Cedar Park

Cedar Park is one of the most popular suburbs of Austin, with many options for restaurants, shopping and entertainment. It is about a 20-30 minute drive to downtown Austin, and is an easy commute to Austin’s tech hubs in North Austin. Both the houses and the lots are larger here, and the construction tends to be newer. Most of the homes in Cedar Park will be zoned to Leander ISD. Almost all of the homes are in an HOA, and community amenities vary depending on the neighborhood. There isn’t much new construction in Cedar Park right now. Most new construction has moved further North.

Leander

Leander is your town if you like new construction! It is further northwest of Cedar Park so it is a pretty good distance from downtown Austin. But there is so much new construction out here and there are tons of restaurants and stores (like Home Depot, Costco, etc.). The biggest master-planned community in this area that is still building is Santa Rita Ranch. Leander ISD is generally highly regarded, but some homes in Leander will be zoned to other surrounding school districts.

Liberty Hill

Liberty Hill is to the northwest of Austin. It feels a little bit more rural than other areas but that is rapidly changing. You can find homes on big lots (1+ acre), and there is a ton of new development. The downtown is small, but there is a new HEB superstore and a lot of new commercial growth planned. Depending on location, schools are either Liberty Hill ISD, Leander ISD or Georgetown ISD. Both suburbs are an easy (but not necessarily short) commute to the Austin tech hubs.