Crestview and Brentwood

Crestview and Brentwood sit side by side between Burnet Road and Lamar Boulevard just north of 45th Street, split by Justin Lane. Same tree-lined streets, same late-1940s and 1950s ranch stock, same ten-minute shot to downtown. People talk about them as one neighborhood because functionally they are.

Real Estate in Crestview and Brentwood

The 78756 median runs around $768,000, and the practical range is the high $600,000s into the $800,000s and above. Here's the fact that shapes every deal on these streets: most of the original houses are two-bedroom, one-bath ranches sitting on lots of roughly 9,000 square feet. Small house, big lot. Which means very few buyers here are pricing the house as it stands. They're pricing the addition, the backyard studio, or the scrape. If you want a finished three-bedroom, plan on bidding against a renovator with a spreadsheet and a builder with a plan set, and expect the gap between untouched and fully redone to look like two different markets inside one zip code. Ask me for current comps before you decide what a specific block is worth.

Schools in Crestview and Brentwood

Both neighborhoods are Austin ISD. Brentwood Elementary is the walkable option and well regarded, feeding Lamar Middle School and then McCallum High School. McCallum's Fine Arts Academy pulls students from across the district by application, so being zoned to McCallum and getting into the Academy are two different things. Confirm the attendance zone on the exact address before you write an offer.

Dining and Lifestyle

Burnet Road and Anderson Lane are why people move here. Lucy's Fried Chicken, Upper Crust Bakery for the cinnamon rolls, Fonda San Miguel for interior Mexican, Hat Creek Burger Co. for burgers and shakes. Little Deli in the Crestview Shopping Center turns out some of the best pizza in Austin from a storefront. The Little Longhorn Saloon runs Chicken S*** Bingo on Sunday afternoons, which is about as Austin as it gets. One of only two Central Market locations in the city is minutes away, with prepared foods and weekly cooking classes. Add Lala's Little Nugget, the year-round Christmas bar, and you have a stretch with more personality per block than most cities manage citywide.

Parks and Outdoor Living

Brentwood Park is the center of gravity: pool, basketball courts, playground, open green space. The North Austin Optimist fields host youth baseball, and Shoal Creek Trail links into the wider Austin trail network. Flat terrain and connected sidewalks make walking and biking genuinely practical. The lots handle the rest, with room for a garden, a play set, a long table, or nothing but the shade of mature pecan and live oak.

Housing Options

The original ranch homes set the tone: hip roofs, small covered entry porches, attached carports. Layered on top is a decade of infill, including updated mid-century houses with modern kitchens and opened-up living space, contemporary new builds on single lots, and the occasional duplex or ADU. Lots of roughly 9,000 square feet, larger than the Central Austin norm, are what make all of it possible. Expansions, backyard studios, and accessory dwelling units fit on this much ground.

Getting Around

The Crestview MetroRail station sits on the eastern edge and runs Capital MetroRail service straight into downtown, which makes this one of very few Central Austin neighborhoods with real commuter rail. Burnet Road and Lamar Boulevard carry the commercial corridors and most daily trips. Downtown is 10 to 15 minutes by car, MoPac is a short drive west, and most of Austin sits inside a 15 to 20 minute drive.

Why Crestview and Brentwood

Mid-century houses on big lots, one of Austin's best dining corridors at the end of the street, a rail stop on the edge, and Brentwood Park in the middle. The catch is the original floor plans are small, so the real question is whether you buy finished or build into the lot. I can walk you through both versions of that math. Let's go see what's available.