Round Rock Relocation Questions (Dallas, Rockport: apartment, townhomes, per square foot)

[ScoPro]

About half of Brushy Creek funnels into McNeil High School, plus the elementary & middle schools here are excellent. The commute from here to the OP's workplace on 183 via O'Connor to 45 to MoPac to 183 would probably be 30-40 minutes.
$250K-$350K will get a pretty nice house here. It is a great place to raise a family.

We live in the Meadows of Brushy Creek - one of several "villages" in the Municipal Utility District (not a part of Round Rock or Austin - although we have an Austin mailing address). we are on the north side of 620. Here are some examples of homes for sale in our section:
https://www.redfin.com/neighborhood/...f-Brushy-Creek

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

About half of Brushy Creek funnels into McNeil High School, plus the elementary & middle schools here are excellent. The commute from here to the OP's workplace on 183 via O'Connor to 45 to MoPac to 183 would probably be 30-40 minutes.
$250K-$350K will get a pretty nice house here. It is a great place to raise a family.

Good point on the neighborhoods south of Brushy Creek near O'Connor and old 620. (forgot about that) One could commute to 183 & Lamar without actually getting ON 183 except for the final 2 miles (which is past the jam up at 360 & past the jam up at Mopac).

Agree on the schools and the "family friendliness".....but can folks still get a 3/2 2300 sq. ft. home for 300K? (thought those neighborhoods were higher).

ScoPro, my comment was directed to the 1431 & Parmer neighborhoods (or neighborhoods north of Avery Blvd or west of Parmer) & the miserable commute that would be for the OP (relative to the neighborhoods that I mention and the area that you recommend).

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by hound 109

Good point on the neighborhoods south of Brushy Creek near O'Connor and old 620. (forgot about that) One could commute to 183 & Lamar without actually getting ON 183 except for the final 2 miles (which is past the jam up at 360 & past the jam up at Mopac).

Agree on the schools and the "family friendliness".....but can folks still get a 3/2 2300 sq. ft. home for 300K? (thought those neighborhoods were higher).

Yes, there are quite a few homes for sale under $300k in Brushy creek, some under $200K. The houses around here can range from 10 to 30 years old. We built ours in 1995. Some will need updating, some already have been. More listings here:

https://www.redfin.com/city/21778/TX/Brushy-Creek

Another Brushy Creek neighborhood, Highland Horizon, has been building for the past several years on the south side of 620, but those new homes start in the upper $300s.

[pop251808]

I'm going to suggest a closer in neighborhood with a smaller house. Any neighborhood in Austin is "suburban" in design and character, as many here have observed in other threads. You'll find good neighbors, a certain amount of walkability, and WAY less stress if you rent or buy something close to his job. An added plus would be that, if you don't know yet where you'll be working, anyplace closer to the center of town will help insure a shorter commute for you.
I'd be very leery of people's estimated commute times. Traffic varies widely from day to day. But one characteristic is that there are usually few alternate routes for most people in distant suburbs. All it takes is one wreck between you and your destination and your day is off to a bad start (or finish). On the other hand, if you're in "the city" proper, you do have a slight increase in routes on various lower speed streets.
And with a child not even a year old, why worry too much about which public school you move near to? With that said, I think most kindergartens are great; the teachers are enthusiastic and the kids are sweet natured and mostly eager to be there. The problems start later. But you have plenty of time to get to know the area between now and then. I would not recommend painting yourself into a long commute in a strictly suburban landscape. Austin is better than that.
Oh, and while many here ignore the subject, I would try real hard to not locate myself in Williamson County, for several reasons. You can look it up, or, we could start another thread for that.

[riaelise]

I take the train. Traffic is a non issue for me. People also need to realize that many of us are from areas where commuting to your job is a fact of life. My aunt lived in the Maryland suburbs of dc and her commute was almost always an hour on either the metro or Marc. I lived in the five boroughs of NYC and my commute was about an hour. Name any metropolis and people have longer commutes. Commuting in Austin sucks because its public transit system is like a kid peddling a bike with training wheels. If the husbands job is in the 183 corridor, by far OP will get better pickings at her price range in the northern suburbs. Many people who work in that area who aren't young urbanites tend to live in cedar park, Leander, round rock and elsewhere. My husband commutes from our home in round rock east to Rita complex in about twenty minutes.

I can tell you that I'd rather add more time to my commute than live anywhere else.

Op, you have options.

[ScoPro]

Pop has some points - it's a good thing to be close to your place of work - IF you can afford to live there. Personally, we would not live in any of the neighborhoods on either side of 183 between I-35 & MoPac ("Loop" 1),as the public schools are not the best and the area is "transitional".
However, the estimated commuting times to that stretch of 183 corridor from the Brushy Creek/West Round Rock/NORTH Austin are pretty accurate.

[ScoPro]

Also the OP wishes to avoid Section 8 housing areas - it appears from the map in this article that far north Austin & Williamson County will suit her & her family's needs better:

Section 8 Is Failing Poor Americans - The Atlantic

[Jmacrae]

Can I just say, everyone on this thread is awesome! We are relocating to Austin from the Bay Area in November. I am so excited to own a home...yet scared to death of Torandos! LOL.

We have a 20 year old, and a 13 year old so my biggest worry is my son leaving his old town and finding new friends here. As well as my self.

Thankfully for these posts, I am feeling much better about our move.

[Sercin]

We are planning to move to the Round Rock area by July 13th this year and would like advice on apartment living. Knowing nothing about Round Rock we are seeking middle to upper middle class living with neighbors of the same stature. Ideally these apartments and or Townhomes would be within the price range of a dollar, dollar twenty per square foot, in other words we'd like to find a nice place that doesn't require an exorbitant amount of money to live instead we would like to utilize extra capital for traveling. Our income is modest . Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are moving from the Rockport area, population of approximately 5000 and a Beach Community, but have lived in both Dallas and Las Vegas previously. Therefore, city dwelling is not new to us but round rock on the other hand we know zero. Thanks for any advice. P.s., we will being at the Sears headquarters located off Louis Henna Boulevard but don't necessarily need to live close. Living in or around a young professional environments would be great.

[mickey65]

Originally Posted by Sercin

We are planning to move to the Round Rock area by July 13th this year and would like advice on apartment living. Knowing nothing about Round Rock we are seeking middle to upper middle class living with neighbors of the same stature. Ideally these apartments and or Townhomes would be within the price range of a dollar, dollar twenty per square foot, in other words we'd like to find a nice place that doesn't require an exorbitant amount of money to live instead we would like to utilize extra capital for traveling. Our income is modest . Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are moving from the Rockport area, population of approximately 5000 and a Beach Community, but have lived in both Dallas and Las Vegas previously. Therefore, city dwelling is not new to us but round rock on the other hand we know zero. Thanks for any advice. P.s., we will being at the Sears headquarters located off Louis Henna Boulevard but don't necessarily need to live close. Living in or around a young professional environments would be great.

Good luck working at the Sears call-center. I worked there for almost 6 years and watched it slowly go downhill in the time I was there. A lot of the departments were shut down and shuttled to call-centers in India and the Phillipines and then the TX folks being shuttled into departments they didn't want to work in. New hire pay being cut, not much employee appreciation there. No raises either. Glad I got out when I did and even found something better paying me $4 more an hour.

Just so you know what you are getting yourself into. I'm just surprised Sears is still open.