Where to live north of Austin and a stupid newbie question (Houston: HOA, big house)

[rp911]

My wife, who is a doctor, is considering a job opportunity to relocate to the Austin area. We currently live in Boston, MA.

She's more familiar with Texas than I am, having done her residency in Houston a while back. My only Texas experience was seeing the Grateful Dead in Houston and at Manor Downs in 1985, which was a really great time ... but I don't necessarily remember all that much about Austin as a result.

We're trying to get a handle on where it would make sense to live and coming to visit soon. She would be treating patients in Temple 2-3 days a week, one day in Killeen, and eventually also in Round Rock, but we would like to live relatively close to Austin, as we are about 20 miles from Boston now and do like to be near the city.

Georgetown seems to be somewhat central to all those locations and convenient to I-35, which would be good for the ride north, presumably, or at least within 40-50 miles and in theory easy traffic headed north against the commuter traffic. Any other areas to investigate?

For the newbie questions, tops on the list is, not knowing whether Georgetown or the surrounding areas are really considered the "country" or not, whether or not our 5 pound chihuahua is going to be killed by a scorpion the moment we move in

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks!

[love roses]

My husband commutes to Temple. We live in Hutto, so that makes the drive a bit under an hour/an hour at most. Yes, Georgetown would be abt. 15-20 minutes closer and NO, Georgetown isn't considered country. It has some rural areas but it's a sizeable town with great parks and a nice town square that has cute shops, restaurants, bookstores, etc...It is also home to a University and not too far from Austin. There is also a little medical district starting up in Round Rock, so you are also near medical offices and two hospitals. You MIGHT also look at Salado (a bit further North than Georgetown) or Leander. Anyplace else further South would make her commute a lot longer. I wouldn't worry too much about the scorpions in Georgetown (I've never heard of any dog, even a 5 pounder, getting killed by one ) They're the little brown ones anyway, not the huge Southwestern black ones.

[TexasHorseLady]

I agree with love roses. Georgetown or Salado (I really do live "out in the country" in between the two, but my office is in Georgetown and I commute all over the area in my profession) would be your best bets, I think. Georgetown is a little bit closer to Round Rock/Austin, Salado is closer to Temple. But Georgetown would be most convenient for all three, including Killeen in there, I think. Georgetown also has quite a few medical facilities and is five-ten minutes from the new ones in Round Rock and an easy drive into Austin for "bright city lights".

I've seen scorpions in Central Texas, but precious few in the 40 years I've lived here, and those were when we were living in Austin 5 minutes from downtown, next to the Greenbelt and with a rock cliff right behind our house. Haven't seen any out here near Georgetown in the past 13 years. Not saying they aren't around, but they're not generally a real issue except when you're in a new subdivision that's been built on top of their habitat and they're just trying desperately to find home, they know they left it here just a little while ago and now there's this big house where it used to be!

Welcome to Texas! My son spent a year in Boston while his lady at the time was attending grad school at Harvard, and we visited. Very different from Austin, but very nice in its own way (and the Italian restaurant we went to to celebrate her graduation - oh, my, that was good!). Austin will be a very different, but I hope equally pleasant, experience for you.

[mark311]

Since you stated that you like to be near the city, I would probably rule out Salado. I would stick with Georgetown or even Round Rock. Anything North of 620 won't add too much to your commute compared to Georgetown. A neighborhood like Forest Creek in Round Rock is in close proximity to the 130 toll road and that would get you past any North bound traffic and connect you with I-35 in North Georgetown. Neighborhoods in NW Round Rock just West of I-35 will give easy access to I-35 going North bound as well. In my experience, traffic lightens up quite a bit once you hit the outlet mall/Ikea at exit 256 (1431) when heading North on I-35 anyway. It just gives you more options than Georgetown, but there is nothing wrong with Georgetown either.

[shankaupas]

Originally Posted by mark311

A neighborhood like Forest Creek in Round Rock is in close proximity to the 130 toll road and that would get you past any North bound traffic and connect you with I-35 in North Georgetown. Neighborhoods in NW Round Rock just West of I-35 will give easy access to I-35 going North bound as well. In my experience, traffic lightens up quite a bit once you hit the outlet mall/Ikea at exit 256 (1431) when heading North on I-35 anyway. It just gives you more options than Georgetown, but there is nothing wrong with Georgetown either.

I live in the Forest Creek area and absolutely love it. But I think the OP would be better off in North Round Rock vs South Round Rock. I was thinking more like Teravista or Sendero Springs or Mayfield Ranch. Teravista is right next to the new medical complexes (Schott and White, Seton) on University Blvd. (i.e. 1431). Texas A&M is also going to build a medical school just down the road.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by shankaupas

I live in the Forest Creek area and absolutely love it. But I think the OP would be better off in North Round Rock vs South Round Rock. I was thinking more like Teravista or Sendero Springs or Mayfield Ranch. Teravista is right next to the new medical complexes (Schott and White, Seton) on University Blvd. (i.e. 1431). Texas A&M is also going to build a medical school just down the road.

That's funny, because I live near all the neighborhoods that you mentioned, but I think Forest Creek might offer more for a family with a doctor in it. There are more higher end homes I think and from what I've heard a nicer golf course than Teravista offers. Both areas would be fine and are worth checking out in addition to Georgetown in my opinion.

[TexasHorseLady]

Given the drive to Temple and Killeen, Round Rock may add too much to the commute (unless it's VERY north Round Rock, which is about five-ten minutes south of South Georgetown.

Teravista would be a possible choice - it's in such north Round Rock that parts of it are now apparently in Georgetown!

Something like Berry Creek or Georgetown Village (depending on preference and price range) would probably be ideally situated for commuting to all three places.

[rp911]

Thanks so much, folks ... and no golfers in this family.

Any further opinions are welcome.

[TexasHorseLady]

Okay, let's pin it down a bit more for you. What do you like to do when you're not working? Are you going to be working, and if so, where would that likely be? Do you like newer or older neighborhoods and houses? Do you want a subdivision with an HOA, or would you not live in an HOA neighborhood if paid to, or do you not care either way? Are schools an issue?

Paint us a better picture, in other words, of your ideal neighborhood/community, and we'll see if we can do a match up!

[rp911]

Well, as I said, my wife will be commuting. I (will be an) unemployed art director doing some freelance work, and a part-time musician, abandoning a good working band up here.

We would probably prefer something newer -- our house in Boston is modern, which is a rarity here -- and don't really mind a HOA, we would like a nice neighborhood with some privacy -- i.e., homes not right on top of each other. We have no children, although in my experience, being in a town with good schools is good for property values.

We generally do boring married things (when the band is not playing), like try new restaurants, grill outside, we'd like a pool to lounge around, my wife likes to garden (not sure how practical that will be there), that kind of thing.