Realistic to commute to suburbs from Bouldin/SoCo without car? (Austin: apartment, rental)

[muppets]

Hi there, I'm a young professional looking to re-locate to Austin later this year. From my research, the neighborhoods where I would ideally want to live are Bouldin/SoCo or downtown. Many of the jobs I'm applying to/interviewing for, however, are in Williamson County. I really, really, really don't want to live in the suburbs and I also don't own a car. I know traffic is a nightmare in Austin and that the commute will likely take me an hour or more each day, but I was wondering if it was realistic to plan said commute by bus, or if I would need to budget for car2go and eventually a car. I know I'm going to be stuck in traffic either way, but would appreciate some insight on whether or not I should plan on getting a car once I'm down here. Thanks for reading!

ETA: How long does the commute generally take if you're traveling outside of rush hour? (Just curious).

[RoadWarrior12]

Not possible without a car, no public transportation and outside of car2go service area.

"From my research"? You need to make a trip or two to visit first. Make sure one of those trips is in July.

[Moonlady]

Road Warrior is right. The 'burbs don't have public transportation. A commuter line runs into Leander, but Cedar Park, Round Rock and Georgetown have none. You really need a car unfortunately.

[Idlewile]

That would be extremely rough and unwise WITH a car.

[muppets]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Would the commute between Bouldin/SoCo/downtown and the suburbs likely take longer than an hour?

In terms of living, would there be a good halfway point between the city center and suburbia to make commuting more bearable? I'd be looking to rent an apartment ideally in a young-ish neighborhood and my perception was that the suburbs were more families.

Am planning to visit in the summer but applying for jobs in the mean time.

Thanks again.

[RoadWarrior12]

Originally Posted by muppets

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Would the commute between Bouldin/SoCo/downtown and the suburbs likely take longer than an hour?

Too many variables to accurately predict this. "Suburbs" is far too vague.

In terms of living, would there be a good halfway point between the city center and suburbia to make commuting more bearable? I'd be looking to rent an apartment ideally in a young-ish neighborhood and my perception was that the suburbs were more families.

Yes, there are plenty of neighborhoods that would meet this.

[TexasHorseLady]

It might help if you realize that Cedar Park, Round Rock, Georgetown, the main towns in Williamson County, are just that, separate towns, and have been for a LONG time (in some cases as long as Austin) and still are towns in their own right, not suburbs. I know that in Toronto, Mississauga, for example, (where my daughter lives, by the way) is considered a 700,000 person suburb of Toronto, but it was planned to be such, and the transportation system was planned accordingly. Texas is also a car-oriented culture, due to our wide spaces, and we don't have anything like the public transportation system you have in the Toronto region (which I've used and think is great, though I can't see it happening to that extent here - entirely different landscape and culture).

You'd likely do better to live in a part of Austin that is (a) north of the river, as Bouldin/SoCo is not, thus avoiding having to try to cross the river during your commute, and preferably further north, to commute to Williamson County. My husband did that commute for some years from his business in North Austin, as we live in the far reaches of northern Williamson County (800 yards from the Bell County Line, the county north of Williamson County), and he was able to do the commute in about 45 minutes not doing a reverse commute. A reverse commute would be somewhat easier. I'd look at Crestview, Allandale, Rosewood neighborhoods, depending on your budget. Those aren't exclusively "youngish" neighborhoods but more a mix - I have friends living in them that range from their 20's to their 60's.

Are the jobs you're applying for in a particular town in Williamson County? That might help us to advise you better. There is the MetroLine that might get you to some of them, depending on actual location, though you'd still have to get from the station to your actual job location. 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.)

[riaelise]

How about this. Look for jobs that are downtown? If that isn't possible, then most of Austin (north and south) outside of central tends to be more suburban.. I honestly can't tell the difference between Northwest Austin and Cedar Park. I know of a few neighborhoods that are North but can meet your lifestyle and not be far from Williamson County -- Wells Branch. Next to Metrorail and retail..in on a bus route and can be considered somewhat walkable. Lots of rental stock and there is greenspace.

Arboretum -- you'd probably still need a car but it has a lot of retail and office space in the area. Public transportation services the area and it is attractive aesthetically.

Domain - probably the best choice for hip young professionals. It does have bus service and Metrorail isn't too far away. it's one of those modern mixed use developments that are popping up all over the place (i.e. they have a similar development in Kansas). You'll have shopping and entertainment but it is pretty pricey.

[TexasHorseLady]

I keep forgetting about the Domain! Probably because it's pretty much surrounded by not much but commercial and I think of it as a shopping center rather than a place to live, but it is pretty much a little "suburb" all its own, albeit a young, hip one, so it might actually work for the OP.

Closer in to town, the Triangle is another one that might work.

[Paddy the Plasterer]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Domain - probably the best choice for hip young professionals. It does have bus service and Metrorail isn't too far away. it's one of those modern mixed use developments that are popping up all over the place (i.e. they have a similar development in Kansas). You'll have shopping and entertainment but it is pretty pricey.

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.