areas to move to (Houston, Austin: for sale, apartment, rent) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

firedogut · 02-09-2010, 08:53 AM

If all goes well in roughly a year my wife and I should be moving back to Austin. We both graduated from UT and looking forward to getting back ‘home’. We are starting to look around and get familiar with some of the areas but need a few suggestions. We are looking a 3-4 bedroom house that has a decent yard. We want to be fairly close to an HEB and restaurants. Fairly close to us is within 10 min.
Not sure what side of town my wife office will be so we need to look at areas both north and south. For my job I need to have easy access to HWY 71 or 290 as I commute to Houston. I leave at 3:00am so I’m not too worried about traffic, just that I can get to either 71 or 290 in less then 15-20 min.
We do want to a neighbor that will be good for kids and dogs.
House needs to be newer (mid 90’s or newer) and an open floor plan.
Price range will be somewhere between 200-400k. If we find everything we want at 250k great but if we need to spend more so be it.
So lets have it, name some areas we should be looking. Need more info just ask away.

shankaupas · 02-09-2010, 10:19 AM

Have you considered living somewhere between Houston and Austin like Elgin, Giddings, or Brenham off 290 or Bastrop, La Grange off of 71? What part of Houston are you going to commute to? My husband and I went to Houston right after we both graduated (he from UT me from SWT). After 4 years we decided we wanted to "come back home" also but we left Houston completely behind.

If you want to live in the Austin area, you might consider Pflugerville for ease of access to 290.

firedogut · 02-09-2010, 11:38 AM

Elgin, Giddings, La Grange and Brenham are to far from Austin. Bastrop is really pushing it.

I should have mention that I only work 7-8 times a month so i will only be commuting on those days. I am not willing to walk from my career but willing to make the drive. My wife is a biomedical engineer and will be working your typical m-f schedule.

We also want to get back to the Austin area so we can enjoy the food, music, nature, and Austin life again. I want to be close enough to be able to head into town and enjoy a cup of coffee or rock climbing in one of the green belts.

looked a little bit around bee caves but it seemed a little high on the $$$ side.

Vector28 · 02-09-2010, 12:01 PM

I'm interested in where you finally decide is best. We have the same situation, only switched. Wife works on Houston's west side 3 or 4 days per week. We keep an apartment over there - for that and because there's more to do there on weekends for our age group. Also, our last child leaves home at the end of this summer. We want a smaller house, larger lot, and no HOA.

shankaupas · 02-09-2010, 12:10 PM

You might want to look in Circle C and Western Oaks. This would put you in South Austin close to the Barton Creek green belt and 71. There are quite a few homes for sale in this area in your price range. This area has had quite a bit of growth over the last 5 to 10 years and there are ample shopping, grocery, and restaurant options in the area.

llkltk · 02-09-2010, 04:30 PM

Try SW Austin, zip 78739. Circle C or Meridian.

firedogut · 02-09-2010, 04:53 PM

thanks.
what about options on the north side?

spent 5 years in Austin and I'm amazed on how little i know about the area. I know downtown, campus, and the riverside area really well....and i don't want to live in any of those places.

Campeador · 02-09-2010, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firedogut

thanks.
what about options on the north side?

spent 5 years in Austin and I'm amazed on how little i know about the area. I know downtown, campus, and the riverside area really well....and i don't want to live in any of those places.

Given some of the pass-times you've mentioned, I'd look closer in. Maybe even one of the neighborhoods with access to the Barton Creek Greenbelt? Just off SW parkway--Travis Country area. Gorgeous views and close enough to get to the restaurants and fun stuff in central Austin. Don't know what houses go for, maybe a bit expensive?

meredithT · 02-10-2010, 06:43 AM

Interesting, I thought we were the only ones doing this. My husband is going to work in Houston but we'll live in Austin. He should be able to work 2 or 3 days a week from home & his job involves heavy international travel so it was a no-brainer to live in Austin. We are looking at Westlake Hills and Lake Travis, mostly because of the schools. Our price range is higher than yours, but you should be able to find a few things at your top range in Westlake (granted, mostly fixer-upper), with lots of choices in Lake Travis/Lakeway. We aren't really factoring in his commute - since it will be so infrequent to Houston. He will rent a room there, so at most it's a once a week thing.

We are leaning towards Westlake because I'm a nurse & I want flexibility in where I work, I don't want to be tied to only the Southside hospitals. Also, the traffic in Austin in ungodly -- and going to get a lot worse -- did you know Forbes just named Austin the #1 fastest-growing large metro area? Yep, there are lots of people like us who want to live there but the highway infrastructure is already very strained. Don't know if you go there much (we are there a lot, my family lives there), but rush house is terrible. It's going to get harder to live out of town if you want to go in town. And it sounds like you're going to want to go into town.

shankaupas · 02-10-2010, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firedogut

thanks.
what about options on the north side?

spent 5 years in Austin and I'm amazed on how little i know about the area. I know downtown, campus, and the riverside area really well....and i don't want to live in any of those places.

Ha, your experience sounds similar to mine when my husband and I lived in Austin while going to college. I never went farther north than Highland Mall (290 and I35). I think I made it to the Arboretum area once but 183 was still a 4 lane road and not a highway like it is now. Pflugerville and Round Rock seemed like cities in the far away north. But since we moved back here 11 years ago, we have only lived in the North. First Pflugerville and now Round Rock. The main reason is because we could get alot more for our money in these areas and we were working in North Austin so the South areas were pretty much out.

If you are considering Northern areas, your easiest access to 290 would be from either Pflugerville or Southeast Round Rock via the 130 toll road. Round Rock has some nice hike and bike areas with the build out of the Brushy Creek trail system but it is nothing like the Barton Creek greenbelt.