Google Fiber Sign Ups Have Begun in 78744!

Google has announced their pricing plan and sign up information for their highly anticipated fiber network that is coming to Austin:

Product Plan and Pricing

Basic Internet
$300 construction fee, then $0 per month
5 Mbps download speed, 1 Mbps upload speed

Gigabit Internet
$70 per month

Gigabit Internet and Television
$130 per month; more than 150 channels

Google seems pretty firm about their Sign Up Deadlines; and of them not constructing the network to "Fiberhoods" that have not met their goals by the dates listed. Check out the  Google Fiber Austin Website to sign up, check deadline dates, and to read about the packages. This is big news for Austin, and SE Austin gets the first chance to join this hot new service.

Google Fiber Launches in Dove Springs!!!

Google's announcement that its highly anticipated Google Fiber network will include the Dove Springs neighborhood had me like: 

This is very big news and definitely a major selling point to potential home-buyers looking at Dove Springs. Google will begin signing up customers here in Austin beginning in December.

KXAN News Coverage

Dove Springs... In the Chronicle, Cool! .... Oh, wait.

I keep coming across articles written about my neighborhood like this one from the Austin Chronicle, and I thought maybe it's a good time to update this blog.

So, I've been in my new neighborhood for 3 months, and there are definitely things I've learned about living in Dove Springs. Some of these realizations were sort of expected, and some have come as a surprise. All in all; I don't feel unsafe or uneasy about living in my neighborhood like the author from the article did. If anything, I found the whole paragraph titled, "The Boy With the Gun", as unnecessary filler. He describes being mugged... in Chicago! It was misleading and sort of irresponsible of the author because when I first glanced the article, as I was waiting to be seated at a restaurant, my eyes went directly to that part and I remember it catching my attention enough that I had to remind myself during the actual dinner that I'd better not forget to read it later. Comparing getting held at gun point in Chicago to having your childhood home in Dove Springs being burglarized is pretty ridiculous, but what do I know?

Dove Springs in the News

I've been at my house for about a month now and it's been a life-changing experience. I now own tools, I have grass to cut, and I find myself spending a great deal of time wandering around Lowes just looking around. I am having a great time and I wish I had purchased a house sooner. As far as the new neighborhood goes... it's had a few ups and downs, which I will save for my next post. Ever since I moved in, I have been receiving Dove Springs-related news articles from friends. I just found out KUT has been putting out a whole series of articles about the neighborhood called, "Dove Springs: Turning the Corner".

From their website:

"When KUT  began this series, the goal was to document the neighborhood's successes and setbacks. “Dove Springs: Turning the Corner” looks at how local, state and educational policies affect the neighborhood – everything from city council representation to childhood obesity."

The first article I was sent was in regards to whether or not the recent changes in the neighborhood was gentrification or a renaissance:

Gentrification or a Renaissance in Austin's Dove Springs Neighborhood?

I also received this Austin Business Journal article recently. In it they map the changes in home values in Austin, particularly in East Austin, where home values are greatly increasing. 

Go East Young Man: Mapping the changes in Austin real estate values

The word is out about Dove Springs and I am excited to see what changes are coming.

Allow Myself to Introduce... Myself.

Just this week I turned into a 30-something first-time homeowner now residing in Dove Springs. I grew up in South Austin near Oltorf and South 1st, right in the center of 78704, currently one of Austin's most trendy and priciest neighborhoods. I was a renter living in Southwest Austin until I decided to buy a home that, more than anything, would be in a location a lot like my old neighborhood around the time that things started changing for the better. I am in a unique position in that I was born and raised in Austin and I am a Hispanic now living in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, that is on the verge of becoming the next "hot" part of town. In this blog I will share my thoughts and experiences of owning and living in a home in Dove Springs. Here we go.