Round Rock vs. Pflugerville vs. Georgetown (Austin, Leander: insurance, house, neighborhoods)

[Ksea]

Hello everyone,
Looking for advice on moving my family of four (mom, dad and tow girls 10 and 6) near Austin. We are looking to buy a 3 bedroom house for 150k and would like the following:
* A smaller, established family oriented community (this is not based on Church choice) that has lots of fun activities for kids (parks, bike trails, swimming pools, tennis, library, community center, etc...) and some shopping and ideally a charming walkable town center/main street.
* A place that has things going on (concerts in the park, outdoor cafes, farmer's market) and does not entirely depend on Austin.
* A safe, nice, well established, quiet neighborhood where kids can play outside (lots of trees would be great!).
* A neighborhood that has a neighborhood feel and decorates for the holidays. We want a true sense of community and neighborliness
* A good school district is important
* Hiking, biking trails
* Near lakes/water

We have kind of narrowed our search to Round Rock, Pflugerville and Georgetown and would now love to hear from those who live there (and those who have recently gone through this agonizing search themselves). Which of these places is most likely to give us (some of) the things we are looking for? Also any ideas of neighborhods and subdivisions?

Also, are there things to watch out for - property taxes, insurance, etc.

Thanks.

We

[love roses]

Sounds like Georgetown or maybe near the center of Leander.

[arrow_keys]

Originally Posted by Ksea

* A smaller, established family oriented community (this is not based on Church choice) that has lots of fun activities for kids (parks, bike trails, swimming pools, tennis, library, community center, etc...) and some shopping and ideally a charming walkable town center/main street.
* A place that has things going on (concerts in the park, outdoor cafes, farmer's market) and does not entirely depend on Austin.
* A safe, nice, well established, quiet neighborhood where kids can play outside (lots of trees would be great!).
* A neighborhood that has a neighborhood feel and decorates for the holidays. We want a true sense of community and neighborliness
* A good school district is important
* Hiking, biking trails
* Near lakes/water

Your first criteria eliminates P'ville and RR in regard to the town square.
Georgetown fits all of your criteria except for maybe school district. That one I don't know, but I've never heard anything bad about GISD.

[mark311]

While I agree that Georgetown has a cool town square, it really doesn't have a ton of shops there. In my opinion, it's not a place that you keep going back to just to walk around. If anything, I find San Gabriel Park to be a better attraction. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't rule out Round Rock, Pflugerville, or Leander because of the town square in Georgetown.

You need to be aware of the property taxes in any of the areas around Austin. It sounds like you've narrowed it down and a visit is probably in order to all of these places. I know that Georgetown Village is really nice, but you'd have to get lucky to get something for 150K. I do see two listings for $149K in Georgetown Village, but they are already pending, so it's possible. Those appeared to be great deals and I assume that's why they're already pending.

[TexasHorseLady]

There are family friendly neighborhoods in Georgetown besides Georgetown Village.