Neighborhood feedback please! (Dallas, Austin, Round Rock: apartments, house, neighborhoods)

[Lil_ly]

I hope you all out there can help us, my husband and I will be in Austin in two weeks to look for a house to buy. We have been looking in Steiner Ranch, Hidden Glen, Vista Oaks, Behrens Ranch and Cypress Canyon. We are leaning heavily towards Steiner Ranch with all the great things we have read about it on this forum and our own research. Is it really worth all the hype or would we find the same and better in one of the other neighborhoods? We are looking to spend around 320,000 and we really want a very freindly and family oriented neighborhood with amenities and great schools. My husband will be working from home for a while, but might end up with a job in Georgetown. Would his commute from Steiner Ranch be doable? Any help with information regarding Steiner Ranch and the other neighborhoods listed would be very much appreciated.
Thanks.

[love roses]

Wow. That's gonna be a pretty good commute. I think it would be around 45 minutes or so. I don't live in that particular area, but I think there are neighborhoods that are just as good, only they won't be on the Lake, but would still be close to it.

[hal512]

Steiner is a great neighborhood but would be a very long commute to Georgetown. I would think Round Rock would offer a better solution. I am not familiar with the neighborhoods but I know they have some great ones that are full of families.

[springbean]

No way would I drive to Georgetown from Steiner Ranch everyday, that would be a killer drive.

You might want to look at Berry Creek, the Village and Water Oak in GT. In Round Rock you might consider Mayfield Ranch, Teravista, Poloma Lakes and Sendero Springs.

Good luck with your decision!

[Breezerboat]

I personally really don't like the Round Rock feel. It makes me feel as if I'm in Dallas. I live in Cypress Canyon and we really love all the family type of stuff it offers. A few things to note about Cypress Canyon.

1. The land just across Anderson Mill from the Cypress Canyon Vistas model homes is going to be a huge city park. should help with home values. Most people don't know this, but it will be nice.

2. The land 180 degrees from that park land heading towards the lake (behind Cypress Canyon neighborhood) is a wildlife preserve. This means no construction or other stuff back there.

3. The land across Lime Creek is also a wildlife preserve. No unwanted construction there ever either.

That about sums it up for all the land around Cypress Canyon. For me that means there will not ever be any apartments close and no gas stations/strip centers.

It is a very quiet neighborhood that I see the values sky rocketing when the place builds out in a few years. and the schools are great. and IMO, I think CPHS will be the best high school in the district once that new high school opens out by Stiener Ranch (b/c a lot of helicopter parents live out there)

Hope that helps a bit.

[S6Sputnik]

Everything is relative make the drive a few times ...It is a lot closer with the toll road!

[Lil_ly]

Thank you all for the information. BTW, what are helicopter parents? I have never heard that term before. Can anyone give me some good information regarding Vista Oaks and Hidden Glen neighborhoods? Are there many young children in the area and great amenities and schools?

[Rose Red]

Helicopter parents is a pretty new term (I think). It's parents that hover over their kids social lives, school, everything in such a way that the child doesn't grow up and learn how to function on their own. It's not normally considered a positive statement to call someone a "helicopter parent".

[LoveATX]

Hidden Glenn is nice, not alot of kids in the neighborhood (only because of its size) but all the surrounding ones have lots kids and are all connected by trails. Honestly you can look at Behrens, Hidden Glenn, Walsh Ranch, and Sendero Springs as the same neighborhood! Like I said they are all connected in one way or another, they all go to the same schools, and they have similar prices and amenities. They are all part of the Brush Creek MUD which has tons of parks and pools. The elementary school is in Behrens Ranch, the Middle School is in Walsh Ranch and the High School is right down the road Round Rock High.

[ButterflyHugs5]

We're in Teravista and love it here! Great area w/tons of retail, medical schools/universities, etc. in the works. Here's a recent article about things to come and comparing it to Mueller/The Domain.

http://www.rrleader.com/main.asp?Sec...19&TM=47973.15