Anyone here from Austin, Texas?

[TintoTerra]

I'm moving there with my girlfriend on March 1st. We're currently looking to rent a house as close as possible to downtown so we can be close to good restaurants and music. Can anyone recommend good areas to live in? I spend a lot of time at the gym, so I'm also looking for a good gym to join if anyone has any recommendations. thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Thomas]

Not there, but I visit once in a (long) while. Good luck with the move!

BTW: I think Kent Wang and HgaleK are from Austin, but H is in College Station for now.

 

[Joffrey]

Don't know about neighborhoods but I hear great things about the city.

 

[ocelot_ark]

Can't speak about specific neighborhoods, but being close to downtown is where everyone wants to be. So you'll be fighting a lot of demand and higher prices, but it's probably worth it. Austin's a great city and I'm sure you 2 will love it. Traffic sucks, though.

 

[grundletaint]

i'm in austin. check out barton hills (south lamar), travis heights (south congress), and bouldin (south first right between the other 2). they're right south of downtown and have plenty going on in themselves as far as music and restaurants. tarrytown/clarksville are kind of mixed into downtown but i'm not sure it'll be as easy to rent a house in those areas.

gyms....pure austin is downtown. it gets pretty hectic but there's a lot of nice poon in there. lifetime fitness is south and a giant megaplex with indoor/outdoor pools and whatnot. south austin gym is cheap as balls but is more of a boxing gym. they recently remodeled the Y downtown and it's supposed to be really nice, too.

some people may recommend the east side. it's not really my scene....lots of hipsters and tattooed coolies. if williamsburg is your kind of thing, the east side is for you. it is also right next to downtown but it's being re-gentrified from a really low income area so i wouldn't necessarily call it a "good" area, although it's slowly getting safer. it's really cheap, though. getting to a gym won't be as easy over there.

 

[dexterhaven]

^Pretty much second what he said, with a few additions. The South Austin neighborhoods are definitely where it's at for proximity to restaurants and food. But it's kinda pricey down there and overrun with hipsters. Same with the east side, like he mentioned. But "Slowly getting safer" is a little misleading. It's safe. People aren't getting shot constantly down there or anything. And lots of new cool new restaurants and bars are popping up over there.

I lived in south Austin for a while and then moved up to the north central area. Better mix of people, a respectable number of neighborhood restaurants and bars, and much saner than real than other parts of the city.

 

[k9n]



^Pretty much second what he said, with a few additions. The South Austin neighborhoods are definitely where it's at for proximity to restaurants and food. But it's kinda pricey down there and overrun with hipsters. Same with the east side, like he mentioned. But "Slowly getting safer" is a little misleading. It's safe. People aren't getting shot constantly down there or anything. And lots of new cool new restaurants and bars are popping up over there.
I lived in south Austin for a while and then moved up to the north central area. Better mix of people, a respectable number of neighborhood restaurants and bars, and much saner than real than other parts of the city.

What is considered north central area and what are some restaurants and bars you can recommend?

 

[grundletaint]

All I can think of north of enfield that i would consider "close" to downtown are west campus and Hyde park. Both are fun areas but flooded with students. Past that you've got crestview and all that stuff up near burnet rd and the triangle, which do have some cool neighborhood spots, but I wouldn't consider them close to downtown. At least not as close as the south neighborhoods, which are just across the river and an easy bike ride away.

Fwiw, there isn't a lot of violent crime here. My comments about the east side were aimed at petty crimes. You'll find a higher concentration of break-ins and theft over there.

 

[Spats]

Easiest direction to cycle in and out of downtown (fewest hills) is east. Not so, south or west. North is a gradual climb, flat for all intents, but Capitol complex and UT act as barriers, sort-of, to the north. And if you're not planning on using a bike a lot, then there are other considerations. The river blocks the south and all southbound traffic pretty effectively from 3 to 6 every day. It took me an hour recently, 5:30 to 6:30, trying several different southbound streets, to drive from 45th st. to Live Oak in south A. Could have biked it faster. Despite all the complaining, the Interstate moves cars faster than anything else from north to south and return.
Also better look into what amenities you want close by: not a lot of grocery stores south of the river, close in. Same east. Bars and restaurants are everywhere; I wouldn't make a decision on where to live in Austin based on that! Only exception: don't set foot in Williamson county, unless you're planning on setting up a baby factory and you think Rick Santorum would make a good neighbor; it's crazy once you get out into the burbs. You've been warned.

 

[TintoTerra]

Thanks for all the replies so far. We are now looking in South Austin. My gf and I both drive so biking isn't essential, it would just be fun. Trying to find a house on the internet via realtors is not the best, but we're making do. I'm also finding out it's hard to get a place there if you have two dogs.

 

[texas_jack]



All I can think of north of enfield that i would consider "close" to downtown are west campus and Hyde park. Both are fun areas but flooded with students. Past that you've got crestview and all that stuff up near burnet rd and the triangle, which do have some cool neighborhood spots, but I wouldn't consider them close to downtown. At least not as close as the south neighborhoods, which are just across the river and an easy bike ride away.
Fwiw, there isn't a lot of violent crime here. My comments about the east side were aimed at petty crimes. You'll find a higher concentration of break-ins and theft over there.

Burnet and 45th is where I grew up, my parents still live there. As far as east Austin, crime is nothing compared to most big cites. You may get your car broken into but you won't be raped and killed.

 

[wurm]

I currently live a block north of the UT campus, but I'm a student. I would recommend avoiding anything too close and avoid the west campus area at all costs. That's not really hard though since the rent is high and most of those places are run by soulless corporations that want to exploit students as much as they can. If you want to be close to downtown Hyde Park is definitely a place to look. I'll echo sentiments about the East Side on here. It was a predominantly black neighborhood that hipsters have moved into - it's a really mixed population. It can feel unsafe in parts but really it's fine I think. Riverside area is where the crime is really bad and it can seem misleadingly OK during the daytime. South Austin to me has neat stuff but I get a kind of older vibe...maybe that's because I'm only 21 though.