Clear Lake vs. Pearland vs. Friendswood (Houston, Sugar Land: middle-class, apartments, homes)

[Angel713]

Originally Posted by texas7

Any schools in Pearland that are zoned to Fort Bend would mean that you aren't really living within Pearland. Pearland residents attend Pearland schools.

Isn't Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland?

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Angel713

Isn't Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland?

Yes.

Inside Brazoria County, it's zoned to Alvin ISD (the schools are in Manvel). In Fort Bend County it's zoned to Fort Bend ISD. Of course, school districts generally do not conform to city limits in Texas.

At any rate, Pearland's boys in blue are always watching on 288.

[Timnwendy]

Originally Posted by texas7

Any schools in Pearland that are zoned to Fort Bend would mean that you aren't really living within Pearland. Pearland residents attend Pearland schools.

Wrong. As has been pointed out by other posters, residents of Pearland might be going to 3 different school districts, depending on where they reside (Pearland ISD, Alvin ISD, or Fort Bend ISD). Clearly the lowest rated is FB ISD, but it only affects a few Pearland residents on the far west edge of SCR and ST.

Originally Posted by Topaz

When trying to come home to Sugar Land, we got stuck in the worst traffic I've ever encountered in my entire life. 518 through Silverlake in Pearland. It was unreal. It took 30 minutes to go a few miles. I am usually really mellow about traffic but I was getting testy. My husband says in the future, he would like to avoid the parking lot that is Pearland. Maybe this was holiday traffic but it was terrible.

What you saw there is indeed partly due to the high-volume of holiday shoppers, but let me share some recent revelations about the traffic woes at the 288/518 interchange. The lights are not timed properly going eastbound on 518, and that causes the gridlock in front of the P-towncenter. We've known that for months now. It's been reported to the city many times. However, the city cannot adjust the traffic light because it is at the 288 underpass, so it is under TxDOT jurisdiction.

TxDOT is currently undertaking a 'study' to determine the traffic flow there (I know, I know, DUH! ). Once the study completes they will adjust the light-timings based to better accomodate the flow. So those of you who are saying the traffic snarl will only get worse there, are wrong. It's just that TxDOT, like many government agencies, moves slow.

[jfre81]

Perhaps the worst of it now is at 288/County Road 59. Every rush hour, cars are backed up a good quarter mile or more in the exit lane as people try to get turned onto CR59. There is no light. It's a four way stop. Then, once you turn eastbound on CR59 there's another four-way stop. It's a mess.

[Angel713]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Perhaps the worst of it now is at 288/County Road 59. Every rush hour, cars are backed up a good quarter mile or more in the exit lane as people try to get turned onto CR59. There is no light. It's a four way stop. Then, once you turn eastbound on CR59 there's another four-way stop. It's a mess.

When will they put stop lights in? This area reminds me of The Grand Parkway going through Cinco Ranch a couple of years ago. Cinco BLVD, Westheimer Parkway, and Fry Road were all four way stops.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Angel713

When will they put stop lights in? This area reminds me of The Grand Parkway going through Cinco Ranch a couple of years ago. Cinco BLVD, Westheimer Parkway, and Fry Road were all four way stops.

I don't know, but they should've done it once those subdivisions went up.

The west side of Pearland is a prime example of poorly planned growth, on many levels.

[Topaz]

Today we looked in Clear Lake at Northfork (very nice) and Pine Brook (gorgeous but probably more than we want to spend).

One thing we noticed is that even in the nicest Clear Lake neighborhoods, the local parks weren't maintained very well. We saw rusty and broken playground equipment and overall, the facilities seemed very aged. Also, the mulch was worn away underneath the swings so that the undercover fabric was exposed.

Does anyone know if these neighborhood parks are neglected just in the winter or do they always look this way?

[texas7]

hmm not really sure about the parks .... could some of the disarray have been Ike related (like mulch, etc.)?

[AustinCourtney]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Today we looked in Clear Lake at Northfork (very nice) and Pine Brook (gorgeous but probably more than we want to spend).

One thing we noticed is that even in the nicest Clear Lake neighborhoods, the local parks weren't maintained very well. We saw rusty and broken playground equipment and overall, the facilities seemed very aged. Also, the mulch was worn away underneath the swings so that the undercover fabric was exposed.

Does anyone know if these neighborhood parks are neglected just in the winter or do they always look this way?

Pine Brook was lovely, pretty pricey though. I'm glad to hear you liked Northfork!

[tstone]

Originally Posted by texas7

hmm not really sure about the parks .... could some of the disarray have been Ike related (like mulch, etc.)?

Ike couldn't have helped. But I think it's mostly due to the winter season. The weather isn't very nice for playing outside right now. When school is out, our playground is active, and the pool is kept up quite well. I could be Bs'ing but this time of year the HOA fees have most likely run out and are waiting replenishment. (I know my $500 bill is sitting in the box right now, ready for mailing.) Combine all these things and the state of some playgrounds makes sense now. But when they get the money stash they may go forward with repairs in the early spring.