What can you tell me about the 78723 area code? (Austin: real estate, credit)

[readymade]

I was driving around the 78723 area today, and found some really cute pockets. The real estate prices seem too good to be true. Are they?

It's the area east of 35 and just north of 51st St.

[readymade]

Really? Nothin'?

[jobert]

That's historically considered the worst part of Austin.
East of 35 within 8 miles of downtown is undesirable, (unless you live right next to downtown, and you don't have kids). Reagan High is up there, and it was locked down because of a shooting just last month. The public schools in that area are "unacceptable". You have to go north to Pfhplugerville, or south to slaughter Ln before you are in a good neighborhood.

[TexasHorseLady]

There's a lovely little neighborhood called Dunbarton Oaks in 78723 where Friday Night Lights is filmed. Not terribly fancy or new, but with larger lots and easy access to main roads.

It's easy to characterize large swaths as being "good" or "bad", but it's not that simple.

The real question is, what are YOU looking for? And where in 78723 were you looking?

[readymade]

I know east of 35 is considered "undesirable," but I wonder if that will change within the next 5 or 6 years or so. We don't have kids, but we do want them in the future. Who knows what will happen, though, and I would rather have a house I can afford NOW than not have one at all because we may or may not have a kid.

I know Riverside east of 35 is being "cleaned up" and that area seems worse that the 78723 sections we were driving around in. We we were yesterday seemed very residential.

[centralaustinite]

I have friends who live in that area and yes they have kids and yes they go to public schools. Their oldest two went to LASA instead of Reagan, the youngest is in elementary school. She finishing her dissertation, he is an engineer. My children's music teacher also lives in that area. Both are in fabulous neighborhoods. Great values, and yes, I'd say that chances are it will appreciate highly. I've known several UT grad student families who live in that neighborhood. There are definitely many "hidden treasure" pockets of it, and I really think that the whole zip code is pretty solid.

The advice that anything east of 1-35 is "bad" is out of date and I don't think that it was ever really that true! The very worst neighborhoods in Austin are nothing compared to places that I lived in St. Louis (city) and Chicago. Anyway, do your research. And AISD is really starting to figure out how to raise achievement in high-poverty schools. Campbell Elementary in Montopolis is EXEMPLARY this year, and there are more and more recognized schools too. Reagan is problematic, no doubt about it, but the community is starting to rally behind it and hopefully it will turn around like Webb did.

I live just barely west of I-35 in central Austin and I spend most of my days in east Austin (Riverside, Pleasant Valley, 2nd St, 7th St, all the way up past 38th street and and 51st too.) I feel comfortable and safe there. (Now are there some places where I might not feel safe past 11 pm on a weekend? Maybe, but I'm in bed at those times!) My youngest is in daycare east of I-35 and I was just in the St. John's public library on Friday. Poor does not necessarily equal crime-ridden! The mere presence of homeless folk and day labors does not mean that you are facing a threat of immiment harm!

blah! I'm going OT! Sorry.

Here are some of the neighborhood associations in that area:
University Hills
University Hills Neighborhood Association

Windsor Park
Windsor Park - News for the Hood!
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Good luck!

[readymade]

Thanks guys! I currently live on the east side in 78741 and I LOVE it. Between Riverside & Oltorf, so I am well aware that the east side is not the gang land some would have us believe.

I can't remember the exact area I was in, but I remember driving down Cloverdale Ln & Rogge Ln. I saw a house in that area for $155K that looked pretty decent. I almost died! Even in 78741, the houses are $260K+ for over 1500sq ft. And there aren't that many of them. I went home and looked on Realtor.com and found a bunch of houses for under $225K (in 78723), and I started getting very excited.

I guess I was hoping to get a general feel for the area. For all I know Cloverdale Lane turns into a gang zone the minute the sun go down, heh. Or maybe it's an unforseen jewel lurking in the midst of the east side. I don't know. It's good to get opinions. Driving around, I saw that it was predominantly people of color walking around. I'm wondering if any "white" people have moved there and have been made to feel comfortable/uncomfortable.

[centralaustinite]

For what it is worth, my friend and her family (mom, dad, and four kids) live off Rogge Lane (on Lansbury) and they are Anglo (but fluent in Spanish, not sure if that is relevant).

I know other folks (also Anglo) who live closer to Cameron Road, on the other side of Berkman, streets like Yorkshire, Berkshire, etc. And they like their neighborhood very much and have lived there for several years.

If you love 78741 (and I lived there for seven years and still live just on the other side of I-35 near Oltorf) I think that you can handle 78723! Try contacting the neighborhood associations, you can usually join their list serve and quickly get a feel for the neighborhood and local issues. That will be your best source of information.

good luck!

[readymade]

Thanks so much, centralaustinite. That rules.

[japster]

The schools jobert is referring to as unacceptable are Pearce MS and Reagan HS. All elementary schools (Andrews, Blanton, Harris, Pecan Springs, and Winn) in 78723 are "Acceptable" at worst over the past three ratings cycles. Both Blanton ES and Pecan Springs ES were rated "Recognized" the last go-round. Let's give some of the educators there a little credit.

Pearce and Reagan are, however, the schools that those elementary students feed into, so therein lies the problem. I of course live in '23 and struggle almost daily with how to handle school for my 4 year old twins.