Clear Lake vs. Pearland vs. Friendswood

[Scientist Mom]

Although you have already decided, I've been meaning to post for a while with the following bit:

One plus about Clear Lake in the Clear Lake, Pearland, Friendswood debate is the ability to take the Metro bus to work downtown or in the medical center and probably to U of H as well. The 246 bus goes from the Bay Area park-n-ride and some stop at the Eastwood transit center. Uof H is a short connection from there. A U of H shuttle may be available. The Southpoint and Fuqua park-n-rides are not far from Clear Lake and have buses going to the Med center and downtown, also with a subset stopping at the eastwood center.

Even if you chose not to commute that way all the time, it is nice to have the alternative (For example- take your car to the shop and then have someone drop you at the Park-n-ride so you can get to work). To my knowledge, this is just not an option in western Friendwood or Pearland.

Plus the gulf freeway HOV lane is handy, if you found a car pool or van pool you could be a U of H very fast. From Pearland or west friendswood even a bus or car/van pool would be sitting in traffic like every one else.


I agree with the above post that the parks you are talking about are probably run by HOAs who are out of season or behind. If this is important to you, you could always join their parks committee.


Good luck in your house hunting

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by Scientist Mom

Although you have already decided, I've been meaning to post for a while with the following bit:

One plus about Clear Lake in the Clear Lake, Pearland, Friendswood debate is the ability to take the Metro bus to work downtown or in the medical center and probably to U of H as well.

Actually, we haven't decided. After hours and hours of house hunting in all the areas under consideration, we are taking a break and we may just stay in Sugar Land. We like our neighborhood here.

I don't think there is a Metro option to go from Clear Lake to UH Main Campus (which is where I will be working, not the downtown location). If I'm wrong, I'd love to know the details.

[Houston456]

That's something I was curious...
If your husband is OK with his commute from NT to his work, then why you want to move ? Commute from NT to Downtown (for your new job) is not THAT bad. My buddy who lives inTelfair says, it's around 45 minutes commute.

Originally Posted by Topaz

Actually, we haven't decided. After hours and hours of house hunting in all the areas under consideration, we are taking a break and we may just stay in Sugar Land. We like our neighborhood here.

I don't think there is a Metro option to go from Clear Lake to UH Main Campus (which is where I will be working, not the downtown location). If I'm wrong, I'd love to know the details.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by Houston456

That's something I was curious...
If your husband is OK with his commute from NT to his work, then why you want to move ? Commute from NT to Downtown (for your new job) is not THAT bad. My buddy who lives inTelfair says, it's around 45 minutes commute.

We figured that out. At first we thought that there might be a way to have a shorter commute for my husband, an equivalent or better commute for me, and like where we live as much as we like New Territory. I guess one good thing about all the running around and research is that it validated that the decision we made the first time (under relocation duress in a short time frame) wasn't such a bad one. We really do like living in Sugar Land, especially because of the parks, Whole Foods Market, and Lifetime Fitness.

[lonestarwvu]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Actually, we haven't decided. After hours and hours of house hunting in all the areas under consideration, we are taking a break and we may just stay in Sugar Land. We like our neighborhood here.

I don't think there is a Metro option to go from Clear Lake to UH Main Campus (which is where I will be working, not the downtown location). If I'm wrong, I'd love to know the details.

Some of the 246 ( and all of the 249 mid day and late night) stop at East Wood Transit Center which is about a half mile from the UH main campus. I have done it on a few occasions when I have had training or class there for some reason. There is a shuttle bus that stops there to take you to the campus. I always walk to campus (or back to the Transit Center) though because it isn't very far. That part of town isn't great so it might make you uncomfortable. I watch my back, and I might think twice about it at night. The 246 doesn't stop there frequently in the morning so your commute would be rigid. Also, in the evening it is the last stop on the line and the 246 is frequently full which can mean standing or waiting for the next bus.


We actually thought we would be purchasing in Pearland when we first moved here because I work in the Medical Center, but we rented in Clear Lake because it had a bus I could take into downtown where I could get the train into mid-town (we did and do own one car). As others have said Pearland looks thrown together without a lot of thought given to traffic patterns. Clear Lake is well thought out.



The parks in the older part of Clear Lake (where I live) are a bit run down. The HOAs don't have a lot of money and there is an issue with voting up fees. The nicest parks are Bay Area Park (on Bay Area) near Armand Bayou, Clear Lake Park on Nasa Road 1, and there is a very nice park on Clear Lake City Drive just over in Friendswood. Unfortunately, the first two I mentioned are closed because of hurricane damage. I expect that will change in the near future. Clear Lake also has a very nice library

[MizzouLover]

My Aunt Mary lives there, and she says that there was NO flooding in Pearland, where she lives, while the mall she manages a store in, the Baybrook Mall, which is between actually in clear lake and 2 miles outta clear lake, her store was flooded majorly , only thing is, one inch over the parking line, you will get towed

[texas7]

Wow - really? Is her store actually in the Baybrook mall or one of the strip malls surrounding it? I was just there and not one store was closed or had any sign of water damage. The only time I have ever known of a store actually in that mall to ever get water in it wasn't from rising water but from a roof leak after a high wind storm.

[txcoach]

I live in Heritage Park Village in a house built in 1989. I have been trying to research the original builder, so if anyone knows, I would appreciate it. I live only two to three streets from the high school amd the traffic does get bad on Hope Village in the morning.

[lonestarwvu]

There is not a lot of criminal activity in Heritage Park and I don’t think anyone can back up the suggestion that there is. I don’t live there but I have friends who do. They live in the older section and its fine. They got a very good price on an older home and have put a lot of work into it. I had a guy doing some work on my house who also lived there. He had no problems with the neighborhood.
I live in Clear Lake and I was in training about two weeks ago close to where you would be commuting to. I think you’d be looking at around a 45+ minute drive on average. I bailed out of the training long before the afternoon traffic set in.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by txcoach

I live in Heritage Park Village in a house built in 1989. I have been trying to research the original builder, so if anyone knows, I would appreciate it. I live only two to three streets from the high school amd the traffic does get bad on Hope Village in the morning.

If it is all electric I want to say it is US Homes.

As far as crime in Heritage Park, I rented in the Webster section (btwn Bay Area & 528) and the worst that happened was an occasional car break-in. It was pretty quaint if generic-looking, and pretty culturally diverse. Off Pilgrims Point, on the other side (btwn El Dorado and Bay Area) was slightly newer but more run down and your next door neighbor could have very well been selling the green under your nose. At least it used to be like this a number of years ago.

This area is very similar to El Dorado between Hwy 3 and 45. Unincorporated area with 1980s middle-class, cookie-cutter US homes, with lower-middle class apartments next door. I wouldn't move back now that I'm in Clear Lake with a family, career, responsibility, etc... but a small part of me misses living in Heritage Park & working at the auto shop. Good place for middle income families, or for temporarily renting if you're not scared of diversity and just trying to get on your feet to get into an upper-middle neighborhood.