West Austin, beyond MoPac

West Austin is the hill country west of MoPac and north of the river, where the Balcones Escarpment lifts the land off the prairie. Tarrytown, the area the West Austin Neighborhood Group represents, runs from MoPac to the bluffs above Lake Austin and was mostly built between the 1930s and the 1950s. Northwest Hills climbs the ridges north of it around RM 2222 and Far West Boulevard and was developed from the 1960s on. 2 guides are listed below.

Both are among the most expensive parts of the city and both are in Austin ISD. The ground is the difference from the rest of Austin: limestone and slope rather than clay, which means fewer foundation problems and more retaining walls, steep driveways and trees. On the wooded ridges the City's wildland-urban interface code applies fire-resistant construction requirements to new building and to large additions, and the lots along Lake Austin, a constant-level reservoir behind Tom Miller Dam, carry the Lake Austin overlay's own limits on what can be built near the water.