Which suburb has best schools, low crime, shorter commute to downtown? (Houston: best neighborhood, foreclosure)

[rachibabe7]

Hello!

My family is relocating to Houston. My husband will be working on Travis Street downtown and I am looking at going to school at University of Houston. We have two young children, one is school age. Most important things are:

Great schools
Low-crime rates
Somewhat shorter commute (what are the better roads to take during rush hour?)
$200,000 price range for housing
family oriented neighborhoods
things to do

We are not from Texas, and we need all the advice we can get! Thanks!

[Caardinal46]

My husband and I are in a similar situation. We are moving to Houston and will be renting for a few months. Work at UH, no kids, but a safe neighborhood is key. Our budget is $300-700K. I would like to keep the commute as low as possible, but do not want to purchase a townhome. I would like a new(er) house located on a good size lot.


Also, what is the deal with commercial being mixed in with residential? What gives?! Horrible zoning laws, methinks.


Thank you!!

[d2mini]

Going to be hard to get all your wants in that price range.
The burbs are cheaper with good schools but the commutes are a bear.
Every main freeway in this city just plain sucks for commuting unless you can flex your hours. Really flex them.

[naadarien]

I work off of Travis. I picked Richmond...though I drive in to work around 6am, but the toll road can make driving later better. My commute is 20mins (non-toll road)/30mins if before 6:45am (toll road).

Frankly I came out here 4 separate times and stayed in hotels off of I-10 (Katy), 59 (Stafford/Sugar Land), Westpark Toll (Westchase), and 288 (Pearland), and only 59 made the cut. My dad used to live in Kingwood and my coworkers all live north of work (Conroe, Magnolia, Kingwood, The Woodlands), and all of them arrive after an hour plus drive at 7:30am (Today it was 8:30 because of some craptastic accidents this morning).

I am from Los Angeles and I still wanted nothing to do with that madness.

I would suggest always considering tolls in your monthly budget. If you don't need them, don't use them, but a toll tag is handy as all get out when traffic gets ridiculous.

As for 200k, if you don't care about average to below average schools, older homes in established neighborhoods might net you a $200K house. Also if you move out to Rosenberg, there are homes being built starting at 170-180k, but choices are hugely limited at that price range. You could rent first and wait for a deal to pop up (foreclosure, for example). I know Texas is known for low housing prices, but just like anywhere else, if you want good schools, you'll pay a premium and most of those houses start at $250k at the lowest.

Good luck. We just moved here in December. I think we made a great choice with Richmond.

[vh56]

I would recommend looking into Park & Ride. I moved here 10 months ago. I live NW Houston and work downtown around Travis as well. I attempted to drive to work my 1st week. It was hell no matter what time I left the house. Then I discovered P&R and life was good again. So I would recommend looking for a suburb that is within distant to a P&R. This will give you more options for all your wants.

[txdemo]

OP, check out this thread: Best areas in the $125k-$199k range

[Failed Engineer]

Meadows Place is the best neighborhood with good schools under $200k on the SW side.

There are also probably some established Pearland neighborhoods on the east side (bordering Friendswood) that would have good schools and in budget. And it would be closer to UH as well.

[Caardinal46]

I used to have a 2 mile commute back home, so anything above 10 minutes seems daunting.


Isn't there a landfill in Pearland or near Pearland? Also, someone mentioned that wind insurance is a requirement in Pearland/Friendswood. Is this true? If so, on a $500-$700k house, what would an annual premium look like?


Thank you very much.

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by Caardinal46

I used to have a 2 mile commute back home, so anything above 10 minutes seems daunting.


Isn't there a landfill in Pearland or near Pearland? Also, someone mentioned that wind insurance is a requirement in Pearland/Friendswood. Is this true? If so, on a $500-$700k house, what would an annual premium look like?


Thank you very much.

I have a 12 mile commute and it takes me an hour.

You may want to start your own separate post because the original poster is kind of getting buried.

[Caardinal46]

Duly noted. Thank you!