be like from Georgetown, but it seems like pretty far to go on a regular basis. My bf goes to work early, too (leaves around 5:15AM) and he encounters very little traffic on the southbound I35 at that time. Of course, we are used to LA traffic, and even though the traffic here is bad and aggravating sometimes, it does not compare!

HTH! Enjoy your visit, and good luck with your possible move!

[jread]

You will want to live in Austin itself or in Bastrop. A month or so of commuting from Georgetown to the airport will make you suicidal/homicidal.

[rox011]

My husband just gave me the address to the Fed Ex station, not sure if anyone knows where this is 2001 W Howard Lane Austin TX 78728. Is this close to the airport?