Cedar Park/Round Rock/Pflugerville need suggestions please... (Austin, Jollyville: apartments, rental homes)

[Grailmaiden]

We are planning to move to the Austin area (finally) and I am having a really hard time narrowing down which area. I would love suggestions/recommendations etc.

safety - looking for the safest possible area for kids
commute - husband will be working near IBM
newness of area
vibe of area

most importantly any areas in these locales to be weary of

I would love any help, it is really hard arranging a place to live from so far away without knowing the little "nuances" of a place. Thanks

ps - do any/all of these places have a Trader Joe's? lol

[Nellieand3]

I live in Pflugerville in the Blackhawk neighborhood and would recommend it. A neighbor works at IBM and it is not a bad drive if you use the toll roads. This area is safe and has great schools. The vibe is suburban for sure.

Edit to add: the houses are from new to 10 years old. And I have no idea what Trader Joe's is! But our neighbors just moved from CA and they like it here!

[MJinAustin]

There's no Trader Joe's here.

What is your price range...what ages are your kids for schools...s.f. needed and type of house you like....that will help us answer questions.

[love roses]

None of these towns have "bad" areas.
No Trader Joe's.
These areas are growing rapidly, so there are lots of new and still being built out areas.
I don't know about the commute, sorry
vibe is laid back...same as with the rest of Texas and Austin in general.

[woodinvilleguy]

I miss Trader Joe's so much. I hope they expand to Austin.

[Grailmaiden]

Originally Posted by woodinvilleguy

I miss Trader Joe's so much. I hope they expand to Austin.

ME TOO!! Trader Joe's is the best!!

Thanks so much for your input everyone Every bit helps enormously.

As for house price, etc. we will not be buying for probably a year. We want to make sure we spend enough time there to find the area that suits us best. We will just be renting a house. As for schools we have a few years to worry about that, so it is not one of our top concerns quite yet.

I am concerned about bad areas because we currently live in the 3rd ranked safest city in the United States, however, we DEFINITELY have neighborhoods that I would not want to walk through at night. In fact, I don't even really like driving through them during the day. It just seems that there are pockets to be weary of in most cities, that is what I am trying desperately to avoid.

[love roses]

These towns don't really have that, honestly. There are parts maybe a touch South of Pflugerville, like close to the airport, or maybe around Braker lane (Pflugerville/n. austin area), Round Rock has no neighborhood I'd be afraid to walk around at night, and neither does Cedar Park as far as I know. Just East of 35 downtown austin would be the sketchiest place to me, and even that area is gentrifying.

[neddy]

Avery Ranch area one side Cedar Park one side RR,pretty close to IBM about 15 min drive down Parmer to Mopac, no tolls to take. Leander is safe also,a bit further out but the Metro comes online in the fall and goes right to the IBM area.

[MJinAustin]

Ohhh...well for rentals check out apartments and condos on Jollyville Road and on Duval Road (toward Mopac - a few blocks from 183, it's mildly sketchy). Angus Valley off Duval would have some rentals (5 min to IBM). I'll be you can find something in Milwood - good location, family neighborhood, good prices, easy commute to IBM (10 min maybe?). I'd stay away from the 78758 zip which has a lot of rentals right behind IBM (boundaries: north-Parmer Lane, south-183, west-Mopac, east-I35). Some parts of that area are nice, but there are quite a few college students as Austin Comm College has a big campus there, and then there are some larger industrial low-income sketchy parts (the southern part of the boundaries I mentioned) of the 58 zip. Probably best to just not look there at all (side note: I don't know if Angus Valley is 59 or 58, but basically if you are on the West side of Mopac, you're good).

The homes in the areas I've mentioned will be older - 10 to 30 yrs. If you want brand new homes, you're going to go out to Round Rock or Cedar Park which will add another 15-20 minutes onto the commute depending on how far out you go.

Someone mentioned Pflugerville. I like Pflug on its own, it's just that it's such a pain to get to/from b/c you have to get on or around I-35 which I and a lot of other people avoid like the plague. But yes, Pflug would have some nice rental homes in nice neighborhoods.

Maybe look at Wells Branch? It's between Mopac and Pflugerville, but at least you wouldn't have to get on the interstate or cross over it.

[texastea]

Hmmm. Rent house in a very safe, newer area, not too far from IBM. I would look into Avery Ranch, or for even closer in, the DR Horton neighborhood that's on Parmer across from Cool River--anybody know what that's called?