Relocating to Houston,Texas in a few months, Need help in choosing good schools and safe area to live!!! (Sugar Land: best neighborhoods, rent)

[Chifinya]

Hi everyone.I appreciate your help to make our relocation a successful one.I need guidance to choose the best school district and the best community/neighborhood where my family will be happy. I have 3 kids , 3, 10 and 6 years.We are loooking to buy a house upto $300K maximum.I will be working downtown Houston , west side of town and my husband will be working in Channelview , Texas ,east side of town. I hear that traffic is very bad .We will be visiting Houston in a few weeks so your input is very appreciated and vey critical.


Family orientated Community/Location to raise good citizens

At least a 4 (5 would be better) bedroomed, 2 bath room house up to $300K.


-Easily resaleable property that appreciates in value
-good and safe location, where there is shopping ,museums etc
-Summer activities for kids/work opportunities for teenagers
-Not in flood zone
-Area swimming pool would be nice



But critically

A Very good school District:

Highly desirable for us would be all exemplary schools from elementary, to middle and finally high school since we have kids in all 3.

The schools we would like

1.Good and safe Schools--that teach and do not put much emphasis on test scores
2.Absence of bullying issues
3.Sporting Actvities, swimming , basketball, Track etc
4. Good Music program/Art programs
5.Absence of budget cuts affecting teachers and school programs
6.Summer activities
7.Absence of drugs


Reading the blog , we hear the areas below are good?Which ones are the best to give us both a good commute to work, less than 50 mins , maybe at least one parent should be close to home in case of emergencies?Please feel to add any areas, zip codes, the actual names of the subdivisions/sections that are highly desireable.


Sugar Land, Katy, Friendswood, Clear Lake , Bellaire, Pearland




Thank you in adavnce!!!

[baddoctor]

I think the 3rd Ward and perhaps zoned to Houston Yates would be perfect for you.

1) not in a flood zone, close to just about everything in city center
2) good sporting activities (Yates is Class 4A state champ in basketball recently)
3) it's near the university of Houston, and Texas Southern - lots of academics

[BROWNPLAYBOY310]

A school without bullying, drugs, or budget cuts? Why don't you look for a private school?

[silverbelles]

1.Good and safe Schools--that teach and do not put much emphasis on test scores Schools in TX that don't teach for the test? They don't exist unless you're willing to put your children in private school.

2.Absence of bullying issues This doesn't exist. Every school has a bit of bullying, but it's how the administration deals with said bullying that is the issue. A lot of school districts have a zero tolerance policy that sometimes hurts even the bullied victim.

5.Absence of budget cuts affecting teachers and school programs ...You're not from TX originally are you...

7.Absence of drugs Every high school, hell middle school even, has a bit of an underground that no one likes to talk about. You can't run from it. Keep open communication with your kid and you'll be fine.

Because of how far out Channelview is, it looks like you're going to be the one to pick up the kiddos in case of emergency. Bellaire is on the expensive side for your budget and the amount of bedrooms you're looking for, so I would x-them out. As for your commute, Sugar Land, Pearland, and even Katy are good cities for you to commute from and will be within your budget. If your husband is willing to deal with possibly sitting in traffic a total of 3 hrs a day, then these cities could be go for you to go on.

Personally, I can only give advice on Missouri City and Sugar Land, so if you want to know more about the best neighborhoods and the school district, then I can help you there. What should also be of use to you is this thread that is comparing Sugar Land and Clear Lake: Sugar Land vs Clear Lake.

[colcat]

Originally Posted by baddoctor

I think the 3rd Ward and perhaps zoned to Houston Yates would be perfect for you.

1) not in a flood zone, close to just about everything in city center
2) good sporting activities (Yates is Class 4A state champ in basketball recently)
3) it's near the university of Houston, and Texas Southern - lots of academics

Very funny...

[micmac99]

People will start turning down good jobs and stop relocating here if the crime (or perception thereof) doesn't start "cleaning up". This is a good area with a lot of positives, and I am glad I live here, but in my opinion and from what I am seeing on these and other forums, way too many people are too afraid of crime.

Everyone posting questions on here, at least the ones who HAVE jobs lined up, almost always ask for a "safe neighborhood" and a "quality school district" and that's by and large just not gonna happen in the city limits (with some exceptions) unless you are willing to spend some serious money. The poor and working class have less of an ability to buy or rent an expensive place to live and many of them are stuck in the higher-crime areas and have to deal with the "ghetto" and its problems. Same problem with my hometown of Oakland, seen for at least 40 years now as a "dangerous" city and that perception is not going anywhere, sadly.

Houston cannot afford to scare quality people away and I fear that is happening. My perception my be wrong but that's what I am seeing.

[Poltracker]

You are going to have to make some sacrifices. Try an area like Timber Grove orSpring Branch.

[pooterposh]

Well is that is what you are looking for try "Fantasyland".

[DanielWayne]

Originally Posted by baddoctor

I think the 3rd Ward and perhaps zoned to Houston Yates would be perfect for you.

1) not in a flood zone, close to just about everything in city center
2) good sporting activities (Yates is Class 4A state champ in basketball recently)
3) it's near the university of Houston, and Texas Southern - lots of academics

Well it *is* near the universities...

You will have to make a lot of compromises because you just described Mayberry. In other words bullets 1-7 don't all coexist anywhere in north america. I would start with minimizing the morning drive, and Pearland seems to be the closest thing to a middle ground that also has good schools and is relatively safe.

[ToyYot]

Originally Posted by micmac99

People will start turning down good jobs and stop relocating here if the crime (or perception thereof) doesn't start "cleaning up". This is a good area with a lot of positives, and I am glad I live here, but in my opinion and from what I am seeing on these and other forums, way too many people are too afraid of crime.

Everyone posting questions on here, at least the ones who HAVE jobs lined up, almost always ask for a "safe neighborhood" and a "quality school district" and that's by and large just not gonna happen in the city limits (with some exceptions) unless you are willing to spend some serious money. The poor and working class have less of an ability to buy or rent an expensive place to live and many of them are stuck in the higher-crime areas and have to deal with the "ghetto" and its problems. Same problem with my hometown of Oakland, seen for at least 40 years now as a "dangerous" city and that perception is not going anywhere, sadly.

Houston cannot afford to scare quality people away and I fear that is happening. My perception my be wrong but that's what I am seeing.

It's not a Houston thing, it's the perception outsiders have of America generally; poor public schools, a redneck gun culture, and out of control crime in the cities.