what kind of community is katy, texas? (Houston, Cinco Ranch: new home, established neighborhood)

[flyingeaglesinsky]

is it a small town? what are the people like? looking for a good description of katy, texas. thanks for any help!

[Mr. Football]

Sun-scorched Prairie.

Seriously though, Katy-ites will tell you there are two Katy's: North & South.

One is dominated by large masterplanned communities, the other dotted with smaller, older communities with a more diverse (by Katy standards) population. The South looks down upon the North as if there's a large distinction between home values - there's not, really. On either side you'll find homes as low as the $120's maybe lower. It's more protected on the South side from unwanted development. More uniform and tidy in those Master-planned developments, whiter.


Cheapest Home in Cinco Ranch ($120's)


Most Expensive Home in Cinco Ranch ($900's)

By all accounts it is average suburbia, bustling with good schools and nice homes. The schools are highly rated and the parental involvement high.

Katy proper is its own town (it lies on the North side of I-10).

[grifsmom]

Having grown up there when the word "Katy" referred to the town, back when there were maybe 4 subdivisions and I attended the one high school in the district...... and because my family still lives here... and because I've spent entirely too much time driving up and down Mason Road...I just can't help myself:

Definition of Katy:
Soul-crushing suburban sameness.

There is a bright spot--Marini's empanadas rock!

[Premont]

I think the actual city is only like 15,000 people. It's the overall area and school district which has a ton of people. It's mainly nice suburbs and schools, with a major mall and all the Sam's Club, Home Depot, type places you need. It's growing fast because it's nice out there and it's only a few freeway exits from west Houston.

[scammed]

Katy has an excellent watchdog group called Katy Citizen Watchdog. It is an excellent group. You may want to google that and see the work they do. They are really on top of issues and looking out for the best interest of its citizens in my opinion.
I do not live in Katy just close by, but I am vey familair with the area.
Make sure you are aware of their zero tolerance policy in schools. There is no room for error nor is there room for common sense in some cases.
Katy also has their indoor arena football team-Ruff Raiders (I think that is the name) It is a lot of good family fun,quite different from NFL football.
A huge medical center in the heart of Katy was built to accommodate the growing population. Most of my doctors are there and I have used them for years.
Lots of stores and restaurants still going up.
All in all it seems like a nice place to live.

[carolineb]

Some of the residents are complaining about the noise from the overpasses of route 99/grand pkwy, which is set to be a toll road (another complaint). There are no plans right now to build a noise barrier. When looking for a house recently, I also found a lot of noise in the Cinco Ranch subdivisions closest to Westpark Toll Road. The house that we bought in Cinco Ranch looks a lot like the 1st picture (120K) but we paid closer to $170K for a 3 bedroom ranch with a study off master. There's still a lot of new homes available but we chose an existing 2001 home closer to the water park and La Centerra in an established neighborhood.

[jfre81]

If I was gonna do the suburb thing I would want to be somewhere that I can work in the same town/place/whatever - in Katy I could do that.

I don't like the traffic though.

[Bike4Life]

Katy doesn't feel like a small town. It's a big suburb with too many cars because walking and biking is only for fun but you can't get anywhere without a car. It's a high materialistic consumption community that encourages you to shop 'til you drop at Katy Mills. It's a wonderful place to keep up with the Jones in 2-story SUVs.

[KerrTown]

Are you asking about the town or the suburb?

[ehutch79]

I'd like more answers to this question. Also, in the suberbs areas, are there more stay at home moms or dual earner families? What is the overall personality of the area? What about the most popular political orientation? I'm assuming republican. anything more anyone can ofer would be great.