Anyone from Austin?

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: microAmp

Originally posted by: Mermaidman
Best city in Texas!

WHen I was there (long ago), east of I-35 and southeast were the 'bad areas.' Out west is the toniest. Far north and south were the new subdivisions. FOr hippies like you and your wife, I suggest just north or west of the University, or downtown if you can afford it.

Hope you're not allergic to mountain cedar . . .

Pretty much on the nose here except cedar, it's pretty much any kind of crap. If you have allergies, good luck.

Only other bad thing about Austin area, 1 highway without a stop light.

There's MoPac and I35.

I've never heard of mountain cedar. You guys must be thinking of Juniperus asheii... Didn't know it caused a lot of allergies though.

Living west of UT campus is a bad idea... unless you like going to parties 3 nights a week.

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: microAmp

Originally posted by: Mermaidman
Best city in Texas!

WHen I was there (long ago), east of I-35 and southeast were the 'bad areas.' Out west is the toniest. Far north and south were the new subdivisions. FOr hippies like you and your wife, I suggest just north or west of the University, or downtown if you can afford it.

Hope you're not allergic to mountain cedar . . .

Pretty much on the nose here except cedar, it's pretty much any kind of crap. If you have allergies, good luck.

Only other bad thing about Austin area, 1 highway without a stop light.

There's MoPac and I35.

I've never heard of mountain cedar. You guys must be thinking of Juniperus asheii... Didn't know it caused a lot of allergies though.

Living west of UT campus is a bad idea... unless you like going to parties 3 nights a week.

Mo-Pac has a stop lights on it

 

[Treyshadow]

Lived in Austin 10 years. I can tell you there are lots of great places to live. I will start with the best, and oh some are rather pricey (I actually bought there).

Hyde Park (Just North of UT Campus between 29th and 51st street and south of lamar) The homes can go for 300K to over 1 Mil. Though pricey, you cannot get a more hometown feel. Very nice, lots of bikers, runners, older college students, and perpetual students in the area. Lots of churches, festivals, and the proximity to everything is top knotch.

tarrytown
Just west of westcampus UT inbetween lamar and mopac. I really consider it to carry over mopac to exposition. The homes go for 300 to well over 5 million. One of the most expensive parts of town, but if you drive it you will understand why. Awesome proximity to everything (not that austin is big) and great trees, winding roads, and the like. It really sits on top of a hill, so you get some great views of the hill country.

south austin (Travis Heights) This is not that far south, but across the water from downtown on the west side of riverside dr. It runs from I-35 to Zilker park and as south as oltorf. The prices are 180K to about 600K. I really like this area especially as it got closer to Barton Springs road, by the restaurants. It starts in a valley, and goes on to an area where the houses are on top of hills. If you are allergic to mountain cedar (yes mountain cedar) don't go near this area. It is like Mecca for mountain cedar 3 months a year (part of Feb/mar and again in late sept/oct). Here you get the view of the water as the river is very close, and you are still very close (3-5 miles from downtown).

Jester Heights off 360 This is in the hills back off of 360. You are getting further out of town, but the homes quality increases. It is pricey don't get me wrong, and the average home is probably in the 330's, but some go for as low as 180. Vista views of Austin are out of everyones backyard here.

Westlake Texas The older money, homes in that city go for 150- $$$$Millions. It is very close to downtown (less than 8 miles) and has one of the best high schools in the State. In Texas Austin Westlake is known.



Oh and for the idiot who is talking aobut the republican-filled state, This is austin. If you look at the demographics, you will see it voted Democrat. There are 150,000 college students in that city. From Texas State, Univeristy of Texas, Houston Tillitson, Concordia, St. Edwards University, and Austin Community College system. This is not your regular Texas, that is why everyone makes such a big deal about the city. Please get your facts straight before coming off the cuff.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Btw, Travis was the only county that voted against Proposition 2, which ammended the Texas constitution to ban gay marriage.

 

[serialkiller]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Btw, Travis was the only county that voted against Proposition 2, which ammended the Texas constitution to ban gay marriage.

Austin's a great place to live... lived here 5-6 years of my whole college and after collge life...

stay away from west campus unless you love over priced garbage and loud fraternity parties every weekend (I should know, I am in one. =)...)

North campus is probably what your looking for if you have the money..... keep in mind anything in downtown is pretty darn expensive... especially a house...

stay away from anything east of i-35.... that is the "bad" side of town.... although I always go out there to find the best fried chicken places... =)... so yummy...

stay away from river side and oltorf... not only is it a bad area.... its also like a dorm off campus for college students....

west lake is a great place i hear.... if you ahve the money.....

if your looking for cheap... round rock is a nice place (thats where I stay now because of the job).... but it is couple exits up north from austin.....

uhh... what else... uhhhh.....

down congress is where all the trendy artsy fartsy hippy stuff goes down, that might be another good place to stay....


so in conclusion.... just stay away from east of i-35... and west campus.... good choices would be north campus(hyde park), westlake (if you can afford it), or down congress...

good luck~

Hookem

 

[serialkiller]

stupid internet... made me post twice.. sorry

 

[Nailbunny]

Thanks for all the info. Hopefully I'm not allergic to Mountain Cedar.
We're heading down the week after xmas to go apartment hunting. From all the info, sounds like we'll be checking out S Congress and North of the campus.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Juniper

 

[TitanDiddly]

My roommate lives in the area, little town named Buda. They had an art festival a few weeks ago. They also have a new Cabela's, and a highway to service it.

 

[Treyshadow]

Buda is pretty far south of austin (a whopping 15 miles from downtown)..

The town is small. Much smaller than most realize. I could get from downtown to leander (for a lan party) in 20 minutes on the weekend.

North Austin, is like every other new urban city in the south. Lots of big box homes, and lots of big box stores. It lacks the culture of austin and is far enough away to watch it from afar. Definately it along with Elgin are the 2 least expensive places to live in the city.

 

[Isocene]

Im in north austin at mopac and parmer.

I like it here

 

[Isocene]

just graduated from txstate btw.

 

[bobert]

westlake is a nice place, can be kind of pricey though in some parts

and if you plan on having kids, westlake has good schools

 

[tokamak]

In my limited student knowledge, it seems like somewhere north of campus, Hyde Park area is your best bet. Stay away from immediately west of campus, unless you are into the party scene. Austin is a fantastic place to live, you will love it. Only negative that comes to mind is the atrocious traffic, but that's more or less common to every large city.

Ignore the guy shooting off his mouth about politics - he's never been to Austin and knows nothing about it. As mentioned before, Travis county (Austin) was the only one out of ~250 counties in Texas to vote against the gay marraige ban. Austin and Austinites march to the beat of a different drum, and most prefer to keep it that way.

 

[Nailbunny]

I knew anandtech would come through with great info!

Now does anyone have any job leads for a web designer.

 

[Otaking]

I've lived in Austin since 1997 after moving from Houston to attend college at UT-Austin. Despite what everybody says of "east if IH-35," I live in Manor which is about 8 miles east of downtown Austin, and I think it's quite serene and nice. Of course it's not as extravagant as Westlake / Jester / Cat Mountain, but the neighborhood's quiet, I know all my neighbors, and fishing and golf (2 courses) are no more than 10 minutes away.

I believe the biggest housing boom in the city is around the Cedar Park / Leander area up 183 North and to the 183-A tollway as well as down south in Onion Creek on towards Buda / Kyle. If I were you, I'd also look around the Arboretum area in addition to Hyde Park / Travis Heights; I think all the elevation changes make a nice place for inspiration, especially for art.

FYI, all my allergies cleared up when I moved from Houston to here. I love Austin. :beer:

[Edit]: When people are saying "east of IH-35," I believe they're warning you of places around MLK - Manor Rd, Downtown Cesar Chavez. This probably does not include the likes of Manor, Elgin, Pflugerville, the majority of Round Rock, etc. These are all nice places to live IMO.

Oh, let us know when you get settled in. I'll buy ya a :beer:

 

[sygyzy]

Austin is on my very short list of places to move. Is the downtown area all that great? It seems like everyone loves the downtown of every town, but when you look at it closely, it's not always a plus. For example, I live in a pretty nice So. Cal town. Everything is expensive here, especially housing/real estate. The goal of many of my friends is to move downtown. That's where all the shopping, restaurants, and bars are, right? Yeah, true. Here's what else you get with downtown:

* High Rent
* Run down, very poor housing. Why? Well if you can rent out a broken down excuse for a house for as much as a fixed up place, why bother? The demand for housing is so high, this makes it a landlord/seller's paradise.
* No parking. If you have an apartment, you *might* get a parking space. One space. Your sig. other is screwed. Since there are not many parking lots or garages, everyone parks on the streets. When there's a major parade or fair (of course they'd have it downtown), you now have to compete with out of towners.
* No parking for guests. Have you ever visited someone and had to circle the block 3 times to find a spot wedged between 2 SUV's? How many times did you come back?
* We have huge, huge festivals here (Mardi Gras, Fiesta, Halloween) and people come from all over. Drunk people are walking up and down the street going from bar to bar. Your car is parked on the street. Catch my drift?

Anyway, this is just my town. Might be different elsewhere. Is the Downtown area really nicer in Austin?

 

[tfinch2]

I goto St. Edward's University here in Austin. Great city, will probably stay after I finish school.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: kinev

Originally posted by: Xyclone
I live in So Cal, and there's no way I would live in that Republican-filled conservative state.

Well, then you are not familiar with Austin. "San Fran of the South"

No Shat Austin=Liberal

Ausm

 

[Hammer]

i live downtown, whoever said west campus is stupid. maybe if you're a student its fine, but not if you're just moving here to work. its expensive, dirty, and there's crime. try to find something off mopac, or north of austin, around pflugerville. lots of good value there.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: Hammer
i live downtown, whoever said west campus is stupid. maybe if you're a student its fine, but not if you're just moving here to work. its expensive, dirty, and there's crime. try to find something off mopac, or north of austin, around pflugerville. lots of good value there.

Lots of unpleasant, ugly, placeless suburban sprawl. Avoid those places unless you have no kind of taste.

 

[amoeba]

it would help if OP could give a pricerange for his potential home.

 

[Nailbunny]

it would help if OP could give a pricerange for his potential home.

Right now we are looking at apartments around $400-600.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Nailbunny

it would help if OP could give a pricerange for his potential home.

Right now we are looking at apartments around $400-600.

uhhh...1 bedroom 600 sq ft?

 

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: Nailbunny

it would help if OP could give a pricerange for his potential home.

Right now we are looking at apartments around $400-600.

uhhh...1 bedroom 600 sq ft?

on riverside...