Hello. I am hoping to find some people on here who are somewhat familiar with the Austin area to give my fiance and I some advice. We are getting married in September, then moving to Austin in November from Kentucky. My fiance is a little familiar with the area and is interested in Round Rock, but to be honest we really don't know much about it at all.

We will be a young professional married couple, both 23. No kids, 2 big dogs and not a whole lotta stuff haha! We aren't really huge on the bar scene and we are looking to be away from the 'big city' but still close enough to where it won't take an hour to get to work. I like an area that has a safe reputation, and where we can eventually start our family since it looks like this will be probably be our home for a very long time. Can someone reccomend some areas for us to look at? We will probably take a trip down there in October to look around. We may rent a home for awhile until we can find one we want for sure.

Thank you!

It's the only place in Texas I would (voluntarily) move to.

I'm posting to top this so P_M and swisshikers and others will see it.

But, I'd pick a place near your work.

Ditto. Where you live in relation to work is key. It doesn't have to be real close, but you definitely don't want to live in RR if the job is in Southwest Austin, or live in Circle C (Southwest) if you work for Dell (RR).

There are great neighborhoods in many parts of Austin & surroundings. From what you describe you'll have many choices South, West or North of Austin. Round Rock area is nice, but it's not totally unique that you'd sacrifice a terrible commute just to live there. In Austin terrible commute doesn't refer just to distance, but what route you would need to take.

Hello there sparkle0219

Moving to Austin, are you? Well, we're mighty glad to have you!

Do you have jobs here yet? If so, what part of town are they in?

I definitely agree with starrs' and J62's comments about living near your work. Ten miles in either direction can make all the difference in the world. Renting sounds like a great idea for the first 6-12 months.

When we first moved here (15 years ago), one of the first things we did was check out the various schools, their rankings, test scores, class sizes, college preparedness, etc. That gave us a good idea of where we'd want to live.

There is a ton of new home building happening now in the outskirts, and you will find many of the downtown homes being renovated.

Of course, without knowing your price range, it would be difficult to get specific. But there is a whole range to choose from, condos, townhomes, homes on small lots, homes on large lots, homes with acreage, ranches.

It's Texas, and it's all good. Well, mostly!

Hook 'em!

I would definitely agree that you need to take a look at the schools that would be in your area. A good friend of mine moved to Austin when her kids were little, and it turns out the schools in their area are not good; all the parents in her neighborhood either send their kids to private school or apply to have them sent to another district. She's having hers sent to another district, but she has to reapply every year. She wishes she had done a little more research, and now she's trying to move to a different neighborhood. Austin is a wonderful city - great outdoor recreation, restaurants, etc. All our friends that live there love it.

Regarding schools - it may seem like a long way off considering you don't even have kids, but here's my 2c.

Don't just look at the elementary schools - there are excellent elementary schools in many places, especially those with good parent participation.

Pay attention to the middle and high schools that your neighborhood would go to. Typically 3-4 elem schools feed into one MS, and ditto for HS. I know a lot of people in Austin who moved into a particular neighborhood with a very good ES, but come MS/HS, or even at resale time when they chose to move out of town they were very disappointed.

A good ES doesn't necessarily mean good MS and HS.