Austin for Families | Top 5 Reasons to Raise a Family in Austin

If you are considering raising a family in Austin, Texas, you’re in luck. In this blog post, I will discuss five reasons Austin is a great place to raise kids. I’m Tiffany Moore. I’m a local realtor and broker right here in Austin, Texas. I help people from all over the world move here. So if that’s something you’re considering doing, contact me. I’ve got your back when you’re moving here.

Regarding activities for families in Austin, there is so much to do whether you’re interested in Parks and nature or want to check out museums or zoos. Also, you know that Austin is the world’s live music capital; there’s even stuff for kids to do all about music.

One of the most incredible things for families to do in Austin is to visit the Austin Zoo. So the Austin Zoo is known for being a nonprofit rescue zoo and an animal sanctuary. It has over 300 animals representing over 100 different species.

A few of the more unique creatures you will find at the Austin Zoo are African lions, Bengal tigers, and ring-tailed lemurs. Recently, Austin got two female cheetahs at the zoo from another zoo. They’re six and seven years old. Their names are Dya and Amina, and they’re some of Austin’s newest additions to the zoo.

You can also get up close and personal with capybaras or tortoises. You can go in small groups. So this is great if you’ve got cousins in town or want to do a small family outing; you can do groups of three and have a live in-person experience directly with these animals.

I don’t even have kids, and I will make my husband take me to the Capybaras because they are just the cutest things ever. And who doesn’t love tortoises? I’m so excited about this. I’m definitely going to have to check it out.

So Austin offers an inspiring backdrop for having a family and raising kids. From its eclectic art scene to its vibrant shopping districts, there’s always something for people to do in Austin, and all kinds of events are going on year-round.

Finding something that will be friendly for the whole family to do is effortless. I recently filmed a YouTube video about things coming up in Austin that are family-friendly and cool for kids to do. I’m going to go over them to give you an idea of all the fun stuff that there is in Austin.

First is Mardi Gras Mask Crafting. So this is free, it’s open to the public, and it’s being hosted by one of the branches of the Austin Library. So this is open to kids from five to 10 years old. They’re going to provide all of the sparkly stuff, the papers, and the supplies you need to make a really fun mask for Mardi Gras.

Zilker Botanical Gardens recently hosted a whole day dedicated to dinosaur-related activities. So everything from finding fossils followed by a dinosaur costume contest. I don’t know what kid doesn’t love dinosaurs.

Pippi Longstocking played at the Scottish Rite Theater recently. If you have a little one who’s really interested in theater, you can check out the shows at the Scottish Rite.

We know that Austin is growing in all kinds of industries, especially in the craft beer industry. When Dave and I first moved here, there were two or three breweries in Austin, and now there are 20 to 30 breweries in Austin.

It’s fun for people who drink beer but also contribute to an excellent and multifaceted culture here in Austin. So I say that because one of the fantastic events is Meanwhile Brewing’s annual Friend Fest.

Friend Fest is a celebration of friendship and fun, they’re going to have crafts, there’s going to be a photo booth, there will be outdoor space with plenty of room to play soccer and do food trucks, and there’s a playground. So it will be an enjoyable place to hang out and celebrate fun, friendship, and all the fun stuff.

When educating your kids in Austin, you’re looking at some of the best public schools in the country. So ensuring your kids get a stellar education should be number one on the priority list.

When I am looking at schools, I really like to use greatschools.org. I’ve often talked about this resource in my videos and blog posts. Check it out; it’s so awesome.

They give you data on so many different points about every school district and every individual school. So, okay, the school district is performing very well, but what about this school? And then, within the school, you can look at many different criteria and data points to determine which ones are significant to you and where you want to send your kids based on that information.

So based on the ratings from greatschools.org, I’m going to go through some of the higher-rated school districts in the Austin area. So Eanes independent school district and Travis Independent school district are the two top school districts as far as ratings go at greatschools.org.

At Eanes, 100% of the schools in the school district are rated above average 100%. That’s a huge deal. And I’m talking about above average per the state of Texas, so not just in Austin. This is for the whole state.

In Travis, 78% of schools are rated above average, and 22% are rated as average. They have no schools in Lake Travis ISD that are rated below average.

Two other great school districts in the Austin area are the Leander and the Round Rock School Districts, which means you don’t just have to be in that area to the west of Austin.

That is where the Eanes independent school district and Lake Travis are. They’re along that west of MoPac in the area around Lakeway and Bee Cave. You can go further north to the Leander and the Round Rock School District and get great schools.

There is so much growth around the city, and they’re building so many new master-planned communities that many of these communities are getting brand-new schools built directly in the neighborhood.

Santa Rita Ranch is one of my favorite communities in Liberty Hill. It’s got a middle school in it. They’re building an elementary school within it. And then in Georgetown, we’ve got Parkside on the River. They’re building schools within that. Down south in Bastrop, the Colony is a vast development. They’re building schools directly in that community.

So if you’re looking at new construction and one of those big master-planned communities, one benefit is that you’ll have brand-new schools in the neighborhood.

So despite all these amenities and attractions and cool stuff to do, packed into one city, Austin is still affordable compared to other big cities. And we’ve talked about this before, and when people talk about Austin being affordable, we’re comparing it to the Bay Area, Seattle, New York City, and Boston.

Austin is affordable compared to other cities that have already experienced their growth and boom. When you think about all the growth that’s going on in Austin right now, Austin is definitely more affordable than those bigger cities.

However, it’s still expensive compared to places like Louisville, Kentucky, or other places within Texas. Austin is still one of Texas’s more expensive areas, just as far as housing goes. Everything else in Austin besides housing is either at or below the national average.

That’s another bonus of moving to Austin, especially if you’re moving from those big cities, you’re definitely going to save on housing, and you’re saving on your day-to-day costs as well.

Keep in mind that if you’re moving here from somewhere else in the country where it’s like, okay, Austin may be a little bit more expensive based on where you came from, just rest assured knowing that the rest of your day-to-day expenses will be pretty average.

So we’re going to go through some of those costs. So Austin has average prices for typical living costs when it comes to utilities, groceries, and gas. It has slightly higher costs when it comes to medical expenses. And, as we talked about, it definitely has higher costs when it comes to housing.

These are some of the things we will discuss on our call when you’re moving to Austin. I can talk about the different neighborhoods that are more affordable, which ones have the better schools according to greatschools.org, and really where is going to be the best neighborhood based on your lifestyle, your budget, and the life you want to live.

Another cool thing about Austin is that it has a lot of different housing options. So instead of somewhere like New York City, where everyone will live in an apartment, Austin has many options.

You can live condo-living if you want to live downtown. You can live suburban life if you want a house with a two-car garage, a white picket fence, and a dog. You can live somewhere in between. It depends on your preference, what kind of home you’re looking for, what’s going to feel good to you, your price range, and the area of Austin you want to live in.

So if you’re looking for a master-planned community, what you would think of as a traditional suburban tract neighborhood, a few of my favorites are Santa Rita Ranch and Parkside in the River.

These will be north of Austin, in the Leander, Liberty Hill, and Georgetown areas. So these are huge communities. They’ve got gorgeous homes, and they’re having schools built within them.

A lot of what these communities are doing is focusing on fostering a sense of community and relationships within the neighborhood. A lot of times, they will host food truck night, they’ll have a movie night, they’ll have adult-only days at the pool, and things like that.

Many of these communities will have pools, amenity centers, parks, playgrounds, trails, and other things. They want to make it as easy as possible for you to enjoy living in that neighborhood. Communities like this are an excellent way for kids to get to know each other because you can go to the playground, or you can go to the park, walk on the trails, hang out at the pool, and meet other kids doing the same thing.

Also, it’s really cool when you have schools within that community. So then you know what kind of kids your kid will attend school with. And if they meet friends at school, it will be effortless to have play dates because you can drive two minutes down the road and let your kid hang out with his friend you just met a couple of days ago.

You don’t have to drive all over town if HOAs, master-planned communities, and architectural regulations are not your thing; there are many places around Austin where you can put a pink door on the house if that’s what you want. Where you can grow cabbage in the front yard if that’s something that you’re interested in.

There are a lot of planned communities such as Santa Rita Ranch and Parks on the River, but really within the city of Austin, there are no HOAs because most of the houses were built there in the sixties and the seventies, and they’re just not in master planned communities. They’re just in the streets in Austin.

So if you’re looking for something a little bit looser where you don’t have as many rules, maybe you’re looking for something that has a bigger yard, some older trees, and a little bit of character; the city of Austin is definitely going to be an area to consider.

As we discussed, if you are interested in that apartment life or that condo life, Austin is exploding as far as all the growth going on downtown. So many buildings and towers are being built with gorgeous views and excellent amenities. They will be conveniently located to the traditional or cool Austin lifestyle you think about when you think about moving to Austin.

If you’re not ready to buy yet, there are apartment complexes all over town, the city, and the suburbs. So many people are moving to Austin that we have had a housing shortage for so long, and we’re still in the middle of one. But there are options for you everywhere, wherever you go.

One thing, we don’t have a lot of multi-family homes here, and a lot of people that I talk to me about, I want to come in house hack. I want to get a duplex, live on one side, and rent out the other. We don’t really have a lot like that yet. Austin is becoming more diverse regarding population density, so there are more multi-family homes and townhouses and things like that being built. But as far as the traditional duplex, triplex style houses, we only have a few.

And the ones that we do, you will want to put some work into them. They’re not going to be turnkey. They’re going to be value-added properties. You’re going to buy ’em, you’re going to add the value, and then you’re going to refinance it or sell it and do whatever you want to do.

But if you’re coming here looking specifically for multi-family, we just don’t have that big of a market for it right now. They are building some more multi-family developments on the outskirts and where a lot of the other new construction is going on, like Liberty Hill, Georgetown, Leander, and places like that.

I hope this blog post explains why Austin is a fantastic place for families. But if you’ve any questions about moving down here, what else there is to do, the school’s price ranges, or all that good stuff, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. I have got your back when you’re moving to Austin.