MI family considering Houston relocation (Dallas, Sugar Land: home, neighborhood, best school districts)

[JMiker]

Hi all.

We are a multi-racial family, we have 4 bio kids and 2 children from Ethiopia, that is considering a move to the Houston area. We are looking for a diverse school system and neighborhood.

Employment is not a factor as we both can work from home anywhere.

I would love to hear the good and the bad for Houston. We come from a pretty small and not very diverse town now are looking for MORE in terms of diversity and hell just no snow.

Thanks so much.

J

[shortel]

Really we have to have another thread on this? we only have a million threads talking about the good and bad of Houston.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Ethiopian? Great. If you do end up in Houston, visit the Little Nigeria on Bissonett street. Plenty of African markets around there.

Ethiopian Airlines is also looking into adding service to IAH, so once that starts, you can go nonstop to travel back.

[jerbear30]

Hi and welcome to the board. I think Houston has overtaken NYC as the most diverse metro area in the country. I grew up in Michigan and I love the change of seasons there as well as the more centralized towns. Houston can feel like one big strip-mall sometimes, and that's disappointing. I am basically ok with the heat here all year round though. It is not as bad as people say and the winters are very, very nice. I miss the seasons, but my lungs don't and the lush, tropical feel here has its pleasures. If it is diversity you are seeking, you will find it here, especially in the southwest. There are some areas of the southwest that are not safe but there are a lot of areas that are safe. Never listen to the posters who write off whole swaths of the city, they are the people who never actually go to the city to begin with. If you are interested in living here and raising a family in a diverse, but safe environment with good schools, I'd recommend Sugar Land. Even though parts of Sugar Land are very boring, there is more diversity there than in any other suburb type space. If you have plenty of money, you might consider inside the loop in Bellaire or the Heights.

[honeyinhouston]

OP what is your budget as far as housing? Please consider Sugar Land, Pearland, Humble, Cypress, Katy. All of those areas are pretty diverse. Look into HAR.com for housing and schooldigger.com for schools. The best school districts are Pearland ISD, Fort Bend ISD (some schools are iffy), Katy, Cyfair, and Humble. Some of the best masterplanned communities in the Houston suburbs are Fall Creek (Humble), Eagles Springs (Humble), Summerwood, Shadow Creek Ranch (Pearland), Cinco Ranch (Katy), First Colony (Sugar Land), Greatwood (Sugar Land), Aliana (Sugar Land), Sienna Plantation (Missouri City), Cypress Creek Lakes (Cypress), Lakes of Savannah (Rosharon), Kingwood, The Woodlands, League City, Richmond. There are others on Har.com. Good luck!

The best malls in Houston are The Galleria, Memorial City, Baybrook, The Woodlands Mall. There are others but these offer the best shopping experiences.

[JMiker]

Thanks!! We will likely want to stay under 300k. 4+ bedrooms and kids will revolt without a pool.

I am making a list of all these recommendations! Thank you. 

I am most concerned with diversity (not good/bad in Houston i.e. traffic)

I have done some research and keep coming back to this area as being in th TOP.

We will be in Dallas for a conference in January we are going to extend our stay a couple of days so we can travel to the area and get a feel for it.

I will take any recommendations you all have. Again thank you for all your help!

[Oildog]

Use the search function for the forum. There have been several similar threads.