Moving from San Diego to Texas, need advice! (Houston, Dallas: for sale, real estate)

[Gamewiz]

Originally Posted by bgrn198

For things to do you also have tubing down the Guadalupe River or Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New Braunfels both are within an hours drive from Austin. You also have San Antonio only an hours drive which has Sea World and Six Flags Fiesta Texas,SA Zoo and all the attractions that are in SA. For the beach it's a few hours drive to places like Corpus Christi or South Padre Island

Guadalupe River New Braunfels « The Best Information to Plan Your Vacation Guadalupe River New Braunfels

Welcome to Schlitterbahn New Braunfels | Schlitterbahn New Braunfels

Visit San Antonio, Texas | Explore San Antonio Things to Do, Attractions, Events, River Walk & More

South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau | Visit South Padre Island - Official Visitor and Tourism Site for South Padre Island, Texas - sopadre.com

Corpus Christi Hotels, Attractions, Group Tours, Beaches & Texas Vacations in Corpus Christi

Padre Island National Seashore - Padre Island National Seashore

Thank you for this! I'll start diving into all these links in the very near future.

[Gamewiz]

So I've been told in another thread here that some good areas around Austin that suit my particular needs would be Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, and Georgetown, while around Houston a place called The Woodlands is supposed to be a nice and upcoming community. Would others agree with this assessment or have other recommendations?

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Gamewiz

So I've been told in another thread here that some good areas around Austin that suit my particular needs would be Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, and Georgetown, while around Houston a place called The Woodlands is supposed to be a nice and upcoming community. Would others agree with this assessment or have other recommendations?

Unless they've built 183 all the way out to Leander, I'd avoid it and Cedar Park. I lived in northwest Austin in the late 1990s near the Arboretum and 183 dead-ended as a highway a bit northwest of where I lived, maybe a couple of exits north of Duval. The traffic past that was a Sisyphean nightmare.

Georgetown is quite a bit north of Austin, about 30 miles. If I worked in downtown Austin or south of it, I wouldn't live in Georgetown. I hear Mo-Pac has been significantly extended and now joins up to 35, which would make parts of Round Rock more do-able than they would have been when I lived in the area.

[Gamewiz]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Unless they've built 183 all the way out to Leander, I'd avoid it and Cedar Park. I lived in northwest Austin in the late 1990s near the Arboretum and 183 dead-ended as a highway a bit northwest of where I lived, maybe a couple of exits north of Duval. The traffic past that was a Sisyphean nightmare.

Georgetown is quite a bit north of Austin, about 30 miles. If I worked in downtown Austin or south of it, I wouldn't live in Georgetown. I hear Mo-Pac has been significantly extended and now joins up to 35, which would make parts of Round Rock more do-able than they would have been when I lived in the area.

In looking at maps it looks like they have built out the 183... but it's a toll road. :/ Bleh.

I'm about 20 miles from where I live now and where I have to work... most days it's around a 30 minute commute. I'm willing to settle for a 45 minute commute if you think that's how long you think it'll take to get from Georgetown to the more central parts of Austin. I dunno how bad the traffic is there.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Unless they've built 183 all the way out to Leander, I'd avoid it and Cedar Park. I lived in northwest Austin in the late 1990s near the Arboretum and 183 dead-ended as a highway a bit northwest of where I lived, maybe a couple of exits north of Duval. The traffic past that was a Sisyphean nightmare.....

Yep....Austin hasn't changed much in 15 years.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Gamewiz

In looking at maps it looks like they have built out the 183... but it's a toll road. :/ Bleh.

I'm about 20 miles from where I live now and where I have to work... most days it's around a 30 minute commute. I'm willing to settle for a 45 minute commute if you think that's how long you think it'll take to get from Georgetown to the more central parts of Austin. I dunno how bad the traffic is there.

It's 183, not 'the 183'.

When I lived there, the road that continued on from the highway was still US 183. It just wasn't a proper highway. More like a boulevard with lots of traffic lights. I remember once I went to Lakeline Mall and it took 35 minutes to get there from Duval and 183.

I rarely drive to Austin anymore but I have experienced traffic so heavy that it took over an hour to get from the Williamson County line to downtown Austin. Georgetown and Round Rock are both in Williamson County. I think that was probably an extreme situation, but commutes in Austin are brutal. It's one of the top-10 most congested cities in the US. I would advise you to live as close as you can to work.

[Gamewiz]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

It's 183, not 'the 183'.

When I lived there, the road that continued on from the highway was still US 183. It just wasn't a proper highway. More like a boulevard with lots of traffic lights. I remember once I went to Lakeline Mall and it took 35 minutes to get there from Duval and 183.

I rarely drive to Austin anymore but I have experienced traffic so heavy that it took over an hour to get from the Williamson County line to downtown Austin. Georgetown and Round Rock are both in Williamson County. I think that was probably an extreme situation, but commutes in Austin are brutal. It's one of the top-10 most congested cities in the US. I would advise you to live as close as you can to work.

Point taken and I will definitely keep that under consideration when the time comes. Ultimately my plan first is just to rent somewhere that is as cost efficient as possible and I'll just suck it up when it comes to things like the commute. Then when we are out there and I start looking for a more permanent place to buy, I'll more appropriately factors things like this in to my decisions.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

It's 183, not 'the 183'.

When I lived there, the road that continued on from the highway was still US 183. It just wasn't a proper highway. More like a boulevard with lots of traffic lights. I remember once I went to Lakeline Mall and it took 35 minutes to get there from Duval and 183.

I rarely drive to Austin anymore but I have experienced traffic so heavy that it took over an hour to get from the Williamson County line to downtown Austin. Georgetown and Round Rock are both in Williamson County. I think that was probably an extreme situation, but commutes in Austin are brutal. It's one of the top-10 most congested cities in the US. I would advise you to live as close as you can to work.

Your Austin experience is rather outdated. Perhaps you shouldn't comment on some things related to Austin unless you are better informed. US 183 (also known as Research Blvd) is a multi-lane divided and elevated highway that extends north past FM 620. Although traffic on 183 can be heavy, it moves most of the time.

[Gamewiz]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Your Austin experience is rather outdated. Perhaps you shouldn't comment on some things related to Austin unless you are better informed. US 183 (also known as Research Blvd) is a multi-lane divided and elevated highway that extends north past FM 620. Although traffic on 183 can be heavy, it moves most of the time.

Is the part of it going into Leander a toll road like the map suggests? Or has that been changed?

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by justme02

Ive lived in Texas for four years now and I very rarely eat any of the food your mentioning. We eat BBQ every 2-3 months, Tex-Mex about once a month (we eat authentic Mexican every week), and Ive never once had chilli since moving here. We mainly live off of ethnic cuisines like Indian, Korean, Mexican, Vietnamese, Salvadoran, Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, etc as well as American food like burgers and sandwiches. Granted I live in the Dallas area, but I know for sure Houston has the same variety.

I guess what Im saying is that there is no real staple per se at least in the major metro areas. There is way too much variety (especially in the Houston and Dallas areas) for there to really be a staple. A lot of times people on the coasts dont realize how diverse the urban areas of Texas are.

You are correct that a wide variety of food is available throughout Texas cities.

But really - BBQ and TexMex is culturally part of Texas. The choices are vast and it is easy to get great BBQ and TexMex.