Where would I want to live in Houston?

[Microcell]

DH and I are not really interested in moving anywhere, but he might get offered a promotion that is in Houston and if the offer is enough for us to consider a move, we want to be prepared.

Where are the neighborhoods safe and the schools great?

Thanks for your help!

 

[lonegirl]

I have lived outside of Houston for 27 years now, and have some favorites. I live in Kingwood, a suburb on the northeast side with great schools, safe neighborhoods, and excellent people. The shopping/dining leaves something to be desired, but it's a quick 20 min. to the Woodlands. I lived in the Woodlands, and it's nice but heavy traffic and bigger wallets. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like more info. I love it here!

 

[Planogirl]

There's also West University, Sugarland, Clear Lake, Friendswood and so on that are nice. It really depends on which side of the city you want to be on.

 

[gm]

Sugarland here in houston made it on the list of the of the best places to live in America and raise a family. it was 3rd on a list of 100 so that is great.

That said, we live near the woodlands called Spring, Great Klein Independent School District and great neighborhood and shopping. Woodlands mall is 10 minutes from our house. It is set up like a riverwalk setting with town centers, etc. really nice. Woodlands is a great place to raise a family.

 

[Microcell]

I dunno where in the city. My Dh is currently sitting in a Fairfield Inn somewhere near you all!

He has commuted around here and has no problem with a 1/2 hour drive. He works for a retailer ( I don't want to name for fear he does not get offered this because his dumb wife was jabbering about it on the internet) but the locations he might work from are :

WESTHEIMER CROSSING Westheimer Road
Houston , TX 77063

THE CENTER IN COPPERFIELD Highway 6 North
Houston , TX 77095

WESLAYAN PLAZA Bissonet Street
Houston , TX 77005

WEST OAKS MALL 1000 West Oaks Mall
Houston , TX 77082

POST OAK PLAZA Post Oak Boulevard
Houston , TX 77056

WILLOWBROOK PLAZA Tomball Parkway
Houston , TX 77064

TOWN & COUNTRY VILLAGE Memorial Drive
Houston , TX 77024

He might have his choice of where to work of these, that is how it would work here in KC. We have never really counted on where to live based on where he works, though it would be nice!

 

[Planogirl]

All of those places could be reasonably close to good communities. You can picture Houston as a massive blob with extremely heavy traffic in many areas. That huge round blob is surrounded by smaller communities many of them good and some excellent. There's something good to be found on each side of Houston with the northeast and east being the weakest IMO. West University and a handful of communities in the Memorial area are actually more centrally located but most are quite a distance from downtown.

It is important to at least try to live on the side where the job is. The traffic in many parts of Houston can be a nightmare. Keep in mind that this is the 4th largest city in the country and that doesn't even count surrounding communities.

 

[dennis99ss]

You would be surprised to see how many people from all over are in Houston. Houston is a much more metropolitan, inclusive city than most.

I am partial to North, and am in The Woodlands. With the exception of Copperfield and Willowbrook, you will need to live West. Inside the loop vs. outside the loop. People are different, prices are different, etc. Inside the loop pays a premium for the designation, but, you can get much more outside the loop for the same dollar.

One of the best school systems in Houston is Memorial. However, there are some bad ones just next to it.

North, go the Woodlands. Basically, an upscale, plus, community, of about 80,000+ people, that is not incorporated into the City of Houston. I would guess over half the families are single earner families, lots of kids, and, generally, a safe place to be. Price range for new construction is about 150,000 through a couple million. Existng house about the same. To the north locations you mentioned, its probably 30-45 minutes.

The commute will likely be long, a one hour or less commute is acceptable here. Also, although 1960 is horrible, I lived in the Champions area, which would be right near Willowbrook and Copperfield. Nice area, if you can stand 1960 traffic.

 

[Microcell]

Wow so much information! I have to subscribe to this so if we do move I have it.

He said I would hate the humidity there. Is there any kind of cool season there at all? Oh god, no snow. I complain every winter here about the paltry snow we get here ( I am from Michigan originally). I don't know if I could handle no snow. Mowing the lawn all year too would be different. I am sure Houston is a nice town, with lots to do, but it would sure be an adjustment to have no seasons.

If he takes an offer at one of the locations, I will be back for sure! You are all great!

 

[Planogirl]

The weather is actually much like Florida's except that it does usually get a bit cooler in the winter. Yes, it is humid! Strangely enough, the Dallas area tend to be dry and I've had the worst time adjusting to that. I guess that you get used to the humidity when you live in it long enough.

 

[brerrabbit]

Cool season? That would be about a week in the spring and a week in the fall. Other than that its pretty warm. The winters are not bad, however snow is rare and about a once every four to five year thing. As far as lawn mowing goes our St Augistine grass goes dormant from about November through February so you get a little break from mowing. As far as the humidity goes, well yeah its pretty humid. Look at it this way though, its great training for summer vacations to WDW. You will be able to vacation in Orlando during the summer and say, heck its no worse than this where I live. Houston does have many great things to offer and is not nearly as bad as a lot of people think. I have lived here my entire life and really could not imagine living any where else (except near WDW).

 

[Microcell]

Training for Disney, that is a pollyanna way to look at it!

Well, DH has not been formally offered the job, and he feared that when he talked to his boss today that it might happen. That sounds strange. Let me explain:

It is a situation where if he volunteered to go there they would give it to him, but he does not want to volunteer. He is the one they want for it, but they also know he really does not want to move. He is worried that with not actually having a "position" and that he floats, with cutbacks happening they may say he has to take that promotion and move or effectively a demotion to stay, so we do need to consider a move if it comes to it.

Not the next five or six weeks, though, they have plans for him in northern climates for a while! Iowa in August, you can't beat that! Oh and the corn!!! We might also be able to visit him too!

Thanks for all your help, and I will be sure to consult with you all if we get the do or die speech from his boss!

BTW, why does Houston have a bad rep? I figured DH being from a small town in western Kansas just is not used to the size (it took him a while to get used to Kansas City). But now that you say the same about it not being as bad as people say I am curious! I am from Detroit, so I can't imagine that Houston is worse. I tried to tell DH that I felt safe growing up in the burbs when Detroit was the Murder capital of the world.

 

[DemonLlama]

Houston never gets any respect.

I was born and raised there and still live within an hour of the place.

It is sprawling. It can take you 90 minutes to get from one side to the other WITHOUT traffic, as it stretches further out year to year with the growing communities that surround it.

It is humid and hot most of the year and pretty much never cold.

House prices are still some of the lowest in the country and you can a whole lot more house here for the money.

My choice for sheer atmosphere and close proximity to lots of great places, museums, etc I'd pick West University, in the giant shade trees of Rice University. But you'd pay a pretty penny for a good spot there and depending on the job, it wouldn't be all that practical.

 

[arminnie]

We have never really counted on where to live based on where he works, though it would be nice!

That is the most important thing in Houston as a 1/2 hour commute might be 7 miles in Houston traffic - seriously. It is bad.

I used to have to go to the grocery store that was diagonally across from my subdivision at Westheimer and Dairy Ashford. It was less than half a mile but could take me 30 minutes (I am not exaggerating) to get across Dairy Ashford or and Westheimer.

 

[dennis99ss]

Houston has a bad rep for a lot of different reasons. People not from Texas don't understand the culture of Texas, generally, and Houston specifically. Texas is the only state who, at one time, was its own nation (albeit Hawaii was a kingdom). As a result, the Texas flag is the only flag in the nation that is allowed to fly at an equal height as the US flag. There is a feeling of being Texas first, even more so than being southern first. This may give some a feeling that Texans have egos, which we do. However, it is a good ego to have. Houston, to take things further, is, I think, the best city in the state. San Antonio is a tourist town, dallas is a Neiman Marcus town. Houston is a wildcat town. Houston has always been, and likely always be a town that is built upon people who bet everything, reap the reward, and then spend it, and build monuments to themselves. That has changed a little, since there is just so much oil money now, that the peple are actually living up to the bumper sticker, Lord I promise not to "waste" it away

Houston also has the rep because of its industry. Over 50% of refined gasoline in the United Satets touches Houston, and Houston has the largest port in the United States, when determined by value/tonnes, etc. We compete with Los Angeles, where containers are king. In Houston, petroleum products are king. The second largest refinery in the workld is here, etc. The ship channel is 50 miles long, and is lined with industry.

There are also a lot of highways. We have the North Freeway, the Gulf Freeway, the Eastex freeway, The Beast, The Katy freeway, the Northwest freeway, The hardy Toll Road, The Beltway, The Loop, The Grand Parkway, 288 south--(that has a name but I can't remember it ), Southwest freeway........As a result, people are afraid of the city, due to traffic, but, once you understand where the traffic is, and the hotspots, it is really not that bad. It is overwhelming at the start, so that could be why there is a negative feel. It is a city of 4 million, not counting surrounding areas. It has something like 600 square miles, and, If you go from one side of the general area, to the other, you can easily travel 90 miles, without a break in the population.

It has some very good things, however. Outside of New York, we have the largest theater district in the US, with World Class Ballet, Opera, Theater, including Broadway, off broadway, avant garde, etc. We have world class art museums, natural history, holocost, childrens, medicine, funeral, fire, buffalo soldiers, maritime, and more. There are world class universities, Rice, University of Houston, South Texas College of Law, etc. We have one of the largest (I forget if it is the largest) medical centers in the United States, with hospitals that excel in their respective fields, MD Anderson, St. Lukes, St. Joseph, Methodist, Memorial Herman, Childrens, Univ. of Texas Health Science Center, Baylor Univ. LBJ, VA, Shriners, Ben taub, etc. We have a number of Top Level Trauma centers, and air ambulances stationed around the city. There is one of the finest burn centers (probably behind the one in San Antonio) in Galveston. There is professional baseball, football, basketball, wnba, soccer, and tennis. There is "minor" league indoor football, and hockey. There are gholf courses galore, and can be played year round. The Shell Houston Open is the highest level of charity giving of any stop on the tour I believe.

So, there are a lot of good things. Plus, no state income tax, although property taxes are high.