good/bad area of Georgetown? (Dallas, Round Rock: for sale, crime rates, new home)

[chris4t4]

I have a friend who is also beginning her house hunt and she has it narrowed down to 3 places: RR, Georgetown, and Belterra.

Her first choice is Georgetown but wanted to be on the west side in a newer home but she is not finding much online but older homes and does not like the wood homes in Georgetown village and is unsure about the east side of Georgetown.
RR she likes but thinks it's changed and her hair stylist even made a comment that spoiled her on RR.
Then she likes Belterra but has concerns there too.

Basically she says her wish list is:
House budget up to $235 and then wants to add a pool and have a great backyard, live in a respectable town, NOT have the Jones' mentality, be in a good school district in safe area.

So my answer was RR as there are numerous houses in that pricepoint in various subdivisions. She still says she thinks Georgetown #1, Belterra for its location #2 and then RR. AgghHH!!!! she confuses me.

What do you all think!

[mickey65]

When I lived in Georgetown, the "run-down/ghetto-ish" parts of town are - the far end of Quail Valley Road, and half of Wagon Wheel Drive. Just take a drive on those streets, and you'll see what I mean.

I'm pretty sure there are others, but those were the areas I wouldn't live in.

I live in Round Rock near Gattis School and Meadowlawn (down the street from Dell) and it's a pretty decent area.

[Trainwreck20]

Personally, and each person has their own set of preferences, I would chose Georgetown from those three, as well.

Does she (or anyone else in the house) have to commute to work? that would either make it or break it for either GT/RR or Belterra, since there are very few (none at all?) places you can commute to from both areas easily.

All three of those areas feed into pretty decent schools, so although some may rate better or worse than other, I wouldn't say that schools should be an issue for any location.

The big issue in Georgetown will be in finding 'newer homes'. I know there are some subdivisions out there, but I am a huge fan of the older homes in GT. Those are mainly rock or brick and have larger yards with mature trees (Serenda). GT still manages a little bit of a small town feel, so if you want a LOT of shopping options, then RR would definitely be a higher choice.

[chris4t4]

Commute isn't an issue for them, they work downtown but both don't mind a commute since they are used to a long commute from where they live in Dallas.

I think her concern was on the East side of Georgetown it looked a little run down in the parts she drove. I might have this wrong but I think she was saying she was near the library and streets further in. She said it was really a rundown section and was concerned about crime. And then she said they were where Georgetown ended on the east side and there were fairly new homes. Said she couldn't get a feel for the area.

Her concern is there aren't many newer homes for sale that don't need renovating (but she's only been looking at the west side).

[mickey65]

The police station is right next door to the library in downtown Georgetown.

[love roses]

Anywhere near the jail/Police Station isn't such a great area. Go more around the square away from the jail/police station/library. There are some nice homes around the University, some nice remodels/rebuilds near the old courthouse side of the square. There really aren't too many BAD areas in G'Town. Funny! Is this East/West thing spreading it's malicious little way up all the way to Georgetown now? There are some cute homes around San Gabriel Park as well.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Loveroses: people take that East/West thing all the way from Mexico to the Canadian border.

[kelly katsus]

I live on the west side and work on the east side. There are areas that she might like on both sides. I like Serenada too. There are nice size homes and space between each neighbor. There isn't a crime free neighborhood anywhere, but there are some with less crime. Based on the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, we have one of the lowest crime rates in the nation. "Georgetown has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation for communities in its population range." Have her check out this website and do her homework before moving. Georgetown Chamber of Commerce - Crime & Public Safety in Georgetown Texas Oh and by the way, I dont work for the chamber, so this isn't an advertisement for me.

[kelly katsus]

Oh one more thing.... I love living in Georgetown!!!

[TexasHorseLady]

I agree, that East/West thing has replaced "the wrong side of the tracks" - as I've said before, some folks absolutely MUST have that kind of dividing line between "them and us" in order to feel good about themselves.

That being said (and I don't think that's what's going on here with the OP's friend, by the way), what constitutes "newer"? Clearly very desirable Old Town is not going to qualify. It's going to be easier to put in a pool east of 35, because of the soil type (rockier west), but obviously it can be done west, as quite a few homes have them.

There are some newer subdivisions (since 1990) east towards 130, and likely to be more. The trick will be finding something in that price range newer on a lot large enough for a pool, but I'm betting it can be done, with some determination!