Canyon Creek, Austin, Texas

Canyon Creek is a residential neighborhood located in far northwest Austin, Texas. The neighborhood is located in ZIP Code 78726 and is bordered by Farm To Market 2222 (FM2222) on the south, Ranch Road 620 North (RR620) on the west, Anderson Mill Road on the north, and a major headwater tributary of Bull Creek to the east as well as the Balcones Canyonland Preserve. The preserve gives the neighborhood of over 1300 homes a semi-rural feeling despite being less than four miles to major shopping and employment centers. The major bisecting road is Boulder Lane, which winds its way through the picturesque, upper-middle class neighborhood of single-family homes. Boulder Lane is a loop, and crosses RR620 in two places (north and south entrances). The neighborhood is approximately 5 miles from Lake Travis and Lake Austin. Ranch Road 620 runs into the new toll roads of 41 at Lakeline Mall. Fast ways to get downtown is by taking 620 to 183 and going south. Another fast route is taking 620 to 2222 and then onto 360 to the left or the right. Right will take you to Gateway Theater on 183. Left will take you out to southern Austin and that is also a good route to the airport and San Antonio.

Canyon Creek was former ranch and hunting land, and was developed by the Blanton Company in the wake of the savings and loan meltdown in the United States in the late 1980's. Perry Blanton and his company envisioned and developed a completely planned community filled with parks, hike and bike trails. It contains significant protected habitat for the Golden-cheeked_Warbler and black-capped vireo, two endangered species of bird. The neighborhood developed rapidly in the 1990's, and was completely built out by 2005. In the mid-1990's, residents led by Alan R. Weiss and others pushed for an elementary school, which was granted by Round Rock Independent School District (Weiss later served on the Municipal Utility District Board and the Homeowners Association).

Education

Public Schools

Canyon Creek is served by two School Districts:

Roundrock Independent School District (RRISD)
* Canyon Creek Elementary School, a National Blue Ribbon school (Round Rock Independent School District)
* Grisham Middle School, Resently recongnized as an International Baccalaurate World School (IB) Principal is Mary Brinkman and the school has over 700 students. Also students are able to learn French, Spanish and German starting in 7th grade.
* Westwood High School, an Exemplary high school ranked number 78 in the U.S. News and WorldReport survey in 2006

http://www.roundrockisd.org/home/index.asphttp://schools.roundrockisd.org/westwood/http://schools.roundrockisd.org/canyoncreek/http://schools.roundrockisd.org/grisham/

Leander Independent School District
* Grandview Hills Elementary School
* Canyon Ridge Middle School
* Cedar Park High School

http://www.leanderisd.org

Private Schools

Canyon Creek has nearby private schools:

* Hill Country Bible School (K-12)
* Summit Christian Academy (K-12)
* Concordia-Lutheran University (4 year, private, on the grounds of the former Schlumberger (now addressed as Concordia Drive) corporate campus; opens fall 2008)

Churches

Nearby religious institutions include:

* Church at Canyon Creek (Southern Baptist Convention)
* St. Thomas More Catholic Church (Austin Diocese, Catholic)
* Hill Country Bible Church (Bible)
* Cypress Creek Community Church (Missionary Church-USA, on the grounds of Summit Christian Academy, Cedar Park)
* Live Oak Unitarian-Universalist Church (UU, Cedar Park)
* Dell Jewish Community Center Campus (containing both conservative and reform Jewish synagogues)
* Peace Lutheran Church (Lutheran, Missouri Synod)

hopping

Lakeline Mall is less than four miles away, and three large grocery supermarkets (HEB, HEB-Plus, and Wal-Mart) are within two miles.

The neighborhood is notable for having two parks (Homeowners Association Park and Trailhead Park), enormous protected lands surrounding it, close proximity to Austin high technology employers, and a surprisingly diverse population of Anglos, East Asians (primarily Chinese), Asian-Indians, and an active political community.

Sources

*http://www.canyoncreek.net
*http://www.balconescanyonlands.org