Realistic to commute to suburbs from Bouldin/SoCo without car? (Austin: rent, co-op)

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by Paddy the Plasterer

If the OP is leaning towards SoCo/Bouldin, then I think he is looking for a different 'brand' of hip than the Domain would provide.

I'm not familiar with the brand of hip that's found in SoCo (I have to say that this abbreviation does make me barf...) or Bouldin, but I don't think there's any other place besides Domain that caters to the trendy young crowd and somewhat close to Williamson County. The Domain is probably the most youngish oriented that still has easy access to her potential job.

[centralaustinite]

Should you plan on getting a car when you are down here?

YES! Absolutely.

The only people who can realistically live car-free in Austin are students and grad students at UT who live close to campus, then a combination of walking, biking, buses, taxis can work.

I don't know what type of jobs you are looking for in Williamson County, but working there, (depending on where exactly) largely precludes living in South Congress or Bouldin area (or downtown or Clarksville) without a car. And even with a car, you are likely in for a terrible commute.

The buses do not run to much (if any) of Williamson county. You need another plan.

For future reference, here is the CapMetro web site, you can use the trip planner tool to get a sense of when public transport is possible.

Capital Metro - Austin Public Transit

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by riaelise

I'm not familiar with the brand of hip that's found in SoCo (I have to say that this abbreviation does make me barf...) or Bouldin, but I don't think there's any other place besides Domain that caters to the trendy young crowd and somewhat close to Williamson County. The Domain is probably the most youngish oriented that still has easy access to her potential job.

The Mellow Johnny's Scout A Route bike ride will climb Bouldin Ave from Barton Springs up toward Mary St on Saturday morning. It's not just the elevation change that can cause you to get higher on that stretch . On a couple of Saturday rides through there, I thought I was back in college in the '70s

Is that the kind of 'hip' ?


Scout-a-Route Ride: Southern Culture (off the grid)

Date: January 18, 2014 @ 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Location: - Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop
400 Nueces
Austin, Texas
This 18-mile route takes us south of downtown via Bouldin, rolling through the Emerald Forest to South 1st Street and back.
These rides are co-hosted by Mellow Johnny’s and the Austin Cycling Association. This no-drop, co-ed group ride is perfect for the cyclist new to riding or bike commuting, returning to the bike or just looking for a more casual ride. The routes are designed to help riders navigate the city bike routes and other safe bike commuting options.

[centralaustinite]

SoCo is a disgusting term, I try very hard not to use it. Only thing worse in my opinion is SoLa for South Lamar! Ick. Thank god that the effort to brand South First as SoFi died a quick and merciful death!

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

SoCo is a disgusting term, I try very hard not to use it. Only thing worse in my opinion is SoLa for South Lamar! Ick. Thank god that the effort to brand South First as SoFi died a quick and merciful death!

I have to agree.

[Dog_Gone]

Regardless of the direction you are going. Remember, the best commute you will have will be the one you did this am.

[muppets]

Again, thank you all so much for the feedback.

Some of the jobs I've been applying to are in Round Rock or Cedar Park. I would love to find a job downtown but so far haven't spotted any that meet my qualifications.

As for neighborhoods, I posted on another thread about wanting to find somewhere with a bit of Bohemian/creative vibe. I love small businesses, coffee shops, places with character. I would also love to be in a young-ish neighborhood since I don't know a soul in Texas and think it could be easier to meet people my age if we were living in the same neighborhood. Bouldin and SoCo were two places that were recommended to me, along with downtown. I checked out the Domain and it seemed like a massive strip mall, which is really not my thing.

Hour-long commutes are pretty much the norm up here so I'm wondering if I should just suck it up and live in a neighborhood I really like (I would obviously visit before committing to one) as oppose to being close to work but far from all the great stuff happening in Austin. I wouldn't want to be the only single person on my block and be surrounded by families with kids on all sides, which is sort of what I'm worried about if I get a place in Williamson County.

Anyway, I have some time to figure it out but I really appreciate all your advice along the way. Really means a lot, thank you so much again.

[muppets]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

The big deal here would be doing that in a Texas summer, rather than the Toronto winter. (My daughter often walks a half hour to work, and she casually mentioned the other day that 22 degrees F - she always talks to us in Fahrenheit - is getting to the bottom of the range where she feels comfortable walking that half hour. Then in the recent ice storm when she would have had to drive she had to miss a day of work because her truck froze to the ground. Still trying to get my head around that one. We don't have that, but we do sometimes have 105 days in the summer.)

Did your daughter lose power in the ice storm? My whole neighborhood was knocked off the grid, for some reason we kept our power but were offline for a good two weeks.

Yes, I definitely think the weather will be a huge adjustment. I spent some time in the Middle East so I know how much of a struggle that can be. In Canada we actually get the worst of both, because our winters are straight out of Game of Thrones and our summers are equally extreme, with temperatures often in the 90s. I know that's not quite on par with Texas but it's up there.

When I lived in the Middle East, a lot of stores and restaurants stayed open really late (sometimes 24 hours) because people wouldn't want to leave their apartments until sundown, that's how hot it was. I remember going grocery shopping at 11pm. Is there anything like that during the summers in Austin?

[TexasHorseLady]

If you live in SoCo OR Bouldin and work in Williamson County, you WILL need a car immediately. To answer your original question.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by muppets

Did your daughter lose power in the ice storm? My whole neighborhood was knocked off the grid, for some reason we kept our power but had to say goodbye to Internet for two weeks straight LOL

Yes, I definitely think the weather will be a huge adjustment. I spent some time in the Middle East so I know how much of a struggle that can be. In Canada we actually get the worst of both, because our winters are straight out of Game of Thrones and our summers are equally extreme, with temperatures often in the 90s. I know that's not quite on par with Texas but it's up there.

When I lived in the Middle East, a lot of stores and restaurants stayed open really late (sometimes 24 hours) because people wouldn't want to leave their apartments until sundown, that's how hot it was. I remember going grocery shopping at 11pm. Is there anything like that during the summers in Austin?

She didn't lose power, but they did have some furnace and frozen pipe issues! Fortunately, she's really handy, and got things up and running again (and no broken pipes) pretty quickly. Kept their internet; I know because that's our primary way of communicating.

Some stores here are open 24 hours (mostly grocery), those that aren't are usually open pretty late, but year round and not because of the weather, just because there's a demand due to people's different schedules.