Near City or Suburbs? New to Houston! (Spring, Bellaire: 2014, apartment)

[swopoe]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

There is a contingent on this forum that will try to push anyone moving here into Sugarland but you can absolutely live in a much nicer area of the city on your budget with only minor sacrifice in house/yard size. If you are considering Sugarland I would encourage you to drive 610 west to 59 south during rush hour. If you still want to live there then more power to ya. Also since you both work consider time to get back if say your kid is sick at school or something comes up at your house. Its all great for a stay at home mom to say the suburbs are wonderful but when you are fighting 40 minutes of traffic to get back home each and every time it may not look so rosey.

Fair point. Different strokes for different folks.

[newtotxjohn]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

There is a contingent on this forum that will try to push anyone moving here into Sugarland but you can absolutely live in a much nicer area of the city on your budget with only minor sacrifice in house/yard size. If you are considering Sugarland I would encourage you to drive 610 west to 59 south during rush hour. If you still want to live there then more power to ya. Also since you both work consider time to get back if say your kid is sick at school or something comes up at your house. Its all great for a stay at home mom to say the suburbs are wonderful but when you are fighting 40 minutes of traffic to get back home each and every time it may not look so rosey.

Good point- we'd prefer to avoid a long commute, especially since both of us work, meaning that if we need to get back home for any reason, it would be a hassle.

[newtotxjohn]

Originally Posted by swopoe

Our house is less than 800 K, but my husband commutes to the Galleria from our Sugar Land home. We are very happy with our choice of a place to live. Be careful though with the schools- I have a high schooler and a lot of his friends who go to Clements are not happy there. But I do agree that Fort Settlement MS is the best middle school you can be zoned to. Good luck.

Thanks! What such concerns do you have/have you heard about the schools? On paper, they seem to be great but of course, reality may be very different.....

[newtotxjohn]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Have you considered West University? With that budget you might be able to make it work and that area is arguably the most desirable in Houston.

We have, but seems like we'd be sacrificing size by living there. However, there seem to be some nice houses in the Bellaire area, just west of I-610. Any thoughts on this area?

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by newtotxjohn

We have, but seems like we'd be sacrificing size by living there. However, there seem to be some nice houses in the Bellaire area, just west of I-610. Any thoughts on this area?

Its a wonderful area. We live in that area ourselves in the Meyerland/Willowbend area. The houses are great and you can get a lot with that budget, but one thing to watch is which houses flooded. Most of the houses in the area did NOT flood, but some did. Make sure you keep that in mind.

Other than that it would meet all your requirements.

[mkwensky]

Originally Posted by newtotxjohn

We have, but seems like we'd be sacrificing size by living there. However, there seem to be some nice houses in the Bellaire area, just west of I-610. Any thoughts on this area?

It's a nice area with pretty houses with big lots but flooding is an issue and the zoned middle schools are pretty bad so if your kids don't get into a magnet then you may need to pay for private school for 3 years.

[shanv3]

Originally Posted by newtotxjohn

Hi everyone,

My wife and I, along with our three children, are planning to relocate to Houston by the end of May. Coming from California, house prices seem to be very cheap by comparison and we'd love a little help in narrowing down our house search.

The following conditions apply:

1- Our budget is 800k, though we can go up to 1M maximum (for the right area)
2- We'd like a 5 bedroom house, with ample space in the backyard for the kids to play, and a pool would be a huge plus.
3- Our kids are 7, 4, and 2, so excellent public schools is a must, and the neighborhood should be family-friendly, walkable/bikeable.
4- My wife's office will be near the Galleria and mine in the downtown core, so the commute to both should not be more than 45 mins from home (and ideally much less if at all possible).
5- This isn't really a big deal, but politically, we're both right-of-center, so perhaps more conservative areas might have more appeal.

After doing a cursory search on Zillow, both Katy and Sugar Land seem like excellent options re: schools, and house sizes, but the commute seems like it might be a little much. If anyone knows of good areas closer to the city that are worth considering, that would be a huge help.

EDIT: Opinions on Katy ISD/Fort Bend ISD schools would be great, since these seem to be the top performing schools in the area (at least according to Niche). Is it worth being in the suburbs for these schools?

Thanks in advance!

You look tailor-made for Wilchester.

[groovamos]

My two cents: walkable and good schools all the way thru high school just don't correlate. You can get some walkability in Montrose and the Heights or near Rice Village but the problem is HISD and the attendent mayhem. My neighborhood, Timbergrove Manor (right at your price point for house size, yard size might not be quite there for homes of that size with larger footprint) has a pretty good elementary school (Sinclair), and is next door to Heights but is not very walkable and besides, when kids get to middle school, families in my neighborhood move out to Cinco Ranch or equivalent, with much better schools and zero walkability.

I think West University is not part of HISD and the parts close to Rice Village would nail the walkability and is a very close in suburb. I think it will be outside your price range.

I hate to say it/think it, but what you seem to be asking for was more available in the country I grew up in, less so the one we live in now. The cultural and social changes have done the job.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by groovamos

My two cents: walkable and good schools all the way thru high school just don't correlate. You can get some walkability in Montrose and the Heights or near Rice Village but the problem is HISD and the attendent mayhem. My neighborhood, Timbergrove Manor (right at your price point for house size, yard size might not be quite there for homes of that size with larger footprint) has a pretty good elementary school (Sinclair), and is next door to Heights but is not very walkable and besides, when kids get to middle school, families in my neighborhood move out to Cinco Ranch or equivalent, with much better schools and zero walkability.

I think West University is not part of HISD and the parts close to Rice Village would nail the walkability and is a very close in suburb. I think it will be outside your price range.

I hate to say it/think it, but what you seem to be asking for was more available in the country I grew up in, less so the one we live in now. The cultural and social changes have done the job.

West U is very much part of HISD.

[LocalPlanner]

Walkability, outside of recreational trails, remains very rare in Houston. In some areas (Memorial Villages) walking or biking to schools may be an option, but not to anything else. Places with other levels of walkability pretty much violate the rest of your criteria.

Also, 5-bedroom homes in your price range are not likely to be common except in outer suburban areas with brutal commutes.

My take - you're going to have to give on the commute part. Assume a 45-minute (or more) drive into the heart of the city.

I suggest Friendswood as a place to look.