Relocating to Houston area in June... (Sugar Land, Spring: to rent, houses, neighborhoods)

[kenoshakristy]

My husband and I are relocating in June to Houston from Ohio. We have never been there and are feeling confused about all the possible areas. We would like to rent a home for our first year there. We have kids, so the school system is most important. My husband would be working out of the home so we are not to concerned with commute. We like the small town feel and we love older homes with character. Any ideas and suggestions would be great. We are planning a trip down to find a home at the end of May. Thanks!!

[Supermac34]

Many people are going to solicit advice to where they think you should move in the Houston area. Remember: most of the suburbs have excellent schools, similar housing possibilities, etc. so the choice between say Sugar Land and the Woodlands would be something of a personal choice about the ameneties, and the look of the area.

The other option is to go into Houston itself and look for a place to live within a good school zone. This is harder to do as most people inside the loop tend to send their kids to private school if the school isn't very good and the general amount of good schools is harder to come by, however, they can be found.

People are going to list out Sugar Land, Katy, Cypress, Klein, Champions, the Woodlands, Kingwood, etc. as places to live. All have good schools, and you may be able to find a good neighborhood with the kind of house you are looking for in almost any of these areas.

I PERSONALLY like the North or Northwest side of Houston because you get into the East Texas Pine tree belt and the areas tend to be more wooded, such as about half of Cypress, Champions, the Woodlands, and Kingwood. Many people love Katy and swear by it, and Sugar Land is probably a higher growth area. It just really depends.

My personal suggestion is to look in the older neighborhoods in sections of town around Champions or Klein such as Champion Forest, Spring Creek Oaks/Forest, etc., but that is totally a personal opinion suggestion. You'll get just as many people that highly recommend Katy or Kingwood.

[chris_ut]

What is your price range for a home?

[josehernandez017]

I dont know why but I see a lot of Ohio License plates around here. I think most people are just moving to Katy.

[seretha]

I think Supermack34 did a good job in summing up the possiblitlies.
A lot of where you go will also depend on your housing budget. In Katy you have Nottingham, a portion of Green Trails, West Memorial, Memorial, Cimmaron. I favor Katy and also like the 1960 area and I feel the schools are great in either one.

[MIASLTX]

SugarLand's the choice when you've read SuperMac43's comments. HTH.

[EasilyAmused]

OP said "Older homes with character and small town appeal," which sounds more like......mmm maybe Garden Oaks,Heights, West U, Rice and parts of the westside.Briargrove is a great little neighborhood. It's like a small town bubble. All the aforementioned definately have a small town feel within the big city. But you have to have a liberal budget for most of those places.

If older homes with charcter include the 1960-80's : There are parts of 1960/Champions that might fit the bill. Western portions of Katy, like Green Trails, and Sugar Mill close to Sugarland,parts of Clear Lake.

[N. Buck]

SuperMac did an EXCELLENT job. I would agree that Spring/Klein area is a good area. 77379 zip code. This is where I grew up. Schools are excellent and the area is very safe. As always, you get out what you put in, so plan on the schools working hard, but also plan on raising your kids well.

Go to realtor.com and type in 77379. You just might find what you are looking for.

Enjoy Houston. It is a great place. And if you need any type of advice on the city, these boards are the place!

[zoche]

I live in Spring Creek Oaks because when I bought my house, it gave my husband more than one route to downtown. It still does. The elementary school might as well be a private school. There is still some building in the neighborhood. There are less expensive houses in Section I but I would suggest staying away from it. The area (Section III) I live, I can see six tennis courts, the basketball courts, the soccer and baseball field, the greenbelt that runs all the way to Wind Rose and the neighborhood pool. With the annual fee being $415, it seems like a good deal to me.