Why?....why?....why?... (Houston, San Antonio, Austin: home, neighborhood, to buy)

[asena]

Ok I am just wondering..I moved here about a two months ago..and I got some questions...

-this is a large city with big population but WHY there is only one grocery store? I know...there is randals or central market or wal mart but thats not what I mean. I lived in several different states,last place that i lived we had 4 different grocery stores in 4 mile range and i am not talking about wal mart or target.But here some placeses you have to drive 4 miles to the grocery store.

-everything is big in Texas...nope... not parking spaces,why are they narrow? I dont have a big truck I just got a small car but I could tell they look narrow.

-and toll roads...I dont like the idea...we all are born to pay taxes and still pay to drive? well since they are making money from toll roads why they dont build more public roads? looks like this city needs couple more hwys....traffic is worst then some of the bigger cities..

I am just wondering...this is not a rant...anybody here feels the same way or is it just me

[ATX Wahine]

There are a variety of grocery stores in Austin. Whole Foods, Central Market, Sprouts, Newflower, HEB, Randalls, Fiesta, and even Wal-Mart. If driving 4 miles to a grocery store and not having several to choose from in that range is a problem for you, you probably should have considered that factor when selecting a home to buy or rent. Most people would consider a grocery store within 4 miles of home "close by". That's what, a five-minute drive?

I think parking spaces are the same size here as anywhere else, there's just a LOT more large trucks and SUV's here. Since kids tend to swing doors open with zero thought of the car parked next to it, I've learned to park my small Subaru WRX way down at the end of the lot among empty spaces and walk.

I'm sorry you don't like toll roads. The good news is that you don't have to use one to get anywhere in Austin. You can use alternative routes to avoid the cost of tolls. Austin does lack in the highway department, but it just is what it is. They weren't built when land was readily available because voters didn't want to expand the system and it's too costly and inconvenient to claim eminant domain, take away property from people, and shut down sections of roads in order to rebuild them now.

Welcome to Austin. Just a word of advice - your complaints will fall on mostly deaf ears here, but a few people will be more than happy to tell you to go back to where you came from. Trust me on this one.

[hoffdano]

Some time ago we had Albertsons, Kroger, Apple Tree (~Safeway), and HEB. Maybe a few more. Most Apple Tree stores became Randalls (originally a Houston based chain).

HEB is based in San Antonio and has steadily beaten Albertsons and Kroger into submission. Randalls seems to have a solid place in Austin, although I don't know why. Walmart is a bigger grocer now of course, but I don't think they have materially dented HEB's business.

The more recent trend is premium grocery stores like Central Market (an HEB brand) and Whole Foods.

I am perfectly happy with the choices we have. I have no interest in shopping multiple stores as long as the ones I have to choose from meet my needs.

Parking spot sizes.... where I usually park the spots seem no smaller than average sized. Where are you parking your vehicle?

Toll roads - a sore subject for most. The Texas DOT doesn't have the funds to build enough roads and they haven't been willing to raise gasoline taxes. So we have toll roads.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Some time ago we had Albertsons, Kroger, Apple Tree (~Safeway), and HEB. Maybe a few more. Most Apple Tree stores became Randalls (originally a Houston based chain).

Randall's is currently under the same ownership as Safeway. They even sell Safeway branded items.

[tongpa-nyi]

This is an interesting thread because I consider grocery stores to be one of Austin's strong suits. The quality and quantity of options here is unparalleled in other places where I've lived and visited. For example, an upgraded HEB (not to be confused with Central Market) here blows away most of the "high end" grocery stores in Los Angeles. And there must be more "natural" grocers here per capita than in any city of comparable size. I'm within a mile of Sun Harvest and HEB, and within a 4 mile radius (the distance you drive to get to the nearest grocer) there are at least a dozen quality grocery stores.

Sounds like you live in a subdivision or an area where there's no nearby commercial zoning. That's one of the hidden costs of living outside the urban areas of Austin and its satellite cities.

[intmd8r]

When we visited, we noticed that HEB and Randall's seemed to be the main choices for standard grocery stores, and we're fine with that. We do most of our grocery shopping here in Minnesota at SuperTarget anyway, because they're overall the cheapest. But here it's mostly just Cub Foods, Rainbow Foods and Festival, so only one more option anyway.

That being said, places like Phoenix do have more options for standard grocery, but I personally found that annoying, because you had to hit them all to get the good sales. There was Safeway, Basha's, Albertson's, Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market (actually JUST a grocery store)...

We were really impressed with the HEB Plus in Leander and would prefer less stores, to be honest.

[Dana129]

I have to agree with everyone else... a grocery store with in 4 miles is pretty close. I grew up in NY and we had to drive 8 miles, which I thought was fine. When I lived in AZ, it was literally next door to my house, but when I lived in CA one was 1.3 miles and with in 4 miles was about a dozen. At first I was taken back about the mostly HEB, but if you open you eyes, you will see Central Market, and Whole foods and a ton of other nice little ones around.

And toll roads, everyone is Austin hates them, but me, I love them, I can drive on them and bypass all the traffic. It is great, but then again, I have lived in a few states with them and have become used to them, while my husband thinks they are wrong and a form of double taxation. So I think it is whatever you are used to.

Good luck!!

[F&N]

I moved to Round Rock in November & was just thinking about the grocery store options yesterday myself. It seems the only 2 options are HEB (always a zoo) or Walmart. Wish there was an option such as a Kroger or Fred Meyer. Randall's imo is too expensive. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for a Costco in RR or Georgetown, sorry but Sam's Club doesn't even compare.

[kiacook]

I really do think the parking spaces are small here! Just talking out of my #ss, but I think the # of parking spots stores have to have for their size is legislated by the city. And I think that's a recent development. So instead of using more of their property for parking than businesses might have in the past, they just make smaller parking spaces. Older, more established businesses here or elsewhere probably have larger parking spots.

[neddy]

Well, we lived for 3 yrs in Omaha NE of all places and give me a HEB any day over HY-VEE,Bakers or Albertsons. We used Super Target but still missed my HEB!