Dear Austin Traveler and others,
My husband and I, both in our mid-fifties, are planning a short trip to Austin to see if the area might work for us as a retirement location. Several questions-
1) All of the news about the huge growth in population seems to focus on younger people moving into the area. Is there any informaton about retirees?
2) We would also like to be part of a thriving Jewish community. There appears to be a fairly large one but, again, the information out there seems to focus on families with young children.
3) Coming from Chicago, we are familiar with the condo boom in our city's downtown area as well as in suburban downtown areas. We would be looking for something like that; a coondo/townhouse in a location that puts us withing walking distance of much activity.
4) Can you recommend a hotel downtown (this is the vacation part) that would put us within walking distance of everything but would still be fairly quiet? I've heard that the Driscoll is extremely noisy on weekend nights.
Thanks!

Hello Marsha. I've lived in Austin for 25 years so I'll answer as many questions as I can.

The Driskill is indeed very nice, but right on 6th Street so it can be noisy. If you can get a room away from 6th Street it would be better. Another option would be the Hilton on 4th Street. That's near the Warehouse District, which is another entertainment area but not quite as noisy as 6th St. If you want to be even further away but still downtown, consider the Four Seasons or the Hyatt on the River. There are a great many nice hotels downtown, so to sum it up, avoid 6th St. if you don't want noise.

In recent years there have been a lot of high-rise condos built in the downtown area. I'm no expert on real estate, but there's a lot to choose from and I think you can find something suitable.

I'm not a Jewish person, but I have heard the Dells built a beautiful Jewish Community Center. I hope a Jewish Austinite can provide more info.

Please post back if you have any more questions.

PM gave some good ideas... However, the Hilton is next to the Convention Center on East 4th, not in the Warehouse district.

Austin isn't a big walking city - tho with the development downtown on 2nd street, it's become more of one. You can walk from the Four Seasons (probably your best bet) to several restaurants and some shops, but you'll need your good walking shoes if you want to see everything on foot. You will definitely need a car. Austin is pretty spread out.

I don't have any knowledge of the Jewish community, but sure you could google or contact the Dell Jewish COmmunity Center for some ideas.

Zoink!! (that's the sound of me slapping my forehead) You are right about the Hilton. My bad.

Hi MarshaL,

I am out of town until the first of the new year, but if you go to the link below and do a search for my name, you'll see lots of posts about Austin, including condos, etc.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/austin/

I'll check back here when I get home!

Most of the retirement community is centered around Lakeway, a quiet community on Lake Travis in the TX Hill Country. It is quite beautiful, but it is around 30-40 minutes from downtown, so it may not meet your requirements. However, that is the place to be for retirees.

There is a large Jewish community here, but not being Jewish, I can't help you there.

As far as a hotel downtown, I'd think the Hyatt on Town Lake would fit the bill. Be sure to check out the jogging trail along Town Lake in Zilker Park.