Questions, questions, questions (Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park: transplants, condos, homes)

[all mixed up]

Ok, We are from NY and will be moving in the next few months. We are a Caucasian married couple in our late 30's with a son that has PDD-NOS, which is part of the Autistic spectrum. We are also Jewish, not really religious, but we would still like to be near a temple. We are looking for a nice place to live that is safe with good schools. We can spend about 200K to 250K for a home or condo. 1st question is will a NY’er be welcome in Texas, I don’t mean to sound that way, but I have friends who have been to Texas and some people were not very friendly to them and called them yanks. I know not everybody in Texas is like this. Are there any communities that offer homes and condos that also have tennis and pools as well, like a master planed community? It does not have to be this, we are open to all areas.

Thanks fir your responses

[ohio2texas]

First of all, congrats on making the decision to move to Texas.

Being a "yank", I can say, that in the nine months we've been here, I've never been called a "yank". The only comment that has been made is when I called soda "pop" someone said, "oh, you must be a northerner." And then that led to the discussion of where I was from, why I moved, etc. People at work, who I'm very close to, make fun of me a bit because I'm always asking questions about bugs, snakes, spiders, etc... but it's in a fun, laughing manner.

You will find that there are tons of transplants here... you'll fit right in.

I have found the Austin area to be much friendlier than the NE. People are always holding doors for you... saying excuse me or thank you. We're kind of sticklers about manners, so we are very happy about that.

I'm not sure about the Jewish community here, but I'm sure if you google some information, it will pop up.

As for the school districts and the amount of money you can spend on a house, look at Round Rock and Leander schools. (Leander schools includes Leander and Cedar Park.) Again, if you google the districts and do a little research, you will probably find what you are looking for.

Good Luck!