Advice...Moving to Houston (Dallas, Plano: insurance, sex offenders, high crime)
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New to this website, already can tell this question is very broad but I am looking for all the advice I can get.
My family of 5 (myself,wife,3 young kids) will be moving to Houston In December. My wife will be working in Deer Park so we are interested in Clear Lake, League City and Friendswood areas.
Commute,crime,lifestyle and schools are our focus. We would like an area with things to do with a small town feel.
Have read League City has alot of crime, it looks pretty nice in pictures.
So I guess my question is where to live on a $200000 budget or lower with great schools,neighborhoods and friendly city.
Coming from a small town in Iowa. So culture shock is already expected.
If League city has high crime that comes as a surprise to me, but that doesn't mean it isn't so, I am not that familiar with that area but that is not something I would have expected.
Friendswood, Clear Lake and Pearland area all nice suburbs. I don't think I would go as far as to call them small town feeling though. Places like Pearland were once small towns but now are big subdivisions and large shopping centers and major retail chains with some independent stores housed is strip centers. It isn't what I would define as a small town feel, although others may feel differently. To me suburban and small town are two different things.
You can get the good schools, nice home, clean safe neighborhood under $200k in these areas no problem.
League City doesn't have a lot of crime unless you are comparing it to a small rural town. I live in Clear Lake now, and lived in League City before that. That's not to say to leave stuff in your car and leave your doors unlocked. Remember we are next to the largest city in Tx so yes some stuff does happen there. League City is developing quickly, and they have traffic issues on the main street - League City talks options for ‘five corners’ traffic problems > Bay Area Citizen > News > Houston Community Newspapers Online - News Around Town I can attest that it sucks to drive into League City down Egret Bay at 5pm. Other than that it is a really great town.
I am from a small town in SE Texas, so I think I can safely say that Friendswood has more of a small town feel. However, Friendswood has a larger percentage of people who are well off. Friendswood cops have a reputation for being tough, but I see that as a plus. Anyway, we have been looking at homes in the area, and it is possible to find something with your budget (because it is similar to ours ) Friendswood, Clear Lake, and League City all have good schools. You can't go wrong with any of them. Deer Park is about a 30-40 minute easy commute from Webster, which is part of Clear Lake (no freeways needed). My girlfriends parents live there so we do that drive from time to time.
Actually you should also check out Deer Park. A lot of Deer Park is really nice, too. Southern Pasadena is another place to consider, but be sure it is the area bordering Clear Lake or the area near Fairmont Parkway and Beltway 8. You don't want to be in Pasadena itself.
Last edited by DanielWayne; 09-24-2010 at 11:37 PM..
League City and nearby is not known for crime. Lke DanielWayne mentioned, you do have to not be an easy mark and leave doors unlocked, but that seems to be more and more everywhere.
I grew up in a small town of 5,000 where we did leave cars and house unlocked - but now that's not the case, even there.
New to this website, already can tell this question is very broad but I am looking for all the advice I can get.
My family of 5 (myself,wife,3 young kids) will be moving to Houston In December. My wife will be working in Deer Park so we are interested in Clear Lake, League City and Friendswood areas.
Commute,crime,lifestyle and schools are our focus. We would like an area with things to do with a small town feel.
Have read League City has alot of crime, it looks pretty nice in pictures.
So I guess my question is where to live on a $200000 budget or lower with great schools,neighborhoods and friendly city.
Coming from a small town in Iowa. So culture shock is already expected.
Thanks
Hm I'm curious as to where did you find League City crime stats? I lived there for couple years and that's still one of my most favorite towns. I like the fact that it has a small town feeling and character to it, unlike other
so called "town".
All three cities League City, Clear Lake and Friendswood have pretty good school districts. From there it would take your wife at least an hour to get to work depends on where you live in League City. There's some nice subdivisions on FM 518 (the main street of League city) that're only ~ 3 miles from the freeway but it would sometimes take 20mins just to get on the free way due to the numerous lights.
From League City, Clear Lake & Friendswood you would most likely take I-45 to 610 toward Deer Park and I-45 is always crowded! You just have to get used to it eventually.
Going South from I-45 you will see Clear Lake, Friendswood and then League City is the farthest South. So if you settle in Clear Lake it would be closest to her work. If I were you I would go for Clear Lake, it's nice, clean, safe and the traffic is not as bad as League City, once you learn your way around you could take HW-3 to some local streets to Deer Park, more lights and school zones but no traffic jam.
Good luck on the move, with a $200K you will have plenty of choices!
These posters are right, I lived in LC for a year and am now in Friendswood, both are very nice and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to a family of 5. (We are a family of 5 as well.)
Do your due diligence and check out the Texas DPS website so you know where the registered sex offenders live -- for example, I like the "old townsite" area of League City but it has more offenders than say, the South Shore Harbour area. Of course, you only have so much control over who your neighbors are, but forewarned is forearmed IMO.
We bought our house for under $150k in the Heritage Park/Forest Bend/Wedgewood Village area of Friendswood. We are in CCISD part of Friendswood, and the schools are very good in our experience. Parks and pools all over the place too.
Commute: I commute to Upper Kirby, way further than Deer Park, and it takes me 45 min. Friendswood to DP should be around 30 minutes I guess.
Good luck and fire away if you have questions.
Last edited by phaedra_p; 09-25-2010 at 10:56 AM..
Reason: Commute info
This is a bit off topic, but I have also heard of the area being high in crime. I do not live in that area, and people I know who live there don't seem to know what I am talking about. I think there were some high profile kidnappings of women in the "area" (historically and in more recent years) but in Houston the "area" could still mean many miles away from the neighborhood.
Pearland which is closer to Houston than the areas you are looking at had some high profile crimes happen. It is a changing area - some places getting nicer, some getting not so nice. I do not know if this change is affecting neighborhoods further to the SE.
That is my view as an outsider, but Houston resident
There were some high profile reports of missing persons in the 70s-80s in League City. That is probably what you are talking about. They are making a movie about that, too. That happened long before I came to the area. Obviously that has not slowed people from moving here. I came in 2000 and LC had 30,000 people. Now it is about 70,000 and they are still building like mad in the Southern part of town.
Another thing you may have heard of is the recent spike in theft. The new shopping centers and hotels along I-45 near Dickinson practically appeared overnight. Thus that area became a new opportunity for thieves. That has been in the news, too. Big growth brings about opportunties for everyone - good and bad. The reason it makes the news is because it is unusual for League City, and yes the police have addressed the issue. If there is a spike in theft in central Houston or even central Dallas for that matter, then it is a non-issue and just a fact of life. Actually League City has lower crime statistics than Plano, Texas. And Plano is considered one of the most affluent cities in the country. Scroll down for "crime":
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The majority of League City is very nice but as mentioned has had a slight increase in crime over the past year with the soft economy - Check out South Shore Harbor, Mar Bella & Magnolia Creek areas - all should be right around your price range and some very good deals right now - Add an additional 2k a year in wind insurance and 3%+ in property taxes to your purchase price.
This should give you some insight regarding crime in the area:
I appreciate all your replies. It's great info. We are going to check out Clear Lake, League City and Friendswood in Nov. ,very excited to see them all.
Thanks
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) Friendswood, Clear Lake, and League City all have good schools. You can't go wrong with any of them. Deer Park is about a 30-40 minute easy commute from Webster, which is part of Clear Lake (no freeways needed). My girlfriends parents live there so we do that drive from time to time.
