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What part of Austin, Texas is right for me?

We're a couple of music loving intellectual artsy liberal types looking for a single bedroom apartment right smack dab in the middle of all the action (cool shops, venues, record stores etc.). I've heard that south austin is a nice place to live but how far is this from "downtown"? How much should we expect to pay? And why does every craigslist apt. listing look like a gated community with a giant swimming pool and workout room... yikes! Please help me find a cool apartment that is the antithesis to these hotel looking accommodations.

Public Comments

1. I suggest you Alexian City View at Oltorf..... It is at the East side of the city with a beautiful view for a reasonable price. Yes, they do have a swimming pool, but the apartments celebrate parties very often for their tenants. More as for young adults than for kids. It is not crowdy and just 8 mins from downtown.... 3 blocks from Hwy 35 walking distance to restaurants ... Now, I just visited Tthe Cottages, brand new appartments with garage included in the lower level of your appartment, 10 mins from Downtonw, but on South Hwy 35, across street from a big shopping center, with restaurantes and live music. How much are you looking to pay for? Austin is the perfect city to live in ... but growing too much. Good luck! Austinian for 16 years.
2. As long as you stay pretty central (roughly South of 2222, East of Mopac, North of Ben White, West of i-35 - except for central East Austin which north of the river and south/west of Airport blvd) you should be golden - there's music venues, record shops, vintage clothing stores, independent coffee shops, bike shops, bars, live music, collectives, etc all scattered about in this area. Central East Austin is going to be the cheapest, but it can be a bit of a mixed bag, especially if you won't be able to check it out in person before signing a lease. If you are looking for some small vintage apartment complex "with character" like the kind you find in NYC or any city in the north, you'll be pretty disappointed. Most of the apartments down here are complexes like the kind you describe, and most of the more central ones were built in the 70s and 80s. There are some smaller complexes, with a little more character but they are hard to find, especially if you aren't living here yet. You can still have pretty good luck with renting a house or duplex or garage apartment. Most people I know found their rentals by driving around in the neighborhoods they wanted to live in and checking out the signs - honestly I don't know if people even bother putting ads up for places like these anymore since they're so easy to rent. Craigslist pretty much sucks for finding independent rentals because there's so much crap to wade through, but these are better: http://www.eyesoftexasproperties.com/Available.htm http://www.habitathunters.com/search/index.html
3. Answers to your questions: 1. I've heard that south austin is a nice place to live but how far is this from "downtown"? - South Austin is a great place to live, and since Austin is still relatively small, you can be downtown in 10-15 minutes (regardless of whether you live north or south of Ben White/71). 2. How much should we expect to pay? - For a basic one bedroom apartment, you can expect to pay anywhere from $700 - $1,000 a month. Obviously, the rate will go up the closer you get central or downtown. 3. And why does every craigslist apt. listing look like a gated community with a giant swimming pool and workout room... yikes! - In an effort to reach the younger crowd, most trendy national apartment chains post on Craigslist, but there are plenty of privately owned/mom & pop rental properties avaialble throughout South Austin (especially, off of Lamar, South 1st, and Oltorf. One of the hottest spots in Austin is the Southwest sector of town, so I would also encourage you to check out spots around Brodie Lane, William Cannon, Stassney, and Manchaca Road. Again, all of these locations are no more than 15 minutes from downtown. I hope this helps; good luck on your move!
4. The downtown apts are really nice and very very pricy... I live about 30min from austin and i would loooove to live there myself but its not going to happen! anyways, you should live downtown austin... there are some really cool lofts and things like that for sale/rent.
5. For Austin I would definately not rent from craigslist The best way it works is to visit and drive around The person who said most people who own cool rentals just throw a sign out front and rent it pretty quickly