I don't understand: if you're an hour away, you are already closer to Houston than Pearland or Clear Lake.
Juan, you must be riding your donkey into town, b/c if you think Clear Lake is more than an hour from dtown your'e using Colombia's OTHER famous national product...
NorthWest Houston. Good Schools, good people. FM 1960 from 290 to I-45 is a b****, especially in the Willowbrook area. Highway 6 is just plain boring. Copperfield is nothing but suburbs and shopping centers. I remember there was a thread about highway six like six months ago talking about how bad it was. Cy-Fair has a pretty damn good school system. I think it's the best in the Houston area. I think it's better than that piece of crap Klein ISD, and that piece of crap HISD, and that piece of crap Aldine, and that piece of crap Alief, and those other pieces of crap, Spring Branch, Galena Park, Clear Lake, Fort Bend, and La Porte. When I say Northwest Houston, I am talking about a few miles inside the beltway and outward to Fairfield. I've seen that neighborhood way up there on 290. It looks like a good subdivision. It looks typical Suburban. NW has some good golf courses like Champions, and Black Horse, and Inwood. Not like I play golf or anything. I think they are going to expand 290, so that might be a bit of a problem.
I believe Clear Lake is about 25 miles from Down TOWN. If you like to be near water that is the place to be.
That is funny. While Cy-Fair is decent, there are a lot of people who move just so their kids can go to Klein. In fact, most real estate agents use Klein school districts as a major selling point.
It's 21 miles from Baybrook Mall to downtown Houston. For every mile you live back there in Clear Lake, that's another mile you have to endure on one of those nightmarish streets like Bay Area, Nasa Road 1, or even El dorado. You may be able to get to downtown in 30 minutes at 4:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, but if you work downtown and have to hit the rush hour, your looking at spending a bare minimum of an average of two hours a day in your car.
Something I read in the now defunct Houston Metropolitan magazine years ago when they did a comparison of people living inside the loop versus outside the loop: Pets: Outside - Two golden retrievers Inside - Ten luekemia-riddled cats Favorite Opera: Inside: Aida Outside: Winfrey That about sums it up. Funny, I kinda like our little shack in the ugly-ass, crime-ridden, crumbling infrastructure of the Houston Heights.
I could not agree with this more. I came of driving age in that area, and it has only become more heinous.
Man, you're not kidding! They are everywhere! There are about 30 of them living under my neighbors house.
Ugh -- too true. My parents have lived in Clear Lake since we moved to Texas in 1985. (I moved out in 1990 and headed straight for the Heights). They currently live off of Clear Lake City Blvd. and that street is a nightmare too. I always have to time my visits very carefully so as to never coincide with morning/evening rush hour or lunchtime. Even on weekends, 45 South gets totally congested as you approach the Clear Lake exits. I guess if you really like the water and suburban living, Clear Lake might be a good place to live. But, personally, I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
You're braver than many Jeff, I know 3 people moving out of the Heights due to their being tired of the crime & run-down surroundings. My only experience w/ that area has been having my car broken into 3 times while I was partying inside Fitzgerald's. Location is everything for many people...
My grandparents on both sides of the family lived in the Heights for over 50 years and neither was EVER broken into or ever experienced any crime of any significance. We've been here seven years and had one bicycle stolen by a homeless guy. Partying at Fitzgerald's? Hell, everyone gets broken into at clubs. That is not an indication of the neighborhood but rather an indication of the clientele.
I've always suspected it was some pissed off Fitz "neighbors" that vandalised the cars. They would often yell at us even if we weren't blocking driveways. I understand their being unhappy w/ having 200 cars invade their street on "big" band nights, but geez, their anger was misdirected...
And I know about 5 people who won't live anywhere but the Heights\Montrose, and 2 who can't wait to move to that area as soon as their lease is up: me & my sweetie! I've been to Fitzgerald's a few times, and I never had a problem. Maybe you just had some bad luck.
I see Cy-Fair plastered all over the nw area. I've only seen one Klein District thing on a billboard over on 1960. And if everybody is moving to Klein, why is Cy-Fair the fourth the fourth fasting growing district in the nation? Why is it the fifth largest school district in the State?
That sounds tremendously odd. I know at least two people who live right around the corner from Fitz and never experienced that. I used to play at Fitz and/or go there at least 2 or 3 times a month and that was before the resurgence of the Heights when it was really having some crime problems and I never once experienced any problem like that. My money is on patrons or homeless guys who live under the bayou bridge about a block away.
Dude, you can bang this High-Crime Gong all day long, but the truth is there are a lot of places inside the loop you can live and be safe. Plus, there are a lot of things an individual can do to protect themselves. Obviously, it can be a different story when your single and only looking out for yourself, so I can understand your concern if you have a family. But give us a break if some of us think the benefits of living in town outweigh the drawbacks you point out. The suburbs aren't utopia either, ya know.
I really enjoy living in Midtown. Contrary to RocketBurrito's commentary, I think Midtown is one of the few places you CAN actually walk places. I walk to the grocery store, several bars (Red Door, Little Woody's, Front Porch, Seven), the cleaners, sushi (The Fish), etc. If I worked out at Post, I would hardly ever have to drive anywhere. If you're single and young, I highly recommend Midtown.
