which is the best place to live (Houston, Galveston: apartment, homeowners insurance)

[richie_griff]

We are thinking of moving to Texas and the places that we are currently considering are Friendswood or Kingwood. (if anybody has better places we are open to ideas) We are looking for outdoor living but relatively close to shops and Houston. 30 - 40min drive max. Need good high school for 16 year old. Have a budget of 200k - 250k.

Many thanks

[BearBranch]

I live in Kingwood and LOVE IT. Moved here from Sacramento in 2005. The trails are great. Waterfront. Fishing. Lots of cycling/jogging. Shops are excellent and close. New waterfront mixed-use being built Kings Harbor Waterfront Village. 30 minutes non-commute to downtown.

[chris_ut]

Both are equally good choices depending on if you want to live on the NE or S side of Houston.

[Poltracker]

Better question is where do you plan to work? That could make a big difference. Both communities are nice. Kingwood is within the City of Houston and Friendswood is its own city so that might make some difference to you. Also, if you live in Friendswood, you will have to carry wind insurance in addition to homeowners (everyone in this area should have flood insurance).

[mickeykmm]

We just moved to Cypress about a month ago from New Hampshire, we were also thinking of Kingwood but after being in Cypress, we love it here. The schools are great (we have a 15 year old at Cy-Fair HS) We are in Coles Crossing. We are close to shopping, eating etc. and we are about 30 minutes from downtown Houston. Cypress seems very new and fresh compared to Kingwood (that's just my opinion) You should check it out! Good luck to you!

[texas7]

Friendswood and Kingwood are both great with great schools. Friendswood is closer to Clear Lake and outdoor water activities. Just depends really on where you work - I would recommend moving in close proximity to where you work if both are good. Friendswood is in Galveston County so typically you have lower auto insurance premiums and lower basic homeowners insurance. You do need flood insurance there but I would recommend flood insurance anywhere you move in Houston (its cheap if you aren't in a flood zone). I think just about any place has the potential to flood if we get enough rain dumping in one place for the right amount of time.

[crbcrbrgv]

Move close to where you work.

[Bike4Life]

Okay, why do you need to drive 30 to 40 minutes when you can bike to work in 29 minutes? You should should find plenty of houses in that price range within 10 minutes to work.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by texas7

Friendswood is in Galveston County so typically you have lower auto insurance premiums and lower basic homeowners insurance.

We rented a house in Friendswood 2 years ago and it was in Harris County. Friendswood is in both counties. Also we moved from an apartment across the street from the Astrodome, because of a job change so the commute distance stayed the same. Our car insurance went up by about 10% immediately. Why? There are many more teenage street racers in the suburbs causing accidents, compared to inside the loop. In this area it's not uncommon to see a 16 year old recklessly driving a new Nissan 350z.

We still live in Harris County (Clear Lake) and our homeowner's insurance is cheaper than most spots in Galveston county because we're not in a flood plain and also because Galveston county would take the brunt of a hurricane before Harris would.

[Stuart B. Scholer]

If you don't live close to where you work your life will be stressed in a couple of years.

Stuart