Heights vs Washington vs Spring Branch. Where would you prefer to live? (Allen: townhouses, neighborhoods)

[WTL63]

Narrowed down to these 3 areas within my budget, and I can't decide which to buy a place in to live. Heights and Washington is great location and relatively safe although I heard car burglaries was common. Not really a fan of the narrow streets and ditches also but can live with it. Spring Branch seems to be better value for what you pay (if i'm not mistakened) and seems to be growing still, though lots of it still look sketchy.

Whats your opinions?

[Texas Ag 93]

The Heights- but I'm biased because I used to live there about 15 years ago.

My answer for you might change depending on your age, work location and need (or not) for schools.

[Lowexpectations]

Heights
Washington
Spring branch

In terms of age

Younger Washington then heights then spring branch as you get older

[gwarnecke]

If you're looking for a longer-term investment, and a home/neighborhood to raise your family, I'd vote for Spring Branch. If you can afford The Heights, then you can afford a nicely-updated Spring Branch home zoned to Memorial High School, on a much larger lot than you'd find in the other two areas.

The only thing you're losing in SB, relative to the other two areas, is walkability.

[d2mini]

It really depends on your needs. Where you commute to, your lifestyle, kids or not, etc. We wanted to move back into town after 4 years out west in fb county. You know how it goes.. have a couple kids and think you now need more space and better schools, but don't realize the toll the daily commute takes on the whole family. So.... here's what we looked at and our thoughts. You didn't mention kids, but that was important to us so I'll go over that too.

Spring Branch. We lived here before moving out west. Very convenient for shopping. Kind of convenient to commute to inside the loop. Either take 1-10, dealing with the commuter traffic, or take West View to post oak to old katy rd, etc.
Good areas can be spotty. Your street may be good, but the next street over has a lot of riffraff. We got broken into three times in the 12 years we lived there. Of course YMMV. Nice homes from the 50s and 60's. Prices aren't too high yet but have increased a lot over the past several years. Most of the schools suck and the better district may be out of your price range.

Town and Country. Again, not too far from downtown, but again still have to deal with I-10 and possibly a little of the beltway. Nice homes from the 60' and 70's. Prices are still good. Good size lots. Nicely secluded areas and not as iffy as spring branch. Getting out of the area to head to downtown is a bit more of a pain, and it gets nuts around the holidays. Schools seemed "ok".

The Heights. One of our favorite areas for the community and overall feel. Very convenient to downtown, a little less convenient for everyday shopping if you like the big box stores. What we do not like is the lack of zoning when it comes to the kinds of residences that can be built. You might find a really nice bungalow and spend lots of money to restore it, then a year later your one story house gets flanked by multiple 3-4 story townhouses, completely destroying any sense of privacy and neighborhood charm. One of the most expensive areas too, especially around heights blvd and yale. Schools are hits and miss. Just depends where you end up.

Timber Grove/Lazy Brook. Very convenient to downtown, adjacent to The Heights. Much more protected as far as what can be built. More secluded. Right next to the TC Jester trails. Can get pricey but Lazy Brook has some good deals. A little farther drive for shopping. Not much in the immediate vicinity. But stuff isn't far, either. Schools are pretty good. One of our fav areas overall.

Oak Forest/Garden Oaks. North of 610 and The Heights. Very convenient to downtown and is ok for shopping. Easy access to 610 and I-10 with a 5 min drive to Spring Branch area or others if you need more. Garden Oaks is more expensive but larger homes. Lots of smaller homes being torn down and replaced with larger ones, but generally not townhouses. Nice communities, getting more and more restaurants/shopping. Has some real good schools and the ones that have been rated poorly are now improving quite a bit as the demographics are changing.

Shepard Park Plaza. Nestled along the edge of oak forest and garden oaks just north of 43rd between Ella and Shepard. Some really nice homes, great community, becoming all young professional families, and the elementary school is now becoming one of the more sought after schools. Very convenient to restaurants and shopping, including The Heights. 5 min drive to 610, 10 minutes to I-10. We felt this area was the best of all worlds and loving it so far.

[WTL63]

Originally Posted by Texas Ag 93

The Heights- but I'm biased because I used to live there about 15 years ago.

My answer for you might change depending on your age, work location and need (or not) for schools.

Well i'm 30 and single. My commute is to medical center. I don't have kids but I'd still wouldn't oppose a good school zone for the higher value.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by WTL63

Well i'm 30 and single. My commute is to medical center. I don't have kids but I'd still wouldn't oppose a good school zone for the higher value.

I'm still sticking with the Heights. I like d2mini's description of other nearby neighborhoods. I think they give good feedback. My husband's commute when we lived in the Heights was to the Med Center. Just so you are aware, it's not as quick and easy as commute as you would think. It's all surface streets and there are lots of lights to back you up. I seem to recall it took him about 20-25 minutes to get there every day, and twice during the 3 years we lived there, Allen Parkway was flooded, and he literally had to turn around and come back home.

I'm not trying to make that sound like a deterrent per se, just making an observation. Any commute under 30 minutes is golden in this town, after all.

[fnh]

Heights would be my vote of those choices. Not only do I personally find that area most attractive of the three, it would win by more objective measures such location/commute, schools (not that it matters to OP).

Nice post by d2mini.

[testmo]

If commute to med center why spring branch? I understand heights and washington. Spring branch is very similar to westbury meyerland willowmeadows but more sketchy and worse commute

[Failed Engineer]

I'd split the difference and go with Garden Oaks/Oak Forest.