Conroe the next great suburb? (Houston, Baytown: house prices, neighborhoods, tenants)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Seems like a lot of activity has been going on to Conroe which was once a residential community with a recreational side focus.
But recently, it seems they're outpacing the rest of Houston suburbs. Project after project is going there. Perhaps the most exciting, the Margaritaville Resort that opened earlier this year (which has reportedly been doing well despite COVID).
The 248-acre Deison Technology Park took a while to kick off, but it's finally rolling out with tenants. And paying off again today with today's ground breaking of Korean-based VGXI. DTP is also the location for University of St Thomas' branch campus. Rice and A&M obviously have their technology parks underway, but the much lesser caliber UST is already rolling out.
Ofcourse why not mention Woodforest National Bank's campus under construction too. And FiveBelow's logistics center. And Sabre's facility. But it's been all kinds of developments. Office, residential and recreational. It's also consistently been one of the fastest growing cities in the nation population wise every year since the mid 2010s.
Seems like a lot of activity has been going on to Conroe which was once a residential community with a recreational side focus.
But recently, it seems they're outpacing the rest of Houston suburbs. Project after project is going there. Perhaps the most exciting, the Margaritaville Resort that opened earlier this year (which has reportedly been doing well despite COVID).
The 248-acre Deison Technology Park took a while to kick off, but it's finally rolling out with tenants. And paying off again today with today's ground breaking of Korean-based VGXI. DTP is also the location for University of St Thomas' branch campus. Rice and A&M obviously have their technology parks underway, but the much lesser caliber UST is already rolling out.
Ofcourse why not mention Woodforest National Bank's campus under construction too. And FiveBelow's logistics center. And Sabre's facility. But it's been all kinds of developments. Office, residential and recreational. It's also consistently been one of the fastest growing cities in the nation population wise every year since the mid 2010s.
This seems to be the next great suburb.
I remember when Conroe was it's own small city and now it's grown into a Houston suburb. But every time I go to Conroe I can really feel the growth. With that said Conroe is just not for me. I live in The Woodlands now and that's too far for me. I still prefer proximity to the actual city. But if you want a great escape than I'd recommend Conroe. Definitely has some upside. I've even heard people in TW say they prefer Conroe because it's less "crowded".
Interesting. I just read about St Thomas in Conroe a few weeks ago and did not know about all the other projects. I've been looking for a place close enough to easily drive into Houston but far enough that I am not afraid of hurricanes since I am in Galv. County right now. I am glad you posted this. Something for me to investigate now.
Interesting. I just read about St Thomas in Conroe a few weeks ago and did not know about all the other projects. I've been looking for a place close enough to easily drive into Houston but far enough that I am not afraid of hurricanes since I am in Galv. County right now. I am glad you posted this. Something for me to investigate now.
Regardless of where you go, if avoiding hurricanes is what you’re looking for, Galveston County is definitely not the place of all places. Galveston became a visitor city for a reason. While not as far out as Conroe, Katy, Humble and so forth will be a lot better off for this.
Once the expansion on 45 was done, Conroe area has been booming.
Also, most new residential developments are pooping up around the Conroe area, I think that is because there isnt' space any where else.
This isn't a diss on Conroe but while I think it's definitely in the running, I think we have to define great here first. Conroe to me is much more like a Katy or Cypress than The Woodlands and Sugar Land. In terms of fun, booming and affordable (relative), I think it's definitely heading in the right direction but if we are talking the next "great" suburb in the vein of The Woodlands or Sugar Land, I think Fulshear is the answer. Fulshear is doing everything Katy, The Woodlands and to a lesser extent Sugar Land did right, except it's even more exclusive. It's currently the most exclusive outer burb in the Houston area in terms of Median Income (unsure about house prices), not quite West U, Bellaire or Memorial Villages levels yet but by far the closest too it, in terms of exclusivity.
Back to Conroe though, I think a unique advantage it has over literally every other popular suburb in Houston is that it's the largest grid outside of the cities of Baytown and Galveston. It also has a ring around it which normally does wonders for local traffic (in most places, never been on the ring in Conroe so don't know how it is). The city of Conroe got the small city treatment before sprawl truly took over and it can really make a Downtown area that can standout from literally the rest of the suburbs in the Houston area.
Because of it's small town/small city feel it also has some of the best income distribution in suburban Houston, rather than deteriorated suburbs on one side of a highway while the other side is booming, a story that seemingly nearly every suburb/neighborhood split by a highway shares in Houston and Texas in general. Conroe has a core of older residences almost completely ringed or heading in that direction, by middle class and upper middle class neighborhoods. A population distribution like that almost guarantees that the center of Conroe will see massive investment as time passes, as more and more MPC's set up shop around the core of the city. it's favoring the West Side a little more heavily but I'm hopeful nevertheless, that as time passed Conroe becomes unique in Houston, a neighborhood where lower middle class folk have access to upper middle class amenities. The setup I described is also likely to lead to gentrification of the center of the city though which is a downside depending on your perspective.
This isn't a diss on Conroe but while I think it's definitely in the running, I think we have to define great here first. Conroe to me is much more like a Katy or Cypress than The Woodlands and Sugar Land. In terms of fun, booming and affordable (relative), I think it's definitely heading in the right direction but if we are talking the next "great" suburb in the vein of The Woodlands or Sugar Land, I think Fulshear is the answer. Fulshear is doing everything Katy, The Woodlands and to a lesser extent Sugar Land did right, except it's even more exclusive. It's currently the most exclusive outer burb in the Houston area in terms of Median Income (unsure about house prices), not quite West U, Bellaire or Memorial Villages levels yet but by far the closest too it, in terms of exclusivity.
Back to Conroe though, I think a unique advantage it has over literally every other popular suburb in Houston is that it's the largest grid outside of the cities of Baytown and Galveston. It also has a ring around it which normally does wonders for local traffic (in most places, never been on the ring in Conroe so don't know how it is). The city of Conroe got the small city treatment before sprawl truly took over and it can really make a Downtown area that can standout from literally the rest of the suburbs in the Houston area.
Because of it's small town/small city feel it also has some of the best income distribution in suburban Houston, rather than deteriorated suburbs on one side of a highway while the other side is booming, a story that seemingly nearly every suburb/neighborhood split by a highway shares in Houston and Texas in general. Conroe has a core of older residences almost completely ringed or heading in that direction, by middle class and upper middle class neighborhoods. A population distribution like that almost guarantees that the center of Conroe will see massive investment as time passes, as more and more MPC's set up shop around the core of the city. it's favoring the West Side a little more heavily but I'm hopeful nevertheless, that as time passed Conroe becomes unique in Houston, a neighborhood where lower middle class folk have access to upper middle class amenities. The setup I described is also likely to lead to gentrification of the center of the city though which is a downside depending on your perspective.
When’s the last time you’ve been to Conroe? It sounds like you haven’t been in a while. Especially since you haven’t been on the ring road. I went a few weeks back for the first time in years (other than driving through) and I’m personally astonished by the growth it has. It’s not even as big of a small town feel as it used to be. Developments popping up like more shrooms there.
Much like you, though Conroe isn’t the place for me. It does lack nightlife, vibrancy and well good food like you find in Katy or Sugar Land. So I could see why’d you see it as a sleep-work community and not much else. But their lakeside and far from the city feel is what their attraction is. While it’s not my cup of tea, for those who like that, that’s theirs.
When’s the last time you’ve been to Conroe? It sounds like you haven’t been in a while. Especially since you haven’t been on the ring road. I went a few weeks back for the first time in years (other than driving through) and I’m personally astonished by the growth it has. It’s not even as big of a small town feel as it used to be. Developments popping up like more shrooms there.
Much like you, though Conroe isn’t the place for me. It does lack nightlife, vibrancy and well good food like you find in Katy or Sugar Land. So I could see why’d you see it as a sleep-work community and not much else. But their lakeside and far from the city feel is what their attraction is. While it’s not my cup of tea, for those who like that, that’s theirs.
I haven't been in a while (probably sometime in 2019), but I was saying, I think it will be more like Cypress and Katy as in a very large suburb with an amalgamation of all types of development. Rather than The Woodlands or Sugar Land which are suburbs that while large are often thought of as having higher median home prices and having more desirable, well-thought out plan than Katy or Cypress. When using words like great, I think that distinction is important because while Katy is great and desirable as a middle class suburban community (lower, middle and upper), same with Cypress. When talking specifically about a purely upper-middle class market many people feel like Sugar Land and The Woodlands are the best in Houston.
So Conroe is the next Cypress/Katy
Fulshear is the next Sugar Land/The Woodlands
The former is bigger than the latter and has way more development, but because it has so much development from an upper middle class perspective it meets that market but never goes above and beyond for it. Cypress is way too developed with lower middle class and middle class development (that is good, not a negative at all) for it to aim for Sugar Land or The Woodlands level of upper middle class development. Ironically theirs's probably more upper middle class people in Katy/Cypress than SL/TW but since the entire suburb isn't upper middle class it doesn't show.
I haven't been in a while (probably sometime in 2019), but I was saying, I think it will be more like Cypress and Katy as in a very large suburb with an amalgamation of all types of development. Rather than The Woodlands or Sugar Land which are suburbs that while large are often thought of as having higher median home prices and having more desirable, well-thought out plan than Katy or Cypress. When using words like great, I think that distinction is important because while Katy is great and desirable as a middle class suburban community (lower, middle and upper), same with Cypress. When talking specifically about a purely upper-middle class market many people feel like Sugar Land and The Woodlands are the best in Houston.
So Conroe is the next Cypress/Katy
Fulshear is the next Sugar Land/The Woodlands
The former is bigger than the latter and has way more development, but because it has so much development from an upper middle class perspective it meets that market but never goes above and beyond for it. Cypress is way too developed with lower middle class and middle class development (that is good, not a negative at all) for it to aim for Sugar Land or The Woodlands level of upper middle class development. Ironically theirs's probably more upper middle class people in Katy/Cypress than SL/TW but since the entire suburb isn't upper middle class it doesn't show.
Not to mention that "Katy" is such a catch-all term used to describe everything between Brookeshire and Highway 6(?), north of FM 1093 and south of FM 529 (?) that is, for the most part, an amalgamation of Houston ETJ, unincorporated Harris/Fort Bend/Waller Counties, and bits and pieces of Katy proper, Katy ETJ, and Fulshear ETJ. Same for Cypress, although I won't speak on the boundaries of that similar ubiquitous term since I am less familiar with the area there. With unincorporated / ETJ development, there is less of a cohesive, planned development and more of a "well, this area is mostly developed - time to move down the road" situation.
Sugar Land is probably the de facto master planned city and has curtailed its growth in the last 30+ years in a very specific, selective, guided fashion; the Woodlands would be a close second, although their lack of incorporation (for now) is the only reason why I give the nod to Sugar Land over TW when ranking that type of desirability/development. Fulshear is very much trending in the way of Sugar Land, albeit with a plethora of acreage and quasi-acreage developments at its foundation (or rather, as its foundation in the last 10-15 years.) You are starting to see the beginnings of a downtown redevelopment and mixed use areas akin to Sugar Land in the early 2000s. Where Fulshear has the "edge", subjectively, is the topography; Sugar Land is very much a costal prairie / previously used as farmlands type of area, whereas Fulshear has some actual noticeable elevation changes and native plant/tree populations.
TLDR: Agree with the previous posters - Conroe is more likely to be a Katy/Cypress and Fulshear is set to be the next Sugar Land within the next 10-15 years, if not much sooner.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
