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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Anyone live far south (say, south of Slaughter)?
My husband and I are looking at houses, and we're leaning toward getting a newer one, but it seems like most of the stuff that's available in the part of town we want is pretty far out (we're looking on the south or southwest parts of town). DH works downtown, and the job I'm interviewing for would be downtown as well. The houses we're considering so far are near Slaughter and I-35 or off Manchaca south of Slaughter.
So, my question for you ladies who live out that way is -- do you think having a nicer/newer house is worth the commute? And how long does it take you to get to work in town? Just weighing our options here. 
Re: Anyone live far south (say, south of Slaughter)?
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we live in circle c and we love it! the commute is about 10-15minutes to downtown (20-25 during bad traffic). its much closer than the north suburbs would be and i like living in austin proper close enough to downtown that we can enjoy things like zilker park and south congress, without having to drive too far in.
one thing to think ok- la crosse is equidistant from cesar chavez to far west on the north side, so its similar to living north within the 183 'loop'. its certainly not urban living, but its as close as we could get and have a house that suits our family.
Ditto molliedb. We live a few blocks south of Slaughter at Brodie and I work near Palmer Auditorium. It takes me 20 minutes tops to get to work at 8:00. Plus there are so many routes, if traffic is bad one way, you can always go another.
Also, she's right about distance. It really isn't that "far", it's just a perception thing.
Part of what we like about the area is all of the hike/ bike trails and places we can get to on our bikes.
I think it really depends on the neighborhood and where you will be going for traffic issues .. because I had an 8am appt off Brodie and was headed northbound on brodie about 8:15 and it took me 15 minutes to get from Frate Barker to Slaughter... so you would really have to do your homework on missing traffic. Feel free to email me if you have any quesitons regarding homes in south austin.. Id be happy to help if I can. findyourwayhomeinaustin at gmail dot com.
best wishes, Carisa
ETA: I take I-35 the whole way. I've heard that traffic on Mopac can be worse than I-35.
We live in Bauerle Ranch which is south of Slaughter. My husband works just north of the 360 Bridge. The commute isn't terrible for him. It usually takes him about 35 minutes (leaving the house about 8:30).
I take a lot of classes and have a lot of activities north of the river and I'd say it usually takes me about 30 minutes with no traffic to get to my destinations.
I love living this far south. I definitely wouldn't move far north for comparable housing (south is just more friendly and laid back, IMO.)
Austin traffic is a beast all its own compared to the likes of Los Angeles and DC. In the few years we lived up north, I found my commute to downtown change from leaving at about 8 AM without worrying too much about traffic, to leaving before 7:15 just to beat getting jammed on Mopac. How important is commute time to you? Will your budget allow you to look at homes with important updates closer to center of town? While commute time for the areas you're looking into aren't bad right now, arm yourself with the knowledge that there aren't many plans to significantly improve the roadways in Austin if you decide to commit to buying in that area.
That being said, I would look more into the Slaughter/Manchaca area. I-35 is definitely the worst highway by far and as of now, there are no plans to improve the stretch in Austin. Mopac is supposed to add managed lanes, but god knows how long that will take since it doesn't involve a toll, and if it's an HOV lane, traffic's not going to be that much better.
Sorry this got so long. Like I said, Austin is a different beast compared to a lot of other places with traffic issues (they shot themselves in the foot when the planned the roads in the 70's/80's). Good luck with the house hunt in whatever you decide.
My blog about starting over, dating, life and all of its awkward moments.
I live in the area (Slaughter/35) and we love it here!! Even *after* my husband was transferred all the way up to the Arboretum area. He doesn't have any complaints about the commute. Busy as expected from Slaughter - Chavez or so, then smooth sailing. He says he's rarely in standstill traffic though, even when he leaves at the busiest times of day.
I'm a SAHM, so obviously I'm not commuting, but one of the things I love most about this area is the very quick drive into downtown (off-traffic hours). I feel like we're still in Austin (some of the northern suburban areas just lost the "Austin feel" to me) but we were able to get a brand new house for a pretty good price.
I really like our neighborhood, feel free to send me a private message if you want info!
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
i'm not quite as far south... off of william cannon and brodie. i leave at 8:30 am and get into the office downtown right around 9 am. that includes parking 4 blocks away from the office and walking (no way was i going to pay $150/month to park my car for work!!!).
like some of the other posts, you do have options other than 35 or mopac. i've taken lamar up north just to test if it would be faster when it rains, but i haven't figured out if it really is any better. it's still about a half hour commute.