Brazos Lofts - commute question. Please help. (Austin, Spring: lease, HOA)

[heavyhappiness]

We're about to sign a lease for our production company downtown at 5th and Brazos. We love the space. I hope it's a safe area - I'm thinking it is. It's a bit close for comfort to the 6th street bar crawl, though. Hope they don't spill over and be all drunk and sloppy on our street. It's like mardi gras there some nights!

Anyway, before we sign the lease, I was wondering if anyone can let me know what the best times and routes are to commute the the bottom of Barton Hills. (as far down south on Barton Hills Dr. as you can go).

I have heard nightmare stories - like taking an hour even though it's just 6 miles!

Are we making a terrible decision? We moved our family here to avoid the long commute to manhattan from NJ. I need opinions ASAP since we already have HOA approval and should be signing the lease today or tomorrow.

Thanks x 1,000,000!

[centralaustinite]

I am pretty confused, Barton Hills Drive ends in a loop, it is a fully residential area and without bus service.

It is not six miles from 5th and Brazos to Barton Hills, more like just under a single mile.

Anyway, Cap Metro has a good trip planner tool, see for yourself.
http://www.capmetro.org/planner/


You could try the #30 bus, Barton Creek, it leaves Barton Hills/Hollow Creek at 8:03 each morning, and gets to 2nd and Congress at 8:16, but it doesn't run often, miss that bus and the next one is at 9:15 am, there is on at 6:43 am too.

[heavyhappiness]

It's 4.8 miles. And yes. We live on lollipop loop. Barton Hills Dr. and Barton Hills Dr. intersection.

[heavyhappiness]

We're driving in a car.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by heavyhappiness

We're driving in a car.

So you want to know how long it will take in car? It won't take an hour that is for sure.

It should take about 15 minutes. Maybe 20-25 minutes if you leave at 7:30 (elementary school starts at 7:40), usually traffic on Barton Springs eastbound gets heavier after 8 am, and lightens up a lot after 9 am.

Some central Austin roads can get quite slow (Exposition, N. Lamar, 35th/38th Street between 5-6 pm to mind), not sure if Barton Hills Dr. falls into that category or not.

You never drove it at the times you'll be commuting? Next best bet, would be to talk to one of your new neighbors.

I would guess your worst commute time (heavy rain, starting at 8 am) would still be under 45 minutes, less if you go early or late.

[atxcio]

You won't have any issues. You almost can't call that a "commute" -- you don't get on any of the major highways or even streets like Lamar, etc. There might be a little congestion during rush hour on Barton Springs Road, and Congress (although the Congress lights are timed well). You'll be closer to work than most people are to their local grocery store.

It would be a pretty decent bike commute, too. You could probably do about 1-2 miles of it on the Ladybird Lake trail, and cross on the pedestrian bridge. There is a trail spur under Barton Springs road so you could get on to Robert E. Lee/Barton Hills road without having to go through any of the big intersections south of the river.

[someguyatx]

Overall I dont think thats a bad situation. I'm not real familiar with traffic in that area but when I have been there in mornings its not so bad. Evenings can be busier but special events like SXSW and ACL will be your main nightmare. Overall I would say your traffic situation is good and worse case scenario you have to get on Mopac cross the river and get off 5th, even going up to 15th and backtrack to the office will be pretty light and relaxing. Honestly there are less people in morning than Saturday afternoon in this area.

[CptnRn]

That commute is going to be a piece of cake and it is a great location to live. The downtown location is perfectly safe. I have never felt unsafe when I was downtown. And it will be a fun place to work out of. I like the energy and vitality downtown.

[heavyhappiness]

Awesome! Great feedback. Particularly the bike path. Many thanks!