Might be relocating to Austin

TX Peeps! First news is, I left Demello last August to get a job doing what I used my GI Bill to get an education in (IT/Networking). Ended up getting on with Time Warner Cable in customer care. Applied for a higher level position in Tier 3 tech support in Austin recently and the corp recruiter contacted me a few days later asking when I wanted to move

Doesn't mean I have it yet but I wanna be prepared. I figured I'd hit up my TW friends for some inside opinions. All I'm sure of right now is I want a shorter commute than my hour long drive now, I wanna pay less than the ridiculous CA rent (that's a given, lol) and just want my wife and kid (yeah I have one of those now ....its been a while since I posted huh?) to be safe at night if I end up on the night shift like I am right now.

So, the most commonly asked question TX peeps hear ...Recommendations for affordable towns near Austin?

Thanks In advance guys. Hopefully by the end of the summer, I'll be a transplanted Texan!

 

Liberty Hill, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Marble Falls, Lakeway, Bastrop, Manor, Elgin, Burnet, Bertram are a few.
Traffic durning the rush hours is a bear anywhere you live ...trying to get into Ausitn in the mornings or out in the afternoons.
There are also some parts of town you will want to avoid

 

Cedar Park FTW!

 

The housing and rental market in Austin is insane. Prices are going up every year. We were going to rent a nice house in south Austin in 2009 for $1150/mo. but we waited too long. That same house was listed last month for $1700/mo. and it wasn't renovated or anything. We are moving next week from our current 3/2/2 home in NE Austin to a 2/2/2 Duplex in N. Central Austin. I really wanted a house but couldn't find anything under $1300/mo.

Traffic sucks. The small city is growing rapidly and the road network was never planned out for the growth.

Good luck

 

paidfor hit the bullseye. Pretty much any of the neighboring towns/cities are going to be your best bet. Living IN Austin is getting expensive (for rent), and the closer you get to central Austin the more it goes up (exponentially). Traffic is going to make you want to end it all...every day...but I've started utilizing the Metro Rail. Handy if your close to stations on either end, or have a bike.

Revco, where were you looking in N. Central? I was looking at renting half of a duplex near 38th street (Hyde Park) a year ago and rent was like $1700!!! Sad to say, I would've taken the $1300 if I had found it.

 

Parmer... technically just North. I really wanted to be in Crestview/Allendale with a small house and a detached garage but those neighborhoods are trendy now and the prices have doubled in the past 10 years. We're just going to buy something in the next year or so it'll be way cheaper than paying rent and lining a landlords pockets.

 

There is an abundance of small town around Austin, but only a select few I would tell someone to move too haha. Round Rock and Pfluggerville are both good, and right up 35 just twenty minutes without traffic from downtown. I wont even get into what it would take with traffic. Cedar Park is also a pretty solid choice- about the same distance away as RR, but on the west side. I have lived all over this city and its suburbs (a rare local) haha but I live in south Austin now, and I love it. I'm sure wherever you choose will be the right choice, and you and your family will love it!!

 

Stay out of Williamson County.
Just... Trust me on that one

 

Williamson Co. is ok as long as you follow the law. Run afoul of them and you will pay. Conservitive folks in that county.

 

x2

Wilco is great if you are a victim of crime, not so good as a defendant.

If you are going to be working out of the TWC building at Duval/Mopac then I'd lean towards Cedar Park or Round Rock