The topic says it all.

Where are good, newer parts of town to live in. What areas should I avoid? How's the real estate market? Anything else to throw in?

Thanks in advance.

-LV

It all depends on what you're looking for and what you can afford. If you have the money and you're looking for good schools, then the Westlake area is going to be at the top of your list. If you don't have kids and still have money, and want to live near the scene, then some of the newer downtown condos/lofts are going to fit the bill.

There's also a gentrification push on for the east side(east of I-35), where they are developing a lot of live/work spaces and a number of condo projects. The prices originally started off reasonable, but people are driving them up to the point of ridiculous.

Other things to keep in mind will be where your office is, and how much time you want to spend in traffic everyday. There are 2 main North/South roads in Austin, and they turn to parking lots during drive times. 10 miles can take you 45-60 minutes. Some is due to the driving, but most is due to really poor highway design(funneling 4 lanes to 3 a mile before downtown, where everyone exits).

Anyway, give a little more info on your situation, the general area of your office, and what your interests are, and I'll try to be more specific.

Hope this helps!

J

I only have a phone interview at this point, and was doing prelim research on the area if it would be somewhere I'd think I'd want to live. I'm not sure where the office is, but the office I'm interviewing with is on Riata Trace Parkway. A short commute is essential... I hate traffic.

Housing seems affordable compared to where I am now, so that is a plus. Can you buy a lot for less then $200,000 say closer to $125k-$175k?

Are there any parts of town I should avoid at all costs?

I am looking for a younger part of town, where I can meet other single, workaholics.

Riata Trace Parkway is north of town off Route 183, one of the main highways in Austin. Up there, right now you could buy a 3-bedroom house for $150-175K; there are also apartments in that area, in fact in the Riata complex itself, if you wanted to rent. I have several friends who have bought homes in that area in the past year or so. There are a lot of young singles (like my friends) that live up there, as well as some of their associated gathering places - many of the tech industry businesses office north of town. This part of Austin, though, is more strip malls and chain restaurants (Outback, etc) because the highways are the focus of the retail locations. (As opposed to downtown where you have a normal citylike atmosphere.)

The more typical Austin "scene" is focused on the university, downtown and South Congress Ave, which are somewhat less accessible from up north, but not a huge deal. As you get closer in to town, housing prices increase exponentially. You ask about areas to avoid - personally, I hate Interstate 35 (one of the other major Austin thoroughfares) and avoid it at all costs - if I had to commute on it everyday I would be miserable, so I would never want to live near it! Also, as you get north of Route 620 you will find newer, more affordable homes, but also will find more of a suburban (rather than young workaholic) lifestyle.

Hope your phone interview goes well, keep us posted.

Austin is simply one of the planet's great cities. It gives you suburban stip mall, downtown beautiful people, and hippie chic. I am a South Austin person (78704ever) and love being able to walk to restaurants and shopping. Other people love the space of the Hill Country. Whatever you want it is here.

I work in Riata, so I'm familiar with the area.

If you want an apartment, the Riata apartments are pretty nice. Definitely good for singles. It would also be perfectly suitable for a temporary (3-6 months) dwelling while you do a home search and get to know the city.

I live central (around 45th Street). My commute is thus away from town in the mornings and towards town in the evenings. I come in later and stay later to avoid any traffic I may encounter, but it's minimized anyway just by the direction I go to and from work.

You mentioned you want a "newer" place. Keep in mind that most everything central is older houses, and central is the cooler area to live in. However, the older houses you'll find in central neighborhoods aren't dingy. Most have been restored and are quite nice.

If you really don't go for older houses though, consider Northwest Hills and the 2222/Mount Bonnell/Cat Mountain areas. These are nice neighborhoods and would be well situated for both commuting to work and accessing downtown. I used to live in Northwest Hills. My commute was about 10 minutes from my front door to my desk. There are a lot of older residents there (from when the neighborhoods were originally developed in the 60's and 70's), but there are plenty of young people also, particularly as you go towards the newer parts around Cat mountain and 2222. The downside to this area is that you can't really walk to restaurants or shops, and even biking around wouldn't be too convenient (though anywhere in Austin is reasonably bike friendly).

If you're looking for something with the potential to appreciate in value, go east or east central (but not northeast). This will not be as convenient to work, but in my opinion this is the only area of town not tapped out yet. As others have said, there are a ton of people who live around Riata, and home values are pretty good, but the downside is there are a lot of people around. It's congested, the homes are all tract style homes, the stores are restaurants are all chains, etc. Not really much flavor. And for that you get to deal with roads that will always be behind in accommodating the masses who travel on them. I wouldn't go too much farther north than Riata. The traffic congestion is too much. Anyway, back to values... I think everything Central, North and West are also at the peak for pricing. The central places closer in to town aren't likely to lose too much value when the real estate bubble bursts, but the suburbs north and west (and many south) will feel it. In addition, the trender dwellings, such as all the new lofts, will probably also lose their cach� over time. Right now they're going for absurd prices.

Good luck with your interviews!