Georgetown TX have small town charm? (Austin, Round Rock: city hall, houses, neighborhoods)

[cash1]

Moving from Collierville TN just outside of Memphis to Austin area.
We are looking for a nice small town atmosphere with a strong since of family community that still has charm. Just wondering if Georgetown offers that or should would look at some larger suburbs? We have a town square here that is very cute with old train station and old fashioned ice cream place to visit but still has class...not po-dunk.
Like that Georgetown has town square....Just not sure about the schools and retirees. Berry Creek seems nice.
We have a 3 year old...and a son starting college who will stay here at Univ. TN Knoxville.
Also should we look at Belton, or is there too many military?
Another on possible list Forest Creek area RR...only seen via internet.
After living in TN we have to have lots of trees with more traditional style homes that are not on top of eachother but still want to see neighbors when going to mailbox. Any info on these areas would be great.....Thanks for input.

[homeinatx]

Georgetown totally has small town charm, as do Blanco, Taylor and Bastrop. Round Rock - not so much, though the historic old town is lovely, it is dwarfed by increasingly Orange County scale sprawl.

[TX Challenge]

I live in Berry Creek in Georgetown. It is a very nice neighborhood. Unlike some ppl want to make it out to be, it is NOT a retirement community. We have all types of neighbors here. The lots are bigger than most places. I live on almost 2 acres here. It all depends on what section you live in.

Downtown Georgetown is nice. No "ice cream" shops that I know about, but a very nice "safe" downtown...It is very low key, but you can do almost anything here..If you like "fast pace" then Georgetown is not for you. It is worth a look..

[love roses]

there are 2 cafes downtown Georgetown that serve ice cream. One of them serves a local austin fave, Amy's. County Seat Cafe has an ice cream parlor.

Forest Creek and Oak Bluff are two amazingly nice neighborhoods in Eastern Round Rock. Very nice homes, mature oaks, near golf course and large lots.

There are lots of kids in Georgetown and lots of things geared toward kids there. There are quite a few playscapes at the San Gabriel Park and you can splash in the stream there or even swim in the river, but I haven't tried it yet. I need to check out Blue Hole, the local swimming hole. There is also a cool playscape by the city hall (?). They also have a skate park. There is Friday Music on the Square in the summer. Also, a market days and farmers market. Several festivals happen there during the year as well. Round Rock is also about to host their 2nd big music festival this year at Dell Diamond. The first one was Reckless Kelly and then lots of local groups. This one is going to have Kellie Pickler, Jerry Jeff Walker, Stacey Barnhill, Uncle Lucius, and Paula Nelson band.

[cash1]

Thanks for the responses.
Lived in Phoenix for 10 years prior to TN. So know how OC sprawl can be..didn't like....enjoy the southern hospitality much more. People in TN very nice without putting on aires....a pet peive of mine.
Georgetown seems to be the place to look into. Love the Friday night music on the sqaure. We have the same here, where events on town square bring the community together. Swimming holes sound fun too.
I did look at some homes in Berry Creek during last visit and looked at the school Frost elementary. Nice to know there are kids in that neighborhood....wasn't sure with all the golf surrounding. A little leary of the school compared to Village elementary. Didn't like homes in Village area from what I have seen, but impressed with the school.
Anyone have further info on these particular schools? Is Frost only elementary that Berry Creek feads into?
Also should I look into Forest Creek and Oak Bluff in RR?....or do those areas tend to be with the OC sprawl too....without the small town charm.

[love roses]

Forest Creek and Oak Bluff don't seem sprawly to me, but that's just my opinion. Star Ranch is a little more in the sprawl zone. Oak Bluff has a bunch of community events, not sure about FC. There are no town squares there, just some strip centers.

[art_teacher_mom]

YES! Georgetown definitely still has small town charm. We have owned a home in Gtown since 1995 and have seen lots of growth, but nothing compared to the explosion of Round Rock after Dell Computer came!

The people at the post office know me. Every time I go grocery shopping I would see someone from my daughter's school or a neighbor. We know all of our neighbors and their kids for at least 5 houses on either side of us.
Loves Roses has already done a great job listing the fun community activities. With the addition of Wolf Ranch shopping, there's now the best of both worlds!

Just want to mention that there are many more choices than just Berry Creek. (Nothing against Berrry Creek, don't get me wrong!) But don't forget the neighborhoods down 2243! River Ridge is a lovely neighborhood with many houses having views of the San Gabriel River. They also have a community pool.
Living in these more southern parts of Georgetown allows easier access to Round Rock and North Austin shopping/dining.

(We live in a neighborhood further down 2243 with acreage/horses, but since you mentioned Berry & Forest Creek I thought you might be seeking a more traditional neighborhood).

If I WERE to choose Round Rock, I definitely think Forest Creek is a lovely place. I have a dear friend who lives over there. Round Rock schools have a great reputation and it is a very family oriented place to live as well.
But small town feel in Round Rock? Those days have long been gone, IMO.

[cash1]

art_teacher_mom.....thank you also for reply. I am getting sold on Georgetown.
I love the fact that you see and know neighbors when out and about. That is something we like about our town here. When living in such a large city like Phoenix, we did not experience that. We moved to TN when my son was in 8th grade and he has made the best friendships here that he ever could compared to Phoenix....Very clicky image prone there. Now he is off to college with a lot of those friends. So guess you could say we have lived in both big city and small town neighborhoods and our choice is small town atmosphere with lots of charm, but Austin so close within reach. Our town is nice but the city of Memphis is a joke.
Since your daughter is in school do you have some elementary school recommendations? You mentioned river ridge but not sure of school in that neighborhood. Thanks for info

[TexasHorseLady]

If you're looking for small town charm, Georgetown is definitely a strong contender. As art_teacher_mom says, there's many choices in neighborhoods. If you want a bit more room, and don't mind older housing, you might want to consider Serenada, as well as North Lake. What's your price range? That would help point you in the right direction.

[Trainwreck20]

I will say it all depends on what you mean by 'small town'. I thought of G'town as a small town in the 70s, and now it is what, 3? 5? times as big. I consider it a medium sized town, since it has wally world, Home Depot, Target, etc.

It is true, for the most part, that the growth occurred much slower than, say, Round Rock, so there was a lot more consideration in neighborhood development. One of my favorite neighborhoods anywhere around central Texas is Serenada.