Possible move from LA - Katy, Sugar Land, and Medical Center offices? (Houston: apartments)

[Mostly sunny]

OK, yes, this is possibly just another of a thousand "help me I'm moving to Houston where to live?" thread, and I've read a bunch of them already, so please bear with me....

I just got a decent job offer in Houston. I'm a young single medical professional (...er...um...ok, now entering my mid-30's... but I still FEEL young....-ish), grew up on the east coast (boston/philly/dc), and currently living in LA. While I love the weather I hate the cost of living and being so far removed from family. I did spend 1 year in Houston and enjoyed it, or at least as much I could while being an intern.

So the catch is I'd have to cover two main offices: one near Methodist West Houston Hospital (near I-10 and S. Fry Rd) and the other near Methodist Sugar Land (by 59 and Hwy 6). But I'd also have to come into the med center area 1-2 days a month, so it seems like a lot of ground to cover.

So.... I guess the question is, like everyone else seems to ask on here: where should I live?

Ideally I'd like a place a little bigger and a little cheaper than my current one. The job is at a base 180K with good bonus potential so I'm not too worried about cost although I'd certainly like to save up for a buying a house someday when that time comes. For comparison, I'm currently at about 200-210K (pre-tax), paying $2200 (you read that right) for an 1100 sq ft 2BR/1.5BA condo in the West LA/Santa Monica area (more like a 1BR + office, really) and commute 25 min to my main office 4 miles away, and 45-50 min to a satellite office once a week.

But I really just want to know if I can live in or near the areas that I enjoyed for that year I was in Houston with other young single professionals -- Midtown, Montrose, Heights, West U, etc. -- or if I need to stay west of the west loop (maybe Galleria area?) to make the regular commutes more bearable (and sacrifice some of the social activities since I'm getting older and probably need to start migrating away from that life soon anyway ). I'm not sure how those "reverse commutes" would be since I never really spent time in those areas. My reference point now is LA traffic which is 10x more horrendous than anything I remember in Houston, but it's been a few years now so things could certainly have changed.

Any and all help or opinions will be appreciated. Thanks!

[trbstang]

If you live in town, say inside the loop where you were before, you should have a 30-45 min reverse commute to Sugarland and Katy, and a shorter drive the the medical center. No traffic and it can be as little as 25 min or so out to Katy & Sugarland. Your other option like you mentioned if you give up the fun part of town would be someplace between the two places, say between the Galleria and Hwy 6, but you would be in regular rush hour traffic on the side and main streets until you hit the freeways and head away from town. If no traffic it can be as little as 15-20 minutes from someplace along Hwy 6 or BW8, but probably closer to 30-40 min in traffic.

Good luck with your move and welcome to Houston!

[Kiovo]

I say Galleria area. You can take 610 to 59 for Sugar Land or 610 to I10 for Katy. With you being in the medical field working at hospitals, I'm assuming you don't work normal hours and if that's the case then your commute to Sugar Land, Katy, Medical Center, will be about 20-30 mins. Galleria is a very nice area, young professionals, and you won't be too far from anything.

[Bike4Life]

I would not live right near The Galleria unless I worked in Uptown. It's too busy with shopping centers and very heavy traffic in the area. Today's popular place for Yuppies seems to be in and around Rice Military. Schools won't matter to you and you'll be close to Memorial Park.

But I think it would be nice to pick one location really close to work and I would pick TMC so you'll have one or two days of driving relief. I think I would really like the new apartments and condos in Rice Village like Rice Village Apartments Houston TX, in West University Houston. There was a Chronicle article about people living there and enjoyed the walkable area to nearby restaurants, bars, and shopping. This might be nice if you want to live in a lively area but much smaller than The Galleria.

From Rice Village, you could take Main St./Hwy 90 to Sugar Land. Getting to Katy will have several routes.

If I were you, I would not live in the suburbs.

[Meyerland]

I would choose sugar land. The commute to Katy wouldn't be too bad up 99, and you could come up the back way to TMC. I think some people come up Main through Stafford.

[Mostly sunny]

Thanks for the replies! Good varied suggestions. I'll be coming out there in a couple weeks to visit the offices so that will give me a chance to check out all those areas to get a feel before I dig too deep into a specific search. My sense is I'd like to stay closer to the action but we'll see how it plays out.

BTW Bike4Life, I checked out that link you posted on the Hanover Rice Village apartments and holy cr@p the rents are higher than my current pad in LA! Granted, they look a lot nicer and brand new, but $2400 for 1000 sq ft 1BR in Houston??? Wow I've heard the housing market has been pushing up but clearly much more than I thought! Wasn't like this 5 yrs ago.... Sigh.

[Bike4Life]

Originally Posted by Mostly sunny

Thanks for the replies! Good varied suggestions. I'll be coming out there in a couple weeks to visit the offices so that will give me a chance to check out all those areas to get a feel before I dig too deep into a specific search. My sense is I'd like to stay closer to the action but we'll see how it plays out.

BTW Bike4Life, I checked out that link you posted on the Hanover Rice Village apartments and holy cr@p the rents are higher than my current pad in LA! Granted, they look a lot nicer and brand new, but $2400 for 1000 sq ft 1BR in Houston??? Wow I've heard the housing market has been pushing up but clearly much more than I thought! Wasn't like this 5 yrs ago.... Sigh.

Yes, the Hanover is brand new and right in the action. But there are several other nice, lively apartments going north of Rice Village into River Oaks and Midtown. If you go south and southwest of Rice Village towards Braeswood, there are some more quiet apartments. You can also look for garage apartments and little houses to rent until you settle in and buy a house.

Sugar Land has a nice Town Center but I would not live there if I was single in my 30s. There are way too many families and pack of teenagers who hang out there.