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Central Austin Community

The city of Austin lies within 200 miles of three of the 10 largest cities in the U.S. (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio). With more than one million people, the Austin metropolitan area serves as a center for academic, political, research and technological activities in the region. There are no state or local corporate or personal income taxes imposed on homeowners in Austin.

It is only fitting that Austin is home to one of the most technologically advanced convention centers in the country. Constructed of native Texas materials, from rustic limestone to polished granite, the center has won architectural awards. Yahoo! Internet Life named Austin as "the fourth most wired city in the U.S."

Central Austin Culture

Central Austin Education

Colleges and Universities

The largest institution of higher education in the Austin area is the University of Texas, with almost 50,000 students. The largest public university in the United States, UT-Austin is a world class center of education and research. (512.499.4201)

With approximately 27,000 students, Austin Community College has seven permanent campuses and more than 70 teaching locations throughout the city and surrounding areas. (512.223.7595)

Other Austin-Area institutes for higher learning include:

• Southwest Texas State University (512.245.2396)
• Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
• Southwestern University
• Concordia Lutheran College (512.452.7661)
• St. Edward's University (512.448.8400)
• Episcopal Theological
• Seminary of the Southwest
• Huston-Tillotson College (512.505.3000)

Libraries
The John Henry Faulk Public Library and its 18 branches, Austin/Travis County History Center, University of Texas at Austin and the State Library together have nearly nine million volumes. Call 512.499.7599 for the Library Information Service.

Central Austin Employment

Austin has been named the ""5th best small metro area in the U.S. for business" by Inc. Magazine

Major Industry
Austin is one of the premier high tech communities in the country. Within the past decade, Austin has attracted 925 advanced technology companies, employing some 110,000 people. That includes more than 400 companies involved in software development, the second-largest concentration of such companies in the nation. Austin's high-tech sector continues to grow at a remarkable seven percent per year.
The Austin region's five county area has emerged as one of the country's leading technology centers. In the 1990's, it added more information technology jobs than Silicon Valley, Boston's Route 128 or Research Triangle in North Carolina. High Tech employment in Austin has nearly tripled over the last ten years, giving rise to the region's preeminence as one of the leading technology centers in the world.

Sales and Marketing Management names Austin second as "One of the best places to do business next year".

Central Austin History

Central Austin Housing

The average price of a home in Austin is $197,500. The median price of a single family home is $137,300. An average rent of a two bedroom, two bath apartment is $911.

Aldridge Place [Area 4], part of the North University Neighborhood Association, a treasure trove of homes from the 1920s just north of the University of Texas at Austin, is a small neighborhood of about 140 homes bordered roughly by 34th Street, Speedway, 30th Street and Guadalupe Street. The central feature of the neighborhood is Adams-Hemphill Park, located along the banks of Waller Creek. Homeowners in this neighborhood enjoy a  walk or bicycle ride to restaurants and groceries shopping. Homeowners greet each other on the street as moms pushing little ones on strollers, joggers and walkers and university students riding bikes to and from classes. There is a nice mix of age groups in this neighborhood.

Allendale [Area 2]
Forty years ago, Joan Crestly and her husband were looking for a safe neighborhood to raise a family - one that was close to downtown with good schools and easy access to shopping. They found it in Allandale. Their children are long gone, but the Crestlys are still in Allandale, which is bound by 45th Street on the south, Burnet Road on the east, MoPac Boulevard on the west and Anderson Lane on the north. Countless others are discovering what the Crestlys have known all along: Living in Central Austin is where it’s at.

Today, it’s difficult to picture Allandale as the flat farmland it was when construction began in the 1960s. The majestic trees that provide respite from the sun were planted back then. Today, those trees provide shade for the ranch-style homes situated along wide streets that offer ample room for motorists, bicyclists and walkers. The houses are mostly one-story and range from $100,000 to $220,000. Median price is $160,000, although the scramble for houses in the neighborhood increases the median price in May and June.

Bryker Woods
It was the physical beauty of Bryker Woods - with its lovely old trees and charming old homes - that attracted Jim Nelson to the neighborhood. It was the family atmosphere that kept him there. Nelson and his wife are raising three children in the home they bought in 1984. And they are staying put - "I love being near downtown but still away from it," Nelson said. "I can be at work downtown in 10 minutes. But because of its well- defined geography, Bryker Woods is confined. There are advantages to that." That confinement makes him feel safe since there is little through traffic. However, some parts of the neighborhood - such as on 29th Street - are seeing more traffic as motorists attempt to find shortcuts between MOPAC Boulevard and Interstate 35 to downtown.

Bryker Woods is bordered by Westover on the south, 35th on the north, Shoal Creek on the east and MOPAC Boulevard on the west. It was developed between the 1930s and 1950s, mostly with bungalows and a few larger homes surrounded by large, shady trees. At the end of May, houses with 1,200 square feet and three bedrooms and two baths sold for $205,000 in a day.

Clarksville [Area 1B]
John Guffey looks at the youngsters playing in his Clarksville neighborhood and sees the Rainbow Coalition. "That’s what I call them," said Guffey. "You see all kinds of kids on skateboards or bicycles. I don’t see kids anywhere else get such a mix of neighbors. We have all kinds of people with all kinds of lifestyles." Guffey bought his house in the near West Austin neighborhood 20 years ago when many considered the area to be "seedy" and mortgage companies wouldn’t finance homes there. Today Clarksville, named after Charles Clark who led a group of freed slaves to settle in the area in 1871, is one of the hottest-selling markets. The neighborhood is listed in the National Register of Historic Homes. Doctors,lawyers, architects and restaurant owners and waiters call Clarksville home.

The neighborhood boundaries recognized by the historical register are West Lynn Street on the east, MoPac Boulevard to the west, Ninth Street on the south and Waterston Avenue on the north. Most people, however, consider Clarksville to include all the area from Lamar Boulevard to MoPac Boulevard and Sixth Street to Enfield Road. A Clarksville address can cost prospective homeowners from $135,000 to $399,000 for a single-family home. Median price is $200,000. Some condos are available for around $55,000. Homes are all pier and beam, and built between 1910 and 1930. All homes have hardwood floors, with older ones boasting oak floors. Many homes are built from long leaf pine, a tree that was found locally back then, but is no longer available.

Old Enfield [Area 1B]
For countless years, Wadene Harrison and her husband tried to fashion their ranch-style home into a colonial-type home. "We just couldn’t get there," Harrison said. So 17 years ago, they bought their dream house in the Old Enfield neighborhood nestled in the hills just west of downtown Austin.

The neighborhood, bordered by MoPac Boulevard on the west, Lamar Boulevard and Pease Park on the east, 24th Street on the north and Enfield Road on the south, is a treasure trove of colonial architecture and quiet streets canopied by the branches of majestic live oak trees reaching across the street. Add its history into the mix, and it’s the perfect neighborhood as far as Harrison is concerned. "The history is certainly part of the appeal," said Harrison, who served six years as president of the Old Enfield Homeowners Association. "And the trees are incomparable." Harrison credits the rich soil and nearby Shoal Creek for the girth and growth of the trees.

The neighborhood, featured recently in Town and Country magazine as one of the 25 best neighborhoods in the country in which to live, is where Harrison wants to stay. She is selling her house on Woodlawn Avenue, which she considers to be perhaps the prettiest street in Austin, and is looking for a smaller home. "We are committed to Central Austin," Harrison said.

Downtown restaurants and grocery shopping are minutes away. And there is easy acess to major thoroughfares such as MoPac Boulevard and Interstate 35 through Enfield Road. Nearby Lamar Boulevard also provides an outlet for those traveling north and south. Yet once within the neighborhood, the quiet streets offer respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. The neighborhood’s location is one of the reasons homes sell well in the vicinity. Home prices range from $200,000 to several million. The median is $550,000 to $1 million.

Hyde Park [Area 4]
The opportunity to live in a historic home, the convenience to downtown and the traditional neighborhood feeling to Hyde Park convinced John and Catherine Moore this is where they wanted their home to be. The Moores and their 11-year-old daughter moved in last August from suburban Rollingwood into a restored 1938 home, and "We just love it," said Catherine Moore, who owned a home in Hyde Park while she attended the University of Texas in the 1970s. "It’s convenient to everything," Catherine Moore said. "Our daughter can ride her bike. We feel relatively safe walking and riding. We walk to church three blocks away. We’re so near the university, where we go to a lot of events." Catherine Moore said she also likes the diversity and tolerance of people in the neighborhood, which was entered into the National Registry of Historic Districts in 1990. "There’s an incredible mix of people," she said. "The man next door is a retired coach. We have professors from UT. On certain blocks there lot of young children. My husband says people here are interested in the life of the mind."

Because of its proximity to the university, many residents are renters. Hyde Park was established as a streetcar subdivision just north of the University of Texas in 1897, and is a mix of Victorian homes and bungalows. The original boundaries were from 38th to 45th streets and Guadalupe and Duval Streets. The success of the neighborhood led to an expansion of the neighborhood a few years later, said Cecil Pennington, a former president of the neighborhood association. The boundaries were expanded to include areas up to 51st Street and Airport Boulevard., down the railroad tracks to 45th Street back into Duval Street. Among the best-known landmarks are Hyde Park Baptist Church, the Elisabet Ney Museum and Schipe Park. Some consider the Hyde Park Bar & Grill to be a landmark in itself.

Tarrytown [Area 1B]
Location. Good schools. Charm. Those are the three reasons Paula and David Duke bought their home in Tarrytown. "Location was the number one reason," Paula Duke said. "My husband works downtown. It takes 10 minutes to get to his office." From where they live, Duke said she can quickly travel to North or South Austin on MOPAC. "We’re in the middle of everything," she said. Duke said they like the charm of older homes - built in the 1930s and 1940s - found in Tarrytown.

Real estate agents define as the area bound by Westover Road on the north, MOPAC Boulevard on the east, Enfield Road on the south and Lake Austin on the west. The Dukes looked for six months, each time coming back to Tarrytown. For the Dukes, who have a two-year-old child and are expecting another, good schools were very important. While still living in Alabama, they read the Texas Monthly article rating Texas schools, which gave nearby Casis Elementary four stars. .That was definitely a factor,. Duke said.

Central Austin Lifestyle

For something uniquely Austin, visit the Mexican freetail bat colony. In the summer, 1.5 million bats live beneath Congress Avenue Bridge, comprising the largest urban colony anywhere. The thrill? To see them emerge en masse at dusk. Claim your spot atop the bridge or grab a drink on the bar patio at the Four Seasons for the best views. "Bar-B-Que" is a favorate among Austin homeowners. Stubb's and Iron Works serve up great Bar-B-Que. For a more authentic experience, homeowners love Sam's on East 12th. Outside of downtown, County Line smokes prime rib so tender, it brings Texans homeowners back on a regular basis. The Salt Lick offers family-style Bar-B-Que that may be the best in all of Austin.  For Austin's best Tex-Mex, homeowners go to Manuel's and Las Manitas downtown or for the real deal, they head south to Curra's where the unique avocado daiquiris that are a major treat.

Austin is known as the "live music capital of the world". Check out the legendary Sixth Street, just two blocks over from the frog studio for some local favorate music such as: blues, electronica, Rockabilly, punk, folk and good ol' honkytonk. The Austin Music Hall, conducts live tapings of PBS's Austin City Limits. Just a short trip south on Lamar is the Broken Spoke, a classic western swing bar. The Alamo Drafthouse downtown offer interesting movies, pesto pizzas and buckets of beer (5 at a time at a reasonable price).

Central Austin Nature

Central Austin Recreation

Central Austin Transportation

Highways - The average commute time in the Austin area on primary access routes is 15-20 minutes. Several major highways serve Austin:

• Interstate 35 - runs north-south through the downtown area and is considered the dividing line for east and west Austin
• U.S. Highway 183 - extends 3.4 loop around from far northwest to northeast, then south to southeast. Also known as Research Blvd., Anderson Lane, and Ed Bluestein Blvd.
• U.S. Highway 290 - enters north central Austin from east of IH- 35, joins IH-35 south to State Highway 71 and extends west with Highway 71. Also called Ben White Blvd.
• Loop 360 (Capital of Texas Highway) - extends north-south on the far west side of Austin intersecting with Highway 183 and then Loop 1 on the north and with Highway 290 on the south
• Loop 1 (Mo-Pac Expressway) - runs just west of downtown north-south. Intersects with FM 1325 (Burnet Road) in far north Austin and extends south trough Loop 360 and Highway 290 west to Slaughter Lane in far southwest Austin.

Central Austin Weather