Best area to live for a college student in Austin (West: apartment complex, for rent)

[Pureprescott]

Yo,

I currently live in Prescott, Arizona and I'm looking to move to Austin this summer. I'm planning on going to a community college next summer. Can anyone give me any recommendations on where to look for apartments? Or what part of Austin I should move to? Any other Important Info would help.

Thanks Alot.

[latikeriii]

Yo, how much are you looking to spend? I take it that you are going to ACC. There are campuses everywhere so it really doesn't matter where you live but for college students I would say:

If $$ is no object then the West Campus area, hands down.
If $$ is an object then East Riverside, East Oltorf area. Crime is higher over there but there are tons of college students and an ACC campus over there. You won't be murdered but there is petty crime like car burglaries, etc, just watch your surroundings.
If $$ is an object and you don't mind living further away for a nicer place, look at Metric Blvd in North Austin and its next to an ACC. Southwest Austin is good too. Far West Blvd is good for students as well.
Honestly, any area you can afford and feel comfortable in in Austin would work.

[leens514]

I moved to austin and went to ACC. So we moved to the north side of austin because the apartments were cheaper. We also found out northridge campus ( for us) was the best campus. it had all the classes we needed to take to transfer ( some campus don't offer certain classes and you end up going to different campuses in one semester). Also, compared to the rio grande campus it was alot easier to park. However, we moved south. Living North was nice and it was only about a 10-15 minute drive without traffic to downtown. Our apartment complex even had a party shuttle every weekend to downtown.

But at this point of time living south is alot better for us. We can take a cab to downtown, walk to the parks and not have to sit in traffic during rush hour. So, it all depends on what you can afford, what you like to do, where you plan to work, etc

[Pureprescott]

Money is not really a Issue. I'd like a place closer to downtown, I spend most of my time outdoors. I'd assume I would spend most of my time there. I'll look for places in the south part of Austin.

How is the job market? Is it hard for a college student to find a Job?

[leens514]

So if you like to spend time outdoors south austin would be more your style. If you like hiking, look at apartments on spyglass drive. There are walking distance to one of the access to barton creek. Or if money is really is not an issue milago condo has place for rent ( a little pricey) but they are directly on town lake and you have direct access to the trail. But otherwise, there are actually tons of great places to live in south austin.

Job wise? I guess it depends what you do or what you are looking for? Looking for a part time job there are tons of them. If you know how to bartend or have experience as a server, you shouldn't have a problem snapping up a job due to tons of bars and restaurants here.

[erjmkn]

What types of things are there to do outdoors? Are there a lot of places to hike or what do people like to do?

[CptnRn]

The outdoors is Austin's living room. Most activities and places that are uniquely Austin have to do with outdoor festivals, events, celebrations. Check out the URLs in these threads What Is "Austin Weird" To You? and the day trips described in my profile.

There are tons of parks and green belts with hike and bike trails all over Austin.

Places that Austin citizens identified as uniquely Austin were more about outdoor spaces then buildings. Such as the grounds at Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Hippy Hollow on Lake Travis, the South mall at the University of Texas, open air festivals on 6th Street. Austin celebrated new years 2001 by closing Congress Avenue and Sixth Street and having a huge free street party with live music.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by erjmkn

What types of things are there to do outdoors? Are there a lot of places to hike or what do people like to do?

Run almost anywhere but the hike and bike trail on Lady Bird lake is popular.

Swim for fitness at many places or in the lakes

Bike - all over town on or off road

Combine the above three to train for a triathlon

Row (at the Texas Rowing center)

Join a league and play soccer, softball, volleball, or rugby

Boat, jetski, or fish on Lake Travis

Just for starters.....