Central Neighborhoods and Commute Times (Austin, Victoria: rentals, hotel, established neighborhood)

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Hyde Park may be a bit of a mix and eclectic, but "gritty" it is not. Gritty is a word is use to describe a somewhat run down, truly dense urban city - something you'd see in parts of San Francisco, or Oakland, New Orleans, Detroit, Chicago, etc.

Hyde Park is nothing like that, it's basically suburban in form with mostly large lot SF homes with a few apartment buildings thrown into to the mix. Gritty doesn't capture at all the feeling you get in Hyde Park.

Especially now that they're tearing down alot of the classic pre-war bungalow homes in favor $699k McMansions that mostly liberal, ex-suburbanite, upper middle class, wealthy professionals love!

[petro]

I just have to respond, because there has been so much incorrect info shared by various posters here.

1) Hyde Park is beautiful and fits the description of the historic tree-lined walkable neighborhood you are looking for. Hyde park is filled with cute little bungalows and cottages, great restaurants, bars, and coffees houses.
2) It is NOT a long Commute to the Arboretum area as someone here stated. In fact, Arboretum is probably a 5 minute drive without traffic.
3) You do NOT want to live south of the river as commuting south to north and vice versa is a nightmare.

This is coming from someone who has lived in the downtown Austin area for almost 10 years and commutes to work in the northwest area near arboretum. Good luck with your move!

[gpurcell]

I don't know about five minutes to the Arboretum without traffic--generally takes about that to get over to MOPAC. Without traffic its then another five up there.

[paul6835]

More like 15 in no traffic https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Hyde+Park,+Austin,+TX+to+Arboretum+Boulevar d,+Austin,+TX&saddr=Hyde+Park,+Austin,+TX&daddr=Ar boretum+Boulevard,+Austin,+TX&hl=en&ll=30.350213,-97.743988&spn=0.093177,0.128403&sll=37.6,-95.665&sspn=43.321434,65.742188&geocode=FZlrzgEdSL ws-im15dkNccpEhjE8t6UqUXhtUg%3BFYK_zwEdZG0s-imPmrVngsxEhjE-2MiJp2xaOQ&oq=hyde+park,+austin+to+arbo&t=m&z=13

traffic wouldn't have much impact in the morning, but it will suck in the evening. That southbound stretch of Mopac is one of the worst in Austin during evening commute. Around 6pm the southbound backup starts at Far West. Typical commute home will be 25-30 minutes. Even you try the side roads, they're congested too. You're best bet would be 183 south to Lamar, that might get you home in 20-25

[Trainwreck20]

It is 1.5 - 2.5 miles from Hyde park to MoPac, depending on where you are starting. Averaging 30 mph would be very optimistic, considering stop signs/lights, etc. So 3-5 minutes to MoPac with light-to-no traffic.

Arboretum is about 5.5 miles from 45th/MoPac, so at about 60 mph average, that is another 5 minutes with no traffic and not considering distance once you exit 183 at the Arboretum area. Going counter-flow, traffic shouldn't generally be bad on this stretch, but will be from time to time.

[gpurcell]

traffic wouldn't have much impact in the morning, but it will suck in the evening. That southbound stretch of Mopac is one of the worst in Austin during evening commute. Around 6pm the southbound backup starts at Far West. Typical commute home will be 25-30 minutes. Even you try the side roads, they're congested too. You're best bet would be 183 south to Lamar, that might get you home in 20-25

No, it won't be that bad. Best bet from Arboretum would be to take the access road around and jump on MOPAC to get to 45th/38th if it's running clear or to cut across on 2222 to Shoal Creek if MOPAC is backed up. That's an easy, stress-free commute home.

[petro]

gpurcell is correct. This is an easy commute. I live east of Hyde Park and work further northwest than arboretum and my commute is exactly 15 minutes every day, door to door.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by petro

I just have to respond, because there has been so much incorrect info shared by various posters here.

1) Hyde Park is beautiful and fits the description of the historic tree-lined walkable neighborhood you are looking for. Hyde park is filled with cute little bungalows and cottages, great restaurants, bars, and coffees houses.
2) It is NOT a long Commute to the Arboretum area as someone here stated. In fact, Arboretum is probably a 5 minute drive without traffic.
3) You do NOT want to live south of the river as commuting south to north and vice versa is a nightmare.

This is coming from someone who has lived in the downtown Austin area for almost 10 years and commutes to work in the northwest area near arboretum. Good luck with your move!

I would allow 15. It would be a stroke of luck to make it in 10. 5 minutes is fantasy.

[godinlg]

Thank you all for the input on commute times. Although everyone seems to have a slightly different estimate for how long it will take, none of the estimates are as long as my current commute (30-35 minutes morning and evening) so I'm relieved to know I will be having a shorter commute once I move to Austin.

Can anyone please tell me what the boundaries of this "Arboretum" area are? From all the comments, I'm assuming that's the name of where my office will be, but I haven't found this term on any map. What is this Arboretum area like? I did some google streetviewing around the office area and didn't think it looked all that interesting, hence my post asking about more centrally located neighborhoods. I am also interested in being near the university, since I'm only 23 and assume I will find more to do and people my age there than elsewhere. Hyde Park appears to be pretty close.

[hillcountryheart]

Originally Posted by godinlg

Can anyone please tell me what the boundaries of this "Arboretum" area are? From all the comments, I'm assuming that's the name of where my office will be, but I haven't found this term on any map. What is this Arboretum area like? I did some google streetviewing around the office area and didn't think it looked all that interesting, hence my post asking about more centrally located neighborhoods. I am also interested in being near the university, since I'm only 23 and assume I will find more to do and people my age there than elsewhere. Hyde Park appears to be pretty close.

The definition will depend on who you ask, but it's specifically a shopping center of sorts at the intersection of US 183 and Loop 360 ("Research" pronounced "REEE-search" and 360 or Capital of Texas Boulevard). It's also bounded on one side by Great Hills Trail.

It used to be very upscale shopping, but that's been trumped by The Domain.

Yes, Hyde Park is a popular student area, if people have the money to live there, and it's much more sane than West Campus. I think you'd feel at home. As to whether your job is at the Arboretum... do you have a street address? The thing is - we often have several names for the same street/road/interstate. I'll let someone else try to explain why this is. Anyway - Arboretum is probably loosely the area west of Mopac/Loop 1, north of 2222/Koenig/Allandale/Northland, southeast of - Duval (doo-VALL). (There are often oddly pronounced street and place names, too.)