I’d personally try to live close to work first. Then close to places I want to go out / my friends

Dont know much about triathlete swimming, but there seems to be good swim clubs all over around central Austin.

Generally there’s great cycling in all directions from Austin, too. Not empty roads, but when you’re near the city and there are cars, the shoulders are usually wide and drivers are mostly nice

If you live up north it’s generally flatter, much more rural feel. If you go east you can go basically forever and have great roads and gravel too

West and south is hill country. Can go 100 miles and have awesome scenery galore.

Lots of big group rides start downtown, so not a huge issue there. It probably adds 15 mins on each side of your ride, till you’re out of the city... but then again you can do group rides anywhere

I live a bit southwest (15 min uber downtown), I can bike downtown in 30 mins , and ride out my driveway and be in good cycling roads in just a minute

Pm if you want more details

Assuming a short commute to work might be a stretch. My commute into downtown keeps getting longer as they add stoplights along my route, and more people move here. I don't know many people who live downtown due to cost. Unless you're on a super high end budget, you're likely looking at an apartment instead of house, if that matters to you.

The most active cyclists I know either live northeast (Pflugerville) or southwest (Circle C, Bee Cave/Lakeway, and even farther out), but I'm pretty sure there are group rides that leave from downtown. Getting into downtown for an early workout on the weekend-- either a group ride/run or swim at Barton Springs-- is pretty easy from anywhere.

I do know some triathletes who swim with the UT masters program. They like it, and I would guess that's the place to find the fastest (read: ex-college) masters swimmers, but there are other programs. I think most of them are southwest or northwest Austin (Nitro, Circle C, AASA on Southwest Parkway). What's 'best' might be different for everyone (competitive/fast swimmers, developmental coaching, etc). If you're looking for public pools, downtown has the best choice: Barton Springs, Deep Eddy, Big Stacy (full list of public pools here). Lifetime and the YMCA have several pools spread across the city if you're a member of either of those gyms. I've swam at most of them, and both groups keep their pools clean, but their outdoor pools are hot, whereas their indoor pools are nice and cool, but more crowded.

As far as open water, you can reliably swim in Lake Travis, which is west of town, but you can simulate open water at both Barton Springs (downtown) or the Lifetime Fitness (used to be Pure Austin) on Braker Ln (NW Austin) which has the Quarry Lake behind it. On the east side, Lake Pflugerville and Walter E Long lake both host races and so I think you can swim in those lakes as well just about any time you want.

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I live 1km or so from my office which is 111 Congress or smack dab downtown, and my neighbor's house is available!

Anyway, living very close to the city or in it is pretty fabulous as the running on TL cannot be beat and riding east, west, south and even north is all good. The east side is also a good place to locate as it's very close to DT and also a very interesting (foody and artsy, or rather many places to drink).

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Great discussion. I’m thinking of moving to Austin from Toronto.

How is living north of Austin close to Georgetown? I see Nick Bare lives there and has some great country roads to run and ride on.

I would only be commuting to AMD’s Austin campus which looks likes it’s on the north end?

AMD is southwest. That's a hefty commute from Georgetown.
Lakeway would be a better choice.

One thing not asked or addressed is schools. The Austin school district is not the best.
Leander, Lake Travis, Round Rock all have better school districts.

I have friends who swear by the UT swim program.

I know of bike routes out of downtown but it adds a bit of distance to minimize traffic exposure.
I used to do a group ride called Texas French Bread Bakery ride. We'd meet there and include the Mt. Bonnell climb.
There are a lot of tasty hills close to downtown.

Georgetown is a good community. You have pretty easy access to getting out in the country.
Lake Georgetown is there. If you like mountain biking, I believe it is the only IMBA Epic trail in TX. I describe it as 2 miles of buff trail and 24 miles of riding a jackhammer. It's a bit technical.