Can Houston really be considered a cheap city anymore? (Katy: houses, landscaping)

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by Kiovo

because I "sacrifice" an hour more than you do a day, I (and my family) get to enjoy more. Like, my big backyard where my dogs have plenty of room, my kids can ride their bikes in the street, and taking multiple vacations a year. Oh and the hubby enjoys building and working on projects and I have a car fetish so a 3 car garage comes in handy. Point of my story...l don't let my commute time determine my quality of life.

I live less than 10 miles to the heart of downtown and still enjoy a large backyard 14000sqft lot, tons of trails (memorial park and Hershey), some of the best public schools in the city and a 3 car garage. What I sacrifice is old house vs new which to each his/her own.

Last I checked 40mins x 2 is more like 1.5 hours a day which is 20% of your free time away from your family. I'd rather pay an extra 20% tax to the government (money can be made, time cannot) then waste that sitting a bus.
Time is more important to me than any other resources. Just my perspective.

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by jek74

I leave the park and ride at 6:30 am and step on campus downtown at 7:15 and that is with a stop at kuykendahl to pick up 3 more people. On days when we don't stop there it's 35 minutes. This is a fact. If you want, I'll record the time on my cell phone and post it.

So you sleep at the park and ride? Or is your house right next door to the park and ride? Do you get on the bus while its moving?

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by GTRdad

The Royal Oaks neighborhood is 'nice'

I was seeing that. Is that where you live? You can buy in that neighborhood for $190k??
I think it's absolutely ludicrous to drop $2M on a house situated in the middle of the hood and not close to anything the city has to offer. Again, to each their own. Some people prefer house, some prefer location.

[jek74]

Originally Posted by donblackie

So you sleep at the park and ride? Or is your house right next door to the park and ride? Do you get on the bus while its moving?

At that time of the morning, I get to the park and ride in a few minutes. Yes, I'm pretty close.

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by jek74

At that time of the morning, I get to the park and ride in a few minutes. Yes, I'm pretty close.

Any particular reason why that time is not factored into your commute time?

Hence the reason why I stated earlier that people ussually are inaccurate when discussing commute times as things are left out for one reason or another

[jek74]

Originally Posted by donblackie

Any particular reason why that time is not factored into your commute time?

Hence the reason why I stated earlier that people ussually are inaccurate when discussing commute times as things are left out for one reason or another

Sure, I'll walk you through the logic. There is an infinite number of permutations in commute times because not every single person in Houston has the EXACT same address. So when discussing commute time you use a common data point that makes relative comparisons easier and then one can add an appropriate number that pertains to their EXACT situation to the common data point. It would be impossible to give every single commute time from the Woodlands as it can vary huge depending on where you live. It's the same reason why traffic reports in the morning give you travel times from major zones like Woodlands parkway to downtown or 1920 to 610. They don't give you the travel times from your particular house. Kind of weird huh. So by using a common measuring stick, all a person has to do then is say, how long does it take me to get from my home to that starting point and add the appropriate time. In the early morning in the Woodlands, you can cruise pretty fast to just about anywhere, the only thing that slows you down are the stop lights and I've worked my way around that issue. Hopefully this makes sense for you.

[GTRdad]

Originally Posted by donblackie

I was seeing that. Is that where you live? You can buy in that neighborhood for $190k??
I think it's absolutely ludicrous to drop $2M on a house situated in the middle of the hood and not close to anything the city has to offer. Again, to each their own. Some people prefer house, some prefer location.

This just points out that some people think THE city has nothing much to offer. If any its outside the loop or any easy drive to it like hermann park. Or that its not such a bad thing to have just enough distance from useless socialites or the gardenridge types. That some prefer gated communities with HPD patrol than traffic passing thru their neighborhoods
The area got a good elementary school there but the area also has a number of private schools. Theres a whole lot of expensive cars around here i'm thinking those folks dont care for public services.
The area also have more affordable subdivisions like shadowlake and others. I work around the galleria so i can get there easily from here. The westpark tollway is a cake walk at 8:30am

[radiolibre99]

What does it look like in royal oaks? That community is gated as hell. I've never seen such a blocked off place. I lived in west chase for several years and never saw the inside of royal oaks.

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by GTRdad

This just points out that some people think THE city has nothing much to offer. If any its outside the loop or any easy drive to it like hermann park. Or that its not such a bad thing to have just enough distance from useless socialites or the gardenridge types. That some prefer gated communities with HPD patrol than traffic passing thru their neighborhoods
The area got a good elementary school there but the area also has a number of private schools. Theres a whole lot of expensive cars around here i'm thinking those folks dont care for public services.
The area also have more affordable subdivisions like shadowlake and others. I work around the galleria so i can get there easily from here. The westpark tollway is a cake walk at 8:30am

Thanks for the insight. Here is what I don't get. You can easily buy something "decent" in the villages for $2m and you won't have to send your kids to school with 50cent or private school. It's closer to everything you mentioned, galleria, hermann park, etc. the village PD is way more responsive than HPD. So what are you paying for? The gate?

For the record I think royal oak and shadow lake are decently located and with west park tollway it fairly easy to get places....that is appealing.

Problem is the school distric and surrounding neighbors. It will be very hard for those homes to appreciate due to this.

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by jek74

Sure, I'll walk you through the logic. There is an infinite number of permutations in commute times because not every single person in Houston has the EXACT same address. So when discussing commute time you use a common data point that makes relative comparisons easier and then one can add an appropriate number that pertains to their EXACT situation to the common data point. It would be impossible to give every single commute time from the Woodlands as it can vary huge depending on where you live. It's the same reason why traffic reports in the morning give you travel times from major zones like Woodlands parkway to downtown or 1920 to 610. They don't give you the travel times from your particular house. Kind of weird huh. So by using a common measuring stick, all a person has to do then is say, how long does it take me to get from my home to that starting point and add the appropriate time. In the early morning in the Woodlands, you can cruise pretty fast to just about anywhere, the only thing that slows you down are the stop lights and I've worked my way around that issue. Hopefully this makes sense for you.

If Someone were planning for a very important meeting and ask, how long would it take me to get from houston to California....I would specify the flight from IAH to LAx is about 3 hours gate to gate so vary your planning around that. You said it takes you 40 mins to get from woodlands to downtown without any detail. That is about as useful as a piano made for squirrels