I have been looking at smaller towns in the Texas Hill Country to move to and start a family and recently I have been looking at Dripping Springs, about 30 min. west of Austin. Has anyone lived there or know any helpful information that could be of good use?
Nice place...although not necessarily if your a minority...very white, very country. I personally like the town and everyone I've run into there has been very nice and helpful. BUT...I'm a HS football coach and when we went down there earlier this year we had some issues with racial slurs as we walked out to the field. Could've just been a few idiots...but that's my experience.
I'm actually quite young (graduating college this year) and my fiancee and I are hoping to live somewhere in the Hill Country. We both grew up in Houston our whole lives and we have seen both of our neighborhoods and surrounding areas go into a rapid decline as far as crime and general quality of living go. My fiancee is currently teaching 1st grade and she had a student bring a gun to school. A 1st grader. Gun. School. Almost as bad, the other day one student imitated the act of smoking and said to the student right next to him "That's how you smoke weed." I understand that not everyone wants to live out in the country and it may not be the "hip" thing to do. In my opinion I would absolutely love to live in that area and raise a family. I love Houston and I always will but wow, things have certainly changed and I'm not about to raise a family in the hood.
2deep, I'm sorry that you had to endure those words, that is unfortunate that people have to do that to make themselves feel better. Could you tell me a little more about the town as far as activities? What/where are the main attractions, restaurants, stores, etc?
baylorbear09, I hear you. I'm 38 and have grown to hate a lot about metroplex living, but I do like a lot of things about it, too. Just make sure you aren't running away from one bad only to land in another pile of unwanted things. Consider things like education and availability of facilities for your kids as well. Libraries, technological facilities, "fun stuff", etc. are just as important sometimes. There are a lot of people that have tried running away from the city only to find out they weren't ready to face what was out in the country. The good thing is that Dripping Springs appears to only be about 20-30 miles outside of Austin, so at least civilization will still be around.
I just found this for ya : http://www.drippingspringstx.com/ There's a forum on there for the town. That would be a nice place to start - ask the people there. I drove and talked to people in a small community in Arkansas that I wanted to buy land in to see what they were like. It's not a great sample-size, but it was nice to just walk around and talk to people you've never met but who may end up being neighbors.
Dripping Springs is a very nice place. There's not much disconnecting it from Austin anymore as there has been a lot of growth in that part of town. The main drawback is probably the rush hour drive in on 290. They are working on that, though. Other than that, Dripping Springs ISD is very highly rated. If you go north, you're minutes from the Hill Country Galleria and Lake Travis. Go east and your minutes from Downtown Austin. Go west and your minutes from the Hill Country. If both my wife and I didn't work in N. Austin (and love living in Round Rock), Dripping Springs is where we'd be.
Have driven through a few times and went to a wedding there once. Don't remember there being too much there in the form of restaurants, and and my impression was there are more farms than residential... but I could be wrong on that, probably just the part of town I've driven through. It seemed a little closer to Austin than 30 seconds to me. It is really close to some of the state parks on the west side of Lake Travis, and Driftwood (the Salt Lick) is 15 minutes or so away.
Not much in the way of town attractions that I know of, it's basically the main drag right through the middle of town with lots of neighborhoods 5 to 10 minutes out. It is relatively close to Austin (~30 mins...maybe 20 to S Austin) which there is anything you'd want there. The school facilities aren't outrageous (Lake Travis, Westlake) but relatively nice. Just your general small town feel, seems very much like Columbus where I grew up. But like I said, just a very country, very Caucasian place, big difference from Houston.
Dr of Dunk, Thank you, you have been most helpful. We have been talking about living out that way for awhile and we are taking our time and making sure we make the right choice. We did your visiting idea two months ago for a town outside of San Antonio called Boerne (great place by the way) and loved it. Obviously, Dripping Springs is less developed than Boerne but we were intrigued by a lot of what we have seen on the internet. We've been looking at their schools for not only my fiancee's work but for whenever we have children and both Dripping Springs ISD and Lake Travis ISD are very commendable. As far as attractions they have a good amount and like you said, Austin is only a short drive away and since I might be working there that will be good as well. I will always love Houston. It is where I grew up and where my family is. So many memories, so many friends. We just believe that it is time to start our own chapter away from it all. Again, I really appreciate your help. Best wishes.
leroy420, Thank you for your reply. Round Rock is incredible. We go there all the time to the outlet mall. It's just amazing country over there isn't it? That's good to hear about the 290 improvement. Thanks again for your help, take care.
I'm a camping fanatic so that is good to hear about the parks. I appreciate your help. Have a good evening.
Dripping Springs is great, schools are great, close to Austin, and the Wine country. Good place to raise a family and only about 15 minutes from the Salt Lick. Austin is moving that way...in 20 years it may be another Round Rock. DD
That's a good suggestion... Lakeway felt more built up and a little more suburban-y to me than DS... A little further out from Austin than DS, but a very nice area.
