Bostonians moving to Austin area - location/school advice (San Antonio: to rent, how much)

[123MA]

Hi everyone,
We are excited to be moving to Austin. My husband starts his job first week of June. We are moving from a suburb outside of Boston, Massachusetts. His job will be slightly north of downtown (just off 183) and San Antonio(2 days week). We have visited a few times and decided we want to stay in Austin area and not live in San Antonio. Now the question becomes where in Austin to live. We have four children so schools are very important to us. A sense of community is also very important. We need at least 4 bedrooms, possibly 5. Would like to stay south of $600K if possible but could be a little flexible. Prefer a neighborhood feel and a decent yard. Have read many threads here and I am confused about Circle C - what is the general feeling about the schools - are people generally satisfied? If people send their children to private schools and live in Circle C, what private schools are nearby? We prefer public as we have the four children. Someone suggested Dripping Springs - thoughts on that? Other areas we should consider? We liked the feel of Steiner Ranch, but given his commute to San Antonio, that would probably be too far. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Boston Mom

[centralaustinite]

I'd vote for NW Hills!

[owlman]

Part of Circle C has Boston-y street names (Back Bay, Needham, Walpole, etc) so that might make you feel at home

[BevoLJ]

What part of San Antonio? Will he be taking I-35 or 290 to 281? I live in Westlake and 290 -> 281 is a million times easier than I-35. It is also an easy commute to Research BLVD (183), and the Eanes Schools are best in Austin. I-35 is best avoided at all cost.

Welcome to Austin! I hope you will love it. I lived in Boston while going to school there for 4 years. I loved it. It is a wonderful town.

Also many companies who have offices in Austin and SA provide shuttles between them that have WIFI and lots of other nice amenities. Will his new job be providing that, and if so would want to take advantage of that? It might be asking about.

[neddy]

Not to far from Steiner to get to take 281 to SA either. You can find many great houses for south of the $600000 range but keep in mind the taxes and how much you might spend for A/c because you will be running more than you did in Boston! Welcome!

[hoffdano]

Circle C is part of Austin ISD, which is very mixed in quality. But Circle C feeds some of Austin ISDs best schools. School quality is most closely correlated with the socioeconomic status o its students. And Circle C is a fine neighborhood.

I would like to know more about where on 183 the Austin office is and where he needs to go in San Antonio.

The road to avoid at all costs in Austin is IH35 through Austin. I would not want to drive that stretch either to get to work in Austin nor to get to San Antonio.

[AMJ27]

We live in Circle C and my daughter attends Clayton. We are very happy with Clayton. The principal is a fabulous leader. The Math Pentathlon team just won nationals (they also won nationals in 2008)! There is a lot of parental involvment as well.

I was a little nervous about Austin ISD schools initially, but I'm very comforable with the decision we made. We came from a sought after school district in the Chicagoland area and, frankly, I am happier with our experience at Clayton.

The parents of older children that I know seem pretty happy with Goryski (I know I spelled that wrong, but the middle school servicing Circle C) and Bowie. I've heard a couple of parents not speak fondly of Bailey which was the middle school that Circle C used to feed into before the new one was built.

Another think that I like about Austin ISD is the magnet school options when the kids get to middle school and high school.

Overall, Circle C was a very good fit for our family in terms of budget, proximity to work, lifestyle, and the type of house we wanted. I love being close to downtown and that my husband doesn't have a long commute. After almost two years, I would absolutely make the same decision.

[123MA]

All great input - thanks very much. I am not sure about exact location off 183 but I do know the San Antonio office is right when you get to San Antonio off 35. I will check with my husband for more specifics. His work does provide a shuttle service with WIFI so that is an option. We have visited Westlake area and that is very nice. We plan to come next week for a few days so we will have to check out Circle C and Northwest Hill area as we have not explored those specific spots yet. We have looked at Lake Pointe, Steiner Ranch, Senna Hills, Belterra and a few others that escape me right now. We really need to nail this down as we have an offer on our current home so we will need a new place to call home very soon. We are excited to experience Austin and embrace what the city and the people have to offer. We realize the property tax are a bit high and the AC will drive the electricity bill higher, but we are also looking forward to not seeing the oil truck pull up in front of the house and leaving a huge oil bill in the winter time!

[123MA]

Here's the Austin address:

Cross Park Drive (Intersection of 183 and 290)

Austin, TX 78754

San Antonio address is:
Eisenhaurer Rd.
San Antonio, TX

Is this helpful?

[BevoLJ]

Oh, ouch! That is a part of 183 I was not thinking of. lol. Sorry. That commute will really hurt from SW Austin.

Might I suggest looking more central Austin? Going from Westlake or Circle C to NE Austin is going to be painful. Very painful.

Sorry to bring that bad news.

My advice rent before you buy. Austin is growing like crazy so it might be tough finding a good place to rent as they are in very short supply these days. But find an area you think you might like and rent a place there for a little bit while looking for a house and deciding if the commute will be worth it for him or not. And remember Austin has 250,000 college students with another 130,000 college students less than 100 miles of Austin. It is a bit like Boston in that regard. You will be arriving in the summer, so please remember many of the students are out of town. Come fall the commute will be even harder.