Bastrop, Texas
SperlingViews

Bastrop - 7/24/2012

Great town, close to Austin[more...]

Close to a city, yet quiet - 5/8/2009

I love Bastrop! Yes there isn't a lot to do but the city of Austin is only 15 min away! It is full of open land and green pastures. I enjoy the country like setting quiet away from Austin, which is very busy, and if I need some action I make a short drive into the city.[more...]

Spare Yourself The Misery - 6/12/2006

Don't make the mistake my parents and I did of moving here. Not only is there not anything even remotely interesting to do within the immediate area, but the climate, like that of 99% of the rest of Texas, is almost always intolerably hot and miserable. Plan on paying $4-5 just to go hiking amongst some oak trees in one of the "Lost Pines" parks around here because you can pretty much forget about trying to go anywhere for free. If the limited availability due to privatization of land and avarice isn't enough of a deterrent to try to get out and do something recreational, the monotony of the countryside will be. Apart from the small downtown historic area and riverfront section along the dirty dishwater-colored Colorado River, Bastrop is just a conglomeration of unsightly strip malls and commercialism. It is remarkable how vastly different the quality of life is here compared to that of Austin or areas of the Hill Country to the west of Austin where there are actual outlets for recreation, but it's true. I have had the unfortunate priviledge of experiencing the disparity myself. No free domain for enjoying nature, no cultural venues, no real opportunity for a person to thrive. People just sit and vegetate around here because there is nothing. How many times can you get excited about your weekend entertainment being a shopping trip to Wal-Mart? Maybe if you are one of the rare individuals who owns a 1000-acre ranch around here or even just some horses, things might be a little different. But for the majority of us Bastropians, it's like being in the matrix of lifelessness. Not only that, but everyone around here thinks he or she has to drive a big diesel pickup to make some sort of statement of personal prowess. If you plan on moving here, you might as well just sit back and watch your life get flushed down the toilet. I cannot understand why real estate prices and the population are on the rise, other than maybe that other people have been duped like we were into believing this is a halfways decent place. I wish I could underscore how incredibly unpleasant my stay has been here, but I don't believe these words hardly start to do justice to that. Please, do yourself a favor and don't throw your life away by moving to this insipid void of a town upon the American landscape.[more...]