“...out there you are paying up because you are competing with families paying up for schools , also the apartments are generally bigger and newer.”

^this makes sense to me, having lived in another major metropolitan area that has experienced a similar pattern (gentrification, crisis, etc.). Thank you for sharing your local insight on this. Also, I’m glad you mentioned the bit about “bigger and newer”. This is definitely not what I’m looking for, and in fact is really the opposite tbh. I’m actually looking for an older neighborhood and am totally ok with a small (read: 500-ish sq foot studio).

“I would just drive around and find a cheap old apartment in northeast central Austin

^ this sounds interesting to me. What is this area called? I know I could google it, but your local expertise would be better.

Thank you for sharing this btw!