If You Worked at the New Exxon Campus, Where Would You Live? (Dallas: homes, neighborhoods)

[huma281]

If I worked there, I would like to live as near to my work as possible. That narrows it down to the Woodlands and a big iffy on Spring. Ideally no more than 5-10 minutes away. Worst case scenario, 15 minutes away.

[Dopo]

The smart thing to do is to avoid I-45

[cockermom]

Originally Posted by texas7

People may suggest areas like Conroe to get a bit of separation. If you work at em and live in the woodlands then you see fellow employees everywhere. When you move too close it
May be all em 24/7, neighbors and all. Some people don't care for that.

EM employees are all over the greater Houston area, not just in The Woodlands. Haven't run into one EM employee and we've been in TW for over a year. I'm out at the different parks and grocery stores and we go out to eat all over TW and have yet to run into any EM employees.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by colcat

Live near your work. Not downtown. Seriously, everyone says to live near your work until work is in a suburb. Then it's "live downtown and commute."

Lol, yes pretty ridiculous. I think its a good idea to live close to where you work if possible. If you're going to be working at the new Exxon campus and you can afford to live in the Woodlands, I don't see why you would live anywhere else. Taking on a unnecessary commute is stupid. You could always drive into the city on the weekends to do things inside the city. Living 'inside the Loop" i.e the Heights, midtown ,montrose, etc, is only practical if you work downtown or in Greenway plaza or Uptown. If you work way out in the suburbs it makes no since to live in the city.

[texas7]

Originally Posted by cockermom

EM employees are all over the greater Houston area, not just in The Woodlands. Haven't run into one EM employee and we've been in TW for over a year. I'm out at the different parks and grocery stores and we go out to eat all over TW and have yet to run into any EM employees.

Yes and I'm just saying that may be one reason people refer others farther out because they don't want to run the risk of it whether it actually happens or not.

[texas7]

Originally Posted by cockermom

EM employees are all over the greater Houston area, not just in The Woodlands. Haven't run into one EM employee and we've been in TW for over a year. I'm out at the different parks and grocery stores and we go out to eat all over TW and have yet to run into any EM employees.

Yes and I'm just saying that may be one reason people refer others farther out because they don't want to run the risk of it whether it actually happens or not. Those who refer further away may have a preference to live further from the office.

[cockermom]

Originally Posted by still_waiting

Thanks guys so far. Holy wow, Grand Parkway is, well GRAND. I just saw it overlaid on GoogleMaps. What I'm getting from you all is that if a person were buying now the Woodlands would be a good choice, but that if one were to wait some of the proposed MPCs would be a nice option. Taking the second option in mind, how is the house rental market in the Spring and Woodland areas. Also is Conroe not a viable option, at least in y'all eyes? Thanks people for the insights.

There are a lot of rentals available in TW right now. The housing market in TW has slowed significantly (e.g. price reductions and houses sitting on the market much longer). There are also more options in terms of shorter term leases (e.g. six months) if one wants to rent short term while figuring out the area and determining where to live. Just go to HAR.com and look for Residential Lease.

[Oildog]

I'm in the Sawyer Heights area and I know 4 XOM households that have moved near me in the last two years. They all work in the Woodlands, a couple may not be there 5 days a week though. One works in Baytown.

[OnMyWayto30a]

Falls at Imperial Oaks is a nice David Weekley community and a little less expensive than Woodlands proper.

[schnauzerfriendly]

My husband is an XOM employee, but instead of getting relocated to the new campus he's stuck in Baytown for some time. Because my office is going to be in The Woodlands proper, we've chosen Fall Creek as a go-between. From Fall Creek the commute is reportedly 35 minutes or so, provided you take the hardy toll rd. 45 is a non-attempt for me.

Once he's in The Woodlands full time (who knows how long that will take?) I still don't see us moving up there, just because our son will be in elementary and we'll have child care for the other one near Fall Creek. Maybe that will change, but the neigborhoods I looked at in Spring and The Woodlands are all getting a little out of control. Fall Creek seems like the more affordable option and hopefully the commute will stay ok for a while.

We briefly considered living in town, but I think that only makes sense if you're trying to split a commute. Garden Oaks to the new campus is at least 45 minutes, and it's hard to get to the hardy toll from GO in the morning without hitting traffic. Due to school issues and very high housing costs there it really became a no-go fo rus qutie quickly.