Booming Austin suburb named one of America's best small cities

[Neil Narayan]

Austin's suburbs are all the buzz, with Leander landing a massive entertainment hub and Round Rock earning a top spot among the fastest-growing cities. Now, Cedar Park is shining as one of America's best small cities for 2020.

The list comes from personal finance website WalletHub, which looked at 1,200 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 for the study.

https://austin.culturemap.com/...

[Cory S.]

Yes, I live in Leander, moved here in 2007 (although my Dad's side of the family has been in this area since the 1800's) when the population was 23,000 and now it's over 55,000, the traffic is getting pretty sporty around here, Cali plates everywhere. 

I remember back in the 1970's when I was a little kid coming down to visit grandparents and uncles and all this area was just pasture land. 

Leander was just a few building on one street and you had the Bagdad Cemetery, where they shot the opening scene to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

We bought our house in Leander (3 bed 2 bath 1,700 sq. ft. built 1993) for $144,900, now it's worth $253,000. We border Crystal Falls which is pretty high end and we will have the house paid off in 2023. 

Plan on moving back to where I was born and raised in Northeast Texas about 7 years from now after my daughter graduates for some elbow room. 

My uncle who lives in nearby Jonestown has been doing real estate in the area since the early 1980s and has about 20 SFH left in Austin that he bought in various auctions back in the day for $30 to $50K that are now $750K plus.