Cinco Ranch Opinions? (Houston, Katy: sales, home, elementary school)

[usc619]

Originally Posted by azinwood

Again, faster is debatable, as mentioned it doesn't start until Hwy6. You ever see the traffic from 99 to Hwy6?

All the time.... I uses to use both and it's not even debatable. So you going to sit here and say it's faster on the westpark going into downtown? lol Do you know of a special route going into downtown once it ends at 610? Not to mention coming back home.

btw; Getting to the I-10 toll (at hwy 6) isn't nearly as bad as the westparking lot, especially if you're trying to go downtown.

[houtexas]

It's all about timing. I-10 is bogged down with traffic for a much longer period of time in the mornings and afternoons than Westpark. So where I-10 sucks from say 6a-10a, Westpark might only suck from 630a-830a.

I use both and it's not even debatable that during my time of commuting, Westpark is significantly better than I-10.

[d2mini]

6-10am is a bit of an exaggeration.
If you get to I-10 by 8:30 (out near 99) you can do 80+ to barker, then it slows down to around Eldridge but still moves, then opens up again before the beltway. With no accidents of course.
I was looking at Westpark on houstontranstar this week and it definitely showed a lot more RED on Westpark at the same time. Will have to check again... might have just been a bad day. But some dolt has caused an accident almost every day this week on I-10 so maybe it's the moon or something. Yeesh.

[jtothemak]

We get it, we live a major city there is this thing call traffic no matter what road you are on.

[azinwood]

LOL..yes, both ways are still slow. We're discussing which one is less slow.

I wish WPT was three lanes.

[houtexas]

Yeah, I realize I might have been exaggerating a little there, but I tried to word it where someone would know it was a guess. My experiences of driving either of those routes on any given day and always looking at both the routes on the transtar map every day just seems to show that the "non green" starts a good bit earlier and lasts longer on I-10.

[usc619]

I-10 is faster and dammit I'm sticking to it.

jtothemak feel free to skip over the thread

[BrotherEsau]

Originally Posted by kaiden22

Thank you both for your input. We have not made an official decision on the area yet, so it's nice to get feedback from local residents. My husband will most likely be working in downtown Houston. I am definitely concerned that Katy may not be as aesthetically pleasing as I had envisioned while searching homes. This is one big reason we are anxious to get down there and see these areas in person. We plan to rent for the first 6 months, but our budget will be around $300k when we purchase our home. (criteria 4bd, 2500sf min, decent size lot)

There's so much information out there it's a little overwhelming trying to sort through it all online. If you have any suggestions on other areas I would be very grateful for the information. Thanks again!

I'm a little late, but your criteria is much like mine, same price range, except I may be working in the energy corridor. I agree it is ridiculously overwhelming. There is a lot of information, but not a lot of "real" information. It all looks nice on line.

I recently drve around Cinco Ranch, and was pleasantly surprised. It was not the all houses identical, treeless burbs I had imagined. Instead, it was very nice, and I find myself really, really liking the area. Lots of greenery, stores blended in nicely and were not just ugly strip malls.

[RazorRamon]

for the first time in my 6 months in Katy I saw cops in the HOV lanes in the morning before the tollway begins. That just added 20 minutes to my commute.

[evenyfl]

Originally Posted by kaiden22

We are relocating to the Houston area this summer and so far we are leaning towards the Katy area. We have two kids and the Katy schools look great which is a big draw for us. The community we are most intrigued by right now is Cinco Ranch. I was blown away by all of the ammenities they offer, but I am also a little hesitant that it would feel too much like a resort and that the pools and parks would be overly crowded with so many residents. Does anyone have an opinion on this? We plan to visit in March and check out all of the areas, but some input ahead of time would be great. Thanks!

I recently purchased my home in the Cross Creek Ranch community which is not far from Cinco Ranch and it still allows my son to attend the elementary school assigned to the Katy District area. The community has its own pool, gym, in addition to other ammenities and I can tell you that we are very happy to have made this decision.

Coming down to view these places is definitely the best way to go. My Husband works in the Galleria and it takes him about 35 minutes on the tollway to get there, however he does leave extremely early in the morning about 6:30 am. Coming home is a different story, depending on the time he leaves his office. So all in all, it boils down to location of job, and what you and your husband are willing to trade off.

I wish you the best on this journey, having moved from Chicago to Houston I know all too well the struggles that come along with having to do this research long distance. But you are tapping into a great resource here, locals will let you know what they think, and inform you of your options!

Good Luck!