The Austin mentality: “You live so far!” …Or DO you? by dana.leslie | November 3rd, 2010

One of Austinite’s catch phrases is “you live so far!” We’ve all heard it. Maybe the comment was directed at a friend, colleague, or perhaps yourself, but the big question on the receiving end is “DO I?” Austin, Tx in the early 1990′s was a different city altogether. Circle C Ranch and Village at Western Oaks in S. Austin were practically the suburbs. And once you passed 360, headed W. on Bee Caves Road, you were “way out there.” But putting it in perspective today, how far do you really live?

Let’s take Village at Western Oaks for example. It is around 9 miles from Downtown Austin. So outside of rush-hour, it would take the average person around 15 minutes to get from point A to point B. It’s almost a fairytale to get anywhere faster than that these days, isn’t it? And those who live in Lake Pointe can expect about a 15-20 minute drive to work if they office dowtown. What a breeze, especially considering how much house you get for your money in Lake Pointe!

When comparing to cities like Los Angeles (where 10 miles could take you well over and hour and 1/2, even on a random Saturday afternoon) or Houston (where you’ll easily spend 45 minutes trying to get from one end to the other, with no traffic), the scale of Austin starts to look really manageable. You can get from Sunset Valley to the Domain in around 15-20 minutes. Wow!

So for those of you who live just a touch outside of Central Austin, say it proudly “I do NOT live THAT far!”