Thoughts on Wooten Neighborhood (Burnet/Anderson/183)? (Houston, San Antonio: rental, condo, crime rates)

[civilguy]

Wife and I are relocating to Austin from San Antonio for job at UT. So we've lived in suburban Houston (90 min commutes not uncommon) and similar in San Antonio (north 281... pretty but tough traffic). We have no kids. We're fortunate we can be looking at homes in the $250-300 range but I'm strongly opposed to paying a premium for somebody's Flipping project. Seems like we've seen many homes that were obvious investor flips. Anyhow, we love close in like Hyde Park but we're frugal and won't consider a mortgage that big! And we're not as concerned with possible negatives of lesser school ratings, higher crime rates, etc. We know that you take the good with the bad and since we really want to minimize the commute, it's not a bad trade off. We had a rental in Wooten (near 183) and loved the 10 minute commute to UT. Now we're ready to buy and I've learned a lot looking through these forums. I've seen some folks say the Crestview/Allandale areas are possibly the next SoCo. Wooten seems nice on many streets and ragged on some streets. We didn't see all the houses with bars on the windows, and we did see folks pushing strollers and nice yards with expensive cars in driveways. Talked with our landlady about the area and was amused to hear about the battle to keep Wal-Mart out. We saw the construction site and thought, "man, hope that's a Target." Oh well. Looks like that's going in regardless, eh? I'm a UT grad from the early 90's and the town is greatly changed from my memories. I was pleasantly surpised to find Conan's Pizza at the NW corner of Burnet and Anderson. Any recommendations or advice is appreciated!

[mlassoff]

I've lived close to this neighborhood (North of Anderson by Burnet) for the past year and a half. I have really enjoyed the neighborhood and have not found any problems. The streets around Cook Elementary are all very quiet at night, and, while there have been a couple of vehicle break-ins at our Condo, that's about the size of it. Our condo is probably the biggest eyesore in the neighborhood, but the convenience has been unbeatable. As you noted the homes are in varying condition.

I'm sure we're the next something-or-other. Good luck. I won't be here to see it. I'm moving back to the NY area...

[centralaustinite]

Schools in the Wooten area there can be problematic but that can change and since you have no kids, that's not an issue. I think you will see values in Wooten rise, some call it Allendale North.

Crestview and Allandale will cost you more but the neighborhood is more established, home values are quite stable, and the schools are much better. Gullet is exemplary (the elementary school for Allandale). Pillow Elementary is also quite good (and north of Anderson). Less downside risk but also less potential upside.

Find a great realtor (PM me if you want a recommendation of a great realtor who lives in the area and knows it cold) and then find a house that you love. You'll be fine.

[civilguy]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

I think you will see values in Wooten rise, some call it Allendale North.

You know, we were confused at first because some of the houses we were looking at said North Allendale neighborhood or Wooten neighborhood. (and another, I think.) Yet they were all located between 183/Anderson/Burnet. But additional digging on the web turned up that parts of Wooten were originally the North Allandale subdivision as built in the 1960's, NE of the intersection of Burnet and Anderson Ln. Then I found a very interesting report from the City of Austin on the combined planning plan for Crestview/Wooten. City of Austin - Wooten Neighborhood Planning Area

[centralaustinite]

Yes, the City's neighborhood planning areas do not always precisely match up with how we think of the neighborhoods. Generally (and you can always look up the plat maps to be sure), I think that Allandale North refers to the area west of Burnet and north of Anderson, I even think that there is a Allandale North I and Allandale North II but only on the plats. There is definitely value to be found in both areas (north of Anderson and on both sides of Burnet).

[civilguy]

Awesome, thanks! Sure appreciate your insight!

[Victor Engel]

Regarding the names, North Allandale, I suppose, would be the northern part of the Allandale neighborhood, whose northern boundary is Anderson Lane. The Wooten neighborhood is east of Burnet Rd, north of Anderson Ln and south/west of 183 (Research). Allandale North is the name given to a couple of subdivisions, which are not the same as neighborhood associations. The area covered by Wooten intersects the area of Allandale North 1 and 2. Other subdivisions also are included in the Wooten NA. To confuse matters further, Allandale Estates is north or Allandale and west of Allandale North/Wooten, located in the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood.

Anyway, Wooten has a website (a bit out of date) at wootenna.com and also a yahoogroup (wootenna). Feel free to join.

Regarding the Walmart, it was originally planned to be about a quarter million square feet in size, plus a three level parking garage. The new one going in will be about 99,000 square feet. That's a very significant difference. There is a nearby Target, by the way, on the NE boundary of Wooten at 183 and Ohlen.

[brattpowered]

As long as the local economy doesn't completely tank, that is one of the neighborhoods that will keep improving. If you decide to move to the area, avoid Wooten Park Drive and anything close to it-- drive down it and you'll see what I mean. That and the complex at Fairfield and Kromer.

[Jaipur]

I recently moved away from that area, but it is improving and it is not as bad is it may seem. The little area just off of the Burnet and Anderson intersection west of the train tracks around Brockman St. is really quaint. I would just make sure that you avoid the Wooten Park Dr. area as brattpowered mentioned, and also made sure that your car is locked and in the garage (if you have one). Crime in the area is going down but there are still some problems with vandalism and auto theft, and you must not for get the armed robbery on Gault St. that happened a few months ago. Besides that, I would say it is a nice affordable area to live in.