Seven Meadows/Sienna Plantation (Houston, Katy: relocate, job, homes)

[makkygirl]

Hello, my family and I may be moving to Houston for a new job. Could anyone tell me what the drive times would be from Seven Meadows or Sienna Plantation to Greenway Plaza.

I am leaning towards Seven Meadows because of the school system. My daughter is in a top rated public school where we live now and I would hate to take that away from her.

All opinions are welcome. Thanks.

[Rose31]

I currently reside in Sevean Medows. It will take you approximately 35-40 minutes to get to GreenWay Plaza during heavy rush hour traffic. I usually take the West Park Tollway which connects you to 59 which is near Greenway Plaza.

During non heavy rush hour traffic it will take about 25 minutes. So, if you work during the early morning and leave your job before the afternoon rush, then it isn't that bad. Leaving later than 7:30 in the morning or 4:30 in the afternoon is the worst time.

The best thing about living in Seven Meadows is that is is right off of West Park Tollway. However, it also depends on how far in the development you live. I live closer to the HEB and GrandParkway entrance. It will probably take longer for if you reside in another section (the back) of Seven Meadows.

Also, taking highway I-10 will take longer.

[descovy]

Sienna Plantation is out in the middle of nowhere! Nice community but so far from work and the usual shopping errand running.

We just moved to the Cinco Ranch section near Seven Meadows. My girls just started school at Griffin Elem which is in seven meadows. Katy ISD is known for a great reputation, but FYI Griffin elem was hit with a population explosion this fall. My 2nd grader is in a new class all new students and the teacher is so new she hadn't even been hired by meet the teacher. While they are having growing pains this year, it will be alliviated by a new elem school opening next fall in Seven Meadows

[makkygirl]

Thanks for the info. My daughter is also in the second grade. Our new school here opened this fall and she is in 1 of 5 second grade classrooms(compared to 3 last year), so the population explosion is nothing new.

[meletonmc]

We're thinking about Cinco Ranch or Seven Meadows. Any opinions on which is better. Do you know if they are opening up some new areas of Cinco Ranch? I'm tending toward Cinco Ranch a little bit, but I like the builders working in Seven Meadows more.

[descovy]

well I live in Cinco Ranch, so my vote will be...

cinco ranch!

But seriously, for us it was the builder and price that swayed us. We needed a downstairs study in a 4br home, so #1 was floorplans. Villiage Builders had what we needed, with lots in included features, and good incentives at a good price for us and they happened to be in Cinco.

We like all the pools/parks to choose from even if we are on the outer edge of the subdivision. Currently there are 7 pools (including the beach pool and the waterslides pool) with plans to open another nearby. And our dues ($750) are comperable to other new neighborhoods with less amenties.

In my un-educated opinion seven lakes builders seems to be pricier than cinco ranch. For ex... a Lennar home starting in the 240's in seven meadows vs a Village Builders home starting in the 200's in Cinco. They sell Lennar homes starting at the 170's in Cinco

[person]

Cinco Ranch and Seven Meadows are by the same developer any way, Newland Communities. And Seven Meadows is back up to Cinco Ranch, almost surrounded by it. Looks the same to me, but Cinco Ranch's older areas have more mature bigger trees. Cinco Ranch's amenities, like pool are bigger and cooler, but also has a lot more people sharing them.

[Rose31]

Originally Posted by meletonmc

We're thinking about Cinco Ranch or Seven Meadows. Any opinions on which is better. Do you know if they are opening up some new areas of Cinco Ranch? I'm tending toward Cinco Ranch a little bit, but I like the builders working in Seven Meadows more.

You can't go wrong with either Seven Meadows or Cinco Ranch. They both have great builders and great amenities. When I relocated to Houston 2 years ago Cinco Ranch, Grand Lakes, and Seven Meadows all satisfied my liking. I chosed Seven Meadows because David Weekley Builder was the only builder that had floorplans similar to the home floorplans that I am accustomed to from living on the east coast.

Yes, they are building a new section of Cinco Ranch directly across the street from Seven Meadows and Seven Lakes High School all the way towards the back of Fry Road. If you continue on Fry Road past the HEB, past Grand Lakes, past Avalon, then you will see the new sections of Seven Meadows and the brand new section of Cinco Ranch. Just keep going down Fry Road until it ends.

[KC Sunshine]

Katy ISD does have a GREAT reputation, but there are only four rankings according to the Texas Education Agency: Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable, and Unacceptable. Katy ISD ranked ONLY Acceptable. Next to the lowest. Other districts in the Houston area ranked higher, and probably have lower taxes and lower home prices.

[cla]

The drop from Recognized in previous years (in 2006 KISD was the highest rated school district in the area - third highest in the state) to academically acceptable in 2007 was due to low 10th grade science scores on the TAKS - every other tested subject/grade level was in the recognized or exemplary group (see link below). The TAKS score is what is used to rate schools and districts within those 4 groups. There is more to a district's performance than one test...

At every grade level in every area tested, student achievement on
statewide tests consistently surpasses statewide achievement levels --
in some areas by as much as 27 percentage points. On the 2007 test,
performance for all students was above 90% in writing (97%), social
studies (95%) and reading/language arts (95%).
• On the 2006-07 Texas accountability system, 10 campuses are ranked
“Exemplary,” 25 are “Recognized” and seven are “Acceptable.”

SAT scores

2004 2005 2006*
KISD 1100 1099 1614
U.S. 1026 1028 1518
Texas 992 995 1484

ACT scores
2004 2005 2006
KISD 23.2 23.3 22.9
U.S. 20.9 20.9 21.1
Texas 20.2 20.2 20.3

http://kisdwebs.katyisd.org/Communic...chievement.pdf