Thinking about taking an Austin PD job next year!

[THEPISTONHEAD]

How do you like Austin? Ive been there just a few times for the ROT Rally. Never been boating up their and I know I-35 traffic suck bad. Other then that let me know what you think. Where are the good areas to live within a 30 minute drive or less. I just dont know where to look for realestate. Any affordable lake front homes? Thanks.
Jason

[R.A.D.man]

As far as liking Austin, love it. Moved here from Dallas to go to UT and never left.
I bought a house 2.5 years ago and could help steer you in the right direction area and price wise. Affordable lake homes, that's relative to your level of affordability. Might find a good home in a lake community for under 200K if your lucky. Probably an hour commute to town though. Hard to find a decent house local to Austin for less than 150K. You can do better if you commute. Feel free to ask away, glad to be of any help.

[DUECE'SDAD]

Did some one say POLICE !!!! J/k Its a cool place, lot of cool happenings around there. And its home to my all time favorite restaurant, the Hula Hut, its mexican and there is a river that boats can dock up to and party you gotta check it out, i think its actually a Chuy's

[THEPISTONHEAD]

I didnt really know if water property was affordable their until I started searching............whoa.....not happening. I guess I would be looking at $130- $175k. I recently bought an acre at Mystic Shores on Canyon Lake. I would love to find something similar (an acre, hill country, good views, HOA thats reasonable with thier rules, community amenities).....kind of the trendy thing lately but it works well for us. Since I dont know exactly where I would patrol, I guess i would like something no further then 30 minutes from downtown. Let me know what you guys recommend. Im going to have to visit again and tour....but I just want to know where are the good neighborhoods. North, South, East or West....which is the newest...and which is booming the most. I know Austin is booming in general but I want the best investment....."who doesnt though, right"............Thanks guys.
Also, give me more details on the Mexican Food Resteraunt......I would love to check it out.

[blowngas]

....which is the newest...and which is booming the most.
the north west side is really on the move-----so is the small towns on the north side-----south and central austin is pretty much the older side-----ya just got to go and look for yourself----have fun

[DUECE'SDAD]

To get to the Hula Hut, i think you go west on 6th from down town, its only a few 3-6 miles and backs up to the river that passes thru downtown

[R.A.D.man]

Will you have kids in grade school? The quality of the districts and respective taxes could help make some basic decisions here since you may end up outside the Austin schools. There can be quite a difference in yearly taxes and property values if you do not need the best school districts.
Hula Hut is a great place any time of year. Has a huge heated outdoor over the water eating area if you make a trip up this fall. It is actually located on the western end of Lake Austin Boulevard. If you look on a map, go west on Lake Austin Blvd. from Mopac (Loop 1), this parallels the Colorado River and Town Lake on the north shore. About a 1/4 mile past Red Bud Trail is the Hula Hut on your left. It basically sits on the shore at the dam for Lake Austin on the North shore.

[THEPISTONHEAD]

No kids for us anytime soon.
So what are some names of the smaller yet booming towns that I should look.....
Thanks. I know this is kind of difficult to explain....I need to just come up and visit, but like I said....I would like to have an idea of where to start. Thanks guys.

[R.A.D.man]

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&cat=&address=&city=austin&state=tx&zipcode=
If that Mapquest link works, the possibility of finding something reasonable exists along lots of lake communities with a wide range in pricing starting west of Lakeway on the south shore and west of Volente on the north shore. Lakeway and Volente are definately a step up in average home pricing and property taxes.
You have PD's in Austin, Lakeway, Cedar Park, and maybe Lago Vista, then there is also Marble Falls just west of Lake Travis. I do not think any of the small communities you see like Spicewood have them.
I like the south shore best, development is coming more rapidly now and access to Austin is easiest, but getting worse during rush hour. Personally, I would not like the traffic associated with 183 trying to come into town from somewhere like LagoVista, its a long drive down 1431 and then 183 to Austin. If you came to Austin and spent a full day each on the North side and South side, you would learn so much.
I checked, the link did not work as I planned. Just zoom into Lake Travis, and you will see what I am trying to show you.

[THEPISTONHEAD]

Thanks bro, thats exactly what I was looking for. Good info.

[THEPISTONHEAD]

One last thing, how long of a drive is it to downtown from places like
Lago Vista
Lakeway
and Round Rock
during rush hour....estimated???
Thanks again.

[R.A.D.man]

I would say Normal times are as follows, but add at least half hour for typical rush hour times
Lago Vista +1 hour
Lakeway/Volente 30 mins
Roundrock, 20 mins
Spicewood/Briarcliff/Edgewood 50 mins (mostly a nicer drive in the hill country until hwy 620)
I am just guessing at what you like, but if you do come up to see some areas, be sure you drive through Briarcliff and Edgewood areas and along the Pedernales River arm of Lake Travis.

[THEPISTONHEAD]

Thanks bud!

[R.A.D.man]

No problem, gald to help. Feel free to ask away if more questions come up. If needed, hit me up, maybe we could talk to help you a little more than just these brief descriptions.