"James Blakely" wrote in
message ...

I may be moving to the Austin, TX area in the near future and am looking
for
information about the area. I've already looked up airport information at
AirNav.

Congratulations. You'll love it. My wife considers MLB purgatory after
living in Austin. I've been away for a few years, but here's what I
remember or have observed from afar.

Regarding this area, what is the general attitude toward GA? Are any of
the
airports threatened to shut down due to neighbor complaints or
development?
Do any of the airports have hangar space available? (I mean open now, not
the ten year waiting list scene.) Is there a big GA presence?

The city of Austin has no use for GA. They closed Mueller and moved to the
old Bergstrom AFB, chasing off 200+ planes based at Mueller with outrageous
rents. Austin executive was privately owned and Dell bought it up for the
land coincidentally within a few weeks of Mueller closing. So everyone was
scrambling off to neighboring towns. I believe Georgetown and San Marcos
got the most. Some went out to Taylor or even to Giddings. Georgetown has
some vocal opponents, but they've been expanding. San Marcos was nice.
Taylor didn't have much, but I hear they've been putting in a few
improvements.

AOPA has been pushing for a new GA airport. Got a bunch of Fed $ to do a
study. It's supposedly in work. I expect it will take years for anything
tangible to happen.

Also, any thing you guys can tell me about the area aviation or not
aviation
related would be appreciated.

First, traffic is a bitch. Two major N-S thoroughfares -- I-35 (IH-35 to
the locals) and Mopac. Always clogged. North of the river, US 183 is the
only E-W hwy and it's 10 miles north of downtown. So you're stuck on
surface streets.

Where you want to live depends on where you work. Generally, prices drop as
you move away from downtown and major business areas. Check the commute.
My 10 mile commute went from 15 min to 30 min in 3 years as traffic was
growing rapidly.

Lots to do. Start with www.austin360.com for info. And be sure to take the
wife to Central Market.

Gerry