Need help for young family with neighborhoods in Lake Travis vs. Westlake (Lakeway: private school, place to live)

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Some of you may not agree with this, but I think the key differences between Eanes ISD neighborhoods and LTISD neighborhoods are:

Eanes is much closer to Austin, and LTISD is much closer to Lake Travis
Eanes is generally has older or more mature neighborhoods and changing less
LTISD is growing and likely to continue for some time
The average or median home in Eanes costs more
There are many wealthy people in both areas
LTISD is more diverse than Eanes, both economically and ethnically
Both school districts are significantly impacted by Chapter 41
Quality of life in both areas can be very high

That sounds about right.

[LakeTravisAlum]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Some of you may not agree with this, but I think the key differences between Eanes ISD neighborhoods and LTISD neighborhoods are:

Eanes is much closer to Austin, and LTISD is much closer to Lake Travis
Eanes is generally has older or more mature neighborhoods and changing less
LTISD is growing and likely to continue for some time
The average or median home in Eanes costs more
There are many wealthy people in both areas
LTISD is more diverse than Eanes, both economically and ethnically
Both school districts are significantly impacted by Chapter 41
Quality of life in both areas can be very high

I do agree with everything you said. I might add one little thing though. You said that LTISD is more diverse than Eanes. Yes, it is, but that's not saying much. LTISD is still much more homogeneous than many other areas throughout the city and the state.

I just don't want people to get the impression that LT is a diverse area when it isn't really - compared to most areas. For newcomers that might want a diverse environment for their kids to grow up, I wouldn't want them to choose LT and then be disappointed.

[LakeTravisAlum]

Also, does anyone know the amount of 2012 National Merit Finalists that Westlake HS ended up with? I'm just curious. LTHS had six NMFs.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by LakeTravisAlum

Also, does anyone know the amount of 2012 National Merit Finalists that Westlake HS ended up with? I'm just curious. LTHS had six NMFs.

Achievements: Central Texas students honored by National Merit Scholarship Program

LASA - 19
westlake - 12
LT -6
Vandegrift - 0 (no juniors yet?)
westwood -33
Austin High -2
Bowie -2

Lasa has about 1/3 the students of westwood/westlake so adjusted for population they have the equivalent of 54 nmf.

LT is about 83% of the population of westwood/westlake so they have about 8 on an adjusted basis

[LakeTravisAlum]

Originally Posted by Austin97

Achievements: Central Texas students honored by National Merit Scholarship Program

LASA - 19
westlake - 12
LT -6
Vandegrift - 0 (no juniors yet?)
westwood -33
Austin High -2
Bowie -2

Lasa has about 1/3 the students of westwood/westlake so adjusted for population they have the equivalent of 54 nmf.

LT is about 83% of the population of westwood/westlake so they have about 8 on an adjusted basis

Ok. Thanks for the info!! BTW, Vandegrift has all their classes. The first group of seniors graduates this year!

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Some of you may not agree with this, but I think the key differences between Eanes ISD neighborhoods and LTISD neighborhoods are:

Eanes is much closer to Austin, and LTISD is much closer to Lake Travis
Eanes is generally has older or more mature neighborhoods and changing less
LTISD is growing and likely to continue for some time
The average or median home in Eanes costs more
There are many wealthy people in both areas
LTISD is more diverse than Eanes, both economically and ethnically
Both school districts are significantly impacted by Chapter 41
Quality of life in both areas can be very high

Agree with the above

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I learned the "don't be a snob, you never know who you're dealing with" lesson early on. (There's lots of examples of that on Active Rain, too, I believe; snub the guy dressed "inappropriately" in your eyes and he uses another agent to buy those two or three mansions.)

I did too. When I was about 7 or 8 we were on one of my fathers friends ranches near Pearsall south of San Antonio. Anyway my father and I were walking along the fence line and on the other side this very old beat up blue pick up comes up. A old man who I just assumed was one of the workers for that ranch gets out. He and my father talked for a while and he seemed like a very nice old man. As he drove off, my father told me he was Sam Walton, the richest man in the world at the time. Blew my mind that the guy I just met in the beat up old pickup and dirty old coveralls could be the richest guy in the world.

Another time a couple year later we were in flying from Salt Lake City to Bozeman Montana and there was an old man walking down the plane stopping and talking to everyone. I didn't think much of him. He just looked like a nice old man. When he got to us my mother greets him "Nice to meet you Mr. President." lol. They talk for a while and when he left I asked her what he was President of, and she told me the US. It was Former President Jimmy Carter. I would have never guessed that the guy I had just met could have been president of the US.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

Agree with the above

I did too. When I was about 7 or 8 we were on one of my fathers friends ranches near Pearsall south of San Antonio. Anyway my father and I were walking along the fence line and on the other side this very old beat up blue pick up comes up. A old man who I just assumed was one of the workers for that ranch gets out. He and my father talked for a while and he seemed like a very nice old man. As he drove off, my father told me he was Sam Walton, the richest man in the world at the time. Blew my mind that the guy I just met in the beat up old pickup and dirty old coveralls could be the richest guy in the world.

Another time a couple year later we were in flying from Salt Lake City to Bozeman Montana and there was an old man walking down the plane stopping and talking to everyone. I didn't think much of him. He just looked like a nice old man. When he got to us my mother greets him "Nice to meet you Mr. President." lol. They talk for a while and when he left I asked her what he was President of, and she told me the US. It was Former President Jimmy Carter. I would have never guessed that the guy I had just met could have been president of the US.

Yep. Daddy and I used to go bass fishing outside of Athens in East Texas with this old grandfather farmer type in his jon boat. Never saw him in anything but overalls. I was mightily impressed with him because of the bass in the lake on his farm.

Wasn't until quite a few years later that I found out who Clint Murchison, Sr., was, and that he could buy a small country if he wanted to, and left his boys enough that one of them bought the Dallas Cowboys with part of it. (They weren't as savvy as their Daddy, though, all about the bling and the flash, so they didn't end up as well as he did.)

Between that, and seeing how the folks at the downtown Neiman Marcus reacted when someone dressed like a bag lady came in (because they knew she was one who could buy the whole store and Mr. Stanley, too, if she was of a mind to), I learned my lesson!

[austinaggie]

Check out Lost Creek. It sounds like it meets all of your criteria.

[Divagurl]

Can some one please clarify if Uplands and Lakepointe go to EANES or Lake Travis schools? I was under the impression that they belong to Lake Travis.
Thanks

Originally Posted by LakeTravisAlum

Okay, where do I start??

First, welcome to Austin! Since you're coming from Alamo Heights, both LT and Westlake are identical to AH so you should have a relatively smooth transition.

You say that you like the close proximity to things in AH. Both LT and Westlake have grocery shopping, restaurants, stores, etc. all within a 5 minute drive. Since you're working from home, it doesn't sound like you were too interested in travelling to downtown everyday. Obviously, Westlake is closer to downtown, but that doesn't seem like something that is too important to you. Also, downtown is just a 30-45 minute drive in rush hour down Bee Cave Rd. from LT.

Regarding schools, I have to say that it's refreshing to finally meet someone on this forum that can look past the longer history and reputation that Westlake has. LT's reputation is fairly new, but like you said, LTISD is now on par with Eanes. Like Hoffdano said, the schools have only improved as LTISD has gotten bigger. The size of LTISD as a whole is still a little smaller than Eanes, but will eventually be bigger. The district just passed a bond that includes the expansion of LTHS, the relocating and rebuilding of LTMS, the expansion of HBMS and a new ES. They have done a good job making sure that no school meets its capacity. Either school district, you will be just fine!

Preschools - LT has the Abercorn International School. I don't know much about it really. There's a few more that I'm not familiar with also. I do know some people that live in LT, commute down Bee Cave Rd (through Westlake), and drop their kids off at Children's Center of Austin in Westlake on their way to work downtown or somewhere.

Both have good family-oriented neighborhoods. In Eanes, I'd say Lost Creek, Parkstone, Davenport Ranch, and Rob Roy. In LT, Lake Pointe, Flintrock Falls, The Hills, Ridge at Alta Vista, Rough Hollow, and Uplands.

In my neighborhood (Lake Pointe), there is a exercise group of moms that work out at the park every morning. I'm not a female nor a mom, so I really don't know much about this, but LT definitely has groups that you can get involved in for other moms. The same goes for Westlake.

As far as churches go, if you're looking for non-denominational, Lake Hills Church in LT and Austin Ridge Bible Church in Westlake are both very popular. Also, people from both areas go to both. I live in LT and go to Austin Ridge.

You can find the right house for you in both areas. 500-600K will get you something very nice in both areas. You might check out Westlake proper for the older homes. LT, in general, has newer homes. Lakeway proper has older homes and is more established. I think you would like either Lake Pointe or the Uplands in LT. Both are right next to the HEB, Hill Country Galleria, Shops at the Galleria, etc. They are also the closest into downtown Austin. They are both a little more established. The Uplands might be a bit above your price range. It's also a smaller, gated community so I don't think there is a pool with a swim team. However, I think almost every home in that neighborhood has a pool of its own. Lake Pointe has a neighborhood pool.

The Hills and Flintrock Falls are both gated and very upscale. These two neighborhoods have access to the two country clubs inside both neighborhoods - The Hills Country Club and Flintrock Falls Country Club. You would find something very nice for you price range there. Also, Rough Hollow is going to be very nice with a great amenities center being built. It also has the Rough Hollow Grille. There are some BIG houses being built back there with great views!

I hope any of this information was helpful!

[hoffdano]

Both Lakepointe and the Uplands go to Lake Travis schools.

See attendance zones for LTISD:

Attendance Zone Boundaries / Overview