Moving to Houston - never been to Texas... (Sugar Land, The Woodlands: middle-class, renting)

[AngelAl]

Hello - we are thinking of relocating to Houston from Arizona. My husband will be working in Rosharon and I'm trying to narrow down some areas to live. We'd like to be somewhere with a bit of life and character, some nice shops/ restaurants and things to do, but also great schools and so on...I won't know a soul so I'd like to be in a friendly area with similar people - we are in our 30s and will have young kids but I don't necessarily want Desperate Housewives suburbia just yet!

A 35-ish minute commute to Rosharon would be ok, so I'm thinking the southern side of Houston. From my very limited reading, Bellaire / Meyerland sound quite nice but I'm not quite sure how distances on the map translate to drive times, with traffic and all that. I'm also wondering about Sugarland - does the place have much of a soul or is it McMansions & sprawling 'burbs? (No offence to McMansions but I live somewhere like that now, and feel like a change.) I'll be going down there soon to check a few places out, but I'd really appreciate any help in advance so I can start to research those areas. We'd probably like a smaller place in a good neighborhood. Have to say Houston looks nice and green compared to Phoenix!

Also - what's the lifsetyle like there? Right now we do a lot of outdoor stuff, snowboarding/ hiking and so on, we are thinking that will have to be replaced with more of a city lifestyle at least for a while. Do many people have pools, and do you get much opportunity to use them? How's the downtown area, is it as boho as it sounds? Any responses from locals would be great! Thanks

[pmizell]

Bellaire/Meyerland/West U are great places to live, but that commute is going to be closer to 45 minutes each way. If you can afford it, and don't mind the drive, West U is the place to live. House prices are around 270 - 300 bucks a square foot. Great elementary schools, very safe with its own police. House prices are about Sugar Land is a wonderful community, with all the shops and restaurants of any major city. It is definitely suburbia, though.

[pmizell]

Sorry, sentence doesn't make sense. Sugarland house prices will be less, much less.

[AngelAl]

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it

[Indianspringsguy]

You might like the prairie - Southwest Houston - Sugarland, or you might like the forest - The Woodlands, or you might like the city - Houston proper. There are many variations. Rosesharon is near Tomball I believe. Not a bad community out 290, but you have a zillion choices. See the diversity or at least undertand it before you focus on any area.

[EM1956]

Rosharon is nowhere near Tomball. It is south of Sugarland and west of Alvin.

[CanTex]

Originally Posted by Indianspringsguy

You might like the prairie - Southwest Houston - Sugarland, or you might like the forest - The Woodlands, or you might like the city - Houston proper. There are many variations. Rosesharon is near Tomball I believe. Not a bad community out 290, but you have a zillion choices. See the diversity or at least undertand it before you focus on any area.

No, totally opposite side of Houston. Rosharon is at the intersection of FM521/FM1462, about 10 miles south of Hwy 6 / 2 miles east of Hwy 288.

From where I live in Sienna Plantation, it is about 20 minutes to there (via McKeever Rd. and FM521). No traffic as this really is no where near major development. Add 15-20 minutes one way to the Town Center area of Sugar Land if you want to be closer to a larger commericial center (or go north up 288 to Pearland).

All of the developments in along the SW Hwy 6 corridor (Sugar Land / Missouri City and east towards 288) or (Pearland close to 288) are going to be closer to McMansion-ish suburbs than probably what the OP is looking for...

[Wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by Indianspringsguy

You might like the prairie - Southwest Houston - Sugarland, or you might like the forest - The Woodlands, or you might like the city - Houston proper. There are many variations. Rosesharon is near Tomball I believe. Not a bad community out 290, but you have a zillion choices. See the diversity or at least undertand it before you focus on any area.

yeah, woodland creatures. lets promote our own area of town regardless what info the OP is asking for.

[jimboburnsy]

Just my 0.02, but commuting from anywhere north of 59 to Rosharon is going to ruin your Houston experience.

The ideal location (simply from a commute perspective) would be Pearland, but if the McMansion/Suburban Sprawl thing is a turn-off that's probably going to be a no-go. Pearland will give you a lot of bang for your buck as far as how much house you can afford is concerned, but it is definitely Suburbia. If you want to be closer to town you may want to consider the series of neighborhoods adjacent to 610 on the SW side. Bellaire, Meyerland, Westbury, Willowbend/Willow Meadows and Westwood. Also consider Braeswood, Southside and possibly Southampton.

I grew up in West U. and it is certainly a wonderful area with great schools and great security, but it is largely priced out. $300/square foot may be a bit of an underestimation. Southampton prices will closely track West U., Braeswood and Bellaire are approaching the prohibitively expensive ranges, and all of the above have some degree of flooding concerns or at least portions that have some degree of flooding concerns.

Meyerland, Westbury, Willowbend/Willow Meadows and Westwood are good middle-to-upper-middle-class neighborhoods. I live in Willowbend and I love it. My wife and I are digging in for the long haul over there. The big concern with these areas will be school districts. If you are zoned to Bellaire High School you're fine, if you are zoned to Westbury, try to finagle sending your children to Bellaire or you will probably be a private schooler. In any of the above, a remodeled rancher on a big lot will run anywhere between $250K and $450K.

The good thing about working outside of town is that the commute will be counter to the major traffic. Driving from Bellaire to Rosharan should be a relative breeze filled with joy as you drive south on 288 at 80 mph waving at the stopped traffic in the Northbound lanes.

My stock response for people in your position is to advise renting for six months while you house hunt. There just isn't a way to make an informed decision about where to live if you haven't spent a reasonable amount of time with your boots on the ground here.

[SilverWings]

Originally Posted by Indianspringsguy

You might like the prairie - Southwest Houston - Sugarland, or you might like the forest - The Woodlands, or you might like the city - Houston proper. There are many variations. Rosesharon is near Tomball I believe. Not a bad community out 290, but you have a zillion choices. See the diversity or at least undertand it before you focus on any area.

There are a lot a descriptions I could use for Sugar Land, but "prarie" is not one that comes to mind. Granted, most of it is not naturally occuring but Sugar Land is quite well planted and tree-ish. Predominatly Live Oak, not the towering white pines of the Woodlands but personally I've always prefered leafy trees to pines.

But yeah, the night-life is pretty non existant in SL, if that's what you're after. Washington Ave area is pretty up and coming, I have a number of co-workers that live around there that really like it.