When Rachel Cambern moved to Round Rock from Atlanta in December, she said she didnt know much about the city, but she knew what she wanted.

Cambern, 23, said she wanted a short commute to her new job at Dell Inc. She also wanted parks and trails on which to run with her dog.

To fit in and find other young people, she joined a local soccer league her former coach in Atlanta found for her.

"It seems like a nice area; it definitely seems like more of a family area," she said. "There's young people but lots of young people with children."

When Cambern moved to the city she became one of the 21,611 Round Rock residents between the ages of 18 and 34, according to data from the 2013 American Communities Survey. This demographic comprises 23.11 percent of Round Rocks total population, according to the survey.

This age group, commonly referred to as millennials, has many differences and similarities to what previous generations are looking for in a community, according to an American Planning Association study titled Investing in Place. While many millennials prefer alternative transportation or denser housing, they are still looking for safe streets, short commutes and affordable housing, according to the study.

Brad Wiseman, director of Round Rocks Planning and Development Services Department, said the city wants to attract this younger demographic to diversify the population and development.

"The more interesting things that happen, whether it's restaurants, retail stores, or different types of housing, those types of things are typically the result of having a younger crowd," Wiseman said. "The question becomes, 'What comes first, the chicken or the egg?' Do you have those types of things to attract those folks to the community, or do those folks come here and create that market themselves?"

Raise the roofs

When Cassidy Hopkins, 20, moved to Round Rock to attend the Texas State University Round Rock nursing school, she said she was looking for a safe and affordable apartment.

"The apartment I have is super cheap, but Im not in a shady place either," Hopkins said.

According to the APA study, 83 percent of millennial respondents cited living expenses such as housing as one of the most important factors in choosing where to live.

Russell Tam, the broker and owner of Round Rock-based AshLaur Real Estate, said many of his younger clients moving to Round Rock either have children or plan to have them in the near future.

"My youngest clients are trying to get as close to Austin as they can afford," he said. "I think some of that is driven by both location of jobs and location of nightlife, things to do, those type of things."

Round Rock is looking to build mixed-use developments closer to destination hotspots, Wiseman said.

"Depending on where you are in life you may want a big house with a back yard to maintain," he said. "You may just want to walk around the corner for a cool local coffee shop or restaurant."

Wiseman said Round Rock's bread and butter is still single-family development. However, through the citys 2010 general plan process and through individual development approvals the city is looking to diversify its housing choices, such as higher-density multifamily housing and townhomes.

"We would be interested, if were going to court the younger demographic, to have more mixed-use developments similar to the ones you see in Austin," he said. "That's not something we want on every piece of land throughout the city. But there are definitely certain nodes throughout the city we think could be attractive for that type of project."

Wiseman said downtown, La Frontera and the northeast, near the Texas State University, Texas A&M Health Science Center and Austin Community College campuses, are nodes where adding mixed-use developments could be attractive to developers.

Seeking alternative transportation

Ryan Rodriguez, an Information Technology administrator for Dell, said he moved to Round Rock with his parents approximately 10 years ago. When Rodriguez, 24, got a place of his own with two friends he stayed in the city, saying he likes it and it meets a lot of his needs. He said he would like to see more transportation options within the city.

"I think our biggest complaint is: why don't they extend the MetroRail to Round Rock?" he said. "It feels like they dont want to get the rail extended and don't really want to focus on alternative transportation."

According to the APA study, four out of 10 millennials said alternatives to driving were either very or extremely important to them when choosing a place to live.

Round Rock Transportation Director Gary Hudder said one the greatest challenges in Round Rock and Williamson County when it comes to alternative transportation is that neither entity has the density of larger cities, which makes alternative methods of commuting more difficult.

Hudder said the city is looking to increase its bicycling and walkability options, but officials focus on their recreational aspects.

Hudder said the city has invested bond money to improve the parks and trails system. He said a separate, stand-alone program aims to fill in sidewalk gaps throughout the city as well.

When it comes to mass transit, Hudder said the city pays for a demand-response bus system, in which people must call in ahead of time and request a pickup time. He said the city is engaged in the region concerning efforts such as Project Connect, which is a Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization plan to extend Capital Metros MetroRapid bus service to Williamson County, among other transit-related needs.

We have a very good relationship with Capital Metro as they figure out how to evolve to include a much broader region than they represent today, Hudder said.

Hudder said his department has not seen less interest in driving from the younger population in the area.

"[The reason] primarily is Williamson County is still very rural," he said. "The automobile is the mobility tool of choice because of the distance and the commutes that need to take place like in an area where we live. Everyone loves their pickups here."

Signs of nightlife

Steve Sheets, who owns the Brass Tap in downtown Round Rock, said if it was not for the millennials' interest in craft beer his bar would not be in downtown Round Rock.

Sheets, who is also the city attorney, said the Brass Tap appeals to a wide range of ages, but he said it was the millennials who brought craft beer to the populace.

"The millennials come in and they know exactly what they want," Sheets said. "The older generation comes in, and they think they want a Bud Light."

Sheets said he could see nightlife expanding in downtown and throughout the city. He cited the downtown redevelopment plan as evidence this is happening.

"Main Street is rapidly becoming a destination itself," he said. "The millennials don't say 'Let's go to a bar,' they say, 'Let's go to Sixth Street,' and they decide (on a bar) later when they get there. I think the same thing is happening in Round Rock; people are saying, 'Lets go to Main Street.'"

For now, many millennials are still looking places other than Round Rock for nightlife. Rodriguez said when he wants to go out he meets friends in Austin.

"Round Rock, for the most part, the clubs we do have, it's not as hip as compared to Austin," he said.

Because of a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission statute, bars in counties and cities with a population of less than 800,000 may not serve alcohol after midnight except on Saturdays, when they can serve until 1 a.m.

However, if a city adopts late hours through an ordinance then it may serve alcohol until 2 a.m. even without meeting the population requirement, according to the statute. Round Rock has not adopted any such ordinance.

Wiseman said the city wants to attract more unique entertainment businesses not just bars such as venues for movies and music.

"Locally owned-type businesses where you have something thats unique to the community, thats what were after," Wiseman said. "We obviously have a lot of it going on, more so than we did in years past."