I have to concur with Sugar Land. Since you do most of your work from home, you don't have to worry much about traffic. However, from my house, which is two blocks from Town Square, it takes my 35 minutes to get to Toyota Center, in downtown Houston. Like someone else mentioned, the expansion of 59 makes getting into town a breeze. I'm in downtown Houston 3 or 4 times a week and only complain about the traffic on occasion. Sugar Land is definitely a suburb, but it's location is unique. You are a few minutes away from 59, Beltway 8, 90A, and Hwy 6. I know you are a family man, so you aren't going to be spending your time bar hopping and visiting the art exhibits. However, if you wanted to, it's 30 away from Sugar Land, 90% highway traffic. Most of the time you'll do what anyone else does; go grocery shopping, bookstore, movies, fastfood, etc.. Sugar Land offers all of this. I can't say enough about Sugar Land. Lastly, I'd like to add that although no place is safe from crime, Sugar Land comes pretty damned close. Let the board know if you need som realtor suggestions. Good luck! PS. Flooding is a HUGE problem in Houston, ask us before you more somewhere. There are some areas notorious for flooding when it rains.
Man, Clutch asks about good places to live in Houston and you start ripping each other about the culture of suburbia. Geez. My suggestions to Clutch have been places like: Memorial Atascosita Kingwood The Woodlands Klein Spring Copperfield I have a friend who is a real estate agent who suggested Silver Lake, which is a new development out 288. I love the Heights and life inside the loop but it doesn't work for everyone. It is pricey for the size house and yard you get in return. Unless you can afford to send your kids to private school, it probably isn't the ideal place for you. The biggest issue is the cost. It would be one thing if Clutch could drop half a million on a home. That's probably not an option, so getting a house big enough for his purposes in a nice neighborhood near good schools probably means living outside the loop if not outside the beltway. Lighten up on the arguments and just give him a hand. I'm trying to convince him that there are PLENTY of good places to live in Houston. YOU AREN'T HELPING ME!!!
The NW side of Houston is a great place to look into - tons and tons of places to check out. A lot of NW Houston is in the Cy Fair district, which is a really good and fast growing district - and you can pretty much say the same for the neighborhoods and surroundings. My parents moved out to Cypress about 8 years ago and it's been a great place to live. Now there are all sorts of new neighborhoods and they are constantly building everywhere around. You can definitely find a house that will fit your budget - whatever it may be. The same can be said for Copperfield and Lakewood Forest too. Jersey Village is also an area in NW houston that might be good to look into - right off of the beltway and 290 - closer to town than Cypress, but not completely immersed in the city either. If you look into living on the west side of Houston, look off of Bellaire, Memorial or Westheimer, etc - outside of the beltway, and especially around Hwy 6. The city has plans to make Westpark into a tollway, so yes, I10 will be a nightmare, and Westpark will be too, but Westpark will get done first, and you won't hardly need to use either one because most of the streets out there go into town anyway.I also would suggest Cinco Ranch and some of the neighborhoods off of 99. A lot of those places are far enough out, there isn't a lot going on around there - so it's nice and quiet. But there's also going to be a bunch of developing going on out there in the years to come.
Shouldn't this thread be moved to the Debate/Discussion side? Anyways, if someone had to move to Houston I would say don't do it. If they still had to move to Houston I'd say consider only that River Oaks neighborhood or the Memorial part. Unless you go all the way out to the Woodlands, no other part of Houston has trees. Just billboards and stripmalls and walmarts and superkmarts and home depots as far as the eye can see. You should just move to NY or Miami, Clutch.
When I lived in the Houston area (actually the Missouri City area), I always thought that the Copperfield area was pretty sweet. I haven't lived in Houston in about 6 years though, so I don't know what it looks like now. Of course I'm an apartment dweller, so I probably have no idea what I'm talking about, so I'll just shut up now.
Clutch, as you can see, there are nice places to live all around Houston. I have lived in Houston for most of my 43 years and I have lived in many different parts of the city. I have recently moved to the pearland area(288 and beltway 8) and it is easy to get to other parts of the city from down here. Instead of throwing out a long list of possible communities that you might like, I will suggest just one. As I was looking for my new home, I traveled all over the city looking at various master-planned communities. One community I was very impressed with was Sienna Plantation. It is located Southwest of town, just a little south of Sugarland on HWY 6. Sienna Plantation is very large(I think 10,000 acres) and it has a new toll road that is being built right to its front entrance. They have Homes in every price range and I thought the entire community was very scenic(for Houston). It looks like it would be a fun place to live for a young family(lots of activities). For more information about Sienna Plantation you can go to this link Sienna Plantation I didn't purchase a home in Sienna Plantation because I wanted to live closer to where I work. Good Luck
Anyone been out to the Grand Parkway between 59 and I-10 lately? There are tons of new homes going up there at all price ranges. That area seems to be one of the biggest growth areas I've seen around. It'll be sweet once that Westpark toll road eventually makes it out there.
Clutch, Do bring the topic back to suggestions instead of ripping on suburbia... What are you looking for? That's obviously a huge question. I'm originally from Houston but now in Austin (much much prefer Houston, but to each his own -- at least you know where I'm coming from), the main areas I can talk about are: 1. Clear Lake (my home area, includes League City, etc.) - basically halfway between downtown and Galveston. It's great if you want the water nearby - Galveston Bay, Clear Lake, various creeks, a few golf courses, "only" 45 minutes or so to the beach. Schools are decent (age of your kids - or do you want high school recommendations?) to amazingly well-known by colleges. Nasa is nearby, so your kids will want to be astronauts. ) Biggest problem is the distance to everything else, but I think the traffic to/from downtown is less than the other suburbs. I used to commute to work near Downtown within 45-55 minutes near the latter part of rush hour. That's for a 30 mile commute. 2. Sugarland - nice houses and neighborhoods, DEFINITELY master-planned. Soooo many neighborhoods it's easy to get lost. I don't know of any natural benefits to the area (not near natural water), but it's well-known and a LOT of the power in the city lies in this area. Naturally, this means that when it comes to growth and development it'll occur here first. If you're looking for future public transport, etc., this may be the place to go. I've heard decent things about the Woodlands, but it's REALLY out there according to my friends who lived there. Also, inside the loop can be wonderful. Some of my close friends think Bellaire is the best place to be in the city as the school is very highly-rated (Bellaire High churns out Ivy League level students, from what I saw, but I also hear complaints, FYI) and it's actually a neighborhood within the city. Houston is flat so you won't realize that there are actually two parks right near downtown - Hermann and Memorial. A lot of money is being pumped to the parks to make it worthy of a large city, so it's yet another reason to move closer to downtown. And... friends inside the loop say that they NEVER feel the need to leave. That's dramatically different from the suburbia mentality. What do you like about Austin? My main observation about Houston is that it's a wonderful place to raise a family, but not to visit as a tourist. There are lots of cultured things to do there (Museum district is top-10 US, I think, arts is top-5, and restaurants is top-3), and naturally the sports scene is good if you follow other sports. Feel free to root for Rice as your local university of choice if you do move. I'm probably forgetting something, but I'd say these are the areas to consider. The other suburbs are far outside of the center (fight sprawl!) and have major traffic problems. I hope this helps.
I lived in Sugar Land from about 1997 - 2001 (with frequent visits in between) and it was pretty sweet. I mean it has everything you could want near by. There are pretty nice schools, and its growing like crazy. 6 is real easy to navigate through, and It makes getting to 59 easy and also getting to TC a fairly decent drive. Many schools are recognized in the area. And ofcourse You can make sure you will encounter a celebrity at a mall. Cousin saw Coop at FCMall just a few days ago. And I personally saw the dream around the area, and Sir Charles too. If that means anything to you. O yea it is very very culturally diverse in many of the schools. VERY VERY. so hope that helps.
Amen...allan is being a bit of a snob... no life in suburbia huh?? please...unless you have lived in one, you are in no position to know. in most of the suburbs...the schools and neighborhoods are safer..the prices are cheaper...and the drive aint nothing. I would personally recommend Clear Lake area..great schools, nice areas, nice scenery....close to watersports on Clear Lake. If it wasnt for freaking Exxon...Baytown would be real nice also...the schools are good...the streets are safe.but that damn Exxon makes it look bad.. anyway..
Oh BS....that is complete and utter bs. from inside any building downtown...look out over the city and see if you can see anything BUT the tops of trees. once again...someone who doesnt live here speaking stuff they dont have a clue about
No kidding. There are trees in abundance all over Houston... maybe not always where you might want them, but H-town is a heavily wooded city. I moved to Austin for several reasons, but trees (or the lack of same) wasn't one of them. Clutch, I'm sure you know all about the Houston tree situation, and I'm sure you have a multitude of reasons for moving to Houston, but I wouldn't pick a suburb much outside of the Loop. There have been many good suggestions here. Just consider how far it's going to be to go to games downtown. The drive back to Sugarland, Richmond, Katy, the Woodlands and so on... is far! And you will find yourself turning down invitations to visit people if you live way out there after realizing that it just might be easier to drive to San Antone from South Austin than to drive across town in Houston if there is any traffic. If you're more central, you have many more options when manuvering in the ClutchMobile. Food for thought. BTW, the Clear Lake area is great if you like the water and seafood (as has been mentioned). Good luck!
One area that is just now being developed is 288 South. Many of the areas between say Manvel and downtown are being developed. Because 288 is such a little-used freeway, it makes it kind of an ideal drive and it is still supposed to be reasonable. I don't really know any other affordable part of town where it is a 10-minute drive to the med center and a 15-minute drive to downtown during rush hour. But, I don't know much about that area of town.
What area in Austin do you live in Clutch? I ask because if you live in a near-to-town neighborhood like Hyde Park and you're used to the ammenities of that location, you can constrict your search to nice neighborhoods inside 610. If you live in say, Highland, you might want to try some of the neighborhoods outside of 610 but inside of beltway 8. If you live in the Arboretum or the likes, the suburbs of Humble/Atascosita/Sugar Land/Katy would be more comparable. I suppose you know this already...but perhaps I could give better advice if we knew a comparable price range/location to suggest.
Clutch, stay away from the West side of town, especially Katy. I-10 is pure Evil 20hrs of the day. I'd say pick somewhere close to town if you can afford. I've got a friend who lives at 610/Ella on the north side of the loop, very nice houses, not cheap though. Otherwise I'd look in the Woodlands/Spring Area on the North side of town where you can use the Hardy Toll Road to avoid most traffic into downtown. There are some very affordable houses just South of the Woodlands in Spring at I-45/Hardy Toll Road. Also I've heard good things about Sugarland, but I know 59 has some tough traffic also. Spring is pretty nice, but I think the school system has declined quite a bit recently. I'd try to get into the Klein ISD area instead of Spring ISD area, that's mainly anything on the West Side of I-45 @ Cypresswood and Louetta. If I could live anywhere in Houston: ----With a family: The Woodlands or SugarLand ----Single: Downtown. Overall I really like Spring/Houston.
Weeds & shrubs don't count. Especially when they're dwarfed by billboards and stripmalls and walmarts and superkmarts and home depots as far as the eye can see.
Jeez...Houston is really big...driving from Sugar Land to the Woodlands is about 1 hour 25 minutes. Wow. And it's gotten prettier! We have plenty of trees and grass here..the Woodlands...LOTS OF TREES...too many I think..sorta scary but I see people jogging at like 10 pm. And then at 11 during the night..there's still major traffic on the highway..I love our city or metropolitan area..except for maybe the crime. I hope we can fix that. Houston really has a bad reputation...as a sprawling city and unorganized...it is so big and diverse..there are plenty of places to choose to live in. By the way...driving from Sugar Land to the Toyota Center is fairly simple. You just go onto the highway and exit on Polk Street! No more than 35 minutes...I'm just worried about drunk drivers. Houston is so big...right outside of Sugar Land..it is all flat land..so much cheap land..lots of acreage. There are also condos and apartments as well as single houses. I love Houston. The only bad things are probably the weather and crime and some dumb people. Also traffic. Okay I will shut up now.
