Working near Austin Country Club; better to commute from the north (Round Rock) or south (Dripping Springs)? (Leander: homes)

[MLI]

I hate to commute, but based on our $325-350K budget, desire for 3 car garage, 3,000ish square feet and excellent schools, looks like we may have to live 15-20 miles from my new office near Austin CC. We also will have to travel downtown 2x a week or so, and I will be flying out of Austin Bergstrom airport about once a week as well.

Given all that, would you look down toward Dripping Springs or out toward Round Rock? What is the relative pain of commuting from the Belterra area or nearby development compared to commuting from some similar community in/near Round Rock? What community(ies) in Round Rock would be similar to Belterra? Are there other areas we should consider?

Thank you for any suggestions/ideas. Looking forward to the move!

[MLI]

PS. Do Austinites share the road nicely with motorcycles?

[hoffdano]

I wonder if you can find something in Lakepoint for that price range? But not too many 3 car garages in Lakepointe.

I would choose Drippings Springs over Round Rock for the commute you might face.

I know several in Austin who ride motorcycles. In general I think Austin is not bad for motorcyclists.

[MLI]

Three car garage is pretty important. I have lots of toys.

[texastea]

Dripping Springs might be a prettier commute but I don't think it would be easier or shorter.

Are you choosing Round Rock because of the schools? If so, remember that RRISD extends into NW Austin and in fact, the best RRISD high school, Westwood, is in Austin. If you search for homes using austinhomesearch.com, you can search by school district and go from there. Don't rule out Leander ISD. It extends from west Round Rock to the lake (Steiner Ranch).

[atxcio]

I think Dripping Springs would be the better commute for a motorcycle. You can avoid the major highways like Mopac (for the most part), 183 and I-35, and enjoy a more scenic commute... you will deal with many lights though. Traffic is only a problem during rush hour. Round Rock might be a bit faster using the major highways.

[iceshots]

The commute from Dripping into SW Austin is not that bad. It slows down at the Y, but is not a complete backlog. There are ways around it depending on where you are heading. Getting from the Y across town to the airport is easy. Traffic on Ben White does not usually back up.

I can't help you on getting from Ben White to the Country Club or downtown. I do not drive that enough to form an honest opinion.

There are lots of bikes on the roads around Dripping. You should not have a problem.

Good Luck on your move.