Great places to live between Austin and Hutto (Round Rock, Pflugerville: apartment, renting)

[elmwood]

Well, I'm yet another victim of the brain drain in the Rust Belt who is going to be moving to Central Texas. My job is located in Hutto. I like Hutto a lot, but as a single Generation X-er who is used to a more urban environment, I don't think I'd be at home there until more of the proposed new urbanist developments come online. I see myself spending a bit of time in downtown Austin, and the neighborhoods surrounding it. I'm also Jewish, and although I don't necessarily have to live in a Jewish neighborhood, I don't want to drive an hour to the nearest synagogue, either.

So, what areas would you recommend that would be about 25 minutes from central Hutto tops, yet still convenient to central Austin? I know Round Rock is doable, and maybe Wells Branch. How about the Arboretum area, or something closer to the MoPac? A nearby dog park would be a big plus.

For the next couple of years, I'll be in an apartment. I'm going to be renting out my old house, and I need to save up again for a down payment.

[Trainwreck20]

Personally, I really like the NW Austin area around the arboretum, but I am not sure about travel time to Hutto during rush hour. It may not be bad, since you will be going across the majority of the traffic for a lot of the trip, but not sure. Parmer Lane has gotten much worse since I lived up there. There is a relatively large Jewish community in the Far West Blvd area and a major synagogue, and if you are looking for a younger crowd, there is a significant number of college students in that area.

[TexasHorseLady]

Well, first, it's Mopac, not "the" Mopac. (Start practicing now. Some of us get really cranky about that.)

Pflugerville would be a possibility. You'd be between Hutto and downtown, and you'd be within an easy drive of most of the synagogues (maybe all of them) in Austin. (You'd have to go out of town to be an hour's drive from a synagogue here.)

There's a dog park in Round Rock that might be convenient, too. Don't know if Pflugerville has one, but they're pretty close together.

[love roses]

Yeah, I'd say Pflugerville as well. And I'll also second the "Not "the" Mopac" Pflugerville isn't quite the sleepy place some may think it is. We have a friend who lives there and he has parties all the time and lots of musicians always around. They are close enough to Austin that they go there a lot and they aren't too terribly far from the toll road either. We can get to Pflugerville in way under 20 minutes.

[AustintoVA]

Hi,
Welcome. My thoughts are to live as close as you can to where you work.