AboutJKC Expertise I am not a native Austinite, but lived in Austin since 1989. I certainly can not answer everything there is to know about Austin, but can give you a candid answer/opinion based on first-hand experience. I decided to volunteer (or pretend to be an expert) since there is no Austin "expert" in this site.
Question I am so glad to have found you on this site, so thanks for "pretending to be an expert" lol.
My husband and I are considering moving to Austin because of great things that we've heard about it, but we'd never actually been there ourselves. We will be visiting sometime next month...any ideas on where we should go to get a genuine feel for what it would be like to live there (rather than just a "touristy" view).
Also, would you consider Austin a good place to raise a family at all? And if so, what would be the best parts of it to do so? We'd love to live in a city where we could go out & have a good time (we're in our 20's), we also love cafes, nice malls, restaurants...and definitely GREAT food markets (we cook a lot); do you think we'd find all this someplace around your city?
I know that's lots of questions, I'm just in need of advice. If there is anything you think may be useful for me to know, PLEASE tell me.
Thanks again for volunteering!
Olesya
Answer Thanks for your kind and generous rating.
On the topic of rain, it does not rain OFTEN in Austin, but when it rains, it rains hard. Texas size raindrops, you know. For the overall climate, it's hot. :-) In January or February, the overnight low can go down to upper 20's. We rarely go down to teens for overnight low.
We have our own ants problems - the notorious fire ants. (Supposedly, it was one of the reasons the super-conducting super-collider moved to California. They are attracted to electricity.) They can cause severe pain and allergic reaction, including death in rare cases. For most folks, you will get a large rash, swelling, and incredible itch. They normally do not come into the house. Just watch out for their signature mounds in the yard. So WATCH before you sit down in the lawn! Some folks have tiny sugar ants inside home, but they don't bite (and they are fully preventable with clean housekeeping).
If you are planning a serious survey trip for potential relocation, you should contact a local real estate agent, and spend a day checking out homes. Here are a couple of tax appraisal sites that will help you gauge home value. You can also see general downward trend in home appraisal value over the last 2-3 years, after years of moving upward.
You will need to know either the street name or owner's name to do a search. (Look for some famous folks living in Austin.)
Austin is generally considered a good place to raise a family. I have two small kids, and we concur. Few things you may want/need to know in random order.
- Austin is easier to travel north-south. A lot has been done in the past several years to make east-west travel easier, and it is getting there. So unless you are near one of those expanding east-west roads (Hwy 183, 71, etc), you do not want to go too far east or west, if traffic convenience is a big issue for you.
- An ugly truth about Austin. IH-35 divides Austin economically and socially (hence to some degree racially). While there are exceptions and much effort has been made to change the fact and perception, East Austin is "economically depressed" and not a desirable part of the city. Generally (again not an absolute rule), you want to live west of IH-35 and generally north. (If you go far enough south, there are nice subdivisions.) West Austin (central W or NW) is generally more affluent area. Many live in Round Rock and Pflugerville where housing is a bit more affordable. Those cities are virtual extension of Austin and part of Austin metro.
- The best public school district is Eanes school district. http://www.eanes.k12.tx.us/education/district/district.php?sectionid=1
Not surprsingly, it covers the central/north west Austin. Homes in this area are $500,000 and up. There are some lower-priced older homes (25yr+ old) in that school district. A 5-7 year-old condor (3BR) was listed for $500,000. If you can afford it, move there. (There are also nice apartments.) The next best is Round Rock schoold district. http://www.roundrockisd.org/home/index.asp?page=5
You do NOT have to live in Round Rock to be in RRISD. Some parts of NW Austin is in the RRISD. (That's us. We live in Austin and our kids go to a RRISD school.) Here you have homes from $120,000 to $1,000,000+.
- I don't know where you are coming from, but Austin is HOT. Should not be a surprise. The thing that gets most visitors or new transplants is that it is about 90 degrees at 10:00PM during summer. They expect near 100 (sometimes higher) degree during day time, but they expect it to go down rapidly in the evening. Not so. And unlike other TX cities, Austin is humid (also a surprise to many). Not as bad as Houston but much more humid than Dallas.
- There are plenty of cool/trendy/hip things to do for young folks. Austin has the UT Austin and lots of high-tech folks (aka Silicon Hill). So it is very young, diverse, and liberal town. Great live music. (Austin calls itself the live music capital of the world.) Hip South-by-Southwest (SXSW) music and movie festival. Famous 6th street. (must for a tourist.)
- Even though you said you want to avoid tourist spots, these are must-do's for anyone coming to Austin
- Oasis on Lake Travis (great view so-so food)
- 6th street on Friday or Saturday night
Then go to Mozart's (cafe) on Lake Austin Blvd (6th St)
- Mount Bonnell (admire beautiful scenes & expensive homes) http://www.austincityguide.com/mt-bonnell-austin.htm
- Eat at the Chuy's (TexMex restaurant chain)
- There are several big shopping malls but no "mega malls."
- Check out http://www.austin360.com for information on restaurants, events, etc.
- Gourmet chef would frequent the Whole Food Market (oganic health food) or the Central Market by HEB (most dominant grocer in TX.) There is Texas Culanary School on Burent Rd, if you are serious. This is a serious big time culinary school.
- October would be the best time to come (best weather, Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg)
I babbled enough. Please feel free to ask additional follow-up questions. No city can be covered in one breath.
Also try Google search on many names and places I mentioned.
Good luck.
