My family originally moved to Hutto in 1986. My parents were pleased with the small town atmosphere, lack of crime and easygoing way of life. The school district was in only two buildings at that time, the old high school and Hutto Elementary. I got older and like any other teenager, could not wait to move away. My biggest complaint about Hutto in those days was gossip but otherwise my recollections made me think Hutto would be a good place for my family to settle when we decided to buy a home in 2004.

We closed on our house in Hutto Parke in September of 2004. This was a monumental time for our family as this is our first home. We moved into the house with jubilee and settled in. I was happy in this community for about a year and then my enthusiasm started to fade. My displeasure is multifaceted and I will try to hit on the points that caused my disenchantment.


1. My first problem is with HISD.

My son is in special education and I have had to write repeatedly to complain to get anything accomplished. Then the department still drags their feet and is snide in complying with TEA regulations.

My son has attended 4 different elementries, the latest being Veteran’s Hill Elementary that is 7 miles from my house, when Cottonwood is less than a mile from home. I bought a house to give him some stability and since 1st grade, he has only attended one school for 2 consecutive years.

2. Hutto Parke has turned out to be a lemon.

We bought a smaller home within our means with the intention to sell in 7 years and move up. My house has not had any structural damage, we have no nail pops or creaking noises. But with the press that Lennar and Hutto Parke has received because of a shoddy builder (must not be my builder), we will not be able to sell until everyone has forgotten about the complaints. So, we are stuck with this house that is too small.

Because of the liberal practices of the mortgage industry during the development of Hutto Parke, a lot of houses were foreclosed and became rental property. This neighborhood has a select few that are undesirable and troublesome. My son has gotten a bike and a skateboard stolen from my front porch.

My son was incited to fight with a friend last week by a gang of teenagers. This fight was being taped by the teens and they actually picked him up after he fell to fight on. I have been scanning UTUBE to find the video. This is unacceptable, who raises kids who would do this?

My neighbor is pregnant and has 4 adults and 6 children living in a 4-bedroom house. They have four cars and fill up the drive, so all of their friends have to park in front of my house on weekends. There are no HOA covenants or city ordinances for occupancy in a single-family dwelling. So, we have to live with the boarding house next door.

I have to listen to booming radios from cars that are driving 45+ on the streets where our children are playing without any regard for their safety. Who cares as long as your car is booming, huh?

I am seriously considering not letting my son leave my block to play. I do not know who lives in this neighborhood and my job is to watch out for him. I was walking to the mailbox on Sunday and these 6 or 7year old girls were driving a Barbie car down the middle of the street, there were no adults in sight. I had to tell the children to get out of the street because there were real cars behind them moving 2 mph waiting. Where were these parents?

We jokingly started calling Hutto Parke the ghetto a year ago and this is turning out to be the case. I hate the direction my neighborhood has headed and just want to sell and get out. But, oh, I can’t do that because of the shoddy workmanship of a builder who came after we bought our house.

3. Hutto Police have an attitude.

In any encounter we have had with Hutto Police they were cocky and attitude driven.

On one encounter, my husband called to complain about a band practicing on the block behind us. They told him that there was not a noise ordinance and they could not discontinue the band from practicing at 2 am. These people proceeded to confront my husband, in a threatening way, after the cops left. (Another complaint about Hutto Parke)

I have neighbors who have only had bad experiences with them too. They assume you are guilty even if you are a law abiding citizen.

At this point, I am ready to move from Hutto and call it a loss. Who needs a hometown anyway? Hutto has become a haven for cast offs and undesirables, the city council is too busy arguing to make any change and the school district is floundering with the growth. WARNING, choose another town, Hutto is not adjusting well to growth.

APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE! This was so very well-written, honey. (It feels weird calling someone that I don’t know “honey”.) I thank you for taking the time to join this forum and say what is on your mind. I think you speak for many of those who live here in HuttoParke – we too moved here thinking it would be a wonderful place to raise our young children, and have since been proven wrong. I truly feel sorry for the people who have lived in Hutto for years and have had to watch their community turn into what it is today. My prayer is that it will change for the better, and fast. But if things keep progressing as they have, this town will be known on the map as one of the top 10 worst places to live. Again, thank you for speaking your feelings in such an intelligent and mature manner, I for one, appreciate your post.

Thank you for sending me an email and your permission to make this public. We have started a "Letter to the editor" area in which we will post these concerns. http://www.searchhutto.com/Letters-to-the-editor Welcome to the forum!!!

Thanks, but goodness someone has to spell it like it is. I wanna cry everytime my son gets beat up by unsupervised, rogue kids. My son son is only 11 and I had to teach him to hit back if not he would get his butt kicked daily.

http://shop1.frys.com/product/5382678?s ... IN_RSLT_PG

I am looking at putting some cameras up on my home. Seems like the thing to do these days.

That is a good buy! What is on the receiving end though - does it hook up to your computer or TV for monitoring or what?

Your computer with one of these babies. http://shop1.frys.com/product/4282924?s ... IN_RSLT_PG Recording everything to the hard drive. Up to 4 cameras. I have a puter ready to go but the hand me down capture card I have is toast. I have several cameras and a few to spare. I need new ones though, mine are old and black and white.

I am feeling less pessimistic today. I am going to get more involved, instead whining about what I can help change.

Please let me know when this supposed HOA meeting will be so that I can attend. I will also attend city council and school bard meetings when I can.

My ranting post was the beginning and made me realize the situations I was complaining about can be changed. I just need to be more proactive.

Thank you for stepping up and being a part of rather than just a voice. We need more like you! Please keep us updated here so we can work collectively and hopefully distribute the work load where needed. We are all about utilizing each others information in efforts to be more efficient and not doubling up on paths already ventured. If we can pick up where others left off with an index of where to pick up the pieces for the next party, collectively we can accomplish years of work within months. This is what excites me most about searchhutto.com