Moving to SoCo - what to expect? (Austin, West: apartment, city hall)

[Unclemeat]

We're leaving the hills and heading to a place right on S. Congress, near the Continental Club. Definitely know what to expect from a noise/people standpoint just because of all the attractions, nightlife, etc. I know for a week during SXSW it will be insane. But what else?

Just wondering if there is anything else to prepare for when living on such a busy area of such a popular street. Like, does the road close down for a week at a time every year for a random festival? Any other strange happenings you wouldn't know about if you only visited the area on weekends/weeknights?

I've run into strange stuff in the past, lived in a quirky/congested area of another town and the only real road you could use to get out would close down all the time for parades, festivals, etc. Or another town where we lived in an apartment that was not within 2 miles of a fire station, but every time there was an incident the fire trucks would take a route right past our place, sirens blaring, usually after 3AM. Stuff like that, you usually can't find out until it's too late.

[miss-speech]

I hope you enjoy your new place! We are just a few blocks south, and 2 blocks west of Congress. I'm not sure what noise will be like on a typical (i.e. not SXSW) night, but surely it won't be too terrible. Once in a while there is a classic car or motorcycle rally weekend, with all these un-mufflered vehicles parading up and down Congress, but other than that, I can't think of anything epically disruptive.

[Unclemeat]

Originally Posted by miss-speech

I hope you enjoy your new place! We are just a few blocks south, and 2 blocks west of Congress. I'm not sure what noise will be like on a typical (i.e. not SXSW) night, but surely it won't be too terrible. Once in a while there is a classic car or motorcycle rally weekend, with all these un-mufflered vehicles parading up and down Congress, but other than that, I can't think of anything epically disruptive.

Thanks! I'm totally expecting noise just from all the bars/restaurants and foot traffic. Shouldn't be bad, nothing like living in the dorms.

[austin-steve]

If you're in a house, you'll experience ongoing parking hassles and clogged streets, people walking down the streets to and from cars at 2AM, talking loud.

You'll also find it to be an extremely convenience geographic location, close to everything you need to enjoy Austin.

Steve

[centralaustinite]

Get involved with the neighborhood association and list serve, DM for more details, they keep their finger on the pulse of everything, like street closures, the Congress Avenue bridge is regularly closed for parades, and what is going on at City Hall that affects the area. Welcome! (It will be nuts the whole month of March thanks to SXSW)

[kiacook]

Is the neighborhood called "SoCo" officially? I know that's the 'entertainment area' but is the residential area off Congress called that or is it Travis Heights?

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by kiacook

Is the neighborhood called "SoCo" officially? I know that's the 'entertainment area' but is the residential area off Congress called that or is it Travis Heights?

It's Travis Heights east of S. Congress, west of IH35, south of Oltorf, north of Riverside. Technically, not all of that geographic area has the legal description of "Travis Heights", but the entire area is commonly known as that now.

West of S. Congress is most commonly called Bouldin and Dawson neighborhoods.

The street S. Congress itself is shortened to SoCo, but "SoCo" been adopted in common Austin vernacular to mean that section of the 78704 zip that straddles S. Congress on both sides, and the street itself.

Thus you can either party at SoCo (S. Congress Ave) or live in SoCo (the surrounding neighborhoods).

Steve

[centralaustinite]

Yes, and just to make it more confusing, South River City Citizens, or SRCC is the neighborhood association (not even remotely like an HOA) and it covers everything south of the river, east of Congress, north of Ben White, and west of Parker Lane!

[Unclemeat]

Thanks for the various advice, welcomes, etc. Our address will be xxx S. Congress Ave, so it's definitely SoCo no matter how you look at it, haha. We'll be in an apartment, so I don't know how involved we'll get with the neighborhood associations... I love to be active with that stuff, but don't feel it's my place when I'm a temporary citizen. We'd love to have a house down there, but we're giving this a test run since we both work to the north and have to see if we can tolerate commuting on the Slow-Pac every day. I'm really hoping putting up with the commute will be outweighed by the fantastic walkability. Right now we're in the arboretum area, hate it, never hang out around here and are always driving south for fun.

[miss-speech]

Originally Posted by Unclemeat

Thanks for the various advice, welcomes, etc. Our address will be xxx S. Congress Ave, so it's definitely SoCo no matter how you look at it, haha. We'll be in an apartment, so I don't know how involved we'll get with the neighborhood associations... I love to be active with that stuff, but don't feel it's my place when I'm a temporary citizen. We'd love to have a house down there, but we're giving this a test run since we both work to the north and have to see if we can tolerate commuting on the Slow-Pac every day. I'm really hoping putting up with the commute will be outweighed by the fantastic walkability. Right now we're in the arboretum area, hate it, never hang out around here and are always driving south for fun.

Or perhaps you will find dream jobs downtown or in 78704!!!

Seriously, I love love love my hood. We can walk or bike to shops, restaurants, town lake, the new branch library, yoga class, and on and on. Our house is small, but I wouldn't trade it for one 3x the size out in the burbs.