moving to houston area and need to know where to live (San Antonio: real estate, condos)

[trisha1008]

I am moving to the Houston area for work very soon and have no idea where to look for housing. I am a divorced woman whose kids are grown but in my just barely 40 so I would like some access to nightlife. My job will be near westheimer and eldridge. I really would like a lake area or river area but don't want more than 1 hour commute each way. Less would be way better but I currently live south of San Antonio and commute to far north San Antonio about 45 minutes each way so not totally opposed if I get options that appeal to me. I really just need a nice area, safe, small 2 bedroom home. I am downsizing from the 4 bedroom family house to something more maintainable. Would love to have a garage where I could work on my street rod without too many restrictions. I am not opposed to exploring the condo life. Really just need some suggestions to help me narrow my search.

[rmhampster]

Hi Tricia,

Hoping some others that live n this area will chime in. I've never lived over there, just know a few people that have.

Houston is pretty spread out. Relative to your work area, here are some rules of thumb. The more west you go, the more suburban is gets. It will be more reasonably priced, but also more family focused. The more east you go, the more urban it gets. It will get more expensive, but have more access to diverse culture and nightlife.

I'd recommend looking east of where you are working for a place to live. If you are just looking for a place to have drinks and mingle with people, then there are plenty of places in the Galleria area, which is just west of 610 between I10 and 59. There is also Citycentre plaza near your workplace where lots of people gather. Just my personal preference is to head inside the loop near downtown for outdoor performances, live music, the theater district, interesting restaurants, lectures, art shows etc. The rodeo and all the sports arenas are inside the 610 loop as well.

Lake and rivers are sparse in Houston- mostly human-made. There are bayous that might be a substitute depending on how you feel about them. Your real estate agent might be able to help you find a development that has some kind of water.

-Becky

[westres1]

I would look on HAR.com in 77077 and 77042
Close to work and City centre where there are many options for happy hour and nightlife.
Both zips have easy access to Terry Hershey park that follows along Buffalo Bayou.

[Double L]

There aren't really any bodies of water close to where you work. However, the west side is great for nightlife especially if you go into Uptown, which is located along the west 610 loop, mainly near the intersection with Westhiemer. The west side will have a variety of housing for various prices.

[jerbear30]

Balancing the nightlife with the nature will be the difficult part. If nightlife is most important, I would say to look at a condo in the galleria area. If the nature is more important, I would echo the suggestion to check condos near the Terry Hershey park area, which will also give you fairly good access to the city centre for nightlife, or just look in Sugar Land, which is a suburb, but is known for having more of a developed feel than most burbs and has lots of man made lakes.

[detachable arm]

Condos and "working on hot rods" probably don't go together.

And Sugar Land having a more developed feel is right, considering traffic around First Colony rivals rush hour in the Galleria area.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by trisha1008

I am moving to the Houston area for work very soon and have no idea where to look for housing. I am a divorced woman whose kids are grown but in my just barely 40 so I would like some access to nightlife. My job will be near westheimer and eldridge. I really would like a lake area or river area but don't want more than 1 hour commute each way. Less would be way better but I currently live south of San Antonio and commute to far north San Antonio about 45 minutes each way so not totally opposed if I get options that appeal to me. I really just need a nice area, safe, small 2 bedroom home. I am downsizing from the 4 bedroom family house to something more maintainable. Would love to have a garage where I could work on my street rod without too many restrictions. I am not opposed to exploring the condo life. Really just need some suggestions to help me narrow my search.

What are your lake/river activities? Boating, kayaking, fishing, hiking, underwater demolition?

Originally Posted by rmhampster

Lake and rivers are sparse in Houston- mostly human-made. There are bayous that might be a substitute depending on how you feel about them.

If memory serves me, there is only one natural lake in the state of Texas.

Edit: Yep, just double checked.

https://www.reference.com/geography/...4a6a7c408bfaa8

Lake Caddo

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

If memory serves me, there is only one natural lake in the state of Texas.

Edit: Yep, just double checked.

https://www.reference.com/geography/...4a6a7c408bfaa8

Lake Caddo

Did she say that it has to be a natural lake?

[houstongal22]

Hi, Tricia - 20miles could imply 40 minutes drive with Houston traffic depending which side of town and the time of the day. However, if you want to have access to nightlife zipcodes mentioned 77077 and 77042 may be your best shot. However, for 2 bedrooms with a garage, only two homes were available. In regards of condos, there are 54 condos available however only 1 of them has a garage
This numbers may go even lower if you add more criteria to it. I have included the link to the 2 homes and the 1 house for your reference so that you can see what is that you can get around it and hopefully this will help you make a decision.
I will strongly recommend you spend some time maybe come down for a weekend and explore the neighborhood it will help you make a better decision.
Good luck with your search.

[txdemo]

Trisha, one and done.