What is a nice neighborhood/apartment complex near UT (Austin) with no car but willing to use mass transit.?

Question

My sister just accepted a fellowship at UT (Austin) and needs to find a place to stay. Neither of us know much about TX. She does not have a car (she's always lived in large cities with good mass transportation systems). Can anyone recommend neighborhoods she should focus on that are safe, diverse, and an easy commute (by mass transit) to UT?

Answer 1

Hyde Park is a good place to look, it's close to campus (easy bike ride distance) but is still a nice neighborhood and many buses run through it.

Here's a good map of the neighborhood:

http://austin.smallplanetguide.com/renta...

I wouldn't call it "diverse", but it's a nice neighborhood.  

A good bet would be to check out the campus bus lines and see what areas they go.  They don't service the whole city, and the regular bus system has a lot of dead zones, so watch out for that.  If she's not planning on getting a car for things like grocery shopping, entertainment, etc, she'll want to be closer to the center of town where there's more stuff in walking distance and more buses that go many different places.  And avoid the East Riverside area - there's lots of campus buses that go there, but it's not really a nice area (although it is more ethnically diverse than Hyde Park).

Answer 2

Most UT students live in the neighborhoods of  West campus or Hyde park.  West Campus is within walking distance as are parts of Hyde park.  Both communities are serviced by mass transit and have plenty of retail business within walking distance.

As far as specific complexes there are literally hundreds..mainly smaller ones with varying age and price.  I strongly recommend that you use an apartment locator.  A quick search on google will net many choices.  Craigslist is a great resource for apts in these neighborhoods.