houston "suburbs" (Arlington, Sugar Land: neighborhood, live in, shop)

[westhou]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

Correct me if I'm wrong. I just looked at a map. Houston (city), Katy (suburb), Brookshire (exurb)?

Another example

Houston (city), The Woodlands (suburb), Conroe (exurb)

[SouthernBoy205]

Commuter town - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Exurbs
The expression exurb (for "extra-urban") was coined by Auguste Comte Spectorsky in his 1955 book The Exurbanites to describe the ring of prosperous communities beyond the suburbs that are commuter towns for an urban area.[1] Most exurbs serve as commuter towns, but most commuter towns are not exurban.
Exurbs vary in wealth and education level. In the United States, exurban areas typically have much higher college education levels than closer-in suburbs, though this is not necessarily the case in other countries. They typically have average incomes much higher than nearby rural counties. Depending on local circumstances, some exurbs have higher poverty levels than suburbs nearer the city. Others (like Loudoun County, Virginia outside Washington, D.C.,The Woodlands outside Houston, Rochester, Michigan outside Detroit and Ozaukee County, near Milwaukee have some of the highest median household incomes in their respective metropolitan areas.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

Commuter town - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Going by that description I'd have to retract my labeling Conroe an exurb.

[SouthernBoy205]

Why?

[SouthernBoy205]

Is The Woodlands really a commuter town (exurb)?

[westhou]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

Why?

I wouldn't really call Conroe a prosperous community. It's just a regular town with regular folks. I also wouldn't say they have a higher education level than the people in The Woodlands. I guess a better example would be Houston (city), Greenspoint (suburb), The Woodlands/Spring (exurb).

Edit: The communities along Lake Conroe are very prosperous.

[chicagomama]

OP- where are you from in Chicagoland? Houston to me feels like one huge suburb. You won't really find an area like the Loop crowded with people.

I don't understand the difference bt a suburb and an exurb. I guess they mean that somewhere like Elgin would be an exurb to Chicago? Even though it's its own city? I don't know. Here there aren't little towns-turned-suburbs like you're used to. There's not a metra or any train to connect little downtown areas.

There are some "new" town centers in some of the suburbs, but they aren't designed to be walked to, nor are there old houses near the downtowns. We bought a house within a mile or so of the Sugar Land downtown, hoping to walk to it and were so disappointed that there isn't really a way/sidewalk to get there. Even with First Colony Mall next to the "Town Center" it is so hard to walk the block that separates them (no connecting sidewalks, traffic lights with no concern for pedestrians).

I'm not saying it's not a good place to live- I'm just saying it's hard to compare it to Chicagoland because it's so different. We have fine schools, beautiful parks, a safe, green neighborhood, and friendly neighbors.

[crone]

Originally Posted by A&M Bulldawg

Is The Woodlands really a commuter town (exurb)?

Go to any of the downtown office buildings at quitting time. The Woodlands residents are standing in long lines like school children waiting for the commuter busses to take them home. I watched as several big busses pulled up to load as we waited for my DIL.

[SouthernBoy205]

Dawg! I can picture that.

[newtohouston2]

Originally Posted by chicagomama

OP- where are you from in Chicagoland? Houston to me feels like one huge suburb. You won't really find an area like the Loop crowded with people.

I don't understand the difference bt a suburb and an exurb. I guess they mean that somewhere like Elgin would be an exurb to Chicago? Even though it's its own city? I don't know. Here there aren't little towns-turned-suburbs like you're used to. There's not a metra or any train to connect little downtown areas.

yeah, im from the burbs of chicago, so moving outside of 610 in the city of houston (that's what it says on my address) is like the same thing. which is fine cause im a total suburbanite. the only weird thing is that it's deceptive since it looks suburban but you have to worry about crime in a way that im not really used to (it's not bad, though!). yeah, i think i'll be safer not describing anything as a suburb of houston since ppl get offended. as for the concept of exburb...i wouldnt have thought of elgin, il. i do see a lot of ppl calling elgin an exurb...wiki says it's a suburb (which is what i would have thought), not that they're right about everything.