looking at these two apartments- any opinions? (Austin, Round Rock: 2014, apartment complexes)

[asrigen]

I am looking a little closer at these two apartments. I was wondering if anyone knew much about the areas they are in. Don't care about school systems or anything. Just wondering about the particular little areas, how safe they might be, or if any of you live in or around the areas and know a bit about them that make one better than the other. Are they grassy? Building heavy? These aren't dealbreakers or anything, just wanting to know a bit more.

We won't be moving out til the first of November. Thank you for any info in advance.

Limestone Canyon
Limestone Canyon in Austin, TX
Map

Lodge at Merrilltown
Lodge at Merrilltown Apartments, Located in North Central Austin Texas, Austin Apartment Living at it’s best.
Map

I can't find any reviews on Merrilltown. Apartmentratings.com seems to be fairly good recently for limestone apart from one bad one that seemed to be left by a rather high-strung person.

[mark311]

Those areas are quite different and not really close to each other at all. How did you go about picking out those two places?

Anyway, Limestone Canyon has the better proximity to downtown. It also is only a couple miles North of a very heavy crime area around Rundberg. It's just about far enough North where it's probably not too bad, but I definitely wouldn't live there with my family. If I was a single guy then I might.

Merrilltown Apartments according to the map are more up in the suburbs and almost basically in Round Rock. Proximity to downtown isn't as good, but I'd consider that a much safer area. I would be worried about my car getting broken into at Limestone Canyon. I can't give any specifics about the actual apartment complexes themselves, but there are probably other comparable options around Merrilltown Apartments that are nice as well. I would go this route personally, but I'm guessing it could mean a longer commute.

[JohnHenrySDM]

Also curious why you chose those two.

If you give us your search criteria, we might be able to suggest some better alternatives.

[CptnRn]

Crime is a lot higher along the IH-35 corridor, the Lodge is a better location in that regard but it doesn't have much landscaping as shown in google maps. Limestone Canyon appears to have lots of trees.

SpotCrime SpotCrime shows there have been quite a few assaults in the Limestone Canyon area.

You can zoom down into street view in google maps and see what the areas actually look like.

Limestone Canyon Austin, TX 78753 - Google Maps

# 14745 Merrilltown, # Austin, TX 78728 - Google Maps

[asrigen]

Originally Posted by JohnHenrySDM

Also curious why you chose those two.

If you give us your search criteria, we might be able to suggest some better alternatives.

My husband and I are moving there for him to go to UTAustin. He's going to do his first year though at the community college. So the location is a bit more flexible for the first year. We figure by the time he does go to UT, then we will have been there long enough to know how long is too long for a commute down to campus and where we can go from there.

We are trying to keep the rent around 700-725 at max if we can until we can get there and get used to cost of living differences. We don't mind staying in smaller places for cheaper though.

As far as how I picked those two, I just happen to be looking at rent sites and such, and they happened to be left from a page of apartments since all the others had bad reviews.

CptnRn, thank you so much for reminding me about the google street views! I completely forgot about them. Ha, the Merrilltown still seems like there are plenty of trees, but then I've grown up in the Las Vegas desert all my life so that could be why.


Thank you so much for your information so far!

[CptnRn]

Try this neighborhood near Far West Blvd. Its a good neighborhood, and there is a UT Student Shuttle Bus that runs from near there to U.T. http://www.utexas.edu/parking/transp...tes/?route=661

http://www.oakridge-apts.net/OakRidg...lt.aspx?HMY=85

I only found one review for it but it was 4 star and positive. http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=...68392014039985

There are several other apartments in the area also. Padmapper allows you to search for apartments while filtering for price size and location. http://www.padmapper.com/

[Seoid]

I agree with CptnRn. Far West would be a better location by far.

[mark311]

Yes, I also agree with Far West being the top choice or maybe you can even find a one bedroom around Allandale. I wouldn't go any further North than the Arboretum area. There are a lot of apartments in the Arboretum area and it's a nice safe sort of starter area in my opinion if you're new to Austin (good place to rent a small apartment, but houses are probably going to be out of your price range).

[phone man]

How old are you, because the Lodge at Merriltown is a senior citizen only complex.

[CptnRn]

This crime heat map is really good for getting a feeling for the safest areas in Austin. Crime Map Beta - Trulia

Keep in mind that in general, Austin has very low violent crime rates, but some areas are worse then others. Austin also has higher then average property crime rates, so many of "heat" areas that show up reddish on this map are reflecting the higher amount of petty theft, car burglaries, etc. Those areas are typically high around apartment complexes and shopping centers, as well as the entertainment district downtown where there are lots of bars and clubs.