Considering moving from Orange County, Ca to NW Austin

[CATXTransplant]

I too moved to Steiner Ranch from Socal for the EXACT same reasons as you. I was looking forward to trading the "Realtor required" Mercedes for something a little more practical. There certainly are some people in Steiner who are interested in keeping up with the Jones', but as a PP said, it's nothing compared to SoCal. I think the majority are not that way. My husband and I used to joke because when we moved here, our neighbors last name was Jones and they were the only ones in the Cul-De-Sac with a Lexus & BMW. They have since moved to Dallas. I agree that people tend to gravitate to people who are similar. If you're not interested in that, there are more than enough down to earth people to be friends with. Let me know when you're coming - we could use some more ladies for our Bunco group :0) You might also want to check out the HOA website which is www.SteinerRanchHoa.org for information about upcoming neighborhood events, playgroups, etc...

Other alternatives would be Avery Ranch or Cedar Park. Avery Ranch is a Master Planned Community similar to Steiner. It has a public golf course (The one in Steiner is private), and is very nice. Half of the neighborhood is in RR ISD, the other half is Leander ISD. Twin Creeks is also a great neighborhood with a private golf course, but it's less expensive than the UT Club (around $10,000 I think), and it has reciprocal priviliges with Onion Creek and River Place (you might like River Place too depending on your price range). I also like the Ranch at Deer Creek, which is right next to Twin Creeks and the HOA dues are less than Twin Creeks and you get a bit more for your money. Of course, of these, the only one with Lake Access is Steiner Ranch with access to Lake Austin. It will eventually rain (my friend who's a meteoroligist says it will be in October) and the ramps will open back up on Lake Travis, and Steiner is just accross the street.

A lot of people are now joining the boat club, which gets around the whole boat ramp issue.

Also, FYI...when we came here from CA to check out Austin, we came to look at Twin Creeks and Avery Ranch, which we found online. We only stumbled upon Steiner Ranch as we were going to the Oasis for dinner. We love it here in Steiner, but I have lots of clients who chose Cedar Park or Avery Ranch (or other NW neighborhoods) and are equally as happy.