Best areas of Austin to live in

I may be moving to Austin by the end of the summer if I decide to take a job that has been offered to me. I'll be there next week for 3 days interviewing and will have a lot of free time to explore the city. Single guy so I really don't need a big house. I would prefer a small 2 bedroom home but am open to anything that has a small backyard for my spoiled pug. Not looking to buy just yet. Where are some areas I should look at that are close to Cannon and SW Parkway? I don't mind a commute but nothing more than 20 minutes.

Traffic is so bad in Austin I'd say live anywhere close to work.

it is so expensive and the pickings are so slim I'd say you'd be lucky to get anything at all like that, as rental, less than about $1800-2000 and up anywhere around there, take the first thing u see that u can afford because it will be gone by tomorrow. good luck.

These days that means 2 or 3 traffic lights. As someone else said, stay close to work. Apologies in advance for the prices.

I don't mind a commute but nothing more than 20 minutes. Originally Posted by JHurt1968

Staying close to work will limit your choices.
Best bang-for-the-buck will be living in NW area, but only if your office is out there... getting back into town from there via Anderson MIll or 183 is crazy at rush hour.
If your office is close to downtown, your out-of-luck and will have to pay high $ per sq. ft., either for a condo. in the area, central north, or maybe home in SW (or slums in SE).
If you have a tech job that lets you come into work late or telecommute, then you may be able to live anywhere.
The problem in this area, really, is (unlike say So. Cal or even Hou/big-D) there are not too many alternate paths to get around town.