Pearland's Cluttered Landscape (Houston, Pasadena, Galveston: how much, houses, neighborhoods) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

texas7 · 03-01-2008, 02:34 PM

I grew up in Pearland and worked for many years in the Silverlake area before it was what it is. When I left, (I lived in the Woodlands briefly) and then I moved to the newer section of Pasadena on the fringes of Clear Lake. After a couple of years, we were looking to move to a larger home and I had decided that I would leave Pasadena and go back to Pearland but once we began looking..... Pasadena was getting really nice as were the residents moving in -- a cut through of Space Center all the way to the lake made it even nicer. The commute would have taken me 20-30 minutes longer just to get through all the red lights and traffic to get to the highway. Looked all around the area and in Clear Lake proper but my commute into downtown was great so we stayed in the immediate area. I haven't had a desire or a reason to drive down to that area of Pearland in about 6 years. Today, I did. I know how much most everyone loves it who moves there but I have to say .... traffic was a real "b" and that was on a Saturday morning -- just bumper to bumper from light to light through all that shopping area in the Silverlake area to 288. I saw nothing but side-by-side strip centers (albeit nice ones), restaurants, retail shops, etc. But it was visually cluttered and I just found it unappealing. The neighborhoods are nice but one runs into the other and they all look alike with not even an open lot to divide between subdivisions. I would have never in a million years guessed that I would ever say this - but I was happy to get home to Pasadena. Yeah it may get a bad rap but most of those giving it the rap are those who haven't been through in many years or perhaps have never been through and are talking about a decades old sterotype. The older section - near 225 - yeah it probably lives up to that but that is about as far as it goes. Don't get me wrong - Pearland is an excellent place to live - I just didn't care for the look of progress. I prefer the older side of town that looks less like Houston and is pretty much built out so it has less visual clutter. I'd rather drive an extra mile or two to get to retail and see something that looks different. Even in Clear Lake, which is very nice, all built out, you can easily tell the difference between neighborhoods and the retail shopping strips look different from one another. Sad we don't make 'em that way anymore. It all looks the same now..................with not enough infrastructure to make for a semi-pleasant commute.

jfre81 · 03-01-2008, 02:40 PM

Yes. I just drove down 288 earlier. Cars backed up at the 518 exit for a good quarter mile. Cars in the next lane trying to cut ahead in the exit lane. It can only get worse. It looks like a strip mall bomb went off down there....

texas7 · 03-01-2008, 03:07 PM

When you drove down 288 and looked over at 518 - did you see me sitting on 518 - banging my head on the steering wheel saying "why, why, why did I decide to get myself into this mess of traffic?"

jfre81 · 03-01-2008, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texas7

When you drove down 288 and looked over at 518 - did you see me sitting on 518 - banging my head on the steering wheel saying "why, why, why did I decide to get myself into this mess of traffic?"

Quite possibly. This was around quarter to 1 this afternoon....I was passing over on the overpass though.

518@288 is a little too close for comfort to the overcrowded mess in the Raleigh, NC outskirts I once haunted...lots of development sans the transportation infrastructure to support it all. I can see this whole scenario playing out in 5-10 years along Highway 6 in Manvel. 518@Silverlake wasn't all that congested when it was new (which wasn't that long ago at all).

lambsnake · 03-17-2013, 01:06 PM

I positively hate how crowded it is out here and we just moved here a year ago because my husband took a promotion with his company. I already can't wait to move again and I do not particularly enjoy the hassle of moving. I want to get out of this bumper-to-bumper traffic and shoulder-to-shoulder housing and into the country where a person has a little breathing room. My plan is to be out of this area within five years and it can't come soon enough.

HtownLove · 03-17-2013, 01:18 PM

wow. This thread is 5 years old. Pearland has gotten A LOT more crowded since then

piyf · 03-17-2013, 02:06 PM

I hear you lambsnake. I live in Dickinson and travel 45 up to the East part of Houston and it's just horrible. 45 needs to be at least 4 lanes each way from Galveston up to 610.

glorplaxy · 03-17-2013, 08:05 PM

I work in the Pearland area and live in the Heights and the traffic on and around 288 is really so much worse than anything around my house, even during rush hour. It's just that the only stuff in Pearland is all on 518 so the entire town drives through there. It is really bad that a suburb that far out has more traffic than many innercity areas. Pearland just grew and continues to grow too quickly to keep up with.

But, there is a good variety of stuff there and the houses are relatively cheap in the area and there is a pretty diverse populatiom, all kind of close to town.

llmrkc07 · 03-17-2013, 08:32 PM

Maybe I'm behind on this one but I've always wondered why 288 was never expanded like 45, 10 and 59, same with 290. I guess TXdot didn't plan ahead for these roads or maybe the growth was underestimated. IDK something needs to be done, because the commute times are only going to get worse. I think a commuter rail would work for 288..a atraight shot to TMC would be nice IMO.

nana053 · 03-17-2013, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glorplaxy

I work in the Pearland area and live in the Heights and the traffic on and around 288 is really so much worse than anything around my house, even during rush hour. It's just that the only stuff in Pearland is all on 518 so the entire town drives through there. It is really bad that a suburb that far out has more traffic than many innercity areas. Pearland just grew and continues to grow too quickly to keep up with.

But, there is a good variety of stuff there and the houses are relatively cheap in the area and there is a pretty diverse populatiom, all kind of close to town.

There are now two other roads to go east to west and back, but they are still 30 to 40 mph roads with stop signs so many people do not use them.

Southfork becomes Magnolia becomes John Lizer.
Bailey Road is narrow, but now has a bridge.
You can also get on and off 288 at McHard Road.

I almost never drive on 518 except for a very short stretch to get to HEB.

I go into Pearland Town Center the back way - from Southfork and Kirby
I go into the Target Mall from CR94 (turning in at the Cinema) after turning onto 94 from Southfork too.