Need Your Help With Where We Should Move To (Austin: for rent, how much)

[GTEL]

We won't be moving until next Summer but have already started researching Austin. The two main factors with this decision are the school district (very important-we have two children....1st and 2nd grade). The other deciding factor is location to my work. The address of it is: 3401 Webberville Rd; Austin. I am worried about how difficult my commute will be and since we live in another state, I really could use your help. We have read great reviews of the Dripping Springs and Lake Travis School Districts, but would this be a tough drive for me to get to the college? Would there be another area that would be an easier drive but still with great schools for my children?

Thank you for reading this!

[janejanejanejanejane]

Southwest Austin might be good for you- it will be in a good part of the AISD district.
We need your budget.
It looks like you will be going to the east side of downtown-ish.

[GTEL]

Originally Posted by janejanejanejanejane

Southwest Austin might be good for you- it will be in a good part of the AISD district.
We need your budget.
It looks like you will be going to the east side of downtown-ish.

Home buying budget would be $300,000 (possibly up to $350,000....but we would prefer to stay lower if possible) or $2000 for rent.

So Dripping Springs and Lake Travis would be too far? We are hoping to find an area that has a smaller rural feel to it but not a small school district.

Thank you!

[janejanejanejanejane]

Dripping Springs has a terrible commute because of the Y intersection. In rush hour, I am guessing it is a 45 minute drive?
Spicewood and Bee Cave is too far out. That is in the LTISD. You will probably want to stay southwest- just my opinion.

[centralaustinite]

YES! Dripping Springs, Spicewood, and Bee Cave (anything really in LTISD) is too far away from your work. You would live in your car and never see your family.

SW Austin would be ok. Round Rock, Pflugerville. Central Austin with good schools -- like Allandale, might work. You might want to rent first.

[janejanejanejanejane]

It just depends on how much traffic and commute time you want. LTISD consists of Spicewood, Bee Cave, Lakeway and some other areas that I am not sure of, I think. You can get a good house (largest being 3000ish sq ft) in that area. The latter two, you will find much smaller for that price.
Dripping Springs has Belterra and other neighborhoods in there.
Trying to help, but just telling you what I would do.

[janejanejanejanejane]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

YES! Dripping Springs, Spicewood, and Bee Cave (anything really in LTISD) is too far away from your work. You would live in your car and never see your family.

SW Austin would be ok. Round Rock, Pflugerville. Central Austin with good schools -- like Allandale, might work. You might want to rent first.

Traffic from the north like RR and Pflugerville would be awful, would it not?
Rent in this city is outrageous- at least 2k.

[FalconheadWest]

In previous posts, I assumed you were going to the ACC campus on 290, which Spicewood and Dripping would be great for. To get East of Downtown, that's a different story. If you're going in off hours, it's still not that bad, about 30 minutes. But if you're going while everyone else is going, well over 45 minutes in the morning and probably worse coming home.

SW Austin doesn't give you the rural feel you're looking for, but the neighborhoods are nice and schools are good. Maybe something down Southwest Parkway like in Travis Country West or Lantana. Smaller neighborhoods with newer homes and lots of trees and views.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by janejanejanejanejane

Traffic from the north like RR and Pflugerville would be awful, would it not?
Rent in this city is outrageous- at least 2k.

There are a million ways to get from RR and Pfville to the east side of Austin without hitting I35, and even the interstate wouldn't be that bad -- much would depend on how long it would take to get to an arterial road from deep in a particular subdivision.

[Trainwreck20]

That is the ACC campus, or around there? That is a tough one. Going by statistics, the schools in that area are not that great. My immediate thought is the Western Oaks/Travis Country area. Google maps shows those areas to be about 30 minutes from your work site (although I assume that is non-rush hour traffic) and both are very good school chains with housing in your price range. The newer housing in the area will be around 10 years old, with some ranging back to 25 years or so, not sure if that is a concern. The median price/sf is around 115-125, I would guess, so 300k would get you a 2400-2500 sf house, give or take.

There may be closer options, but I am not familiar enough with the schools to say. You might take a closer look at Bastrop. A quick time check shows that Brushy Creek in RR is about as far (time-wise) but I am not sure about rush hour traffic.