Barton Hills (Austin, Spring, Rollingwood: houses, neighborhoods, to buy)

[arjunmadan]

Can someone give me the skinny on Barton Hills? I'm from out of town - looking to buy a single family house and my agent tells me Barton Hills is one of the most desirable parts of town and found me a house on Tether Trail, 78704.

I am keen to know the pros and cons of the area. I've listed below what i have researched so far but am keen to hear what locals think about this.

Pros:
-Barton hills elementary
-close to restaurants / downtown
-zilker park
-green belt

Cons:
- Traffic during peak hours?

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by arjunmadan

Can someone give me the skinny on Barton Hills? I'm from out of town - looking to buy a single family house and my agent tells me Barton Hills is one of the most desirable parts of town and found me a house on Tether Trail, 78704.

I am keen to know the pros and cons of the area. I've listed below what i have researched so far but am keen to hear what locals think about this.

Pros:
-Barton hills elementary
-close to restaurants / downtown
-zilker park
-green belt

Cons:
- Traffic during peak hours?

Move traffic to a pro. When all the other suckers are just starting your commute you'll be home, parked, getting the leash out for walking the dog down to Zilker.

The only downside to this centrally located treed neighborhood is price.

[centralaustinite]

Price and availability! It is HARD to find available listing in Barton Hills! Many go before they even hit the market.

If you want this house, move fast.

To be fair, depending on exactly where the house is located, you can encounter noise from various festivals at Auditorium Shores and Zilker Park bleeding into the neighborhood (like ACL Fest, Fun Fun Fun) etc. Crowds parking on residential streets and leaving behind trash can be a problem on certain streets.

Like other central residents you will participate in the events of the City even if you don't want to! That is, you will know and experience SxSW, ALC, Fun Fun Fun, various road races, by their impact on your neighborhood. This can sometimes be a pain -- depending on exactly where you are located -- or can be fun! My kids enjoy knowing about every single event in Austin even though we rarely attend. And note: there are events at either Auditorium Shores or Zilker about 30 weekends a year.

[EzPeterson]

Price
Availability
Older home (likely), will need significant updates to become energy efficient.

That's about the only knock.

[TexasHorseLady]

Komeht says move traffic to a pro, and that's likely right - but you don't say where your commute will be to. Also, if you're close enough to walk to the amenities on South Lamar near Barton Hills, and they're on the east side of Lamar, it might be a little dicey getting across Lamar at rush hour - you'd have to walk to a light to be safe.

As for the events, our house in town is in the southern end of Barton Hills, and there's little to no impact. Nice thing is that we can drive there, park, and then take the bus just a couple of blocks away down to Lamar/Barton Springs Road and attend the events, then take the bus back, without having to find a place to park that's not blocking someone who actually lives in the closer-in neighborhoods.

[centralaustinite]

Teather Trail is a kick-ass street at the southern end of the neighborhood backing to the greenbelt! You'll be insulated from events and as long as you are working downtown, central or south, you are GOLDEN!

[arjunmadan]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Teather Trail is a kick-ass street at the southern end of the neighborhood backing to the greenbelt! You'll be insulated from events and as long as you are working downtown, central or south, you are GOLDEN!

Wow - thanks. But is Tether Trail way too south and cut off from all the restaurants, etc? The location looks nice to me on map but wondering if people generally prefer areas more north within Barton Hills? What would you say is the most desirable part of Barton Hills?

[centralaustinite]

Well it depends on what you want, yes it is quiet and not super-walkable to some that would be a plus. It is pretty much a Rollingwood type location but not the Rollingwood price!

Honest to god, Barton Hills is so desirable and listings so scarce that most people do not get to have much choice, if you want BH you jump when something comes up that you can afford.

If you want something closer to Lamar and all the restaurants etc, then you really want the Zilker neighborhood (and Zilker ES) not Barton Hills. BH is suburbia in the city. Zilker homes have a bit more "urban" feel and are more walkable.

[arjunmadan]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Komeht says move traffic to a pro, and that's likely right - but you don't say where your commute will be to. Also, if you're close enough to walk to the amenities on South Lamar near Barton Hills, and they're on the east side of Lamar, it might be a little dicey getting across Lamar at rush hour - you'd have to walk to a light to be safe.

As for the events, our house in town is in the southern end of Barton Hills, and there's little to no impact. Nice thing is that we can drive there, park, and then take the bus just a couple of blocks away down to Lamar/Barton Springs Road and attend the events, then take the bus back, without having to find a place to park that's not blocking someone who actually lives in the closer-in neighborhoods.

Interesting - that's good color. The southern end does look nice. The only concern I have is that it seems cut off from the rest of Barton Hills. Are there any plans for them to develop the Barton Skyway? (although Im not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing)

[TexasHorseLady]

What do you mean "develop the Barton Skyway?" If you mean cut a road (Barton Skyway) right through the middle of the green belt, I certainly hope not! That would destroy a great deal of the peace and beauty of the area (and lower property values, to boot), and sometimes beauty is more valuable (even in dollars) than convenience.

If you mean widen it, I don't really see that happening, either, because they'd have to take out houses in order to do so. But it's a fine road and you could probably, by car, get to the amenities in South Lamar from that street in five minutes or a little over as it is now. Hardly takes any time at all to get to Mopac or I35 from the area as it is; just a quick hop to Ben White and a right or a left and you're on a major road.