Houston area?

[ERMama]

So lets say you had to work in houston, northwest side. Near 290/249.
Good areas to live within a 45 minute drive of there?
Any GREAT school districts?
Any areas to avoid?
Family friendly with great schools is a must.

 

[texasmomoftwins]

We lived in Jersey Village for a few months before hubby was transferred, and we loved it. It was before we had kiddos, so I don't know anything about the schools, but it was a very family friendly area. There are many older neighborhoods as well as new ones. Your drive wouldn't be anywhere near 45 minutes, more like 15 or so. Hope that helps!!!

 

[Juliegirl1]

I live in that area - Off Beltway 8 and West Road there are a bunch of great neighborhoods and schools. The CyFair school district is excellent - my son is in second grade at Bang Elementary and we love it. You can find homes in all price ranges. I would suggest anywhere between West Road and 290 but wouldn't look at any of the neighborhoods off Fallbrook.

If you go inside the Beltway at West Road (Woodwind Lakes subdivision, etc. there are a few high dollar neighborhoods - one is based on Disney's Celebration area and is very nice but I will admit that the neighbors can be a bit stuffy (I lived there when I was married). When I got divorced I moved to a modest home in Winchester Country subdivision (one of the less expensive subdivisions) and absolutely love it and my neighbors.

Feel free to pm me and also check out HAR.com - look in the 77064 and 77040 zip codes for single family homes.

You can also look north of 1960/249 there are a lot of nice neighborhoods out that way as well. Just keep in mind that traffic along 1960 is terrible.

I love the area and you can find homes anywhere from 100K to over $500K in that area.

 

[tanyaandallie]

The Cy-Fair school district is awesome! I grew up in the district and my dd started kinder there this year. If you want closer to 249 there are a ton of neighborhoods out that way. If you want closer to 290, tons out that way as well. Off of 290 there is Fairfield and Coles Crossing as well as many many others. Both have elementary schools in the neighborhood. Excellent schools with great parental support.

 

[Debbie7452]

Cy-Fair is well known as a wonderful district, but it is HUGE and still growing! We live next door to Cy-Fair in Tomball ISD and if you are looking for more of a small town atmosphere than check us out.

We LOVE our schools and the smaller district is a real positive for us (and lower taxes, too). I like knowing most of the school board members personally and seeing them at all of the big school events.

Cy-Fair people...don't get mad at me, please! Did I mention we have a house for sale that would be perfect for you? It has a Cypress address but is in TISD. OK sorry...shameless self promotion But the two mortgages are going to kill us soon

 

[Emma's Mom 03]

We live of Champion Forest and 1960 and my dd also is in kinder in a Cy-Fair school. We live in a great neighborhood. I love where we live...

 

[cruizie]

We live in that area as well - 290/Barker Cypress. Cy-Fair schools are great and well rated. There are several neighborhoods in that area - Stone Gate, Riata Ranch, Coles Crossing, Copperfield, Copper Village, etc, etc. We lived "in-town" prior to moving out to the 'burbs - 1st Copperfield & the Stone Gate. We like it! Lots of kids in our neighborhood. There are some new subdivisions going up as well - The Bridgelands is really popular and there is a new one on Barker Cypress called Town (maybe Towne) Lake.

 

[jujashmom]

Klein ISD is also a great school district. We have lived in Champion Forest for 3 years and love it. It's an older neighborhood. There are quite a few newer neighborhoods, too.

 

[rt2dz]

I would look towards the Tomball area. Montgomery County has a much lower tax rate than Harris County (some areas with no MUD), Tomball ISD has some great schools, fairly light traffic, close to so much, and you can get a lot of house for your money--especially newer homes (which will be very energy efficient).

As people have said, Cy-Fair is also a really nice area.

Champions Forest has good schools and is a beautiful area. The tax rate is a bit higher and the homes are older (meaning not very energy efficient and when you’re talking 100 degrees + sometimes as early as May, I want energy efficiency). You can get a good size house for the money though. I don't like the traffic in that area--1960 is very clogged and it can take you forever to get short distances.

I might get flamed for this, but I would never send my child to Jersey City schools. I have friends over there that want out because of the schools and they've lived there all their lives. The high school, I hear (no personal experience) has become fairly rough in the last few years.

As someone else said, check out HAR.com.

 

[Emma's Mom 03]

While the houses in the Champion Forest/Huntwick area are older they were custom homes and are of much better quality than most of the new homes being built... You can also get quite a deal on them.