Austin - Texas Move?

[sookie]

So, my husband and I are talking about a move there. I'm not so sure, but it is supposed to be a great, wonderful city.


How is it for families? Which neighborhoods have great schools? My daughter is really into band now (as well as sports - go figure) and which schools are good for that? Where do I even start? We are looking at going down for SXSW this coming year.

 

[skatalite]

Ah man, Austin. Great place. I was born there and all my family lives there. However, I'd never live there unless I was childless and wealthy.

I'm not sure what environment you'd be coming from, or what you guys do for a living, but Austin is a busy town with a very strong socio-economical divide. There's a color divide, but it's not so much black and white as it is green.

It can be a fine place for families, but depending what your family is into (city life, outdoors, hustle and bustle) it's hard to suggest a neighborhood/area.

I'd personally suggest a city outside of Austin, like San Marcos, Round Rock or New Braunfels. It'll be cheaper but not as busy, and you're just minutes (Round Rock) or an hour (New Braunfels) away from Austin. My brother and his wife have three children, ranging from age 10 to 16. They make very good money and, per their family dynamic (outdoors, sports, wanting better schools) they decided to move out of Austin and into New Braunfels when the kids were younger. They don't regret it.

 

[AustinTink]

As you can see by my name I live in Austin. I'm a Texas native and moved to Austin in 1990. I've seen it change from a cool little hippie/college/artist town to an overpopulated, overpriced traffic nightmare. "We're full" is what I tell most people wanting to move here.

I actually just got off the phone with my husband who is battling traffic on 183, one of the main drags through town. He wanted me to look up the traffic report for him, since he had been standing still for 20 minutes. His commute would have taken 25 minutes in 1990, now it takes over an hour.

It is very expensive to live in Austin. I live in the suburbs. I still have an Austin address, but I am much closer to Round Rock and Cedar Park. My neighborhood starts in the $400,000 range. My inlaws have a similar sized house in a similar neighborhood in Houston that cost them half that price.

Austin ISD sucks. No bones about it. Round Rock and Leander ISDs all have excellent schools. They are in the burbs and have the most tax dollars, newer schools, less crime, more technology, etc. You said your teen in way into band. Vista Ridge high school in Cedar Park (Leander ISD) has one of the best bands in the area. They are incredible.

There are many great private schools in Austin. High school starts at 9k and goes up to 20k a year. My son is in private school right down the road and loves it. There are less than 400 kids in his high school. Austin also has a number of good magnet schools to consider.

If you work in technology in any way shape or form, you will have no problem getting a job. The majority of parents at my son's school work at either Dell, IBM or Apple. They are the three big boys in town. But, there are more tech companies in Austin than you can shake a stick at. Start-ups a plenty, small tech companies, mid-size tech companies, software, hardware, tech consulting... you name it.

Yes, Austin is known for it's cool vibe. The hipsters love us. But, more than likely, if you have a family you live up where I do where the homes are cheaper. Living near the coolness will cost you so much more. Centrally located home prices are insane, they are right up there with San Francisco. The tech workers have driven prices up here just like in SF.

All that being said, this is our home for 23 years and we are here to stay. I grumble a lot at the newbies jamming up our highways but you don't see me leaving. In a few weeks we have tickets to ACL Fest, a three day music festival in town. It's open air down at Zilker Park. We have tons of these events throughout the year. They make the traffic bearable.

 

[beavismom]

Austin is a great city! It has issues just like any other, traffic being the main one. Due to that, you will want to live close to where you are working. There are good schools in almost all areas of the town except the East side. It is the most expensive city in Texas, but that doesn't mean much depending on where you are coming from. There is a very active city-data forum that might give you some insight too. Sometimes if you have lived here for a while, you have a different view than someone who just moved here.

As for band, here is a very general breakdown based on my experience.

If you are working North, Round Rock has two high school bands competing at Grand Nationals this year, Round Rock and Cedar Ridge. Round Rock had some issues at UIL last year and didn't qualify for State, but it was a fluke. Here is their show from BOA San Antonio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fczaJ4RG7Y

If you are working South , you will want James Bowie High School for band, placed 6th at Grand Nationals last year and tied for 3rd at State in class 5A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPGGyudDup4

On the West side, if you can afford it, you want Westlake. Westlake placed 7th at State last year in class 5A. Here is their show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N27bEdR6DaY

No offense to the previous poster, but Vista Ridge is nowhere near the number one band in Texas. It is a good program, but not even the best in Austin, let alone Texas. Cedar Park High School does have a very strong band program (2010 Grand Nats finalists and 2011 4A State Champs), but unless you are working close to Cedar Park, the commute is terrible.

Anyway, come check it out, see if it "feels" right for you and your family. We are committed suburbanites and almost never venture downtown, but we are very happy living in Austin and enjoy that it has very diverse offerings.

 

[mamacatnv]

Been in Central TX for one year. We spent several months out in the boonies of the hill country, 45-60 minute commute into Austin. No thanks, too rural for us.
We moved to the Cedar Park/Leander area which has Leander ISD and we love it! Our DD is a high school Freshman who is not interested in band or athletics, we went after the schools with high performing academics and lots of options.

We bought a home in the spring and it was a pretty hot housing market, there was no waiting around and taking time to think about a house. By the time one did that the house usually had an offer with a back up offer.

My DS commutes to S. Austin also on the 183 and Mopac - he has had to learn to time his departure from the house. He is attending Grad school and his schedule does vary. There are days he will spend a few extra hours at school to study instead of sitting in traffic and there are days he arrives an hour or so early. Again, he would rather do that than sit in traffic. I commute to the hill country, no traffic just miles. DH commutes to S. Round Rock, uses the toll roads and encounters no traffic.

Our overall impression so far: People are nice, schools are good, there are certainly neighborhoods that are well out of our price range but there were many that were in our price range too. We do not feel like the poor relations by any means and we purchased a fairly modest home in a great neighborhood. Our property taxes are high, sales tax is fairly high and there are no state income taxes. We came from a no income tax state so this was nothing new to us. Very little social welfare due to lack of taxes.

There is tons of things to do, inside, outside, touristy and local. There are festivals, markets, museums, parks, rivers etc. Yesterday, DD and I attended a dog rescue event that was really fun. Always something to do if one wants to venture out.

Check out City-Data there are tons of forums and one specific to Austin. You can browse through the forums, ask questions etc. You will probably find that Austinites for the most part are very helpful and genuinely friendly.

 

[RAD]

As others have mentioned, traffic here can be a nightmare, I've seen rankings where Austin is worst then L.A. for commute times. So I'd recommend looking for someplace in the area where you'll be working.

 

[barkley]

you seem to be getting great information from people that live in the area, i'll just share some suggestions from one who moved from one state to another (with kiddos).


cost of living-costs for necessities can vary greatly, so beyond looking at home prices/rental expenses explore the following:

property taxes, utility rates (water, garbage, telephone/internet, electricity/propane...), insurance (auto and renters/homeowners can be VASTLY different in different areas), car registration/licensing (we went from an area where it cost hundreds per vehicle per year to very minimal charges which offset some other areas of increased cost), commute (gas/tolls...), groceries (I would KILL to get the variety and decreased cost of produce I failed to appreciate in California).


schools-look to see if public schools have any associated expenses (on the dis I learned of this), look to see what the enrollment policies are in a given school/district you may be interested in (we sold our home in a neighborhood where buyers assumed their kiddos would attend the brand new well ranked school within walking distance. sadly, the school had a VERY long waitlist due to district rules about preference for siblings of already enrolled kids, school to school transfers within the district and other factors. where we currently live recent buyers just assumed that because of our mailing addresses their kids would be going to the schools in the city of that name. nope, we live outside city limits, and our homes are in an entirely different district. if your dd is into band, check school websites to see if there's info. on the band-some do auditions the previous school year, so if you decide to move it may be she has to wait for a chance at some types of band class and it's easier for the kiddos to know this up front.


I think a great resource to learn about a new area is on-line editions of local newspapers. gives you a flavor for activities, events-but also a dose of reality on issues residents are concerned about.

 

[MichelleVW]

My daughter lives in Austin and goes to the University of Texas and when I think of Austin I think HORRIBLE TRAFFIC! Seriously it's awful

My mom will occasionally travel to California and complain about the traffic out there, but after driving in DFW, Austin and L.A. The traffic in L.A. isn't any worse than the traffic in DFW or Austin.

 

[AustinTink]

\
No offense to the previous poster, but Vista Ridge is nowhere near the number one band in Texas. It is a good program, but not even the best in Austin, let alone Texas. Cedar Park High School does have a very strong band program (2010 Grand Nats finalists and 2011 4A State Champs), but unless you are working close to Cedar Park, the commute is terrible.

My bad. I was thinking Cedar Park and wrote Vista Ridge. My son's bff goes to Vista Ridge and plays in the band. We saw them perform recently and I was blown away. Possibly because our private school band is so rinky dink.

Cedar Park seems to excel at lots of things. Academics, fine arts and didn't they just win the state football championships last year?

We also have a friend in the Round Rock band. She found they tryout process pretty intense. I remember her mom hiring a private marching tutor over the summer.

 

[Tralliam]

Great area, most likely look to the suburbs. No matter your interests you should find a place to fit in.

Having been in the band world and married to someone still in the band world it is highly competitive around here. Whose better than who can be subjective as to marching vs. concert and what day of the week it is. About Vista Ridge it is an excellent program and was just recognized as a national winner along with most of the middle schools in Cedar Park.

http://www.foundationformusiceducation.org/mark-of-excellence/2013-national-wind-band-honors-results

I will also say that Round Rock schools are in a decline, things may get better after Dr. Chavez retires but you never know. If we were moving here we would target Cedar Park/ Leander.

Athletics are also a little nuts around here. Highly competitive leagues in Football, Soccer, Baseball (pretty normal) then you get into the swimming, youth Triathlons, gymnastics, cheer, lacrosse, etc.

One last piece of advice, if someone makes eye contact or smiles at you or calls you Sir/Ma'am, it's not a bad thing they really do mean to brighten your day and say Hi.

 

[AustinTink]

I will also say that Round Rock schools are in a decline, things may get better after Dr. Chavez retires but you never know. If we were moving here we would target Cedar Park/ Leander.

.

I have to agree with the bolded. I have many friends who teach in RRISD and they have told me quite a bit about what has been going wrong in the last couple of years.

 

[AustinTink]

My daughter lives in Austin and goes to the University of Texas and when I think of Austin I think HORRIBLE TRAFFIC! Seriously it's awful

My mom will occasionally travel to California and complain about the traffic out there, but after driving in DFW, Austin and L.A. The traffic in L.A. isn't any worse than the traffic in DFW or Austin.

It really is maddening. Mopac wasn't built to handle the population we have now. 35 has been a mess for some time, just amplified now. And, 183 is a parking lot every morning and afternoon, just some days worse than others.

We have light rail now and I always see the station by my house packed with cars. But I don't feel any relief on the highway.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Central Texas is absolutely beautiful, especially in the spring when all of the bluebonnets and other wildflowers are in bloom. That said, we live in the Austin area and you couldn't pay me to live in Austin proper with children. Now, if my husband had to work in Austin, I would DEFINITELY move to Georgetown. I love that place. It's gorgeous and close enough to Austin that I could go there if I really needed to. My cousin lives in Round Rock. It's nice, but I prefer Georgetown. It's not as commercialized which is more my style. Leander and Cedar Park are also good areas.

 

[RAD]

What, no love for the Dripping Springs area? Driving home from back in town this afternoon down Nutty Brown road and had a coyota cross the road in front of me and then a 1/4 mile down the road four deer grazing by the side of the road.

 

[AustinTink]

What, no love for the Dripping Springs area? Driving home from back in town this afternoon down Nutty Brown road and had a coyota cross the road in front of me and then a 1/4 mile down the road four deer grazing by the side of the road.

My in-laws wanted to retire there, but it's way out of their (or our) price range now. They wish they had bought something a decade ago.

 

[Duchie]

My bad. I was thinking Cedar Park and wrote Vista Ridge. My son's bff goes to Vista Ridge and plays in the band. We saw them perform recently and I was blown away. Possibly because our private school band is so rinky dink.

Cedar Park seems to excel at lots of things. Academics, fine arts and didn't they just win the state football championships last year?

We also have a friend in the Round Rock band. She found they tryout process pretty intense. I remember her mom hiring a private marching tutor over the summer.

Yes, their football team won state this past year. In fact, Cedar Park High School was the first school in state history to have the state champion band AND state champion football team at the same time. The band is the reigning 4A State Marching Band Champions, and current TMEA Honor Band (best 4A concert band in the state). The school was also the recipient of the 2012-2013 Lone Star Cup.

 

[sookie]

You guys are great! Thank you for all the wonderful replies.

I am looking at faculty positions, and my husband is looking at faculty positions or jobs in broadcast / journalism / technology. Definitely looks like a lot of opportunities for him, and I looked and it looked like there would be a lot of faculty positions for me. He has been finishing his PhD, would like to go ahead and start teaching ASAP - but there are both lots of teaching and other opportunities available if he didn't fall into a position right away.

Great advice from everyone!

 

[nagshead]

We just moved here from Maine. I miss Maine. We are in wimberley which is about 45 min fromaustun and feels rural. My husband us starting a law practice so austinseemed to have more opportunity and we have family here. We plan to buy in a year or so and are looking at Lakeway, round rock, dripping springs