Peter,
I live in Northwest Hills and both of my neighbors have chickens -- no roosters please. While they are caged, they free range throughout the day in the back yards. You will need to pay attention to the "wild life" in the particular areas. We back to a greenbelt, so one can expect possums, cats, owls and chicken hawks to be lurking. As far as the rabbits, it does depend on the number you plan to nurture. Most HOA's and neighbors have no problem with rabbit cages. The larger, more private the lot the less worries you will have with your urban farm yard. My neighbors supply me with fresh eggs and I supply them with home made chocolate cakes. It works! You will love Austin. Please see the article below:
BusinessWeek: Austin 2nd strongest economy in the nation
Austin Business Journal
Recovery is still in the works, but the overall economic picture isn't quite so bad in Austin as it is elsewhere.

According to a new ranking from BusinessWeek, Austin is the second strongest city in the nation right now, right behind No. 1 San Antonio.

BusinessWeek used research from the Brookings Institution that looked at a number of factors across the 100 largest U.S. metro areas, including job growth, gross metro product, unemployment change and home prices. Austin won praise for its relatively low unemployment rate and stable housing picture.

Texas came out well ahead of the other 49 states. Not only did San Antonio and Austin rank first and second respectively, but Texas had five cities among the top 10.

To see the full BusinessWeek story, click here.

Contact me with all things real estate.
All the best - Anne

You can have up to 10 chickens, no roosters inside the City of Austin. I've been looking for laws on rabbits myself, and haven't been able to find any. I've looked through all the livestock and pet guidelines and Austin law is silent on rabbits, except you can't torture them to death (a quick, humane kill to eat them should be fine).

If you have kids that are in FFA, you can even have goats or other livestock without a 1-acre minimum, although they were talking about changing that.

Any area in Austin should work for you, although to be honest Round Rock and Pflugerville also have good rules about urban homesteading, and you can get larger lots there for less cash. If you have kids and go to Round Rock, just be careful about CD Faulks middle school. It's the only truly bad school in the Round Rock school district (I have a few friends that worked there as teachers). Anywhere else in Round Rock is great.

Peter, a good Realtor would be able to help you find a place with little to no restrictions. Let me know if you'd like some free assistance. (I also answered your ?? about HOA's) Joe Jarusinsky, Keller Williams Realty Master Instructor/REALTOR. (You can click on my name to the right to get my contact info. or call me @ 512-497-0105)

Depends a lot on the number of "pets" you're talking about. A few chickens or dozens? A few rabbits or a whole slew of them. Greenhouses generally won't be a problem but the chickens and rabbits may be. If you're looking at a lot of these pets, you're probably looking at areas in the county just outside the city limits. In what part of Austin would you be working? Traffic is kind of a pain at times so you may want to consider a quadrant of Austin that would be close to your employment and that would help narrow down communites that might meet your needs.

Guy Gimenez
Broker / Investor
The PowerHouse Group
512-731-5613
guy@phgbrokers.com

Web Reference: http://www.phgbrokers.com

Chickens run wild in the back yards of central austin area all the time. Rosedale, allendale, east austin, even a little spot in downtown. HOA means no way to you... so Stay away from Condos or Townhouses. Callahans on airport is a good place to get some new chicks as well