Austin? Or Phoenix? (San Antonio, Round Rock, Cedar Park: appointed, houses, neighborhoods)

[Bardo]

In keeping with the suggestion to tell a bit about oneself... I'll start with that...

I am a 35 yr old software developer. I'm married to a 34 yr old housewife. We have 3 kids, 14, 10, and 6. One of whom has Autism. We're originally from Phoenix. We moved away from Phoenix 2 yrs ago to try life on the east coast and were sadly disappointed with the snow and the taxes. So I'm looking to move back to the southwest, and have narrowed it down to either Austin/San Antonio, or Phoenix again. Phoenix is a known quantity for us in that we know the good neighborhoods and the bad.. we know the prices on houses... etc. We're looking probably for a 4 or 5 bedroom house (preferably 5, because I need an office). I telecommute from home, so traffic isn't a big deal, but all jobs don't last forever, so I want to be close to an area where finding a job for someone with my skills will be easy. We are reasonably affluent... you might even call us yuppies I'm afraid to say. For leisuretime activities, we enjoy geocaching(hiking), swimming, art festivals and shopping... preferred shopping being computer gadgets and books. We like to eat out (Cheesecake Factory, Macaroni Grill) once or twice a month.

I understand the taxes are reasonably high in Tx, and I think based on my calculations, we could afford a house in the $250,000 range. (We calculate the taxes on this at about $5500 a year.) In Phoenix, because the Taxes are lower, we estimate we could do something around $300,000 - $350,000.

The big risk for us is that we don't really know anyone in the Austin area, so we're a bit concerned about that. Rumor has it summers can be pretty unbearable there, but coming from Phoenix, would it really bother me? After 105 degrees, it's all the same... just HOT!

We need a neighborhood with lots of fun kids to play with. Good schools. Etc. I like Phoenix because it's close to San Diego too with Sea World, the beach, Disneyland in LA....

I don't know exactly what I'm looking for here... Austin looks really nice... does anyone have any thoughts/comments on what I've said? Would I be able to find something given what I'm looking for?

[gigi927]

Hi Bardo,

I think I can speak to your situation pretty nicely. We moved here after living in Scottsdale for 4 years. I have a 4 year old son with special needs and a 2 year old daughter as well. Here's my take:

Weather - you won't have any problem with the weather here. To most people it's incredibly hot compared to where they've come from, but having lived in Phoenix, it won't feel bad to you. The humidity is definitely higher here than in AZ, but when it hits the 100 degree days, it's not 100+ 24/7 like those hot summer months in AZ. And, there are some refreshingly cold days here in the winter as well.

Not Knowing Anyone - don't worry about it either. We moved here having no friends or family within 4 hours. You will meet people easily compared to Phoenix. You know how Phoenix is kind of all about the backyard? you pull into the garage and go into your backyard. Here, we've found it's all about the front yard - people are out in the evenings with kids riding bikes or hanging out and talking. We met 6 of our neighbors here within the first 3 days we lived here; in Phoenix it took us over a year to meet that many people on our street.

Taxes: to be safe, budget about 3% of the house price for taxes; so for a $250K house, budget $7500 just to be safe. It will likely be lower than that, but better to plan for the worst.

Schools: schools here are hands down better than Phoenix. We were in Cave Creek Unified in AZ. My son attended what was a pretty good special ed preschool program there, but what he is getting here just puts the other program to shame. The level of concern and organization from his teachers and staff has been incredible. One of the moms in his class has a daughter with PDD-NOS nonspecified and she actually pulled her daughter out of 3 separate expensive programs because the school district's services are so superior.

Activities for Families: this is a much better place to raise a family,IMO. Because the weather isn't quite as extreme, you can just get out more. Great parks, lakes etc. As another example, we have 3 restaurants within 15 minutes of our house that have outdoor play structures for kids to play on while the parents eat. in Phoenix, I can't think of one restaurant (besides Joe's Crab Shack in Chandler, which was an hour from our house) that had an outdoor playscape.

Housing: housing is about 60 cents on the dollar here. Taxes are a factor, though. you're going to get more house for your $ here for sure. I'd say check out Cedar Park, Round Rock and Pflugerville in the price range you're looking in. You can find some nice communities in good school districts.

The one leg up Phoenix has on this area is the access to Vegas and to California. That can't be beat. But here, it's still only a 2.5 hour flight to Orlando, which is not bad, and a 4 hour drive to the Gulf Coast if you want beaches (not CA beach quality, but still, it's a beach).

For us, austin has been an incredibly positive change over Phoenix and we have been very happy here. Hope some of my insight has helped - feel free to PM me if you have any other questions at all! If you can post what part of Phoenix you lived in I can probably direct you toward some areas here that are similar (if you liked where you were).

Good luck!

Gigi

[neddy]

I am in San Antonio and Austin has more choices for your skill set and that is why we are moving to Austin (hubby got in with IBM). Also you need to remember that San Antonio is only an hour away and it does have Sea World and then Six flags is there also so lots of stuff to do.

Good luck

[texasboundmom]

I live in Phoenix, (Chandler actually) and I can tell you the school systems are not good here. Our son is also autistic and goes to Priority Preschool here which is ok and he receives in home therapy for occupational, speech, and physical therapy. The good thing about AZ is that we have a DDD system that if you qualify will give you therapy in your home which I am understanding Austin does not have. But I hear that the schools for special needs children are outstanding in Austin. In fact, this is one of the big decisions to move our family to Texas from AZ.

[jwb123]

The good thing about AZ is that we have a DDD system that if you qualify will give you therapy in your home which I am understanding Austin does not have.

Doesn't that go away at age 4 though? Unless the child is severe, I think... having DDD in WA - we never got therapy in our home. We went to a birth to three center, and then when he turned 3 - he entered the school district.

Do you prefer it in home? I was under the impression that the "in school" therapy was better - because it was in the context of the preschool environment, so it's occuring while they are playing, or within whatever activity the class is doing... in a more natural situation - and I liked the fact that he was getting the social aspect of the preschool... love to hear your thoughts though!

But I hear that the schools for special needs children are outstanding in Austin.

In the Austin suburbs - absolutely!

I completely echo all that gigi has told you, Bardo!!

[Floridamom1970]

My daughter has low functioning severe autism. When we lived in Austin from 98 to 2001 we did not yet have a diagnosis of autism. What she had was hypotonia and developmental delays. She got in home therapy until she was three and then she began preschool at one of the local schools with an ESE preschool program.

[texasboundmom]

Quote:
The good thing about AZ is that we have a DDD system that if you qualify will give you therapy in your home which I am understanding Austin does not have.

Doesn't that go away at age 4 though? Unless the child is severe, I think... having DDD in WA - we never got therapy in our home. We went to a birth to three center, and then when he turned 3 - he entered the school district.

Do you prefer it in home? I was under the impression that the "in school" therapy was better - because it was in the context of the preschool environment, so it's occuring while they are playing, or within whatever activity the class is doing... in a more natural situation - and I liked the fact that he was getting the social aspect of the preschool... love to hear your thoughts though!

Our son was in Early Intervention until he was 3 and than qualified for the DDD system at age 3 and up to still receive in home therapy. This in addition to the Priority Preschool that he goes to and also receives speech and ot there also. I love his speech therapist that comes to our home, but have really struggled to get an OT that I like and works well with my son.

[gigi927]

Texasbound...do you want the contact info for our old OT in Phoenix? She is based out of north Phoenix - not sure where you are, but we were very happy with her.

Let me know.

[sdinaz]

hi there,
we live in Mesa ,AZ and my hubby and I are seriously considering moving next year to Austin as well. Thankfully w/your input, I know we can stand the weather , but what about the mosquitos, junebugs, snakes, scorpions, roaches.... Is it really bad there or can you prevent it all just using pest control, etc... thanks!

[austifornian]

"The one leg up Phoenix has on this area is the access to Vegas and to California."

It might not be a driveable distance to the pacific, but it's also a 2.5 hour non stop flight to San Diego or Las Vegas on Southwest. One thing about Austin that rarely gets mentioned is we have one of the most convenient and easiest airports in the country.