Eagle Springs, Summerwood, Lakeshore or Fall Creek?!?! (Houston, League City: fit in, short sale) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

taylorcolino · 04-07-2013, 08:09 PM

I feel like my head is going to explode with "Summerwood, Lakeshore, Eagle Springs or Fall Creek." I am moving to Humble from Manhattan (180 degree change already) this summer. I want a reasonable commute but my husband and I don't know where we are going to work yet so I picked Humble as the commute to almost anywhere seems reasonable (based on the traffic map I have of Houston which shows 59, that segment of BW8 and I-10E are always moving). I have two good friends who live in the area--one who lives in Fall Creek, and one who lives in Eagle Springs. My friend who lives in Fall Creek is the type of person who has to have designer EVERYTHING. Her home is GORGEOUS(!!!!), FC has a great elementary and her commute to the Galleria area is great. She is happy but her house was 560K. We want to spend no more than 265K, although we were approved for more, and we need a 4 bedroom home. We really want a lot of 10K as well, and those seem hard to get in FC. My BFF lives in Eagle Springs. She is crazy frugal and thinks of homes purely as investments. She got a great deal on a short sale in Eagle Springs (219k for 4 bedroom). She is happy with it as she will likely sell once her daughter graduates HS. I thought her neighborhood was more attractive than Fall Creek, but it took us 20 minutes to get from her home to my friend's house in FC and this was on a Saturday with minimal traffic. What kind of commute do people experience just getting to the BW or 59 during prime traffic time?
Lastly, I am brown and I have brown children--diversity is important to me, and that is why I am not looking at any other areas in Humble or Kingwood; I want a good school where my kids at least see people that look like them, even if their good friends don't. Mostly I want a neighborhood where kids play outside and it is easier for them to make new friends. People in NYC are so guarded and unfriendly. Maybe this 70s baby is looking for something that no longer exists. Please save me from my rumination! My husband and kids will be forever indebted to you

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Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any insight you have to give me.

Sincerely,
taylorcolino

lhafer · 04-07-2013, 10:15 PM

Pretty much any of them will be fantastic to live in. You will have to drive through each them for a bit and see which one feels like home to you.

Fall creek and Summerwood will have the shortest commute times because of their proximity to the beltway and 59. But they are further away from a lot of shopping (though its getting a lot better). The just put in an HEB, so super Walmart isn't our only grocery store anymore (I always thought is was ironic that the owners of million dollar homes only had Walmart to shop at for a long time). But still, it will be a drive to store like Target, Kohls, etc. that are on 1960. Perhaps in time, the beltway will build up more, just don't know how long it will take.

For us, Eagle Springs was our home, with Summerwood being a pretty close second. I only like the lake side of Lakeshore, and don't particularly care for Fall Creek (I think the homes there are overpriced). My husband works downtown, and drives everyday. It takes him around 45 minutes in rush hour to get home, 50-60 minutes if the traffic is super bad or if there is an accident. He leaves pretty early (around 6am), and it takes him about 35 minutes or so to get to work. It's about 10 minutes from eagle springs to 59 or the beltway. 15 to the beltway during rush hour. And about 20/25 minutes to downtown or the medical center (or zoo or children's museum). It took me about 50 minutes to drive to the medical center (Texas children s hospital) from my garage to the parking garage. And that was getting to work around 7:30-8am, and leaving around 5ish.

In eagle springs there is plenty of diversity. You see people outside all the time. Kids playing together in The front yards, or in the cul de sacs all the time. All of the elementary schools are top notch in all of the communities. Middle school gets a little more iffy, and peopl say that Atascocita high school is better than the Summer creek, but I think Summer creek just needs some time. My daughter attends Atascocita springs elementary and we love it. It's a fantastic school. So is eagle springs elementary (both are in eagle springs).

Search this forum for those community names and a lot of discussions will pop up.

taylorcolino · 04-08-2013, 05:59 AM

Thank you so much for your response, Ihafer! My number one priority is children--I want tons of kids outside playing, but time on the road is a close second and I couldn't find that information in any other forum. Eagle Springs and Lakeshore weren't even on my list until a few days ago. I am leaning away from Fall Creek now; I think my dollar goes further in the other neighborhoods and I noticed most of the extracurricicular activities for kids seem to be closer to Eagle Springs and Summerwood, so being closer to those areas will make our weekends more manageable. I only wish the library was closer...I will be in the area in early May and I will be looking at Eagle Springs in a different way now. Also I wnated to thank you for clarifying your reasons for leaving Walden--I was seriously considering that neighborhood until I read your post explaining why you were unhappy there.

lhafer · 04-08-2013, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taylorcolino

Thank you so much for your response, Ihafer! My number one priority is children--I want tons of kids outside playing, but time on the road is a close second and I couldn't find that information in any other forum. Eagle Springs and Lakeshore weren't even on my list until a few days ago. I am leaning away from Fall Creek now; I think my dollar goes further in the other neighborhoods and I noticed most of the extracurricicular activities for kids seem to be closer to Eagle Springs and Summerwood, so being closer to those areas will make our weekends more manageable. I only wish the library was closer...I will be in the area in early May and I will be looking at Eagle Springs in a different way now. Also I wnated to thank you for clarifying your reasons for leaving Walden--I was seriously considering that neighborhood until I read your post explaining why you were unhappy there.

There are 2 libraries fairly close to ES (if you are referring to public libraries). One is Octavia fields library - it is located on Will Clayton and S. Houston Ave (right next to the Humble Civic Center). We held our girl scout troop meetings there for a while. The other is Atascocita Library on Pinehurst Trail up off of 1960 (heading towards the Huffman area, but way before the bridge). It's the intersection just past Kroger on 1960. It's a great library too. Took my kids to the story time for tots there for a long while. Will probably go back this summer when our schedules allow it.

I hate putting Walden down, because it is a nice community, and I know people who live there and like it. It just wasn't for us. So if your worries fall in line with mine, it wouldn't be for you either. For other people, it's great.

There are many extracurricular activities in the Atascocita/kingwood area. There is a YMCA on W. Lake Houston Prkway heading into Kingwood. They are supposed to be building on down near Summerwood, but I have no idea when that is supposed to happen. There are lots of places like martial arts places, gymnastics, dance, sports, etc around the Atascocita area, and in Kingwood. Both of my girls are in gymnastics, and there are lots of people from Fall Creek and Summerwood who are in their classes - because there isn't much around them right now.

TxElsie · 04-08-2013, 01:29 PM

We live in Summerwood and love it. Out of the other two, I'd pick Eagle Springs over Fall Creek, but it's really a matter of personal preference. Drive around on a weekend and see which feels best. Eagle Springs and Summerwood were developed by the same company, so they are pretty similar.

Husband works downtown and it's about a 45 minute commute for him. He rides the bus in and carpools out.

Schools are great. Summerwood is zoned to Summerwood Elem and Lakeshore Elem. Our boys go to Lakeshore and we couldn't be happier.

The neighborhood is friendly, and wonderfully diverse. Your children will fit in beautifully. It is one of the things that we really enjoy about the community. $265 will buy you a lovely home easily within your requirements.

chris_ut · 04-08-2013, 01:46 PM

Eagle Springs is better than Fall Creek.

lhafer · 04-08-2013, 02:14 PM

Here's another way to look at it too. People who live in Fall Creek tend to pick Fall Creek strictly for commuting purposes. I know several people who live there and refused to look anywhere else only because it had the fastest commits to downtown.

People who live in Summerwood really like it. But when they move, they move to Eagle zsprings or Kingwood. I lso know several families who have done this, while I know some others who love it there.

I never hear anything about Lakeshore....ever.

People who live in zeagle springs move within eagle springs. They move up, downsize, etc. I know at least 4 families who have done this. Ask the realtors, they will tell you this happens as well.

taylorcolino · 04-08-2013, 03:58 PM

My husband is an electrical engineer and he has interviewed with several companies, NONE of them downtown, so I love that with the Beltway the Energy Corridor doesn't seem that far BUT he can also commute to League City or Buffalo Speedway while avoiding all the traffic headed to downtown (those are the locations of the employers he has second interviews with). I am a former Vet and still work for Uncle Sam so I go where he tells me to go ;-D and there aren't any options downtown so I will be driving to a 'burb. Does anyone have any experience with a commute that is NOT downtown or the medical center? @Ihafer you made my day with the Atascocita branch, I had only found Octavia, but I was wondering why the people you know who moved moved from SW to ES? @TxElsie why did you choose SW over ES? Are kids playing outside in your neighborhood as well? Have the tolls become burdensome for anyone in either neighborhood?

Texascrude · 04-08-2013, 06:48 PM

Fall Creek is a shorter commute to downtown -- that's its only advantage. If that's important to you, though, there's nothing else to discuss. If your willing to sacrifice ~10 extra minutes each way on a downtown commute, there is not any reason to choose Fall Creek. As a community, it simply does not compare with either of the other two you've mentioned. No trees, no pocket parks (unless they've added some in the new development areas), poor local shopping (most of my friends in FC drive up the Eagle Springs area to shop / eat).

crl21 · 04-17-2013, 12:55 PM

I think ES and SW are very nice. I also think it all depends on how you feel about the commute and which price range you are looking to purchase in. For us we were looking at the higher end 400K+, so the options in FC were better. I'm also so used to a short commute that even that extra 10-20 minutes each way, every day for the rest of my life would drive me nuts. We also like being closer to downtown (ball games, museums, etc.) and having quick easy access to the Beltway.

My opinion is that as the traffic gets worse on this side of town, which it certainly will, FC is going to be much more convenient that ES. At the end of the day, you'll probably like any of them. These debates on the forums always make me laugh a little. It's like arguing over what's better Burger King vs. McDonalds vs. Wendys. There all pretty much the same. The positive is that it suggests people have a lot of pride in their particular communities, which is always a plus. But, we aren't talking about the Heights vs. Rice Village vs. Kingwood where there are clear significant differences.