The mortgage/rent on that place must really hurt your ammo budget.
Potential Move to Austin
- Thread starter SQLGeek
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Can't really afford to buy down here so I'm renting. But I'm actually saving money.
My gf and I split up. I owned the house in cedar park. I was single, paying the mortgage for a 3500 sq ft house. It was doable but stretched my budget. Owned it for almost 10 yrs. Sold it before big things started needing replacement. Invested the equity. My rent is saving me money every month. Rent is less than my mortgage and the lower utilities, no yard to upkeep etc. It definitely has its trade offs though. I have to drive farther to get to the range. And I sure do miss the oversized 3 car garage.
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Working in downtown Austin almost requires public transportation; either bus of train. Otherwise you will spend a lot of time on the road commuting.
In spite of the nay sayers, Austin is a boom town. It's busting at the seams with people and companies moving in every day. Home prices and rent is very high compared to other Texas cities. I've lived in Austin since 1991. My house is valued at 10 times what I paid for it in 92. And since I'm an old geezer I get a break on the property taxes. But I digress.
The places to live in Austin:
Northwest Austin is a upscale area that's good if you can afford it.
Avoid east Austin if you can, crime tends to be higher.
I recently noticed a lot of new apartments along Burnet Road, not too far from downtown, that look nice.
Round Rock is a good area. I like the areas along Hwy 620 and 79.
For me personally Georgetown, Leander, Taylor and Bastrop is just too far to commute in Austin traffic. I don't know much about South Austin and Buda except I was told years ago to not cross the river after dark.
Also, I don't know your political leanings, but Austin is very liberal; I mean San Francisco level liberal. I want to move out of Austin because of it, but my wife likes our neighborhood
In spite of the nay sayers, Austin is a boom town. It's busting at the seams with people and companies moving in every day. Home prices and rent is very high compared to other Texas cities. I've lived in Austin since 1991. My house is valued at 10 times what I paid for it in 92. And since I'm an old geezer I get a break on the property taxes. But I digress.
The places to live in Austin:
Northwest Austin is a upscale area that's good if you can afford it.
Avoid east Austin if you can, crime tends to be higher.
I recently noticed a lot of new apartments along Burnet Road, not too far from downtown, that look nice.
Round Rock is a good area. I like the areas along Hwy 620 and 79.
For me personally Georgetown, Leander, Taylor and Bastrop is just too far to commute in Austin traffic. I don't know much about South Austin and Buda except I was told years ago to not cross the river after dark.
Also, I don't know your political leanings, but Austin is very liberal; I mean San Francisco level liberal. I want to move out of Austin because of it, but my wife likes our neighborhood
Based on our research, our knowledge of the area, talking to my friends up there and all of you, Round Rock is the clear leader for us. We've started looking in the Avery Ranch area also. I like the shorter commute from there but we will definitely have to adjust our expectations as to how much house we can get for the money.
Looks like the idea of quasi-rural like we have now isn't going to be tenable and I think we're OK with that. This area won't be like that for much longer either.
Local politics don't bother me to the point of keeping me from looking at moving there. Coming from California and the insanity that came out of Sacramento and filtered down to all of the localities, I'd rather deal with Austin. Things won't really start sliding downhill until the state flips blue and even then, it will take a while to get there. Just my opinion anyway.
Right now I'm at a wait and see period with where things go with the hiring process. I expect I'll know more in the next couple of weeks.
I work out of town for extended periods( sometimes out of the country)
Nice thing is I almost never have to deal with Austin traffic( although traffic around Boston sucks it is not as bad as Austin )
And I am flown home by my company every other weekend.
Austin is literally as liberal and crazy as San Fransisco. I do not go south of 45 (Williamson county line) if I can help it. When you enter Travis county you're in San Fransisco.
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Definitely!
What I mean is, Austin is still in Texas and the state maintains pretty firm control over many aspects of local governance. I'm thinking mainly around pre-emption laws including but not limited to firearms. Sure the city council has most of the day but Abbott seems to have made it his mission to keep the city in line within his purview.
I obviously don't live in Austin and don't know what it's like to live there but I lived in the San Francisco array just a couple of years ago. I don't get the impression they are the same but I can only base that on what I see and hear.
One example? San Francisco was trying to ban companies from giving their employees free food. That barely failed to pass. There are tons more examples.
I know Austin has many problems including a big homelessness issue but they just don't seem to be on the same level.
Your point is well taken though and I appreciate the advice. I do want to be fully aware of where I might be moving to.
I moved to Austin after spending 10 years in San Francisco; I just came home to Texas. As liberal as most of Austin is, it's really not as bad as we say it is. Besides the conservative Texas State government kinda keeps Austin in check. As for the homeless, Other than around downtown I don't think the homeless problem is as bad as most other places.
You mentioned the Avery Ranch area. Very nice area, near where I live. You'll still have a small commute, but not as bad as living in Leander or Georgetown. I drive Parmer lane everyday and the stop and go traffic is mostly limited to the normal traffic commute times with people going/leaving work. Apple just built a new billion dollar facility about a mile from my house; and announced another billion dollar campus at Hwy 183 and McNeil. And I think it was Amazon (or some other tech giant) announced a large complex just north of McNeil and Parmer Lane. There are already several tech companies along Parmer Lane. In five years it appears Parmer will be the technology center in Austin.
People who don't live in Austin love to go on about how liberal it is. I've lived in NY, MA, and spent plenty of time in CA. Austin may be a "liberal"city but as you say it is still in Texas. IMO North is a zoo though. Round Rock has a ton of ghetto spillover. If you have to live North go to Georgetown.
I don't really see that. Definitively true of Pflugerville, tho. We did just get a bus route this year in Round Rock so that is bringing extra trash
Since that reminded me... wherever you pick, make sure there isn't a bus route anywhere near the neighborhood.
I know, you don't need another set of outsiders moving into the area, especially in tech. I promise I'm a good neighbor.
Rest assured,I don't want to make it resemble California anymore than it already does. I love this state and it has become my home.
