Memorial Villages (Houston, Spring, Katy: homes, high school, tax rates)

[NYCtoHOS]

Is there any major difference between the Memorial Villages below I-10, specifically Piney Point, Hedwig, Bunker Hill versus Hunter Creek Village? Is one more desirable? If so, why? It’s my understanding they all share the same fire and police department.

[jerbear30]

The villages south of the 10 are a little closer to the galleria area and shopping along San Felipe and Woodway. They're also closer to Memorial drive, which makes it easier to get in to downtown. The villages are all pretty upscale.

[LocalPlanner]

I'm not aware of significant differences in the grand scheme of things. As jerbear30 noted, the main differences are between the north of Katy Freeway villages and the ones south of the freeway, not between the various south of freeway ones.

[gwarnecke]

They have different police departments but share a fire department. The quality of city services among the different villages is considered comparable (and significantly better than you get from the City of Houston).

Tax rates are comparable (and are lower than in CoH).

Spring Valley Village (north of I-10) and Hedwig Village (just south of I-10) are the only villages with public parks (excluding "pocket parks" in the other Villages).

The biggest differences between Spring Valley Village and Hilshire Village (north of I-10) and the others (South of I-10) is that the north-of-I10 villages generally feature smaller lots (10-15k sq ft being the norm vs 20k+ sq ft south of I-10), smaller original homes, and a lower price of entry. As a consequence, these villages are more popular with young families. These villages also abut some "transitional" areas north of Westview Drive, but these areas are generally improving and shouldn't be a cause for concern, especially given the vigilant Village police departments.

Watch out for flooding risk in the portions of the South-of-I10 villages near Buffalo Bayou. Spring Valley Village and Hilshire Village are near the boundaries of the Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou watersheds and carry a relatively low risk of flooding (by Houston area standards).

The school story is complicated and isn't a case of south being clearly better than north, or vica versa. Both villages north of I-10 are fully within SBISD and are zoned to Valley Oaks Elementary, Spring Branch Middle, and Memorial High. All well-regarded schools, although Spring Branch Middle has lower ratings than Memorial Middle.

Most of the villages south of I-10 are zoned to SBISD, except for portions of Piney Point Village and Hunters Creek Village south of Buffalo Bayou, which are zoned to HISD (including a low-ranked high school). I'd recommend staying within the SBISD portions of these villages for better resale/appreciation potential. Within the SBISD portion, everything is fairly consistent except that the western areas are zoned to Memorial Middle, which is considered better than Spring Branch Middle.

We are considering the villages and, in light of all of the above, are mainly interested in Spring Valley Village (as a couple with two young kids).

Edit: Oops...I just reread the OP's message and saw that he/she was asking specifically about the south-of-I-10 villages. I'd say that the differences among the SBISD portions of these are minimal, except that Memorial Middle is better-rated than Spring Branch middle and there's a higher proportion of residents who go private (Kincaid and St Johns) as you go east.

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

They have different police departments but share a fire department. The quality of city services among the different villages is considered comparable (and significantly better than you get from the City of Houston).

Tax rates are comparable (and are lower than in CoH).

Spring Valley Village (north of I-10) and Hedwig Village (just south of I-10) are the only villages with public parks (excluding "pocket parks" in the other Villages).

The biggest differences between Spring Valley Village and Hilshire Village (north of I-10) and the others (South of I-10) is that the north-of-I10 villages generally feature smaller lots (10-15k sq ft being the norm vs 20k+ sq ft south of I-10), smaller original homes, and a lower price of entry. As a consequence, these villages are more popular with young families. These villages also abut some "transitional" areas north of Westview Drive, but these areas are generally improving and shouldn't be a cause for concern, especially given the vigilant Village police departments.

Watch out for flooding risk in the portions of the South-of-I10 villages near Buffalo Bayou. Spring Valley Village and Hilshire Village are near the boundaries of the Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou watersheds and carry a relatively low risk of flooding (by Houston area standards).

The school story is complicated and isn't a case of south being clearly better than north, or vica versa. Both villages north of I-10 are fully within SBISD and are zoned to Valley Oaks Elementary, Spring Branch Middle, and Memorial High. All well-regarded schools, although Spring Branch Middle has lower ratings than Memorial Middle.

Most of the villages south of I-10 are zoned to SBISD, except for portions of Piney Point Village and Hunters Creek Village south of Buffalo Bayou, which are zoned to HISD (including a low-ranked high school). I'd recommend staying within the SBISD portions of these villages for better resale/appreciation potential. Within the SBISD portion, everything is fairly consistent except that the western areas are zoned to Memorial Middle, which is considered better than Spring Branch Middle.

We are considering the villages and, in light of all of the above, are mainly interested in Spring Valley Village (as a couple with two young kids).

Edit: Oops...I just reread the OP's message and saw that he/she was asking specifically about the south-of-I-10 villages. I'd say that the differences among the SBISD portions of these are minimal, except that Memorial Middle is better-rated than Spring Branch middle and there's a higher proportion of residents who go private (Kincaid and St Johns) as you go east.

Wow, this is really good information and all very factual. For some reason I always felt like Piney Point had the nicest estates in all of the Villages.