jamarick

We are emigrating on a Parent Visa at the end of the year. Our Son lives in Orlando FL area but although we have seen Clermont Fl and could settle there we would prefer to live in Texas, maybe Cedar Park Austin area (which is still 3148 miles nearer to him than we are now in UK). We do like Texas although we have never been to Austin. Can anyone compare the two places to help us make our minds up?

Bob

most around here would say avoid florida *lol*

there's a few threads talking about florida and texas, not so much a comparison, but anyway, if you do a quick search, you'll find them, be a start till someone else can chirp in.

NC Penguin

Rather than member make subjective comments for you, why not check this site where you can compare various factors between two different US cities/locations.

Being older (as in parents), you might want to check the quality of healthcare in both locations you're considering.


NC Penguin

Angry White Pyjamas

Florida is full.

NC Penguin

Full of what?


NC Penguin

Bob

Brits?

Angry White Pyjamas

Everything. But mostly Brits.

Jimbo the Bimbo

Hi jamarick,

I can't compare the two as i've never been to Florida, but I can tell you my thoughts on Cedar Park after living there briefly and visiting the place regularly.

A few questions to you might help me give you a better idea of what life in Cedar Park will be like. Here goes, what are your ages? Will you be looking for work? How much money are you willing to spend on a house? Is culture/shopping important to you?

When we first moved to Texas we stayed in an apartment in Cedar Park for a few months until we could find an area that we liked and buy a house. Cedar Park is kind of a funny place that is still being developed. Our apartment complex was brand new and was surrounded by a bit a wasteland. It was kind of weird. My wife hated it. BUT, the older more established area of CP near the Elizabeth Milburn park is much nicer. In fact we put our first offer in on a house in that area, but were beaten to it. Other areas of Cedar Park can feel a bit like hicksville. We started looking a bit further afield. We now live up by Lake Travis which is Austin, but which is about 30/40 minutes from downtown and 15/20 minutes drive from Cedar Park. We love it where we live now and we are glad that the first house we put the offer on in Cedar Park fell through. Mind you, you get what you pay for and we had to pay a lot more for the house here than we would have done in Cedar Park. The good thing about Cedar Park is that the Mall is there. We like to go to garage sales and they are always going on in Cedar Park. This is why we now know the area so well.

Let me know if you have any questions and i'll try to answer them for you.

Jimbo

jamarick

Hi Jimbo
Thanks for prompt reply. In answer to your questions: We are aged 61 and 59 and will need to work. We wish to purchase a property 2003 upwards and in the region of $200,000. We will be selling our UK property to finance this. We do not want to be in too busier place but would like to be near amenities, shops, mall etc. We have read that 183a is currently being built and 183 is supposed to be very busy so maybe we could live near Palmer Lane area. (we are only going by the map and have never been there). Other areas maybe suitable i.e. Round Rock, Brushy Creek etc. Buttercup Creek looks nice but not sure how old the properties are there. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Jamarick in UK

Scorchio

I live in Cedar Park... a couple of miles west of 183 on New Hope Road. As Jimbo mentioned, there's a huge amount of development going on - residential, commercial and recreational. They're building tons of new homes around us and $200k should get you more than enough house. I quite like it, although my wife reckons it's a bit rednecky; I can't say I've really noticed.

The place is growing really quickly, and the roads are struggling to keep up. 183a - a toll route - is being built, but for the time being most traffic hits 183 and gets really bad. Traffic spills over to Lakeline, which is quicker than 183, but still gets choked up in places. I recently discovered that enough of the planned Anderson Mill extension has been completed to form a route from 1431 to 620, which has shaved 15 mins off my morning journey. Don't tell anyone, though, because it's nice and quiet at the moment.

Make sure you budget for property taxes, though. We're playing $5500ish/year, which is a significant chunk on top of the mortgage payment. The local powers-that-be keep talking about plans to reduce the taxes, but I'm not holding my breath.

Austin's a lovely city, surrounded by some great scenery. I've spent a fair amount of time in Dallas, and Austin is so much nicer.

If possible, I'd recommend you rent an apartment before buying, to give yourselves a chance to have a look around and get to know the area first. I know it'll be a few months of rent money going down the drain, but it'll be worth it in the long term!

scrubbedexpat099

Getting a job with health insurance might be the first concern.

Jimbo the Bimbo

The newest area around Palmer Lane is Avery Ranch. I have never been into it but just driven past it. It is a big developement. Both sides of Palmer are being developed. I worked with a guy who lived there with his family and he really liked it. Our apartment when we first moved to Cedar Park was just at the top of Palmer, on the corner of 1431. We felt the area lacked character. There was not much there to be honest, but as I say it is being built up a bit. I've seen that they are now building shops at Avery Ranch. I'm sure they have a website that will give more details on Avery.

Buttercup Creek is nice. I like the area around South Lakeline Blvd. I don't know when the houses were built, but the area has a newish feel to it. Also there are shops around the junction of S lakeline and Cypress Creek, as well as, of course, the main mall area. Another place that we considered was another new developement called Deer Creek, this does not show up on a lot of maps yet. It's at the Anderson Mill road end of Cypress Creek road. We looked at some nice houses there and were almost tempted.

Round Rock I don't really know much about. I've only been there a couple of times and it looks very sterile to me, but that's just my view. That is where Dell is. They are just about to build a big Ikea there and an outlet mall so things should get very busy there soon.

The 183 can be a bit of nightmare, especially at busy times of the day as are most of the major roads. The major rebuilding of the 183 near the Mall and the bottom of Cedar Park is a mess. The level of driving here by the way is unbelievably bad. Something else to bear in mind when buying a house here is the property tax, it can be high. They are trying to pass a bill at the moment that will reduce it somewhat. Also in the summer months, be prepared for high energy bills as you simply cannot exist without air conditioning. Something else you should realize is that very, very few things (like shops/amenities) are within walking distance. You will literally have to drive everywhere.

Let me know if you have any other questions and i'll try to answer them.

JimBo

g1ant

At your age you might want to look at Sun City in Georgetown. It is an adults only, golf community At least you won't have to listen to kids bouncing basket balls on their driveway at all hours.

alex.

Jimbo the Bimbo

Now that is bloody annoying I get the kids across the road doing it. Thud, thud, thud, thud. Grrrrrr, bloody basketbore

jamarick

Thanks Jimbo, Scorchio and others! for all the help you have given us. Yes we realise it is going to be hot but then so is Florida with the added worry of hurricanes. We understand that the pay is better in Texas and cost of living is cheaper even though the taxes are higher. Don't know what the standard of driving is like in Florida. Anything further you can tell us will be a great help to decide between the two.

Jamarick