Cedar Park’s popularity as a place to live, work, and raise a family comes as no surprise to the citizens who helped the town grow.
There is an abundance of cultural and recreational opportunities for families to enjoy here. The Highland Lakes area, a system of five lakes created along the beautiful Colorado River, stretches from downtown Austin (Town Lake and Auditorium Shores) to Lake Buchanan some 60 miles away in Burnet. The largest of the lakes, Lake Travis, is the most popular recreational site among the lakes and can be easily accessed at numerous sites ranging from five miles to ten miles from Cedar Park.
All of Williamson County is well known for a very low crime rate and for its friendly, neighborly people. It is also known for its abundant, affordable housing, low cost of living, clean air, and beautiful scenic vistas. County taxes are among the lowest in the state for comparable counties, and Texas has no personal state income tax like most states. For all of these reasons, Williamson County is one of the most desirable places to live and work in the United States.
One of the advantages of living in central Texas is that there is just so much to do and so much to enjoy. Scenic vistas are only part of the beauty and recreational opportunities of the Texas Hill Country.
Springtime in the Hill Country is one of the most popular seasons of the year; the blooming native Texas wildflowers turn the hillsides into a rainbow of color and fragrance. One of the more popular scenic drives, especially in the spring, begins in Cedar Park and is a circular drive from Cedar Park to Marble Falls on Lake LBJ to Burnet and back to Cedar Park, a total driving distance of 90 miles.
LOCATION
While Cedar Park residents enjoy the surrounding beauty of Highland Lakes and Oak Savannah, it is located only 22 miles from the heart of downtown Austin, the State Capitol and home of The University of Texas. Yet Cedar Park is far enough away from the city to have a relaxed lifestyle that helps to keep it a family-centered community. Yet it is close enough to the city to offer all the amenities of a major metropolitan area!
Cedar Park’s size is 17 square miles and it is perfectly situated between metro Austin and the Texas Hill Country. Whether you like hiking, bicycling, water sports, live music, fine wine, great food, shopping, or any other activity, you will probably find it here (or close by).
POPULATION
Between 1970 and 2000, the population of Cedar Park grew from 125 to over 26,000. Cedar Park is the second fastest growing city in the State of Texas and is one of the fastest growing cities of its size in the United States. From a population of 5,161 in 1990, Cedar Park has exploded on the popularity scale, developing into an urban center of over 30,000 residents in 10 years.
BRIEF HISTORY
Like many other communities, Cedar Park traces its beginnings to the movement of the railroad. The community was first known as Running Brushy until 1882. The name was later changed at the request of a railroad official. Later it was known by its principal product at the time, which were cedar trees. The name was officially changed to Cedar Park with the opening of a post office in 1887.
The discovery of the fossilized skeleton of "LeAnn, the Leanderthal Lady" during construction of the FM 1431 extension to Round Rock during the late 1990s, shows that the area has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years.
EDUCATION
Residents of Cedar Park, like the residents of Central Texas in general, greatly value education. The average SAT scores are very high, and most of the population are high-school graduates, with almost fifty percent having earned a higher-level degree. In all grades, the average ratio of student to teacher is 16 to 1. With its economic stability and high-quality education, Cedar Park is a great place to raise a young family!