Leander - Travisso Growth

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Also, if you live in Leander, get used to having 1 hr trips to/from downtown.

55 minutes according to the schedule. Compared to a drive of 40 minutes (right now, 3:53 PM on a Wednesday, probably even more during actual rush hour). And the train will only get faster in the future, unlike driving which will continue to get slower (everywhere throughout the metro, not just Leander).

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by Novacek

55 minutes according to the schedule. Compared to a drive of 40 minutes (right now, 3:53 PM on a Wednesday, probably even more during actual rush hour). And the train will only get faster in the future, unlike driving which will continue to get slower (everywhere throughout the metro, not just Leander).

I ride metrorail daily. Trust me it's an hour. And getting faster, not really. But it's something.

[neddy]

Not everyone that lives in Leander needs to go downtown everyday. Our family only needs to go to the domain area ( tech) so this is a fine place for us and we partied on 6th and other streets in the 80s and it is pale comparison these days..

[BriansZ]

From my house in Crystal Falls to downtown it probably is close to an hour, but we go downtown less than once a month. Now if I worked downtown I wouldn't want to live up here, but I work in a NW Austin zip code and my commute is less than 30 minutes.

We have taken the metro into town and it would be an option if you work close to a station, but I feel the schedule is too limited to make the metro a good choice for recreational trips.

[cBach]

Wow they sure are hyping it up. Usually those communities aren't real nice until some of the amenities are built, like the swimming pools, tennis courts, etc... My recommendation would be to wait until at least 100 homes are built and one or two community centers are built before even considering it.

From my understanding, Steiner Ranch took 10 years before it really started to take off.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by riaelise

And getting faster, not really. But it's something.

Supposedly the construction they're about to start (that they got the federal grant for) will increase speeds at least a little bit.

1. By changing the rail elevation in some segments to allow faster speed through some curves (which also saves you some time slowing down and speeding up).

2. More double-tracking. Currently the trains have to be fairly precisely timed to ensure they only pass on the few specific double-track segments. More double-tracking opens those windows a bit more. If they eventually double-track the whole thing (say in 10 years or so), it seems like they could get the time down to a half hour or so. By then the drive will probably be well over an hour during rush hour.

(I don't live in Leander, but I think the train is a big advantage it has over a lot of the other suburbs. I think that's why they're expecting so much more growth in the future.)

[BriansZ]

Originally Posted by cBach

Wow they sure are hyping it up. Usually those communities aren't real nice until some of the amenities are built, like the swimming pools, tennis courts, etc... My recommendation would be to wait until at least 100 homes are built and one or two community centers are built before even considering it.

From my understanding, Steiner Ranch took 10 years before it really started to take off.

I agree with this. The people that are building now will have to wait several years for the area to get built up. It's a risk, but at the same time if it's successful (which I feel it will be) those early adopters will get in before prices start rising. Prices in our neighborhood are now up over $60k from when they started just three years ago and Taylor Morrison still can't keep up with demand.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Supposedly the construction they're about to start (that they got the federal grant for) will increase speeds at least a little bit.

1. By changing the rail elevation in some segments to allow faster speed through some curves (which also saves you some time slowing down and speeding up).

2. More double-tracking. Currently the trains have to be fairly precisely timed to ensure they only pass on the few specific double-track segments. More double-tracking opens those windows a bit more. If they eventually double-track the whole thing (say in 10 years or so), it seems like they could get the time down to a half hour or so. By then the drive will probably be well over an hour during rush hour.

(I don't live in Leander, but I think the train is a big advantage it has over a lot of the other suburbs. I think that's why they're expecting so much more growth in the future.)

I'll take the side of the folks who believe the improvement in route time will be minimal and inconsistent, perhaps offset by other factors that will slow the average speed. Not horrible, since a five-minute change would be hard to achieve and perhaps would have little or no effect on the overall service/ridership.

I think the train is a minor factor overall in the growth potential for Leander. I'd say having 183A splitting down the middle is a much bigger factor.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by BriansZ

I agree with this. The people that are building now will have to wait several years for the area to get built up. It's a risk, but at the same time if it's successful (which I feel it will be) those early adopters will get in before prices start rising. Prices in our neighborhood are now up over $60k from when they started just three years ago and Taylor Morrison still can't keep up with demand.

I had some "early adopter" friends. They had to put up with 5 popped tires on their suburban in 6 months, dealing with the construction.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by cBach

I had some "early adopter" friends. They had to put up with 5 popped tires on their suburban in 6 months, dealing with the construction.

Yep...just one of the many benefits of living in an active construction zone