Relocating with Teens from Las Vegas to Austin????? (Round Rock, Georgetown: to rent, crime rate)

[Wildmama]

My husband and I are talking looking into relocating from Las Vegas, NV to the Austin area. We are in our mid 30's and have two kids one 10 who is into the performing arts (singing, dancing & drama) the other is 16 he rides dirt bikes and wants to continue racing. My husband and I both are in property management and know that work will not be an issue for us. Can anyone help with some great neighborhoods to look into renting a home in. Good schools are important as well as safe neighborhood and parks.
Any help would be great since we have never been to Austin before I feel lost on my search. A commute is not much of an issue for us since right now I live only 15 miles from work but Las Vegas traffic is horrible it takes me an hour each way.....ugh! Somewhere we could get a little outside of the main hustle of everything would be nice also.

[TexasEd]

Round Rock and Georgetown would be great places to relocate. If you can tell me a price range, I can give you neighborhood recommendations.

[TexasHorseLady]

Okay, you've answered several of the questions that we would ask in order to point you in a good direction. What is your price range? What size house (bedrooms, minimum square footage, that kind of thing - if you work in property management, you pretty much know the drill on that).

For the child interested in the fine arts, you might want to get in touch with the AISD Fine Arts Department for more information on their offerings.

Leander ISD (Cedar Park/Leander) is another district that might suit your children. It also has a fine arts program (http://www.leanderisd.org/default.aspx?name=acad.ss.FA.main - broken link).

It's impossible for us, of course, to tell you which would be a good or the best school for your children. If there's anything I've learned raising kids, it's that a school that is wonderful for one child can be a disaster for another - you have to look at the schools with your own children in mind. You might want to check out Great Schools for some parental feedback on various schools, again keeping your own children in mind.

As for dirt bikes, they're pretty much all over the area. Georgetown has the Goodwater Trail, and here's a list of other trails in the area (http://www.austinridgeriders.com/trails.htm - broken link). You say that he wants to continue to race, he might find information here on what's available in the area.

So, back to the basic questions of price and size, and we can perhaps point you towards more specific areas.

I'd say, at the moment, without those answers, Cedar Park, Georgetown, perhaps Round Rock.

[deathpenalty03]

Cirlce C area. your kids would go to bowie high school. the best public school in the rather small austin tx city limits

a lot depends on your price range

[Wildmama]

@ Texas Ed thank you for your suggestions to those areas they are both being looked into by us.
@ Texas Horse Lady you are a big help with the performing arts schools I was lost but now have a direction for my daughter thank you.

We are looking to rent a home at first before we decide where to buy. Something in the range of $1000 -$1500 a month with 3 - 4 bedrooms the bigger the property the better but I can wait for horses until I buy. We have 2 dogs that do need a larger yard though.

I am getting a little discouraged by hear say from people I know saying bad things about crime rates out in Austin. We are relocating to get away from high crime and take our kids somewhere better to grow up. Is there any truth in drug lord problems and children being kid napped and taken across the border (just some of the stuff i have been told)?

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Wildmama

I am getting a little discouraged by hear say from people I know saying bad things about crime rates out in Austin. We are relocating to get away from high crime and take our kids somewhere better to grow up. Is there any truth in drug lord problems and children being kid napped and taken across the border (just some of the stuff i have been told)?

Austin is one of the safer cities in America as far as violent crime rates go, and the cities in Williamson County are much more so.

United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are the usual gangs & drug problems, but NOTHING like Las Vegas.