peaceful and affordable suburb in houston? (Stafford, Bellaire: insurance, low crime, house)

[antonics]

Hi, I am thinking of moving to Houston from the Philippines but want to know which suburb is most peaceful, and affordable. Also the best school unified district to handle autism-related problem for my son. Appreciate anyone's help.

[AGGIEZ]

I'd love to help, but do you know how BIG Houston is? There isn't just one peaceful\affordable neighborhood. What do you consider "affordable"? What do you mean by "peaceful"? Would you rather live close to town or in the burbs? Private school or public school?

[chris_ut]

antonics,

kumustá. Do you need to commute for work? Its best to let people know where your work is so they can recommend an area since the city is so large.

[Wysiwyg]

you probably need to focus your search around the SE ie Sugarland area. A lot of Filipinos here more than anywhere else in the city. The biggest Filipino store seem to be the one in Stafford.

[antonics]

I've heard of Sugarland area. I think I was in Cypress area or something of Houston recently. What schools are ok in that area? Low crime rate. city-data has some crime stats also but again Houston is so large that chances are a lot of people will never be victims of crimes.
Thanks for the tips and replies.

[antonics]

By affordable housing I am thinking about $150,000-$200,000 home which hopefully could house myself, wife and kids aged 7 and 5. Among Caldwell, NJ; Torrance,CA and Houston, Texas, Houston has the most affordable homes I have checked. Nice people.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by antonics

Hi, I am thinking of moving to Houston from the Philippines but want to know which suburb is most peaceful, and affordable. Also the best school unified district to handle autism-related problem for my son. Appreciate anyone's help.

Autism is a large spectrum. How affected is your son? How old is he? You may want to join the Houston Autism Meetup Group and ask more there.

The Houston Autism Meetup Group (Houston, TX) - Meetup.com

The public schools in the US do NOT do a great job with autistic children, but it will depend on how high functioning he is. Texas is not great, but.... they did pass a bill that allows children from 2 to 6 to have their ABA covered by insurance (there are loopholes, though). Interestingly, the public school that my grandson went to in Louisiana at 3 was decent and he had an option of half day or full day programs there for his preschool. Here, the only program for 3 year olds is half day and it is multiple disabled rather than autistic only. Depending on what your son needs, you may have to *fight* with the school district to get it here. The ARD process can be difficult unless you know your rights.

Dorothy

[texan_176]

Northern Westbury is around $165K for a ready to move in and do nothing but sign the contract 1800-2100 sq ft house.

Live there until the child grows up and upgrade to a meyerland home (currently about $250K to start) so you get zoned to Bellaire high.

Pretty much all of the newer developments require cheap energy to be afforable. Houston does not have rail lines like in most other big cities. The one line we do have does not run between the burbs and the city. We have park and ride but that requires driving.

Anyway, Westbury/Meyerland is about a 10-15 minute ride from downtown, 10 minutes to the medical center, under 10 minutes to the major sports staduims, etc...

For the most part the area is safe and clean with mature trees in the residential areas. Some spots look like you went back in time to the 50s (except the cars). Location is something to consider with $4 gasoline soon to come.