recent college grad, job in NW Houston, where to live? (Austin: apartment, lofts)

[TiltShift]

I received a job offer from a company in northwest Houston, a little north of 1960 on 249. The area is beautiful and very nice, but I'm a young, single guy, and the area is also very suburban. I'm planning to spend $800-900 or more per month on an apartment.

I would like to keep my commute to 30 minutes or less, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Midtown, Rice Military, the Heights, the Village, and Montrose are areas of Houston that I like, but they are also 25 miles or so away. Since it would be a reverse commute, would the traffic be tolerable? Are there any similar areas closer to my (future) company? Another important factor, other than the "hipness" of the neighborhood, is that I enjoy having parks and and a grocery store (weird, I know) within walking/biking distance of my home.

Thanks for any help!!

[Premont]

If "hipness" is important to you The Heights wouldn't be bad, but I hear the traffic's getting terrible on 290. I live closer to 10 so I couldn't estimate the commute time for you. My advice to you would be to live in Cy-Fair, somewhere near where 290 and Highway 6 meet. There's a lot of people that live out there and I think you'll find a lot of things to do. Then on the weekends if you want to go into town you take 290 straight to the west loop. Traffic is not too bad on the weekends.

[missfit]

My 23 yo son tells me that Midtown is the place to be right now. He lives in the Ballpark lofts down by Minute Maid Park and is pretty happy there. Very metro and professional.
He's worked in the burbs and travels the city. Being downtown feels best to him after his years in Austin. He's not ready to settle down yet.

[Mr. Football]

I lived in Midtown for 5 years after coming back to Houston from College. It's a fun place to live for young professionals. I did the 'reverse' commute to Anadarko (when they were located in Greenspoint) and it only took about 15-20 minutes from Midtown.

The area where you'll be working is a great area to live in, especially for families, however I don't know what it's like for 20-somethings. My cousin works for HP and lives over at the AMLI across from HP for several years. He's active in the Houston young pro scene and he says he likes it over there. If I were just out of college and worked/lived out here that's probably where I'd live too. Good location, Vintage Park is opening soon as well.

One piece of advice I'd give you is to buy property (a condo or a house if you can) and not pay rent. If you live in the Heights or somewhere else inside the loop...buy a condo, it'll help you 5-10 years from now when you want to buy your first real house. Much better having equity in an appreciating area than having pissed away $60,000-$100,000 in rent.

[quilter00]

I agree with Mr. Football. With the current housing market, you really need to invest in a piece of property if you find one you like.

Can't help with the downtown scene - we've got kids in intermediate and high school. You've got lots of choices - the area around 249 and Louetta is growing like everything else.

When you get moved into your office - see where some of your co-workers are living and what the commute is like.