hood/schools opinion, NW Hills vs Westlake?

B

ballrific

500+ Posts
Currently live in Allandale but have outgrown our 1950's built home; can't stay in the hood b/c you can't really find a house over 1,750 sq ft. So the wife has been looking in NW Hills and what we've found is, the houses are more expensive than westlake per sq ft, less for your money and practically no yard; but I like how it feeds into Anderson and the elementary school, which escapes me now.

Not too pumped about my kids going to Westlake but I know Eanes ISD is good overall, other than that, Westlake has more for your money and actual yards.

So any pros/cons on the schools/neighborhood compared with the two?

Thanks in advance.
 
sounds like a no brainer to me. more for you money on property with an excellent school district. but whatever you think will make your family happiest is the most important.
 
I don't have children, but I do live in NW Hills. From talking to co-workers who are business professionals with children, you can't find a better combination of elementary, middle, and public high schools than what you'll find in the NW Hills neighborhood. In fact, I know two attorneys that work downtown that have recently moved to the area for the very two reasons you mentioned - sq ft and public school quality.

Having said that, I don't know much about the Westlake area. I imagine Westlake HS is as competitive as Anderson... and I assume the same can be said about their elementary and middle schools.

I grew up in Houston. The best parallel I can draw is - Westlake is the local local Memorial, McNeils HS is the local Lamar, and Anderson is the local Bellaire. I don't know much about Austin HS.
 
We live in NW Hills with two kids in first grade at Doss and one that will start kindergarten next year. We love it. Hill is the other elementary in NW Hills and it is excellent as well.
 
same here, grew up in Houston area and that's about what I thought re: westlake and anderson. The Austin High grads I know though hate westlake as if they're the blue collar school and westlake are the punk rich kids. Hell, it cost alot more to live in the Austin High area than it does westlake...
 
Both school districts are good. Check the tax rates for each. That may put them closer to parity. Also, Eanes is facing an aging demographic which is significantly reducing the school enrollment. This trend has been causing significant budget issues which is causing Eanes to seek transfers from other districts. So, you can almost certainly live anywhere you want and still enroll your kids in Eanes ISD as long as you provide transportation. Anderson, as part of AISD, has a much more diverse population which may be an attractive feature for some parents. Also, Eanes tends to field better sports teams on the whole if that's important.
 
OP, how are you determining that homes are less in the Westlake area when compared to Anderson area? I could not disagree more.

As to the other part of your question, both schools are very very good but I'm sure it would be easier to make the top 10% of your graduation class at Anderson than it would be at Westlake.
 
it was probably just the size houses we were looking at. don't get me wrong, I know certain areas in Westlake are much more $ than anderson area. hell, i dont think we can even afford nw hills...
 
"easier to make the top 10% of your graduation class at Anderson than it would be at Westlake"

If that's the criteria, try Crockett or Lanier.

Unless you're just set on NW, look at Shady Hollow, Circle C or Western Oaks. Mills, Small/Bailey, Bowie.
 
Here is a rough breakdown of Anderson vs Westlake (using figures from 2006/2007 school year)

Anderson population: ~2,000 students.
Westlake population: ~2,450 students.
Student to teacher ratio was almost identicle at 14 to 1.
Anderson avg SAT score: 1141
Westlake avg SAT score: 1186
SAT scores seemed to be tredning upwards at both schools.
Graduating class by ethnicity:
White: WS 85% A 70%
Hisp: WS 5.4% A 16%
Blck: WS .4% A 6.4%
Asian: WS 9% A: 9%
Both schools seemed to have a healthy number of National Merit Scholars.
 
Stuck,

Where did you get those numbers? From the respective school districts websites?

I'm asking because I'm wondering if there is a good job website out there that compares school districts. I'm actually looking for a Dallas one, fwiw.

/thread hijack.
 
I just googled a few things and all this information came up. Most of the info came from some sort of standardized report that must be state mandated because the format was exactly the same despite being in seperate school districts.
 
geez, I knew Austin was white but damn. Where are all the african americans? Seems our kids will not have a very diverse school experience compared to what alot of us had in Houston, good and bad I guess but we love Austin. Maybe I need to move to the east side, not sure i can afford east 38th either though. ha.
 
really, Reagan? If that's the case, you'd think McCallum would be very diverse b/c of it's location near there. It might be, I just don't know much about it as a school. I've heard really good and really bad things. I'd be curious to see the %'s though like earlier.

yeah, my high school was 65%+ african american/hispanic, same with elementary/middle school as well. I think the experiences in a well diverse school system are very beneficial; like you said, kind of weird if my kid only goes to schools with 80% caucasian but I'm not going to give up a great school just to move somewhere in town where he'll see more diversity but be at a ****** school. thanks for the feedback.
 
Here are the SAT mean scores for white students, class of 2006 which is the latest updated year:

Austin High: 1165
McCallum: 1161
Anderson: 1163
Bowie: 1098

You can get a great education at any of the above schools, but if you want your kids to go to a diverse campus then McCallum is an excellent choice. It is significantly smaller than the others, is home of the Fine Arts Academy, and has dedicated caring teachers. Ballrific, Allandale is in the McCallum district so I assume your kids re attending Lamar or one of the feeder elementary schools currently.

There are other hoods you could buy a house and stay in McCallum's attendance zone, such as The Courtyard, Hyde Park, Long Canyon, and also part of Cat Mountain. There are houses in those areas that are larger than 1750 sq ft.
 
From everything I've heard, the Doss/Murchison/Anderson district is the best the city of Austin has to offer. I think Westlake would would be a comparable choice, and you can't go wrong with either.

And I disagree with the no yard comment. I live in NW Hills and my backyard is 'yuge.
 
Our part of NW Hills feeds McCallum/Lamar/Highland Park schools. The neighborhood is split. So, you have a choice in that regard.

I really love our area, which is a bit east of Mesa and a bit north of 2222. It's very laid back. I don't love the architecture, save for our house and few other newer houses, but that's a small price to pay for proximity to downtown in a quiet, safe neighborhood with significantly lower prices and better schools than the more central neighborhoods.
 
This really is surprising. I figured Westlake would be at least 2.5 to 1 in costs vs NW hills. Also, 2222 and Mesa is far from downtown. I do love the neighborhood though.
 
Drive NW another 5 minutes and look in 78750 or 78759, and get into the edge of RRISD. The Caraway, Canyon Vista, Westwood path is as good if not better than any in the city. If more square footage, and good schools are what you are looking for on the North side seriously check out what I am saying. Westake are is also very nice, and that was my second choice largely because of relatives nearby for child care.

SAT median in 2006 was 1170, 1156 in 2007, but harder for top 10 percent with the Round Rock international business school there.
 
I'm an Anderson graduate and live in NW Hills. In my biased opinion, the best location in Austin. Not far at all from downtown, and practically the geographic center of Austin when you take into account the entire metro area.
 
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