So... I'm moving to Austin, Help! (West, Howe: apartments, rent, neighborhood)

[bizarre]

First: Thank you for taking time to ready this

I'm a 23 year old girl who is moving to TX at the end of the month. I'm really interested in moving to Austin, but I need some information before I move and would prefer it from people who have experienced it a first hand.

My day dream area would allow me to be within walking distance of neighborhood grocery stores, markets, book stores and entertainment. I don't want big chains or massive super centers.

I'm looking for an apartment that is pet friendly (I have one very large dog and one small dog). I've heard that Austin is very dog friendly, but is that true? Are there certain areas that are more pet friendly then others?

I don't have a very large budget, so I would like to keep my rent reasonable (I'm hoping under $600 a month) The apartment does not have to be very big, a studio or one bedroom could suit me very well. I have grown up in the country and lived in a medium sized college town. I really excited to get to experience the urban lifestyle, but also want to feel safe walking down the street.

I have some family in the area, so I have some time to shop around, but I don't know where to start looking or even if my criteria can be met. Any suggestions of areas to particularly look into or avoid altogether would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!!! (yet again)

[kenneth.richard]

Glad to have you moving to Austin! It's a great city.

Specifically going off of your budget, "walking distance" and Austin might not go hand-in-hand. But others may have different opinions.

Am I safe to assume safety and pet friendly are higher on your priority list? Far West is a great area to live. I know northwest and west Austin pretty well, so other forum members will have better ideas of other locations. Far West is safe, quiet, and is walking distance to an HEB. HEB is still a chain, but I wouldn't say it's a "bad" place to shop for groceries. They are friendly, have good prices, fresh food (at least the one I shop at does) and branches off of Central Market (an Austin favorite). However, Austin (all of Texas) can get extremely hot during the summers (106 today!), and Far West has a bus you can take back to your apartment if you don't own a vehicle. Or if you do have a car, the drive is literally like 2 minutes. You might have to drive a little further to get to a non-chained bookstore/entertainment spot though.

As far as safety goes, I would say northwest, west, southwest are your better bets. Not to say anything to the north, east, and southeast are bad parts of town, but I personally wouldn't be comfortable walking out at night in that area. But again, I don't live near there, so I don't want to say, "STAY AWAY! It's unsafe!", when indeed, it's not as unsafe as I envision. This link might help:

http://malford.ci.austin.tx.us/police/zipcode/zipcode/zip_2008.pdf (broken link)

Keep in mind some zip code areas are smaller than others. Far West is 78731. I tried looking for a zip code map, but they are all on realtor websites, which are allowed on the forum. You can search "Austin zip code map" on Google for a better idea, geographically.

From what I know, I think all of Austin overall is a dog-loving town. I know in my area, almost everyone owns a dog. I'm actually in the process of looking for one myself. As long as you clean up after your dog, no one will question it. Most apartments require a pet deposit in the Far West area. This might be true for most of Austin.

Hope this helps and good luck with your search!

[jobert]

A friend of mine is sub-leasing a studio near Pease Park (NW?) for about $500/mo. - it's about 300 sf. Don't know if that's too small, but that is the best option for that price range in a good part of town: The sub-lease.

When you say "walkable", you should expand your horizons with "bike ride-able" as that seems to be a prefered method of transport for young folks in the central city area. Don't get me wrong, it is walkable, but there are a lot of parks and green space/fluff that can really strrrrretchhhhh that "walkable" distance. West Campus is walkable, but a bike would get you more places at x8 factor.
plus - when it's over 100 degrees out, you can savor the cool breeze that comes with a bike ride. In West Campus, you would be close(ish) to Red Bud Isle, which is great for dogs. I don't know if you want to live in a college-ish part of town anymore, or if you're done with that, though. If you like the college vibe still, try West Campus.

Welcome to Austin!