Tell me the GOOD things about Austin from a young family perspective please :) (Dallas: waterparks, chapel)

[Indigoblue]

Ok I've been working my way through the old threads and have seen SO many negatives listed. For those of you with young familes, what do you LIKE about living in Austin? I've seen a lot of positives listed that sound like they would have been great when I was single in my early 20s but probably not practical with four little boys in tow I'm currently in a wonderful area (Raleigh-Durham) and with a potential move to Austin need to hear some positives please please please Museums? Other kid spaces? Malls?

[S6Sputnik]

There are malls, Museum's, Art stuff (AMoA), Nature hikes, Out door play scapes, Zilker Park, Hamilton Pool, Sea World (90miles away), Schlitterbahn, Fiesta Texas, several different Caverns, Amy's ice cream, Youth sports.
And ofcourse each neighborhood will have its own unique set of things (or none) so look at the area you are moving to and see how close it is to things in the surrounding community if it has none of its own.
You are 3-4 hours to the Gulf of Mexico (nice warm water)

I LOVE LIVING IN AUSTIN WITH MY 4 and 9 YEAR OLDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[love roses]

I have an almost 5 year old and there is something to do everyday. There's a Childrens museum in Austin, but I hear the one in New Braunfels is way better. Same with the zoo. The zoo here is more of a rescue place, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. But the Waco zoo and San Antonio zoos are very nice. There are tons of parks, ice skating, roller skating, bumper bowling, arcade and outdoor game places, sports activities, dance, gymnastics, festivals for kids and adults alike. You will not run out of things to do. Oh, forgot, tons of indoor playplaces and jumping castle places too. You can go to Schlitterbahn or tubing in New Braunfels or swimming in any of the nearby swimming pools, small scale waterparks, swimming holes and streams. For example: Hamilton Pool, Barton Springs, and in Georgetown in the San Gabriel River at the San Gabriel Park. They have a small stream sort of dammed off that kids can wade in and also on the banks near the small waterfall they have stairs and ladders attached to concrete edges built on the bank so you can swim and climb back out (just don't go over the waterfall. I watched some teenagers do it and they complained about getting hurt)

[traceyr13]

I moved to Austin in June 2006 from Rhode Island with my 3 kids (now ages 7, 5 and 3) and I LOVE living here as a mom. Compared to Rhode Island, there are so many more family friendly activities. There are more sports, classes and programs than I know what to do with! I also think (this is just one person's opinion) that the laid back lifestyle and family focus here promotes a culture that embraces parenthood. What I mean by that is that, at least for my husband and I, it seemed like such a rat race in New England, whereas here employers seem to embrace the family more - my husband and I don't have problems if we need to leave work to go to a lunch at the elementary school, or make an early soccer game. It seemed like that was more frowned upon back East. Again, totally one person's opinion and perspective.

[hts]

I don't live in Austin (we live in DC), but previously lived in Chapel Hill and enjoyed all the things for kids there, particulary the Durham Museum of Life & Science), which we visited at least once/month.

[starsweet]

Originally Posted by Indigoblue

Ok I've been working my way through the old threads and have seen SO many negatives listed. For those of you with young familes, what do you LIKE about living in Austin? I've seen a lot of positives listed that sound like they would have been great when I was single in my early 20s but probably not practical with four little boys in tow I'm currently in a wonderful area (Raleigh-Durham) and with a potential move to Austin need to hear some positives please please please Museums? Other kid spaces? Malls?

What NEGATIVES have you seen? I'm thinking of relocating to Austin as well and I've been looking at the past threads and have seen like 99% positive things.

[Indigoblue]

Thank you all

As for negatives I haven't read anything that would affect our family life. From what I've read the area has quality schools and is very safe relative to other cities its size. Just things like it's hot, lots of traffic on MOPAC, bugs, not enough to do (I assume for those coming from larger cities).

[newrrmom]

lots to do, we love it here...here is a great website for families.

Kidevents - Activities for Families and Children in Austin

[love roses]

It gets hot, but the worst months are July and August. Just go outside those months before noon and after 5 for the coolest parts of the day. Traffic on Mopac is only really bad during rush hour, bugs (can't sugarcoat that ) Not enough to do as far as broadway type plays, Very uppercrust (not the right word, but the first one I thought to use) museums like MOMA. Some don't like that we don't have Pro teams for sports, very small scale public transportation and that we don't have a giant arena for large scale concerts. Really small stuff in many cases because we have all of those things, only not on a grand scale.

[HeathbarTX]

Originally Posted by Indigoblue

Thank you all

As for negatives I haven't read anything that would affect our family life. From what I've read the area has quality schools and is very safe relative to other cities its size. Just things like it's hot, lots of traffic on MOPAC, bugs, not enough to do (I assume for those coming from larger cities).

I don't live in Austin just yet (moving there this Friday!!), but after visiting it a few times, I've been dying to move down there.

Texas summers can be brutal, but they're not that bad. I think you'll get used to it And as for the traffic, yeah, 35 can be pretty bad, but I don't think it's any worse than any of the other cities I've had to drive through during rush hour (Personally, I think Dallas is much worse). I'm sure once you get down there and get settled, you'll figure out the back roads and be fine

I don't think anyone mentioned this, but another cool thing about Austin, and something fun to do with your kids, would be to go see the bats. Austin has the world's largest bat colony (1.5 million!). From March to about October, they live under the South Congress bridge and come out at sunset. It's truly a remarkable sight! There's so many of them that it looks like a giant cloud of smoke gliding across the river. My parents took me when I was younger, and I loved it. Even got me a bat t-shirt

I don't think you'll ever run out of things to do. There's always stuff going on, and it's a really family-friendly place (more so than a lot of other cities i've been to!). If your kids are old enough, there's also loads of educational stuff to do, too... the Texas Museum. the Capital, Art Museums, the Children's Art Museum... it'll be great

And don't forget! Sea World, Fiesta Texas, and Schlitterbaun (huge water park where I got the worst sunburn of my life!) are all close enough for a day trip!