Cedar Park area (Austin, Leander, Howe: to rent, new house, neighborhood)

[chewgumm]

I am currently thinking of relocationg to the Austin area, specifically Cedar Park. I have been doing a little research on areas around Austin, and CP seems like a good fit. However, I am early in the research stage and have never been to the area so would appreciate any feedback. I have 2 young (2 and 5) children so finding a family friendly area is very important to me. The characteristics that are important to me are as follows:

1) Affordability -Home price from $180k to $210k. I believe this is waht I can afford, although property taxes ion the area scare me. I think the idea of Texas being cheap is a misnomer, because people obviously do not look at the property taxes. regardless, this is the range I think I can do, so what kind of neighborhood could I expect in this range?

2) Schools - Are the schools in Cedar Park good? What about Leeander? Are there schools that we should try to get into, or any to avoid? Is Cedar Park konwn to be better/ worse than Leander, or some other close school?

3) Commute - What is the commute like from Cedar Park - Austin? I know the area has heavy traffic, but is there any reason Cedar Park would be especially difficult?

4) Weather - I am from MS, but live in Nevada, so have been through very humid to not humid at all. I have seen both extrmemes, and would assume that Austin area is in the "very humid" category. Is this correct?

Any other information would also be appreciatd. Thanks.

[chewgumm]

hahaha...ok, maybe this is not the place for me. This may be a sign.

[Trainwreck20]

1) Affordability -Home price from $180k to $210k. I believe this is waht I can afford, although property taxes ion the area scare me. I think the idea of Texas being cheap is a misnomer, because people obviously do not look at the property taxes. regardless, this is the range I think I can do, so what kind of neighborhood could I expect in this range?

In Leander/Cedar Park, I think you can get a pretty good house/neighborhood for that price, but I am not up to date on that area specifically, so someone else will have to help you out there.

2) Schools - Are the schools in Cedar Park good? What about Leeander? Are there schools that we should try to get into, or any to avoid? Is Cedar Park konwn to be better/ worse than Leander, or some other close school?

The schools in the area are very good, I believe, although I have not looked at the rankings. They have a very good reputation (both CP and LN), so I would not be too worried about district. You would have to check out the specific schools, but again, there is not a really bad school that I can think of in that area.

3) Commute - What is the commute like from Cedar Park - Austin? I know the area has heavy traffic, but is there any reason Cedar Park would be especially difficult?

This is one of the main arteries into the city, so traffic is bad. Not sure about especially difficult, but it is one of the routes that is known to be bad. Now, they are building various toll roads that may reroute traffic some, and LN/CP will be on the new light rail system. During non-peak hours, the drive is not bad.

4) Weather - I am from MS, but live in Nevada, so have been through very humid to not humid at all. I have seen both extrmemes, and would assume that Austin area is in the "very humid" category. Is this correct?

Austin is humid, but not VERY humid (usually - although it has its moments). It is nothing like the coast, and there is some dry air that blows in from west Texas that helps moderate the humidity.

[chewgumm]

Thank you. I apprecaite the information. Very helpful.

[neddy]

I just moved to the area and also am looking at houses and your budget seems very doable. From what I gather also Leander ISD is very good. We have yet to go through a school year. I would think you might want to rent something in the area just to make sure you like it. Hubby drives to 183/MoPac and in the morning it takes him about 25 mins and thats the heaviest traffic we have seen yet.

[jennyb315]

CP/Leander is a very nice family-oriented area. We live just a stone's throw north of the CP line in Leander--- new houses are about $15,000+ cheaper with a Leander address from what I have seen. CP/Leander-- it doesn't matter to me.... I'm not here to impress anyone with my address Our schools are in Leander ISD and so far, I've been pleased with the public system (we came from private schools). I wish the dress code was stricter for middle school though..... I see no need for tank tops and short-shorts at school.......

Definitely make sure you take the taxes into consideration with your house payment. Our house was in the high 200s and we expect to pay $7000 a year, at least. Probably one of the reasons housing doesn't appreciate much here.

Since I am a mom, I'm not sure about the traffic & commuting. If it's raining it's very slow around here. My husband works in SW Austin, from 5:45 - 6:30 so he misses most of the rush hour but it still takes about 35 minutes to commute on a good day, but not a big deal to us.

The humidty so far is medium from what I've felt--- I believe it gets to be more intense later in the summer.

The YMCA in CP is great too-- lots of stuff for kids of all ages to do and they have a fab pool.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by chewgumm

3) Commute - What is the commute like from Cedar Park - Austin? I know the area has heavy traffic, but is there any reason Cedar Park would be especially difficult?

4.

For awhile the commute was complete hell down 183 because the highway ends in a stoplight. With the addition of 183A things are better (it doesnt show up on maps yet). The people that I know that live in cedar park take the 45 toll road to mopac and then take mopac south. Mopac isnt great either, but 183 is extremely bad.

During non-rush hour times the time to downtown is probably 25 minutes