Living in East Austin - Austin, Texas

Video by Spyglass Realty Realtor®, Randi White.

East Austin is truly exciting. As one of the fastest gentrifying areas in the country, you will find an amazing combination of old and new sprinkled throughout its many neighborhoods. 

Historically, East Austin was a working-class neighborhood and rich in culture for the African-American and Mexican-American communities. However, with a rapid resurgence of redevelopment, East Austin has become a cultural melting pot with art studios, galleries, cocktail bars, cafes, and so many food trucks. 

Beloved taco areas and barbecue joints now rub shoulders against modern condos, fancy restaurants, and refurbish bungalows that house groovy hair salons with names like Peacock and Orbitz. 

Throughout the neighborhood, you can find coffee shops, per capita eateries, food trucks, and local farmers' markets. Forbes called East Austin one of America's hippest hipster neighborhoods. The neighborhoods inside of East Austin are all very unique from each other, providing a broad range of Austin vibes available for you to plug into the schools and communities.

East Austin Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods you can find in East Austin are as follows:

• Mueller

• Wilshire Woods

• Cherrywood

• Chestnut

• Rosewood

• Central East Austin

• East Austin

• Govalle

• Holly

• East Cesar Chavez

Most condos you'll find in this area are modern and built since 2000. The typical East Austin houses are single-family homes, bungalow or ranch-style that was built in the first half of the 20th century, or custom modern home built after 2000. 

The price point for East Austin will be in the 400,000 to $600,000 range. However, homes do easily reach well up to a million dollars. 

East Austin is popular with students, artists, musicians, young professionals, and young families. The majority of residents are between the age of 35 to 54 years old, with it being almost an even split down the middle either having kids or not having kids. Interesting fact the area is 45% of owners and 55% of renters.

Getting Around East Austin

Getting around in East Austin is a picture-perfect example of high walkability and city public transit at its best. East Austin is known for having a ton of bike riders in very popular areas of manner. 

East Bay Street, East Cesar Chavez, and Mueller all have great infrastructure for both bike riding and walking. A wonderful feature of East Austin is also the metro rail stations that you have access to at both the MLK and Plaza Saltillo stations, which make it a breeze to get to downtown Austin where you get more access to boutiques, nightlife, music venues, and art galleries.

East Austin Parks

Austinites enjoy the outdoors in this neighborhood and a special thing about East Austin has certainly embraced the culture with how biker and walker-friendly they have designed the area. Patterson Park and Cherrywood have a variety of athletic courts, a skate park, and barbecue areas. 

Right next door is Mueller, which has an expansive Lake Park filled with playgrounds, green space for group sports and activities, and plenty of trails for biking with friends and family. Farther south down by the river you'll find two very popular parks, Edward Rendon Sr. Park at Festival Beach and Mets Neighborhood Park where you can enjoy the very popular splash pad, more athletic fields, and access to Austin's beloved hike and bike trail. 

East Austin neighborhoods Holly and East Cesar Chavez have close proximity and easy access to the Lady Bird Lake where you can do some paddle boarding, kayaking, and canoeing plus hiking and biking at the Ann and Roy Butler trail.

Shopping Centers in East Austin

The first major shopping center to take note of is the Mueller Retail Center which has more than 25 businesses such as Old Navy, Marshalls, PetSmart. Best Buy and Home Depot. You can then head over to the Capitol Plaza Shopping Center where you can get your Target fix or hit up Ross or Marshalls if Mueller didn't cut it for you. 

There are three H-E-Bs in Easy Austin including an H-E-B plus! all within a few miles. For non-Texas, H-E-B is an amazing, affordable local grocery store that provides value and quality groceries. There are also three Walmart stores in East Austin within a five-mile radius and a Whole Foods store located near East Cesar Chavez.

Where to Eat in East Austin?

Austin is always killing it by providing great food with a great atmosphere in its restaurants. First and foremost, you will be in the same neighborhood as the most famous bbq spot in Austin, Franklin Barbecue. 

Since 1981, Juan in a Million in Holly has been an Austin favorite. You will have to try the legendary Don Juan Taco which was featured on the Travel Channel's Man vs. Food. 

Cherrywood Coffee House is another neighborhood favorite in addition to the typical coffee shop there, this place also has yoga classes, Comedy Nights, and live music. Austin restaurants are endless, so do not take up too much time. Let me just run through a quick list of the other best places to eat and drink in East Austin. You’ve got Eastside Cafe, mi Madre’s, Salty Sow, Haymaker, Thunderbird, Bennu Coffee, Austin Daily Press, and East Side King at the Liberty Bar.

Are you considering moving to East Austin? Need some advice on where to move? Click here to speak to a real estate consultant! You can also check out the available listings in Central Austin here.

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