What do you think of Bee Cave? (Austin, Mart: buying a home, buying)

[XLadylawX]

I am being deliberately vague here because I want to throw open the door to all sorts of opinions.

DH and I are thinking about buying a home in this community and we are gathering information. Thank you.

[burlshoe114]

I just know the name sounds really cool!
Are there hives of bees in a cave somewhere? :-)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by burlshoe114

I just know the name sounds really cool!
Are there hives of bees in a cave somewhere? :-)

Good guess!

Handbook of Texas Online - BEE CAVE, TX

BEE CAVE, TEXAS. Bee Cave is at the intersection of State Highway 71 and Farm roads 620 and 2244, twelve miles west of Austin in west central Travis County. It was named by early settlers for a large cave of wild bees found near the site. A post office opened there under the name Bee Caves in 1870 with Martin V. Lackey as postmaster. By 1871 Wiley Johnson was operating a trading post at the settlement. In the mid-1880s the Bee Cave community had a steam gristmill, a cotton gin, a general store, a church, a school, and twenty residents. The population fell to ten in the early 1890s but rose to fifty-four by 1914.

[CptnRn]

Bee Cave is not far down Hwy 71 from where I live. I've never thought of it as a community in the past, as it was so sparsely populated and spread out. There wasn't much there, there. It was mostly a small collection of little shops along side of the highway.

That is not a fair assesment of the community these days. It appears to have become much more organized and developed. Although I hear they have lots of vacancies in the many large retail spaces that have been constructed recently. Its density has increased significantly in recent years as the lack of development regulations has spurred considerable construction in the area.

[hoffdano]

I have been in and around Bee Cave for over 20 years. For the first ten years it really was nothing at all. Just a stretch of SH71 between 620 and Bee Caves Rd.

Now it is at least a "region" if not exactly a community. The Galleria at Bee Cave is a very nice outdoor mall if not fully populated with stores yet. I am most happy we have a movie theater and a growing number of restaurants. The new park is very nicely done.

I don't know exactly where the OP plans to live but I'd say the general area is very nice.

[Moonlady]

I've lived in the area for 15 years and seen it grow from just a few oddball stores on the corner of 620 and 71 to what it is today.

The good: Hill Country Galleria is great as are The Shops at the Galleria along with the smattering of restaurants. The City of Bee Cave has worked pretty hard to encourage smart growth. At one time there was going to be a Walmart where the mall is now and they fought it. The Bee Cave HEB has expanded and pretty much has everything you want. It feeds into Lake Travis Schools which often rival Eanes just down the road. It's a pretty cool location, not too far from downtown and close to Lake Travis.

The bad: Traffic on Bee Cave has gotten crazy. If you're not locked into a 9-5 schedule, it can be tolerable, but if you leave the house between 7:30- 8:30, it backs up. I have mixed feeling about Lakepointe. While its growth brought us all the stores, it would never have existed without the developers getting the City of Bee Cave to incorporate so they didn't have to comply with city of Austin density guidelines. Originally it was something like 2 houses per 1.5 acres. Hence there's more traffic than originally planned for Bee Caves Rd, but that's pretty much true of anywhere you go in Austin now!

Other than the traffic and the denser growth, I can't think of anything negative. I do have some friends in Lakepoint and was astounded at how high their water bill was for some reason. The Backyard, who got squeezed out when the stores came in, is planning a new venue right down the road - it's an awesome place for live music. Also, they just opened the new Bee Cave City Park, which looks really nice. I just can't figure out why in the world they didn't put a bicycle lane on Bee Cave Parkway! Lots of cyclists ride Bee Caves and 620, and the road joins the two as well as providing an alternate entrance to the mall. But there are NO shoulders and no bike lanes!

[paul6835]

It is its own city within Travis so the property taxes are much lower. I'm paying an effective rate of about 1.6% of assessed value after exemptions

[ATX Wahine]

I live six miles down 71 from Bee Cave and I love it there. Good shopping, great scenery, close enough to downtown Austin for a daily (but traffic-packed) commute.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by paul6835

It is its own city within Travis so the property taxes are much lower. I'm paying an effective rate of about 1.6% of assessed value after exemptions

Does that include LTISD tax or no?

[XLadylawX]

Originally Posted by Moonlady

Does that include LTISD tax or no?

I believe that includes the LTISD as well which of course is the largest chunk of the taxes. Paul6835 is probably also taking advantage of the homestead exemption. This was without a doubt the biggest consideration for us. On a $500k home, this represents a savings of at least $5k per year over homes just about anywhere else in the greater Austin area. When DH and I are old and living on a fixed income, we can use that $5k savings to pay for our increasing medical expenses, etc..