Moving from New Jersey to Austin - Need Help (Round Rock: fit in, transplants)

[chinj]

Hello to All. I am writing to find out if anyone can please provide me with some insight as to where to move in Austin. My family is relocating to Austin in 2010. We have 1 son (7 yrs old). It is crucial that we find the following:
1) Excellent School District (under 22 students per class)
2) Diverse Neighborhood
3) Subdivision (optional)
4) close proximity to downtown Austin (for the hubby)
So you know, we're an African-American family looking to duplicate (if at all possible) our son's experience(s) in New Jersey. I don't want a situation where he's the only child of color. He has friends from various ethnic backgrounds and is used to that type of environment. Looking to spend no more than $400k on a house but it has to be in the right neighborhood. As I write this I feel somewhat overwhelmed as I don't know where to start looking. Any advice is most appreciated.

Chi

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by chinj

Hello to All. I am writing to find out if anyone can please provide me with some insight as to where to move in Austin. My family is relocating to Austin in 2010. We have 1 son (7 yrs old). It is crucial that we find the following:
1) Excellent School District (under 22 students per class)
2) Diverse Neighborhood
3) Subdivision (optional)
4) close proximity to downtown Austin (for the hubby)
So you know, we're an African-American family looking to duplicate (if at all possible) our son's experience(s) in New Jersey. I don't want a situation where he's the only child of color. He has friends from various ethnic backgrounds and is used to that type of environment. Looking to spend no more than $400k on a house but it has to be in the right neighborhood. As I write this I feel somewhat overwhelmed as I don't know where to start looking. Any advice is most appreciated.

Chi

Take a look at the great hills area that feeds into laurel mountain, canyon vista, westwood. There is an area of older homes (70's?) just north on streets like DK ranch road, barrington where it is easy to find a house under 400K. But because they are affordable and feed into westwood I think home values will easily go up. North of spicewood springs around four iron, scottish weil, ashton ridge etc, the houses are newer (80's) but will run around 400K. South of spicewood springs you start to get into great hills. The portion that feeds into austin ISD runs under 400K, but the portion that feeds into RRISD is 500K+

Laurel mountain is 40% asian, but has almost no african-americans (under 5%). So when you say people of color, do Asian Indian's count?

Here is a link to the racial breakdown:
Laurel Mountain Elementary School, Austin Texas / TX School Profile, Ranking, and Reviews - SchoolDigger.com

Here is a link to the map showing the school district boundaries
Schools in Round Rock Independent School District, Round Rock, TX - SchoolDigger.com

[chinj]

Thank you so much Austin97. Your input is most appreciated. And yes, when I say people of color Asian and Indians of course apply. I apologize if my statement may have come across as strictly narrowed to African-Americans.

[shankaupas]

Just to give you a little background on Austin, according to this profile: Austin-Round Rock, TX - Profiles - Diversity Data - Metropolitan Quality of Life Data

The Austin metro area has 1.6 million people and the breakdown is:
Non-Hispanic White: 56.5%
Non-Hispanic Black: 7.2%
Non-Hispanic American Indian: 0.4%
Non-Hispanic Asian/Pac. Islander: 4.5%
Hispanic: 30.1%

The Round Rock school district that Austin97 pointed you to is a very good school district and the Westwood High School area is probably the best of the best in the Round Rock ISD. This area is not close to downtown though. The commute is roughly 15+ miles which during rush hour can take 45 minutes or more to commute through. If you don't mind a commute, you might also want to look in the Lake Travis school district area south west of Austin. There will be newer homes in that area in your price range.

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by chinj

Thank you so much Austin97. Your input is most appreciated. And yes, when I say people of color Asian and Indians of course apply. I apologize if my statement may have come across as strictly narrowed to African-Americans.

I know from experience that can get you in trouble on these forums.

Honestly Chi, we can give you advice on areas and such, but it would really behoove of you to contact realtors in the area and actually plan a fact finding trip down here. With your price range, you are not going to have a problem finding a house in a good school district, so that is not going to be an issue for you. Really, for 400K, all of your needs are going to be met, including proximity and diversity. So, your happiness in this move is going to come down to intangibles. Things like the "feel" of a community. Whether or not you feel like you fit in when you go grocery shopping. Those type of things. You are not going to know that unless you come down and check it out yourself, it is a very personal thing.

Realtors are really good at helping you with this though. There are SEVERAL realtors that post on this site, maybe one of them could PM and get your address so they can send you some information on what areas would be nicer for you.

Also, you can just google a realtor in Austin and they can help you narrow down your search. People on this forum are only going to advise you on communities they currently or previously have lived in, or on their nebulous opinions on other communities they may have driven by. A Realtor is out there on the streets everyday. Contact 5 realtors and see what they all tell you.

And no, I am not a realtor, just have found realtors to be helpful on issues like this from my own experience.

[chinj]

Thanks so much Jaybrown80. Sorry for sounding so lost but honestly I'm in a pickle because I have to find the "right place" for my hubby who's busy trying to get his job "thing" settled. He wants to be close to his office downtown but wants all the other factors as well (diversity, good schools). He keeps mentioning living in the city of austin but in surrounding areas with a subdivision and a house with 3000 sq. ft. Without knowing the area it's daunting for me. Yes, I should and will contact a realtor. Can you recommend any that you feel will definitely address my needs? Thanks again.

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by chinj

Thanks so much Jaybrown80. Sorry for sounding so lost but honestly I'm in a pickle because I have to find the "right place" for my hubby who's busy trying to get his job "thing" settled. He wants to be close to his office downtown but wants all the other factors as well (diversity, good schools). He keeps mentioning living in the city of austin but in surrounding areas with a subdivision and a house with 3000 sq. ft. Without knowing the area it's daunting for me. Yes, I should and will contact a realtor. Can you recommend any that you feel will definitely address my needs? Thanks again.

No reason to apologize for sounding lost, lol. It's perfectly understandable when you are moving across the country to place you have never lived or been to before.

I can't recommend a realtor. I am not in the buisness. I would think that there are many realtors who deal with across the country transplants such as yourself (hell, many of them are transplant themselves) and would be sensitive to your needs.

Don't worry though, one of the realtors that regularly post on City-data will be on soon and can probably steer you in the right direction. They can ask you leading questions that will help to narrow down your needs. For 400K, I imagine you will be able to find something close to downtown in a good school district. I dont' know about 3000 sq ft though, I prefer small houses, wouldn't know what to do with that much, so I don't know how many of those are available so close to downtown. I am completely unfamiliar with South Austin as well, I have always been a Northy.

Can any realtors PM Chi and give her some info?

[wrock]

Chi, I think you got lots of good advice here. Austin is a high-tech town with a variety of people from all over the world. As long as you are open minded about other peoples culture, I'm sure they will be open minded about yours. As a full-time Austin Realtor, I would suggest focusing your search based on being close to work and finding the best schools. Then narrow things down further by driving neighborhoods and then finally looking at houses. You can determine school performance by zooming into this map: Texas School Performance Maps

[shankaupas]

Originally Posted by wrock

You can determine school performance by zooming into this map: Texas School Performance Maps

That is a pretty cool tool. I have not seen this before. You learn something new everyday.

[latikeriii]

I agree with the others, look in the Round Rock School District or Pflugerville School District.