Cons of Dripping Springs? (Austin, Round Rock: HOA, how much, house)

[Brisket512]

We currently live in central Austin and are house hunting to get out of the city. Most of our search has been focused on north of Austin in Cedar Park, Round Rock, and Leander. We are now considering expanding our search west out toward Dripping Springs.

We love the hill country, but we are wondering if there are any big cons of living in Dripping Springs aside from the distance from ATX and fewer amenities.

[Lz_2022]

Gotta watch some of those neighborhoods for a couple of things:

Insane HOAs - some of the weirdest dynamics I’ve seen or heard of. And I’ve been in HOA boards.

Propane monopolies - there’s a ton of stuff you can search on this.

Other than that, The amenities are heading that way, the commutes will likely never improve.

[Trainwreck20]

That is all a matter of perspective. Are you looking in DS proper, or the ETJ? It may only be a philosophical issue, but the population of DS - the people who can vote on most things - is around 4,000. The ETJ - including the people affected by many of those votes - is around 40,000. I do not live in that area, but several co-workers do and are sometimes annoyed by the consequences of that situation.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Lz_2022

Gotta watch some of those neighborhoods for a couple of things:

Insane HOAs - some of the weirdest dynamics I’ve seen or heard of. And I’ve been in HOA boards.

Propane monopolies - there’s a ton of stuff you can search on this.

Other than that, The amenities are heading that way, the commutes will likely never improve.

The 290 west improvement project is underway. It might (or might not) help with the commute.

[Need4Camaro]

Those signals at the 290 / 71 intersection get me everytime. So easy to make a mistake there.

[Lz_2022]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The 290 west improvement project is underway. It might (or might not) help with the commute.

I have a feeling continued growth will just keep it the same with more people coming through the pipeline.

The advantage of more people is that it brings more amenities.

[DashRiprock]

I also like the area but it's not a viable option for us right now. There are a lot of cool things out there and more on the way.

Traffic to/from Austin is hideous and despite some ongoing improvements, they'll be in perpetual catch up mode like most everywhere else, but worse. If you don't have to commute or come to Austin on a regular basis, that might not be an issue for you.

Stuff's more expensive than it should be but what isn't?

If I was in the position of moving to the hill country and didn't have to worry about a commute, I'd look more towards the Marble Falls/Johnson City area.

[orngkat]

Daughter lives in Highpointe which is I guess ETJ but closer to Dripping. They both work at home so getting to Austin is less of an issue. Because of 290 development over the past few years, they seem to have all the amenities they need - including two HEBs. Always surprises me how much development is going on out there - kind of sad for those of who remember how it used to be.

[Jgo1985]

Originally Posted by Brisket512

We currently live in central Austin and are house hunting to get out of the city. Most of our search has been focused on north of Austin in Cedar Park, Round Rock, and Leander. We are now considering expanding our search west out toward Dripping Springs.

We love the hill country, but we are wondering if there are any big cons of living in Dripping Springs aside from the distance from ATX and fewer amenities.

We live in a community in Dripping Springs (although zip is technically Austin). It's really great here, we love it. The only thing I would say kind of annoys us is that a lot of places here close early or are completely closed on Sundays (except major chains like CVS, Home Depot, and HEB which is convenient) so we'll go to places like Bee Cave or the Domain.

In terms of amenities, Dripping Springs has quite a bit and it's still growing (there's so much development going on). You can mostly do/get what you need in it for the most part. There's CVS, Walgreens, HEB, Home Depot, local coffee/food shops, a pet store, etc...We really only drive out of Dripping Springs if we want something very specific from Central Market or because we want to go to a specific shop at Hill Country Galleria, for example.

Traffic can be a bit of an annoyance at times but it's relative to where you're coming from. We come from the NYC area where traffic is TRULY a nightmare and it makes the 290 traffic and downtown Dripping Springs traffic seem relatively mild.

Some may not like the HOAs out here, but again, it's relative considering where you're coming from. In NYC, we are used to paying upwards of $300 per month (yes, you read that right... and that's on the lower end for a building with amenities), so for us the HOAs out here aren't bad compared to that. Ours right now is about $85/month.

Gas/water can be high out here, but it depends on your consumption and the size of your yard, or time of year, for example. There's lots of variables. Oh, and depending on your area, there's a waste water bill every month in addition to the water bill. This was new to us but it's so far averaged about $60 a month and it fluctuates based on water usage.

Hope this information is helpful!

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Jgo1985

We live in a community in Dripping Springs (although zip is technically Austin). It's really great here, we love it. The only thing I would say kind of annoys us is that a lot of places here close early or are completely closed on Sundays (except major chains like CVS, Home Depot, and HEB which is convenient) so we'll go to places like Bee Cave or the Domain.

In terms of amenities, Dripping Springs has quite a bit and it's still growing (there's so much development going on). You can mostly do/get what you need in it for the most part. There's CVS, Walgreens, HEB, Home Depot, local coffee/food shops, a pet store, etc...We really only drive out of Dripping Springs if we want something very specific from Central Market or because we want to go to a specific shop at Hill Country Galleria, for example.

Traffic can be a bit of an annoyance at times but it's relative to where you're coming from. We come from the NYC area where traffic is TRULY a nightmare and it makes the 290 traffic and downtown Dripping Springs traffic seem relatively mild.

Some may not like the HOAs out here, but again, it's relative considering where you're coming from. In NYC, we are used to paying upwards of $300 per month (yes, you read that right... and that's on the lower end for a building with amenities), so for us the HOAs out here aren't bad compared to that. Ours right now is about $85/month.

Gas/water can be high out here, but it depends on your consumption and the size of your yard, or time of year, for example. There's lots of variables. Oh, and depending on your area, there's a waste water bill every month in addition to the water bill. This was new to us but it's so far averaged about $60 a month and it fluctuates based on water usage.

Hope this information is helpful!

Things closing early on Sundays is likely because you moved to a small rural town instead of the city. That's one of the charms of such places. When moving to the country, it's best to quickly learn to plan ahead for your shopping trips and accept that local businesses are not big chains but actual people with lives of their own.