Cypress or Tomball? (Houston, Sugar Land, Katy: crime, houses, employment)

[vh56]

Hi Everyone,

We recently moved to Houston and currently looking for a location to raise our family, but we're not sure where, so any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated. Currently, we are focused on the following locations for the school system.

Cypress 77433 - For Cypress Ranch HS
Cypress 77429 - For Cypress Woods HS
Tomball ?????? - For Tomball Memorial HS

I couldn't finid much about Tomball Memorial HS, so please let me know what your thoughts are in comparison to Cypress HS's.

Thanks,

[curbur]

All areas are relatively nice with decent schools with some good and some bad associated with them, so perhaps it would make more sense to find out where your family's employment is near and what price point are you looking around? 77433 probably has the most custom new builds going on within it out of the 3, although it is more closely located to less than desirable areas nearby it. 77429 feels more wooded and secluded, but the traffic grid is all sorts of screwed up, which is a growing problem as more and more people move out that way. Nearby in Tomball, their neighborhoods are surrounded by more solidly middle class areas as opposed to 77433, but like 77429 is part of a somewhat disjointed grid and is probably one of the least connected areas to the rest of the metro. Most recent school rankings (which granted are somewhat arbitrary anyways) rank them as follows: Cy Ranch > Cy Woods > Tomball Memorial HS. Suffice to say, there isn't a clear winner here. I think they're more similar than they are different, so again I think knowing what kind of home you want/can afford and what/where you do your work should be the deciding factors here.

[DejaBlue]

By personal word of mouth, I've heard not so great things about Cy-Ranch.

Through a friend I know of a teacher at another CyFair school that said they'd rather teach in the hood than Ranch becasue the kids are extremely bratty and since the parents have money they run the school and the teachers get the short end to where one science teacher had students walk out during a lesson saying "We're too rich for this assignment" because their dads were engineers and a lawyer.

If anything....what's the difference? Look at the demographics. The schools are all similar in that respect so you can rest easy.

[LocalPlanner]

Why not choose areas zoned to Cy-Falls, Cy-Ridge or Langham Creek? You're still in Cy-Fair and will pay less for a home, and probably a shorter commute if working somewhere "in town." Why jump all the way out to the farthest burbs?

[vh56]

Thanks for the feedback. I've been getting mixed reviews depending on which site I go to. I do hear a lot of good things about Cypress Ranch and Cypress Woods, but some sites such as homefacts.com ranked Tomball Memorial having higher test scores in math, reading, and science then both Cypress schools. So it kind of makes it difficult to decides due to the different reviews.

In terms of job location. I work down town Houston. I plan on taking the PR, either the Cypress PR or Seton Lake PR, depending on which location is closer. House price would be between $400k-$500k. I don't have a preference in terms of new build or existing as long as its in a good community. This takes me to my next question for feedback/opinions.

I've been looking at the following community. What are your thoughts on each? Or do you have any other recommendations?

Cypress Creek Lake - Seems to be full and low inventory
Falls at Dry Creek - New development. Lots of open lots, but don't really know much about it or this location
Enclave at Northpointe - Saw that they expanded the build area.
Hayden Lakes - New development. Don't know much about this area.
Wildwood at Northpointe - Just heard of it, but don't know much about it.

I guess all 3 schools are good/bad in their own ways, but would appreciate some more feedback. Also, any feedback or recommendations on the community would be appreciated as well.

Thanks again...

[DejaBlue]

Downtown from the very boonies now becoming suburbia of Cypress.

I'd take that budget and move to Katy.

Do you have kids going to high school or are you being extremely premature with 4-6 year old kids? If the latter than you are being premature because by the time they go to those high schools they just might be a lot lower than now and you'll be SOL since you're all about test scores.

[vh56]

Well you're right about me being premature. My kids will not be attending HS anytime soon. I'm only basing my decision on HS rating because I don't really know enough about the area to really make any decisions, so I figure school rating would be a good start. Also, the other main reason for choosing those specific areas is so we can be close to our family. I've heard great things about Katy and Sugar Land, but those locations are a bit too far. We moved here to be close to our family, so it would defeat the purpose if we moved here and be far from them. I understand that things may change later, but I don't know what the outcome will be in the future, so I'm just looking for any opinions and feedback on current status as it will help me figure things out.

Thanks for your feedback.

[plasma800]

I wouldn't move into this area at all. Have you spent much time out here lately?

If you enjoy

*being gridlocked in traffic
*a steadily declining area with growing bad manners
*high taxes
*a toll road every time you leave your house, then this place is for you.

Hey, if you're really interested, I have a friend who is about to list a BEAUTIFUL house right off 249 and spring cypress. Beautiful house. I think that would put you in Tomball HS - which I might prefer over the other two.

77433 is still very underdeveloped south of 290, which might be nice for a while. The builders will come and clear every tree and build a bunch of crappy looking houses soon.

290 is a mess! It will be way worse once that area develops and everyone has to get to work. The explosion of the cypress rosehill area has already proven that over the past 10 years.

I've lived in this are since I was 12 - I'm 41 now. Know it intimately - and I'm on my way outttttttt of here .

[vh56]

@plasma800 - Which area are you going to if you don't mind me asking? Also, what subdivision is the house you are referring to?

[curbur]

Originally Posted by plasma800

I wouldn't move into this area at all. Have you spent much time out here lately?

If you enjoy

*being gridlocked in traffic
*a steadily declining area with growing bad manners
*high taxes
*a toll road every time you leave your house, then this place is for you.

Hey, if you're really interested, I have a friend who is about to list a BEAUTIFUL house right off 249 and spring cypress. Beautiful house. I think that would put you in Tomball HS - which I might prefer over the other two.

77433 is still very underdeveloped south of 290, which might be nice for a while. The builders will come and clear every tree and build a bunch of crappy looking houses soon.

290 is a mess! It will be way worse once that area develops and everyone has to get to work. The explosion of the cypress rosehill area has already proven that over the past 10 years.

I've lived in this are since I was 12 - I'm 41 now. Know it intimately - and I'm on my way outttttttt of here .

So how is the area declining and what tollway do residents have to use everytime they leave? Crime statistics for the area are no worse than they were 10 yeas ago, and still relatuvely low for the metro area. In fact of the three zip codes provided, crime is actually increasing at a higher rate the closer you get to 249. When was the last time you've been to 77433? There's a lot if development happening right now; most of the zip will be developed within 10 years; also 290 should be fully widened by 2017-2018. In addition, home values will likely increase quite a bit if high speed rail puts their line in on the railroad adjacent to 290 and gives Cypress a stop. They've already stated that the 290 corridor Id their preferred route and that they plan on putting a stop in a far flung suburb on the way into town, which basically narrows it down to Cypress unless things drastically change. I'd be willing to accept any new data that might shed light on the area, but thus far I don't see how your claims are backed up.