The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Places to live in Austin,
BrainPaint
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So the good news is that I might have a job at a company in Austin! I have an interview later this week that they are flying me out for. And while I don't have the job yet, I thought it would be a good idea to plan accordingly and start thinking about where I would live in Austin.
Its north of the city on right on the "Mopac" highway. If I get the job and move there I may or may not have a car, but if I have to get one I will depending on my salary. Basically I need help deciding on a good area of Austin to live. First thing is first. I'm from baltimore. Any area you think is "shady" or "a bad part of town" probably looks like a luxury apartment complex to me. I'm open to live anywhere but cheaper is always better and I would like to still be able to get into the fun parts of the city without winding through hours of traffic. I would like to live in an area where I can get to and from work quickly but also be around some fun things to do locally as we'll.
I saw an earlier thread about moving to Austin but they were planning on moving out there without a job or plan. If i don't get thE job I won't be going at all because as it turns out money doesn't fall from trees and only a salaried position would make me want to move to a city where the average August high temp is the same as Mercury's.
Any ideas?
Its north of the city on right on the "Mopac" highway. If I get the job and move there I may or may not have a car, but if I have to get one I will depending on my salary. Basically I need help deciding on a good area of Austin to live. First thing is first. I'm from baltimore. Any area you think is "shady" or "a bad part of town" probably looks like a luxury apartment complex to me. I'm open to live anywhere but cheaper is always better and I would like to still be able to get into the fun parts of the city without winding through hours of traffic. I would like to live in an area where I can get to and from work quickly but also be around some fun things to do locally as we'll.
I saw an earlier thread about moving to Austin but they were planning on moving out there without a job or plan. If i don't get thE job I won't be going at all because as it turns out money doesn't fall from trees and only a salaried position would make me want to move to a city where the average August high temp is the same as Mercury's.
Any ideas?
Iruka on
0
Posts
Sadly I do not have any advice regarding Austin, but I suspect other people can cover that!
Edit: Looks like this has been taken care of, so best of luck getting advice!
South Austin is growing hella fast, the South Park area is booming but traffic in Austin is absolutely terrible (they refused to accomodate the influx of people over the past 15 years and are paying the price), so I would recommend someplace around 183 and Mopac. Between Burnet road and Mopac there's some nice old construction that is kept in good shape where you could find a decent place to live.
Further west, out Anderson Mills on 183 it's really nice but you pay more, as that's where Apple is moving their location too. A good rule of thumb is the further west you go from the capital the better/newer it is, but price also increases.
Best of luck to you, my friend. I hope you've got some good shoes, because the heat this year is enough to melt the rubber. Avoid parking lots at all costs. They're sweltering deserts.
This is pretty good advice. I would definitely avoid East Austin because if it's not a dangerous area, it's hella overpriced hipsterville. Officer involved shooting? Probably in East Austin. A co-worker of mine lives in the safer part, but he paid 200k for a 1000 sq ft house from the 1920's. 200k will get you far more in other parts of the city or surrounding suburbs.
South Austin is nice and, like mentioned, is growing pretty fast. We used to rent a duplex off of Slaughter Ln that wasn't outrageous. If you're going to be working in the northwest part of the city, I would try to find somewhere to live around there. Depending on the area, rents may be higher, but you'll make it up in gas and time spent commuting. At least you'll be able to avoid I-35 (which SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS, I take it every day and it just gets worse as time goes on), but Mopac does a good job of keeping pace with it during rush hour.
I recently saw a pretty good map that showed average rent prices throughout the city. I'll see if I can find it.
Edit: A-ha, found it: http://www.trulia.com/local/#rentals/austin-tx
If you work North on MoPac then I highly suggest you live up in that area. Big mistake new people make is living north and working traditional hours south or vice versa. Making your way through the city north/south during rush hour is how you hit the 4th worst traffic in the nation. Problem with living further out from the center is there are fewer things to do. There will likely be shopping available and there are a fair number of parks and greenspaces throughout the city, but a lot of the bars and live music venues are situated more central, downtown, or south central. About 10 years ago I lived off of Parmer between MoPac and McNeil and although the area was safe and the apartments nice I'd have been miserable without a car so I could commute in to do stuff; it's gotten better, as the population boomed Alamo Drafthouse has branched out, and you see more neat neighborhood bars/restaurants, but most stuff is further central.
The car is mine, so if he gets offered enough that we can live out there for a month or two of me not working at all, I will go with him (and he'll be able to use the car) That being said, even if we do go together, one of us will probably have to be within walking distance of work.
Is there any good public transportation? Are bike lanes good/safe?
Can any of you compare what Austin "Bad" is compared to Baltimore "bad"? For comparison, I've had to physically remove heroine addicts from my deli and we have a nice big iron bar on out back door. I'm not tryin' to call any of ya'll ....pampered, but I do think we can probably deal with some shit that others would find unseemly.
Public transportation here is a joke. We have fairly extensive bus lines, but they're typically stuck in traffic along with everyone else. There's a train that goes from Cedar Park (n-nw of Austin), to downtown, so that might potentially benefit you, but you're going to be hard pressed to be able to rely on them.
Bike lanes are pretty prevalent and safe, but uh.... we're just ramping up for summer. I think the high tomorrow is 100. I'll never understand why our city council keeps pushing more bike lanes (and bike kiosks, etc) so hard.
Having a car or two is going to make your lives a lot easier, but I'm sure there are others that know more about our public transportation than me (I currently live about 12 miles north of the city).
Our bad side is probably nowhere near as bad as a lot of large cities, but I still wouldn't walk outside at night. I know a guy that was assaulted working on his car in his driveway. We have our share of violent crime, but not a real "ghetto" in the sense of somewhere like LA. Really, though, if he's going to be working on the west side of Austin, it's moot because that's clear on the other side of the city from it and you can still find reasonable rents much closer to there.
Oh, also, stay the hell away from Rundberg Ln. Unless you're looking for drugs and/or prostitutes, I guess (I'm not judging).
I've lived on the east coast my whole life, mostly in MD and NC, where we get upper 90s and swampy gross air. I thought when you went west you got "dry heat" and since I've never been west I assume it means "magically not hot" but it seems like it means "still fucking hot"
I'm going to die on a bike in august from heat stroke, is that whats being said, here?
I don't think I could bike to work in the summer unless there were shower facilities at work; afternoons would be particularly difficult since you're going to be riding on 100+ degree tarmac.
Also, for things to do check out the austin chronicle (auschron.com); it has a weekly calendar of lot of events around town.
It's still pretty humid, and miserable. I hate summer so much.
The dry heat is further west, like Nevada, Arizona, etc.
Yes, assuming you survive July.
Capital Metro is fine, bikes are given respect as long as you aren't a dick about it, as in be on your game and act like you've stopped at a light before, but the bums get cart blanche on all the non-S. Congress lanes (at night they try to clean it up for pub crawls)
Austin isn't as bad as Houston or Dallas, but it does have thugs. It's not Baltimore bad where you get shot and stuffed into abandoned homes and more along the lines of drunk illegals hitting your car everywhere and not having insurance and the cops never do a damn thing about it.
The only slightly "bad" side in Texas terms (not Baltimore, mind you) is the East side, but even that is being gentrified very quickly. It was mainly Mexican for a while (wife's family is from there), but is being yuppied at a rapid pace with all the out of staters. And bad doesn't mean murder, it means they might steal the change out of your car. Austin is a very white place, where even the minorities are white.
Diversity in race exists more in places like Dallas, Fort Worth/Arlington (Arlington more than FW, really), and Houston.
One thing you will find (and has been true the last few years) - the Texas economy is absolutely destroying right now. Houston at the front, of course, but Austin and DFW not far behind.
I don't mean to exclude San Antonio since they are a delightful people with delicious panaderias, but no one cares about them. They just exist.
The guy above talking about directional Texas cities doesn't have a clue btw. I've lived in all of the above cities (excluding SA) for over 30 years. Here's Austin (lived there for almost 20 years):
North/Northwest (Parmer/Burnet Lane, Round Rock, Cedar Park) - very white people from average socioeconomic backgrounds, families, suburbs
West/SW (Far West, Steck, over to Westlake area) - upper middle class to very wealthy folks, wealthier as you go out of the city towards the lake
East (I-35 East of town, and SE) - was minority driven for a long while, still many Mexicans with the occasional other minority, quickly being gentrified, especially near town, land worth much more than houses - still some crime but not bad at all compared to Baltimore
Near South (of River, Travis Heights, South Lamar) - keep Austin weird type folks in general, usually middle to upper middle class
Far South (William Cannon and further) - start getting into Mexican folk again from old Austin, newer suburbs kicking up
NE (pflugerville) - you don't want to live here, devoid of soul
These are all generalities of course. YMMV.
Oh and Sir Carcass is right about Rundberg. Trashiest street in Austin. I can't remember the name of the brothel type place there, but it says MODELS in lettering on the outside.
Also traffic is worse in Austin than anywhere else in the state because they haven't prepared at all for the influx of folks. You need to live near where you work. Other than that, it is a great city.
The heat is pretty bad in the summer, but it's a dry heat, especially compared to anywhere I've gone in Asia.
Also, we work off of Barton skyway and Mopac, so we have to head north after work at 5 everyday. As others said earlier, you will definitely have a long commute if you stick to the highway. However, we've found our way through the obscure side streets and still get home in 15 minutes. Even quicker when we take the motorcycles.
I think a good rule is: If you work south of the river, live south of the river. If you work north of the river, live north of the river. If you don't, you'll be stuck in traffic on one of those few roads that crosses the fiver.
If you don't have a car, then you need to pay close attention to where your apartment is in relation to bus lines and your job. And you'll probably just want to live near your job, wherever it is.
I know some folks who get away without owning a car, but they are the kind of types who don't mind spending hours and hours walking, biking, riding the car/bus, or using car-to-gos. Personally, I'd rather spend that time doing other things.
Also, the bus system is pretty great at servicing the University of Texas, Downtown, South Austin, and Central Austin, but generally sucks everywhere else. Since you'll be working in North Austin, you should probably just find a decent apartment somewhere around there. See how you like it. The best parts of Austin are in the central and south areas though, IMO.
Personally, I live in East Austin, and it hasn't been too bad. I live in a fairly nice 1 bedroom apartment and pay around $640/month for it, and I live super close to the heart of Austin.
We have a fairly new toll road, but it's hella expensive and so far east it's almost worthless for use near the center of the city. It takes me about 30 minutes just to get to it heading east, and then maybe 20 minutes of nice fast driving north (80 mph speed limits). Since pretty much no one uses it, it's nice once you actually get to it. But it costs me about $8 one way to take, so I only take it when 35 is shut down (which happens more than one would hope).
Like just today, all southbound lanes closed at Oltorf (about a mile north of where I get on) because a diesel broke down and caught on fire. Traffic was awesome after that, but the poor schmucks coming south were taking somewhere around 30 or 40 minutes to travel about 8 miles.
But I digress. Yes, living on your side of downtown of where you live will save you a lot of sanity points.
And yeah, I just wanna echo that wherever you live in relation to the new office, try to stay away from using I-35 as your main conduit for your commute. Traffic is an absolute goddamn nightmare. MoPac, 183, just... take anything else when you're going north-south if you possibly can. If not, try to stay the hell away from rush hour.
As for the "feel" of the city, my experiences line up pretty spot on with what Zombie Nirvana laid out.
A living nightmare, you mean? Imagine an awful, terrible, horrible nightmare?
Thanks for all the info so far. We are hopeful that we can make this leap, and having a little info will make it seem not so scary if this company tells us to jump, because we will probably not have a lot of time to look where we will land. We will let you know if we are going to make the move!
Now that I am looking at apartments for real, I have another question.
-In baltimore if you live downtown and commute to the burbs, you get the opposite commute effect. Would that apply to austin? Right now I am looking at the little area around Burnet road and West Anderson Lane for Zach to be walking distance from work. (Its near where IBM is, I guess)
We could live closer to down town and have zach use the car and give me more opportunities to walk around and find a job during the day. I am wondering if driving, north, out of town on burnet road is a mess in the morning or if that is smooth sailing.
I commute south down I-35 from Round Rock and back. I-35 is a unique beast, but I do notice that typically traffic away from the commute directions is pretty decent. Pretty much heading south until you reach 183 or north until you hit Ben White is okay. I think Mopac is pretty similar, but I rarely use it so I can't say 100%. I'm not sure what Burnet is like during rush hour, but I can't imagine it's worse than the arteries.
Though I can say there is a decent FLGS (Dragon's Lair) off of Burnet a few miles south of Anderson. There's also a board game store just a little further from there called Great Hall Games. And the place my wife and I go to get our hair cut (Salon Austin) is right over there, too (we drive like 20 miles each way to go there, so you could say I recommend him).
Also, congrats on the job!
Burnet and Anderson is not very far North. If you were to work downtown and he on the IBM campus i think both places would be relatively bus-able with respect to one another.
Opposite flow is generally a lot better, but 35 still getz tight in both directions for the several miles around downtown. Depending where you live and what traffic patterns you experience you might try using lamar or red river to get up enough to crossover to Burnet or the reverse to get downtown.
Ah, I didn't know that. Even better!
Yeah, I think in general as long as you aren't using one of the main roads that commuters use, traffic isn't going to be as bad for you. Especially once you learn your way around town.
Another fun I-35 anecdote. Just a few minutes ago I was driving to work when traffic just stops about a mile from 38th street. Traffic report comes on a minute later and says there's a vehicle fire on the lower deck and it's shut down. Thankfully I was able to get over and get on the upper deck, but man traffic is about to get bad in that area. :rotate: