BIKE: Moving back to Austin area

[Chuck_Thomas]

Welcome back Dennis.  I too work at Dell Round Rock campus and live in
North Austin.  I bicycle commute 21 miles round trip everyday year
around.  It's mostly flat and drivers on North Lamar and the I-35
frontage road have gotten used to seeing me out there.  If you like, you
could take the #1 bus as far north as Parmer and ride from there (about
6-7 miles from the Dell campus) but I always just ride it.  There are
several houses for rent and sale in my neighborhood (Quail Creek) and
the prices are reasonable.  (from about $100k) My wife works at UT and
drops the kids off at school on the way, so our house is conveniently
located in the middle within walking distance to shopping, library, etc.
We have two cars but the 2nd one is rarely used.  -chuck-

-----Original Message-----
From: forum-bicycleaustin.info-bounces
[mailto:forum-bicycleaustin.info-bounces] On
Behalf Of Dennis Abbott
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 6:23 PM
To: forum-bicycleaustin.info
Subject: BIKE: Moving back to Austin area

Well after being battered by George Bush's economy for the last 2 years
I am most likely headed back to the Austin area to re-enlist with Dell
Computers in November.  In fact I fly in to interview on Saturday.  I
used to frequent this list way back.  I was laid off from AMD in 2002
and have lived in both Fort Lauderdale, FL and Green Bay, WI since then.
I have learned an immense amount about commuting by bicycle and
communities in general.  I'll save the detail of bike commuting in
Florida and Wisconsin for a later email.

What I want to know is if anybody has an opinion(what this group?) about
where to live with respect to the Dell campus in Round Rock.  I noticed
that CapMetro no longer visits one of the largest employers in the metro
area so I'll be exclusively on bicycle.  I'm gravitating towards Round
Rock east of I-35.  What I don't don't want is a replay of the suburbs
that I was confined to in Wells Branch 2 years ago.  I have a wife and 2
kids in elementary school and if I can get close enough to an elementary
school she will walk the kids like she does here in Wisconsin.  Have any
sections of Round Rock come to light in the style of the New Urbanists?
I'm sticking to my single car(wife's) no matter what.  If I have to bike
10 or 15 miles I can handle that. 
I just want to be somewhat close to work and close to schools and
services such as groceries.  Downtown RR is the obvious choice but if
anyone knows of something else please let me know.  And no I don't
consider Pflugerville a town, hell Round Rock is barely cutting it. 
I'm going to rent at first until the housing market crashes on the back
of America's debt problem and then pick up a house in a year or two.

Oh, and why would I want to leave a nice place like Wisconsin?  I work
in IT for a very large trucking company and we are getting blown away by
high diesel prices, I was hoping I had a few years to wait out things
here as it is a very nice company.  Did not pan out that way.  
Its bicycle heaven here, gonna miss it.

--
Dennis Abbott
902 Estes Dr
De Pere, WI 54115

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