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Looking for small town outside Austin

4,159 Views | 44 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by fig96
Artorias
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We currently live in Cedar Park, just across the Austin city limits, and we are ready to get the heck outta town and move further out to get some land and away from the chaos that is Austin. That being said, I still work in Austin (Arboretum area), so we would like to stay within an hour or so of my office.

We are looking for a good small rural town to move to to raise our 3 kids and enjoy a slower, simpler life with some acreage for running a few animals, a garden, etc. Our kids are 12, 9, and 4, so schools are an important consideration.

So far we have looked at Lexington, Thorndale, and Holland. We were originally looking at Liberty Hill, but it is blowing up already and gotten a bit pricey.

If anyone has any small town recommendations, it would be much appreciated.
Potcake
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Wife and I lived in Wimberley for 11 years but the commute became a grind. If you're up for it, it's a good place.
Martin Q. Blank
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There are acreage neighborhoods in Leander depending on your budget. Leander Country Estates (New Hope and 183A), Reagan's Overlook, etc.
AgGrad99
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Liberty Hill seems like a perfect fit for you. A straight shot down 183....

i know it's growing, but i like that Liberty Hill is still maintaining a lot of acreage residential properties.

My only issue with Liberty Hill...if you're on the east side of town, there's basically only one way in/out. They need to address that sooner, rather than later.

Papa_Blaze
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Liberty Hill Billy here. We enjoy the small town feel and the proximity to Austin but you're right, its growing quick. The commute isn't that bad, about 40-45 min (weekday mornings) from Seward Junction to the Domain if you don't take the tolls.
Artorias
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My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.
MouthBQ98
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I live in Paige, about an hour drive time east of where I work in Austin.

Our area is very definitely rural and only growing very slowly, which is why we moved there. Can't say much for schools but I have no kids so that doesn't matter. What does is low prices on acreage and low tax rates, and a straight shot down 290 to work.
cas8019
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I grew up in Thorndale. I live around Cele now. Thorndale is a great little town, the community really is behind the school as it is the main entertainment. I thought about moving back about 3 years ago but the drive with all our current kids activities would just kill us. But I do wish my kids could experience that small school comraderly. Closest grocery store is probably 25 minutes away. They have a great little meat market and a couple of cafes.

rather be fishing
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I'd go Thorndale/Taylor/Rockdale. Salado might also be a consideration, but you'll be pushing that 1 hour drive distance.

Avoid Manor. It's a craphole.
Also Jarrell is pretty crappy overall.
Mookie
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Marble falls? Burnet or Llano even?
rather be fishing
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Mookie said:

Marble falls? Burnet or Llano even?


Would be a stretch to get to Austin proper within an hour from any of those points.
vic99
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Lakewood Country Estates. New Hope between Ronald Reagan and 183a.
Unincorporated but smack between CP and Leander. I love it here!
3 acres where every neighbor has 3-5 acres. Though we are completely surrounded by development, neither city wants to annex us because of the services they would have to provide.
tamc93
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Lampasas or Bertram

Lago Vista (west)

Burnet if you extend it the commute.
rather be fishing
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vic99 said:

Lakewood Country Estates. New Hope between Ronald Reagan and 183a.
Unincorporated but smack between CP and Leander. I love it here!
3 acres where every neighbor has 3-5 acres. Though we are completely surrounded by development, neither city wants to annex us because of the services they would have to provide.


Is that at like $60k/acre though?
Charpie
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Lampasas would be an hour commute in to the Arboretum. I'd go with Liberty Hill
Dad-O-Lot
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SH45 Southwest will be opening up within a couple of years. That will make northern Hays county much more accessible.

There is a house for sale in the City of Hays right now.

1/2 acre and larger lots. Old neighborhood. Crappy houses, but less than a mile from 1626 and SH45SW intersection.
People of integrity expect to be believed, when they're not, they let time prove them right.
AgGrad99
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mugwurt said:

My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.

Look for something in the middle of an acreage community. That way if it expands, you still got your space.
texancanuck11
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It looks like most recommendations are up north, so I don't know if this is anything you're interested in, but Lockhart has started coming around recently. You can still find some good prices, there are more amenities moving that way. I can't speak to the school system, but I make the drive to Westlake every day and it's tolerable.
wadd96
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We selected Thorndale... but we were also looking for large acreage (100+ acre) places to run cattle.
All the God's, all the Heavens, all the Hells are within you.
coupland boy
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Look at Taylor or Coupland.

Edit - while some look down their nose at Taylor do yourself a favor and give it a look.
fig96
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mugwurt said:

My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.

If you find Cedar Park to have too much "traffic, people, and chaos" I'm not sure that you're going to be able to move far enough away from town.
Mike Elko
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fig96 said:

mugwurt said:

My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.

If you find Cedar Park to have too much "traffic, people, and chaos" I'm not sure that you're going to be able to move far enough away from town.
Very, very true.
agsalaska
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Belton
RDV-1992
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Complete Idiot
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fig96 said:

mugwurt said:

My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.

If you find Cedar Park to have too much "traffic, people, and chaos" I'm not sure that you're going to be able to move far enough away from town.


How much time have you spent in Cedar park recently?
fig96
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Complete Idiot said:

fig96 said:

mugwurt said:

My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.

If you find Cedar Park to have too much "traffic, people, and chaos" I'm not sure that you're going to be able to move far enough away from town.

How much time have you spent in Cedar park recently?
Just about every day the last 15 months or so.
fig96
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fig96 said:

Complete Idiot said:

fig96 said:

mugwurt said:

My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.

If you find Cedar Park to have too much "traffic, people, and chaos" I'm not sure that you're going to be able to move far enough away from town.

How much time have you spent in Cedar park recently?
Just about every day the last 15 months or so.
I'm going to assume that wasn't the response you were looking for
Complete Idiot
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fig96 said:

Complete Idiot said:

fig96 said:

mugwurt said:

My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.

If you find Cedar Park to have too much "traffic, people, and chaos" I'm not sure that you're going to be able to move far enough away from town.

How much time have you spent in Cedar park recently?
Just about every day the last 15 months or so.
Then I question the specific environment you are referring to in Cedar Park that will be replicated in all towns within a one hour radius of NW Austin.

The original poster is looking for a small rural town and mentions Lexington, Thorndale, and Holland. I've also spent time in Cedar Park recently and I've passed through Lexington and Thorndale numerous times, the vehicle traffic and commercial development on 183, 183A, Parmer/Ronald Reagan, and 1431 in Cedar Park is so far removed from anything in Lexington and Thorndale that I just don't understand how you could equate it. If you weren't told there was a city border you might not be able to tell where Austin ends and Cedar Park begins if you travel between the two, to get to Lexington and Thorndale there are long expanses of minimal or no development between Austin and those two cities. There must be around 70K people living in Cedar Park and I'd be surprised if Lexington or Thorndale have 5K each. Cedar Park is bisected by major roads that serve as a gateway into Austin from the Northwest and west.

I was initially going to make the point that Cedar Park itself is much different than it was 15 years ago, but even 15 years ago if would be laughable to compare it to Lexington or Thorndale. Not to mention other cities within an hour like Bertram, Coupland, Florence and who knows how many others (I can't even remember where Holland is).
Complete Idiot
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fig96 said:

fig96 said:

Complete Idiot said:

fig96 said:

mugwurt said:

My concern with Liberty Hill is that it will be another Cedar Park in 5-10 years, with all the traffic, people, and chaos I am looking to escape.

If you find Cedar Park to have too much "traffic, people, and chaos" I'm not sure that you're going to be able to move far enough away from town.

How much time have you spent in Cedar park recently?
Just about every day the last 15 months or so.
I'm going to assume that wasn't the response you were looking for
It just lead to more questions - but in hindsight, it wasn't even the right question

here's something interesting - Austin population density is 3500 per square mile, Cedar Park is 3200 per square mile. Hopefully far less than that in Thorndale. It would be funny to compare a satellite photo of Cedar Park to any of a dozen rural towns that would satisfy the OP.
Complete Idiot
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These each look equally chaotic

Cedar Park

Thorndale

Lexington

Now that I see a map I'd say Lexington due to Snow's BBQ
fig96
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Not what I said, you overanalyze quite a bit here.

I'm simply making the point that Cedar Park is about as relaxed as suburbs get. There's obviously more traffic than you'd find in smaller towns away from Austin, but describing CP as "chaos" makes me think that pretty much any town is going to be too big.
Complete Idiot
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fig96 said:

Not what I said, you overanalyze quite a bit here.

I'm simply making the point that Cedar Park is about as relaxed as suburbs get. There's obviously more traffic than you'd find in smaller towns away from Austin, but describing CP as "chaos" makes me think that pretty much any town is going to be too big.

Oh, you said you didn't think he could move far enough away from Cedar Park to have a different experience relative to traffic, population, and chaos. Even though he mentioned Lexignton, Thorndale, and Holland as alternatives - which are vastly different experiences. It seems you got hung up on chaos, maybe even took offense to Cedar Park being referred to as chaotic. I guess that's subjective.

I just don't want the guy to get discouraged. Given his original post, which perhaps you underanalyzed, I do think he can have vastly different experience in Thorndale if compared to Cedar Park. He can definitely get the acreage, space, and reduced population, traffic, and noise he wants. I'd worry about schools and that long commute only.
fig96
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Hyperbole is not your strong suit.
Complete Idiot
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fig96 said:

Hyperbole is not your strong suit.
Maybe not but it was fun to dissect. You had a chance for an out or explanation but kind of doubled down with the "every day for 15 months".
fig96
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Complete Idiot said:

fig96 said:

Hyperbole is not your strong suit.
Maybe not but it was fun to dissect. You had a chance for an out or explanation but kind of doubled down with the "every day for 15 months".
You're trying to win an argument I'm not making.

I live out there and can't imagine how remote someone would need to be if they find that chaotic, which was the somewhat tongue in cheek point of my post.

But if someone is looking for something else or finds some odd satisfaction in demographic analysis, knock yourself out.
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