Help find an area according to these strange criteria? (Houston: house, public schools)

[Futureman]

Hi. My family may be relocating to Houston later this year, and we're a little overwhelmed by the market. We're not sure where to start looking for a home. At the risk of seeming overly idealistic about places we can live, here are our ideal criteria:

1. We love the city as opposed to the burbs

2. We want a family-friendly area.

3. We like easy accessibility to ethnic eats/markets/music venues (but keep in mind #2).

4. While Houstonians are heavily car-dependent, we would still like to be close to the work place (in or around the 77074 zip code).

5. We weigh 2-4 more heavily than 1.

While it may be hard to meet 1-4, we'd like to try. Any suggestions?

[modster]

All of those criteria are available....for a price.

There in lies the catch.

What price point?

[poodlestix]

Looks like Sugarland may be a good choice for you.

[Futureman]

Originally Posted by modster

What price point?

I knew someone was going to ask! I'm afraid my income limits may put the ideal beyond reach. And while Sugarland seems like a natural place for us to look (it's very afforable and convenient), we're city dwellers at heart. So I am still interested in what lies within the loop. Am I right that it is here that housing costs go way up?

I guess what I would be interested to know is whether there is affordable inner-loop housing for middle class folks.

[Poltracker]

What do you consider affordable? This is very important because housing pricing are far different here than in other areas of the country.

[EasilyAmused]

Well, I wouldn't want to live too close to 77074, unless you have deep pockets to get into Bellaire. More over to the east is Eastend/Idlywood and even Montrose. I would think you could find something there.

You say family friendly though, so that means kids right? Finding affordable housing in close with public schools is hard in the 4th largest (closing in fast as the 3rd largest) city in the country.

[pepper131]

Have you looked at har.com? It's organized nicely and you can find homes w/in zipcodes. But the challenging part is getting the names of the neighbors along with the zipcodes.

[texas7]

I would think Sugarland is too far out based on the criteria

[Futureman]

Perhaps this will help.

We've been living in mid-sized Midwestern cities for ten years. Some of those cities have been enjoying urban renewal. Provided that you get in at the right time, you can get a good house for under (and sometimes well under) 200K. Of course, we were already familiar with the cities in question and knew what areas to watch. Also, housing costs in these cities are well under the national average (at least where we have been), so it may be unreasonable to suppose we can have a similar experience in Houston.

Hope this helps.