country close to city?

[tstone]

Northern Brazoria county? Isn't that Silverlake?

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[recuerdeme]

Fort Bend County Cities (well most of them)
Montgomery County Cities (most of them)
Waller County

All reasonable commutes.

[Vector28]

Probably too far to commute to Houston, except maybe the far north/northwest side but there are some beautiful places in the Hempstead - Brenham area.

http://www.kennedycountry.com/listings/fr1index.htm

I lived in Brenham in '89 - '90 and liked it then - 'cept they rolled up the sidewalks by nine. I imagine it's changed some, but it still looks inviting whenever we pass through there.

[jfre81]

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Brenham is a bit of a haul for going into the city every day, but it's a nice little town on its own. It's also closer to Austin if that's your thing. Anywhere you go to the northwest, the 290 commute is not very much fun at all. Just keep that in mind. In any case, driving is an inevitable part of doing the country-city thing, for however long it lasts. Like I said, you're not the only one in search of this, and these people just turn the places they go into more sprawl, sending them further out to repeat the same process.

[wawagners]

Actually, Austin is further away then Houston to Brenham. Houston is about an hour and Austin is closer to 2hrs. Brenham is a nice size city w/ a country atmosphere. It's big enough to make a decent living, so there might not even be a reason you would have to commute:-)

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by wawagners

Actually, Austin is further away then Houston to Brenham. Houston is about an hour and Austin is closer to 2hrs. Brenham is a nice size city w/ a country atmosphere. It's big enough to make a decent living, so there might not even be a reason you would have to commute:-)

I phrased that poorly...

I mean it's a lot closer to Austin than anything really within the Houston metro as we understand it. It's not a bad drive down 290 west to get to Austin from Brenham. That's really all I meant there.

[TX_AGGIE13]

I think Brenham is probably the best place, but there are a few closer that you may want to take a look at.

Willis - About 35 miles north of Houston, and on the outer tip of the metro since they are starting to build more up there, about 5K people, and bordering Lake Conroe in areas. Afraid it has small town problems as well, but you could probably find 5 acres north of there for a reasonable price, and the commute isn't too far.

Splendora - As stated above, not a bad place, but it's an aquired taste. I love it, but it's a little too "country" for some if your not used to it. The school district a few years back was great, but im not sure anymore. I rarely drive out that way, but the comute shouldn't be too bad.

Magnolia - Very cool little town, and closer to town than others, but horrible traffic because of the lack of infastructure expansion. Great school district. Not gonna be able to purchase any land though because most of it is large ranches, or development.

Montgomery - Alot like Magnolia, but a little further north bordering Lake Conroe. Somewhat expensive in areas, and good schools.

Huffman - I haven't been out there in a while either, but last I was there it was somewhat more in the sticks than other areas. It's on Lake Houston, and not really sure about the school district.

Others closer in more on the metro that are a little more city, but less of a commute, and not so "country", but also not in the middle of everything worth looking at would be Conroe, Tomball, Richmond, Rosenberg, Crosby, and Alvin.

Some that are quite a drive, but the closest your gonna get, and also have the ability to live on actual acerage within financial means for most are going to be Hunstville, Brenham, Cleveland, Hempstead, Brooksire, and Angleton.

I wouldn't advise Cleveland, or Brookshire. Huntsville is a small city of about 40K where I grew up, and most people are turned away by the fact that it is the prison headquarters of Texas, but it is growing, and has affordable property. I like Brenham the most, but like Huntsville it's about an hour drive if you don't hit traffic. Huntsville also has a medium sized University with about 14K students, and Brenham has a college with about 4K students I believe. Both towns have hospitals, but nothing impressive. If you find work in the Conroe\Woodlands\Spring area which is about a 250K resident area you wouldn't have much trouble driving from Huntsville. I also like Tomball, it's closer it to town, but it feels a little more country than places like The Woodlands, and Sugar Land, etc.... Dayton, and Liberty are also mentioned above, but I personally have never liked them, more of what Cleveland has from my experiences. A little further out, but still around an hour to an hour and a half is also Livingston which is on the lake, and is a nice town of about 7K, but I've heard bad things about the ISD.

I have also lived in Florida, and I can tell you as others have that the Houston metro is majorly spread out, and at times traffic is very bad. I have driven from Katy to The Woodlands once and it took me about 4 hours because I was in stop in go. Also driving from Conroe to Galveston feels much like driving from Jacksonville to Orlando on a busy day...lol. Where are you moving from in Florida? That may help in advising you. Im not sure if your dead set on Houston, and if you are it's a great city, but if not I moved to San Antonio to get away from the city atmosphere, and to a place where I am more in the country, and I also made the move because I am raising children now. Some say bad things about San Antonio, but the north areas, and Hill Country areas are amazing, and there are some great school districts.

Austin is much more compact than other Texas places, but driving is still bad alot of the time because of traffic, and unless your on the East side of town land isn't cheap. Fort Worth may be worth looking into also, but it's the one major Texas city I have not had too much experience with, just heard stories. Anyway, good luck in your search.