BitViper

So I'm thinking of moving the family out to Austin soon and I had some questions about commute times to say.. SoCo and the bridge.. from outside the city.

A little background.. out here in CA a 20- 30 mile commute is pretty typical.. so its not the mileage.. its the traffic that a killer

I'm reasonably familiar with the areas around Austin.. we've had friends there for a while and visit often..but Ive never tried to commute there.. 35 looks like a parking lot sometimes..

I'm looking at homes in and around Bee Cave, Barton Creek,The Hills, Lake Travis..you know..out that way... The wife want to live up in and around Marble Falls, Lago Vista.. which looks to one hell of a commute ( I think secretly she wants me dead..) and I'm also interested in Dripping Springs.. I want a place with a view and a bit of land .25 - 5 acres

roscoe118

Where will you be working? In general west ("Bee Cave, Barton Creek,The Hills, Lake Travis...") will be fine if you are working south of the river, or downtown. You do not want to live north, and work south, and visa versa... If at all possible avoid MoPac, and 35, completely!!! Unless you go opposite of traffic (live close to downtown and commute away from that area) to work, or have the ability to work "flex" hours.

I live west (Lake Travis), and it has become so crowded, compared to when I moved there 22 years ago, that I've thought about Marble Falls.
The commute would not be too bad, but there have been so many new developments put in along Hwy71 that the traffic has gotten terrible coming in from out there. Lago Vista would be good if you are working north, or northwest. Drip is also nice, and somewhat quiet, but once they start (if they ever do) working on 290 through Oak Hill, getting into downtown or to MoPac, is going to be a nightmare. There are some very nice developments, with large lots, along 290 between Drip and Oak Hill...

Not trying to scare you off. Austin really is a great place to live, but I've seen enough growth! Coming from Ca. you should feel like "a kid in a candy store" with the housing prices.

Once you get here, keep and eye on this section for meets, cruises, etc. by the: http://www.nccaustin.com/, and the "Saturday night meets at the Y" thread.

Good Luck,

haljensen

In Austin a 20-30 mile commute during rush hours would be at least an hour drive from any suburb you mentioned, any direction.

The last 5 miles (during rush hours) will be 30-40 minutes, there is very little choice in major roads either N / S or E / W.

I35 and Mopac (N/S) and 183 and 290/71 (E/W). During rush hours both roads both directions are parking lots and the surface streets are just as slow (but easier driving). The new toll roads get you within the 5 miles at a high cost per mile but you still have the last few miles of bumper to bumper.

BitViper

Thanks for the info... Ive just started looking for jobs... Im a software engineer.. so Im hoping with the the hi-tech industry there Im not going to have too hard a search.

We really fell in love with the hill country and coming from San Diego.. My biggest criteria for a new place is I want a view of something other than my neighbors house 20ft away.. I like the fact that many of the places that Im looking at are on at least 1/4 acres lots ..

So what time does the "Austin" rush hours start... Im generally one of thoes guys that like to get into the office around 7am or so....

DeltaBravo

Just a thought: Check out Georgetown, too; just north of Austin, great little town, close to Dell, and the hill country. Avoid that rush altogether!

AM.MSCL

I work in the Arboretum area and used to live 18 miles away to the north in Leander. Depending on what time I left to go to work would be 30-55 minutes. Currently I live near Circle C and it is 18 miles from work also. I currently leave home at 6:30 am and in my office by 7:05am at the latest. The same would be true from the Leander area. Now if I leave home at 7am it would any where from 7:40-8am before I get to my desk.
Going home no matter what time 4pm, 5pm, or 6pm I would be home in 35 minutes north or south.
I would not recommend Dripping Springs currently unless you work in Dripping Springs. The Y at Oak Hill which most likely you would go through is a nightmare morning and night all the time Monday - Friday rush hours.
Rush hour really starts about 6:45-7am from the south going north and lasts till about 9:30am.

Wezel

If you liked California you'll like Austin and it's suburbs;

"Babylon on the Colorado"

If you're leaving California because it's "California", you might be happier in the Hill Country. A commute might be worth it.

Mez

The odds are the company hiring software engineer is north of Austin that support Dell, one of there suppliers, or related companies around Round Rock or Georgetown.

Downtown, is Silicon Labs and that's all I can think of. Housing gets more expensive as you look closer to downtown, which is not surprising.

Southside but still in Austin you have AMD and Freescale. Further south is Dripping Springs. Very long commute if you get a job on the north side.

East....don't even consider that. Once you go there, you will know why.

West...not much industry out there, but commuting up north is a bear along Rt360 or Rt 620. Stop lights every 1/2 mile which kills the commute. A real bottle neck is Rt2222. There is 3M at Rt620 & 2222 but that's about it. If you live out where I do in Lakeway, you have Rt 620 going north with lots of stop lights. Then if you have to go east, Rt2222 is your only choice. Again, stop lights and if there is an accident, they shut the road down!

Going way out west along Rt71 toward Marble Falls is wide open west of Bee Caves. Fewer stop lights, hills, larger rural lots and small custom housing developments. Marble Falls itself is pretty far away.

Largo Vista has very nice housing developments with a lot of people commuting up to the Round Rock and Georgetown companies (Dell etc.)

You have to decide what side of Lake Travis you want to live on. There are really no bridges so its a long way around. For example, Largo Vista is 5 minutes by the crow flies from my house but it would take me a ~ 1 hour to drive there around the lake.

txz06ce

I live in Round Rock and currently work at home in the transportation field. Being a software engineer, you might be able to find a job that would let you work at home as well. Many people in your field do that at least a few days of the week. You might have to go into the office 1-2 days a week and then work at home the rest.
On the other hand, before I started working at home, I worked just south of the river on Bee Cave just off of Mopac. I would leave the house about 6:25 am and be in my office by 7:00 if I took the toll road. I left the office for home by 4:00 and would get home around 4:40. My monthly toll bill was around $75 and well worth it to me.
Just wanted to add my perspective. Hope it helps.

ysb02

I live in S x SW Austin (19 miles commute) to downtown and it's ~30 mins. I lived in Georgetown (grew up there) briefly after college and it was a 1hr+ commute downtown. Sometimes 2hrs+ on Fridays.

Bee Caves between mopac / 360 is great area (Westlake) if you can afford it. I'd look west of 360 also but depending on where you work it could be a 45+ min commute. Austin has some horrible traffic.

BTW I'm software engineer too. If want to PM / e-mail me I can give you some help. Most companies are either in downtown, west, or northwest. You don't want to work for Dell BTW. Been there, done that, never doing it again

BitViper

Yeah.. My great grand folks are from Taylor.. up by Hutto.. we were just up there to visit
their graves (mom and Grand mom are buried there too).. its... different

Yeah Im trying very much to stay outta the burbs... nothing that too much resembles a housing tract...no cookie cutter homes..been there done that... I want my closets neighbor no closer than 75-100ft. Right now I can hear my neighbor talking in their back yard.. I want a little space.. 35-45 minute commute is nothing... I do that everyday here..

Ive been looking at houses in teh 450 - 600k range

ysb02.. I'll PM in s a bit... never hurts to network...

Starting to look like that the best place to be is someplace inside the area within 36/1/275.. that gives ne access to bridges south and north....

haljensen

SDZ06Driver; Be a little skeptical of some of the drive times given in prior posts. I live about 7 miles N. of Austin downtown and during rush hour it can take me 45 minutes just to go downtown via either I35 or Mopac.

I managed rental houses all over the area and am very familiar with the drive times around the city. Rush hour is terrible both into and out of the city.

If you can work around rush hour you can make excellent time but any street entering or leaving Austin during rush hours is a parking lot with stop and start driving for the first 4-5 miles going N or S and in Austin you have to go N or S before you go E or W. The house and land you are looking for is going to require far suburbs, either SW, W, N or NW and there is no easy, fast route.

To get to Leander on a Friday rush hour from downtown Austin it's a 90 minute drive IF there's no accidents or holdups.