Sugar Land (Houston, Austin, New Territory: foreclosures, rent, houses)

[Topaz]

My husband has a job interview tomorrow that may result in my family moving to Houston. I'm OK with that because it would be great for his career but I'm really sorry that I won't have a chance to actually SEE Houston before we are committed to moving there.

I've spent hours on this forum and Sugar Land seems like it might be a good place for us to live (not a good commute but good for everything else).

Despite all my research, I'm in need of some extra reassurance. Could some current residents of Sugar Land please tell me what you like best about living in Sugar Land? We have two young children so perspectives from families would be awesome. I've reviewed GreatSchools and SchoolDigger but I'd like to hear personal stories from parents about the vibe of this area.

Thanks!

[EasilyAmused]

Where is the commute and the price range? There maybe other burbs or in town areas that are just as good that might make the commute time less.

[Topaz]

My husband's commute would be from Clear Lake but he would be traveling via airplane a lot so I want to be somewhere I like for the times he is gone and I'm home with our two children. Last time we bought a house, we put too much priority on a short commute and then we disliked our neighborhood.

I'm a consultant, too, but I would only accept local work because we can't both travel at the same time since we are parents. Unfortunately, I will probably spend a lot of time in my car.

Here's our wish list:
1. Larger, newish house, $350K or less, medium to big yard. We would rent for a year to test our decision before buying.
2. Safe, family-friendly neighborhood, w/ excellent public schools, sidewalks, parks and at least a few trees.
3. Culture that accepts employed mothers. I spent 10 years in grad school to prepare for my career and I am always going to be employed, at least part time.
4. Proximity to organic grocery store...we love Whole Foods Market and wish there were more Central Market locations in Houston.
5. Somewhere nice to exercise indoors when the weather is bad...maybe Lifetime Fitness?
6. Commutable to Austin for weekends is a big plus because all of our friends live there. (This is my biggest factor for being willing to move to the Houston area).

Topaz

[EasilyAmused]

Too bad you won't go for an older home. Nottingham Forest or Wilchester in the Energy corridor is in a great school district, Whole Foods close by, Life Time Fitness being built at the City Centre ( which will be an even more upscale version of Town Center/Market Street style areas), great resturants and its a fast drive to Austin from there. In fact many of the families that live there have Hill Country ranches for the weekends.Terry Hershey Park which the neighborhood kids love that stretches for miles.
I'm a little high on the area because I just did a private contract on a house in Yorkshire that is right down near the park.I had to go walking and knocking on doors because no one puts their house on the market in there. Its an incredible area, full of kids, near the Beltway for the airport and commuting and not so isolated.
But yeah, you have to be in the mind set of "old is ok." Personally, I'm making mine new on the inside and moving in after a year or two. I like living right by work too much right now. But I just wanted to get my hands on something before the property values went even more through the roof.

[Topaz]

We are open to suggestions. "Newer" was on our wish list because of a previous stressful experience with a 1930's home.

I'll Google those neighborhood names.

[Poltracker]

Why not live in Clear Lake? It has everything you are describing (except whole foods) AND it is a better commute. Little bit further to Austin but you won't be doing that on a daily basis.

[arbucle]

You also might look at friendswood we get a 10 out of 10 at Best schools .

[cr76]

We love Sugar Land! We have lived here for 5 years and rarely have to go into Houston for anything b/c everything is here! There is a brand new Whole Foods and a Lifetime Fitness as well as a brand new LA Fitness. I can't speak for LA Fitness, but I am a member at Lifetime and love it! Some things that I like about this area:
1. Cleanliness-there are very strict ordinances against signage and billboards which makes for a very clean landscape.
2. Convenience-everything that you could need (or that I have needed) is within 15-20 minutes.
3. Great restaurants and shopping. First Colony Mall has recently added a lot of new stores as well as the new Town Center.
As far as traffic, it has gotten a lot better since 59 has been expanded and both Fort Bend and Westpark Tollways have opened up. Most of your husband's commute would be against traffic, the only rush hour traffic that he should have to fight is on 59, but he would only be on that most likely until beltway 8 which is only about a 7-8 mile stretch from the heart of Sugar Land. Most of Sugar Land is zoned to Fort Bend ISD which is very good. There are some schools (of course) that are better then others. Check out a few of these neighborhoods for new or "newish" homes: Riverstone, New Territory, Old Orchard, Orchard Lakes, First Colony, and Telfair.

[ssid19]

We recently bought a patio home in Telfair and are building it. You can check inventory houses. Its a new master planned community and high priced because of location (proximity to US59 and close to towncenter in Sugarland). It falls in your price range and you can get good discounts due to the subprime crisis and foreclosures. I am also hoping people let me know of my decision too, if Telfair is actually that good.

[Midwest girl at heart]

If it were me, I'd rent first. ClearLake was part of my territory when I lived in Sugar Land. They are not that close to one another.