What can you tell me about these 78745 neighborhoods?

[nseindamembrane]

Originally Posted by jco

Even general "stay away from this one" or "this one's good" is helpful!!!

Austin Highlands
Banister
Beaconridge
Buckingham Estates
Carrell Oaks
Cherry Creek
Cherry Meadows
Cooper Oaks
Deer Park
Emerald Forest
Fairmont Oaks
Flournoys Sweetbriar
Grand Oaks
Greenwood Forest/Hills
Hillside Oaks
Oak Plantations
Park Forest
Salem Walk
Shiloh
Southampton
Southwest Oaks
Western Trails

I have looked through other threads. From what I gather, both Cherry Creek and Western Trails are good, with Western Trails being pricier, but I'm not sure of the rest!

Are you looking to buy or rent? If you are looking to rent, I would stay away from Salem Walk Apartments. There is a high turnover within leasing office personnel here. In the four months I have lived here, two agents have already left. Although well-intentioned and nice to your face, the current agents are incompetent. They drag their feet to get things taken care of and never get back to you. The two maintenance guys who work here are amazing. They are so friendly and helpful, and always come through. They respond to your requests immediately, such that I do not even go through the leasing office anymore to get repairs done because I know it will inevitably take longer.

I was unemployed when I moved to Austin 4 months ago, and consequently based my decision for housing primarily on location and price. Salem Walk is situated halfway between Mopac and I-35, 5 mins to Brodie Ln. shopping, 15 mins to downtown, and 20 mins to Austin-Bergstrom Airport. The location is truly kickass. I pay less than $600 for my 1-bedroom apartment, which is one of the best deals in all of Austin. There is a price to pay for this discount, though.
Quiet this community is not. There are car alarms going off multiple times every night, hordes of Hispanic teens loitering in the parking lot on weekend nights (the racial makeup in this complex is 90% Hispanic), the constant roar of traffic on Stassney Lane, and an unfortunate placement at one of the most dangerous intersections in Austin (Stassney Lane and Emerald Forest Drive). I have witnessed one accident, and I hear the deafening sound of screeching brakes of near misses at least once a week. During warm weather, the pool area is bombarded with people throughout the entire day. During the day, it is mostly families at the pool with their ill-bred children running loose and screaming. There are so many frickin’ kids here.
More worrisome, though, is that there is no one to lock the pool when it is supposed to close at 10pm, so there are all sorts of dubious characters coming and going at all hours. The police have had to come on numerous occasions to break up loud parties, and to stop the illicit drug use and underage drinking that takes place in the pool area. I have brought up the matter to management on multiple occasions, even volunteering to lock the pool when it closes, but my phone calls are not returned. The security code to get through the entrance gate is widely known by non-residents, so there are numerous times when non-residents trespass onto the property and vandalize it. On weekends, there are large groups of non-residents who enter the property, enjoy the pool and barbeque, subject residents in nearby units to their music, loud laughter, and screaming, and leave behind all their trash for the poor maintenance team here to pick up on Monday morning.
I would generally say that the area east of Manchac is ghetto, and would stay away from if possible. In conclusion, this is one of the best values in Austin price-wise, but if you can pay $100 more toward rent to prevent these headaches, I would avoid Salem Walk.

[AGA]

There are 2 sections of Cherry Creek, and one is significantly older than the other...
the older section is on Davis Lane and the newer section is accessed off of Brodie.
It appears to me that the older section is peppered with more rental properties and overall a lower income demographic when compared with the newer section.
Just wanted to share that, because when someone says they live in Cherry Creek, it is always followed by "the new part" or " the old part" and it is not apples to apples.

[mhudson78641]

I owned a condo on Deaton Hill Rd from 1995-2001. In 1999 I had my stereo, cd changer and sunglasses stolen out of my car. About a week after that someone took all four wheels and tires and left my car on bricks. I would look at 78749 if I wanted to be south.

[whitespike]

I am looking at leasing a house on Glen Meadow (which is off Sandra Street just south of Stassney). What can you tell me about this neighborhood? Safety is a primary concern. I have many valued items that I don't want stolen and I don't want to worry about my girlfriend's safety.

What neighborhood is this considered?

[tremorviolet]

If you're considering Cherry Creek, you need to be aware of the Westgate Blvd. situation. Currently, it's continuous from Ben White south to Cameron Loop (Shiloh-ish) and then it breaks and picks up again just north of Slaughter (right through the middle of south Cherry Creek). It's in Austin's long range mobility plan to connect the two ends of Westgate and construction will probably start in just a few years.

[verybadgnome]

So jco did you ever find a place in 78745? If so any impressions?

I'm thinking the area is on a slight upturn. I base that on the recent appraisals and by new retail like Newflower market.

[bleebloop]

Anything new? This thread is over a year old, but I'm thinking of moving to this area. Crime rates still up here?

[jobert]

Originally Posted by bleebloop

Anything new? This thread is over a year old, but I'm thinking of moving to this area. Crime rates still up here?

The crime rate is high, but is dropping... The housing stock itself is still pretty bad, which is a deal breaker for some (myself included). I would look at Cherry Creek for existing and Manchacha rd (between Stassney/Slaughter) or along Dittmar for brand new or newer construction.

crime in 78745 mentioned in another thread:
//www.city-data.com/forum/18234675-post8.html


a link to the thread from which it came:
//www.city-data.com/forum/austi...available.html

[kiacook]

What do you mean about the housing stock being bad? I'm not sure I disagree just curious. I live in Cherry Creek north of Will Can off Westgate and looked at various houses the in area when I was shopping. I think there are a lot of great starter homes here - entry level pricing, but with solid bones and mature trees - which you don't find in a lot of new construction. South of Will Can especially there are some pretty nicely decorated and updated small family homes. But there are many homes that haven't been well maintained or have been modified in very weird ways - garage conversions, strange decks or weird kitchens. I found something that was pretty well intact from its 70s roots and that's working for me.