Lifestyle in Grandview Hills Area of Austin

[usernamenottaken]

Thank you for all the great info! I really appreciate it.

[paul6835]

There really aren't good "walkable" areas that feed a top public school system here from Elem to High. We went with Doss/Murcheson/Anderson because it was as close to "walkable" as we could get in a top school district and very close to independent restaraunts and stores. Its really a short drive or bike ride though, not a walk. You *may* be able to still find homes in Hill (which feeds Murch/Doss and is still pretty good) in the upper 300 range, but that price point pretty much puts you in big box suburbia or a lesser school district. You wouldn't be the first or last person to come here expecting affordable real estate only to find its not *in* Austin, but rather in the surrounding cities.

[usernamenottaken]

Thank you!

[austin-steve]

Grandview Hills is like a smaller, more low key Steiner. Production-builder homes, suburban living. It has it's own park. It's really a good little "pocket" neighborhood and not a bad NW location if that's where you need to be.

There is a new strip center at/near the entrance which would be "walkable" for anyone who considers anything under 30 minutes walkable. It has a theater, texmex restaurant and other stuff on the way. But it's also very "anywhere USA" as is that entire area of NW Austin.

If you'll give a specific work location/area, you'll get much better feedback about neighborhoods/schools. The commute should be #1 factor together with schools. But picking a school blind of commute isn't a good idea.

I also agree about IB. It's almost never a criteria of incoming movers that I've ever heard of. It may be a big deal in other parts, but it's not even on the radar here, at least not in my 20+ years of selling homes.

Lifestyle is something you create for yourself through your own actions, behaviors and social interaction. Neighborhoods don't offer "lifestyles" per se. It's easier to think in terms of demographics instead of lifestyle, then make your own assumptions about those demographics. I feel that if you select a neighborhood that tracks strongly through all 3 public schools, the demographic is fairly predictable and you, as a education oriented mom, will find plenty of kindred spirit moms and other families. Whether you want to sip wine or take strolls through the neighborhood with them will depend on other factors.

But, to your original question, Grandview is as "ordinary" of a "good school"" neighborhood as you'll find in NW Austin. Nothing wrong with it unless the location isn't right.

Steve

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by paul6835

There really aren't good "walkable" areas that feed a top public school system here from Elem to High. We went with Doss/Murcheson/Anderson because it was as close to "walkable" as we could get in a top school district and very close to independent restaraunts and stores. Its really a short drive or bike ride though, not a walk. You *may* be able to still find homes in Hill (which feeds Murch/Doss and is still pretty good) in the upper 300 range, but that price point pretty much puts you in big box suburbia or a lesser school district. You wouldn't be the first or last person to come here expecting affordable real estate only to find its not *in* Austin, but rather in the surrounding cities.

You can still find a good selection of homes not in suburbia that are in the 300s. Definitely. At the same time, the accompanying laundry list of wants narrows things down dramatically. Many out of state people hear that Austin is "cheap" and they think they can get a prime location house for pennies. I was one of those people nine years ago. On the contrary, the affordability is relative. It's not to say that Austin isn't affordable, because it is. The suburbs even more so. But let's be real here -- you will not get a walkable (in the Northeastern sense of the word) neighborhood with Blue Ribbon schools from K-12 and be under 400k.

Some parts of suburbia, while not walkable, aren't totally car dependent or Austin dependent for that matter. I'll give my neighborhood as an example. We have a huge, mega shopping center that is about a 15 minute walk and a 5 minute bike ride away. So, it's bikable. Yeah, you have your big box offerings and not a plethora of funky stores, but that's fine for us. You do have local farmer's markets and there is live music in the "downtown" area. In addition, suburbia is not necessarily mostly conservative. What I've found is that it is a mixed bag, just like Austin. Austin is NOT uber liberal at all.

[riaelise]

How about that -- our old neighborhood in NW Austin (Balcones area) -- zones to Caraway/Canyon Vista/Westwood and the homes are below $300,000. So yeah, affordability with good schools is still alive in Austin if you know where to look.