Moving to Triangle from Austin, TX

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by Nacht

If your husband works at Cisco and doesn't want to sit in traffic everyday then neighborhoods like the ones you mentioned in central Austin are probably out of the question. Most of the development near RTP is a lot more like Round Rock, P'ville, Cedar Park and the like.

I feel like Nacht and Ashleym are speaking in a foreign language that only they understand! Is this what it means when they say "Keep Austin weird"??? Just kidding for those of you that don't understand my sense of humor! Vicki

[Nacht]

Originally Posted by VickiR

I feel like Nacht and Ashleym are speaking in a foreign language that only they understand! Is this what it means when they say "Keep Austin weird"??? Just kidding for those of you that don't understand my sense of humor! Vicki

'Keep Austin Weird" is an overplayed slogan. I once saw a bumper sticker that read "Keep Round Rock Mildly Unusual." Now that's creative.

AshleyM, one more thing: Schools and crime are a bigger deal in the Triangle than in Austin. Austin is a pretty safe place. I wouldn't hesitate to live in east Austin neighborhoods like French Place or Cherrywood but I can't say the same thing for some areas of the Triangle. Schools are also of varying quality. Chapel Hill-Carrboro is roughly the equivalent of Eanes ISD so Carrboro may be a good neighborhood for you if you husband is willing to sacrifice a little time on the road.

[holenone]

I'm moving to Raleigh from Austin next month. I love Austin, but I wanted to be closer to family.

[lynnsprufera]

My neighbor is moving to Austin-job transfer and would love to hear any suggestions you may have for some good schools in your area. She has a
3rd and 6th grader.

[Nacht]

Originally Posted by lynnsprufera

My neighbor is moving to Austin-job transfer and would love to hear any suggestions you may have for some good schools in your area. She has a
3rd and 6th grader.

Eanes ISD is the best followed by (IMO) Round Rock ISD and Hayes ISD. The only drawback to Eanes is that homes in the district average over $600k, or so I'm told. Steiner Ranch in Cedar Park also has good schools.

There are some good schools in Austin ISD but the district as a whole is not that great, which is perplexing because AISD is well funded and Austin has the most educated population in the state.

[Indigoblue]

Durham schools in general do have lower scores but if you look at the breakdowns by socioeconomic level and parents' education level, etc, you see the children in the SW Durham area schools are doing as well as those in Cary/Raleigh. Also, the SAT scores of the SW Durham high schoolers were higher last year than those in Cary/Raleigh. After considerable research we ended up buying in a Hope Valley Elementary neighborhood. We're right by I-40 and tons of new shopping (and a huge mall), and very close to RTP. Our neighborhood is in your price range and has lots of mature trees, and there are other neighborhoods like that in the Woodcroft and Hope Valley areas. I hear North Durham is very beautiful (and verdant) too. Several neighborhoods border a protected state park. Schools are important to us too but so was having my husband at home as much as possible. He's an incredibly involved dad The hubby has a 12-15 min commute (he works in N Chapel Hill)

I've only been here for a week and a half but from what I've seen the traffic crawls along in a painful way from both Chapel Hill ---> RTP and Wake Forest (and North Raleigh) ---> RTP. Chapel Hill seems to move better of the two. Living in Durham or Morrisville would probably be your fastest commutes, but Morrisville neighborhoods are often the kind that have leveled all trees. There may be some mature tree kind of Morrisville neighborhoods I'm not aware of though?

PS. I also looked into crime in the SW Durham area and there was nothing of a violent sort this past year happening anywhere near my neighborhood. The closest was some thefts in nearby shopping centers. Now there are some areas with a good deal of violent crime to the east of downtown Durham, but I'm as far away from there as someone living in NW Raleigh or Morrisville so that didn't worry me. I also looked into registered sex offenders and there were none nearby (my mom reminded me to look into that about a thousand times). There are areas that boast very low crime rates (for example Cary's zero murder rate is often cited), though sadly crime can happen anywhere. It's definitely something to look into though.

[holenone]

There are some areas is in north or northwest Austin where your school district would be Round Rock ISD. These areas are also affordable.

[lynnsprufera]

Thanks for the school info- I will pass it on.

[ashleym]

Thanks again to all of you for the info.
To Lynnsprufera- I agree with what the others said about schools in and around Austin. There are some very good schools in the Austin district but overall it is not good. A lot depends on an individual child's needs, too. My daughter goes to a Title I school that does not have great test scores but it is very small (200 kids) and has a uniquely supportive and nurturing environment (which is very good for her - she has some special needs) and some great teachers. Also there are some interesting charter schools. We have friends who have their kids at the Discovery School in Austin and rave about it. (though some charters also have a very bad reputation)

IndigoBlue - thanks for the info on Hope Valley and Woodcroft in Durham. That is an area we want to explore. Is it fairly diverse in terms of ethnicity? We are a multicultural/ethnic family and would like to live in a neighborhood and send our daughter to a school that is diverse.
Thanks, ashley