bad areas of austin, tx (Pflugerville, Howe: real estate, crime rate, house)

[killer2021]

just so I know which places to avoid.

[bumpy_1954]

East part of town (east of I-35 mostly) is poverty/crime-ridden. At least just about everytime there is serious assault/murder on the news, that's where it is. There are many nice working-class/middle class neighborhoods around. My son lives in the SW part of town (Mopac loop 1/William Cannon area) and there are some nice established suburbs there that I wouldn't mind living in. As for me, I never thought of myself as a redneck (about 30 miles NW of town) - I don't think native Yankees are allowed to be rednecks! I have met alot of people in my 3 years here in Brisarcliff, and tho it seems the 'redneck' look is prevelent, looks are DEFINATELY deceiving. This is Willie Nelson's backyard, literally. Live music and the lake seem to be a common theme for all. It can be a haven for baby boomers trying to recapture their happy hippy days....

[pbnj07]

On a sidenote, I saw on the news that the Austin Police are really starting to crack-down (no pun intended) on the drug dealing in East Austin, recently making dozens of arrests in a drug sting and initiating more patrolling of the area.

Just my personal opinion, but I believe it's inevitable that downtown Austin will eventually expand across I-35 to the eastside. New construction will expand, retail/businesses will be established, real estate prices will skyrocket, and the crime eliment will migrate elsewhere, probably north towards Pflugerville.

[inthecut]

Classic tale of two cities....I would venture to say few people migrate from one area to the other....I personally VERY rarely go east, and I would imagine that's the same for most of us west of east austin.......some areas technically west of !-35 are not so safe either.......keep in mind that Austin is the 16th largest city in the US......anything that size is bound to have a seedy, seamy side.....and Austin very much does........

[CptnRn]

Use the forum search function and search for "crime" there are some detailed posts about it. In general Austin has very, very low violent crime rates, but it has a problem with theft. Some parts of East Austin are pretty decent and the area is becoming gentrified and improving. However the police just last week busted a bunch of street corner drug dealers at 12 & Chicon or in that vicinity.

[TexasHorseLady]

"East of IH35" is as very broad area. There are good and not as good areas east of IH35, but some folks just have to have a "tracks" to be on the "right" side of, and if such doesn't exist, they'll create it in their minds.

I've lived east and west over the past 40 years. I've had two break-ins during that time. Both of them were in Barton Hills, which is a very desirable area west of IH 35 by some distance. (Go figure, the thieves went where there was likely to be something worth stealing. ) Both times were just before Christmas, so we figured that was the motivation - either Christmas shopping in our house or looking for something to sell to go Christmas shopping with.

How about you tell us what you're looking FOR and we'll give you some ideas for where TO look, rather than where to avoid? That'll probably work better.

[gpurcell]

East of I -35 is the "worst" part of Austin but even then it isn't too bad. Directly across the interstate has/is gentrified significantly and wil llikely continue to do so...but the schools those areas feed into are not good.

[jobert]

The thing that cracks me up about the "East of 35 is Bad" reflex, is that east of 35 is the only decent soil in central texas.

If you want land where:

1. tall trees grow
2. your grass stays green,
3. the hills are gentle,
4. Soil quality is rich
5. you can have a relatively flat yard that meets the purpose of having a yard in the first place.
6. you can grow a garden

If you want the qualities listed above, east of 35 is your only option, but we insist it's "off-limits"
What is a person to do?

[theloneranger]

"Bad areas" is a relative term. There isn't a real dangerous "ghetto" area in Austin.

The east side is low-income and mostly industrial and minority, so it's associated with being a "bad" part of town. However, there's not a terrifcally high crime rate in East Austin compared to other cities.

[love roses]

I live on the East side of 35 and have never had any crime problem at all. No break ins, no broken car windows, nothing stolen from our cars or our yards, no vandalism. But, although I live East of 35, I don't live East of 35 in Travis County across from downtown Austin. Like THL says, that's a broad area and like others have said lots of the areas East of downtown have and are being gentrified.