Where to live near the Univ. of Houston (San Antonio, Killeen: top 10, humidity)

[modster]

There are duplexes and fourplexes in Eastwood. There are also a number on the edge of Idylwood, facing Lawndale and overlooking the Gus Wortham Golf Course, (formerly the Houston Country Club before it moved to Tanglewood).

The issue with the east end is retail is lacking. Near the duplexes in Idylwood there is a new coffee shop, Cafe Flores, that uses its revenues to help support south American orphans, over in Eastwood there is a new place called Bohemios, and a Thai place that is supposed to be one of the best in town. There is also a marginal Kroger in Eastwood, so you would have some form of grocery shopping within walking/biking distance there. So there is some, but not a lot. Hopefully the addition of the new Pavillions downtown will boost nearby retail options.

Here is an old article from the chronicle that tells a little bit about housing in the east end. The article is from 2004, so DO NOT go by the prices it dictates, (for example it talks about Timbergrove starting at $140k, I would say at least $175k would be more accurate now, Idylwood from $129k but closer to $165k would be more in line with today's prices)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/2673461.html

Eastwood is still transitional, but there are some real beautiful older homes over there



There was also an article in the Chronicle recently about the resurgence in Glenbrook Valley as well, which is also close to U of H.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...y/4770311.html

[gerris]

wow - that is a beautiful house Modster. Thanks for all that (especially local retail details) - very helpful.

and yes - biking distance + safe = University Oaks. I wrote it down in big letters. Thanks mpop409. The Rice University area also looks good - how long would the drive be from out that way?

The only way to really decide in the end will be to look around, so I guess I'm on hold until the fall, but at least now I have a better idea of where that looking should occur - thanks all!

[hello13685]

Yes, thank you!

[bostoner]

Originally Posted by mpope409

If you don't mind driving to work, you could live in the Rice University area which is within walking distance from Memorial Park.

You mean Hermann Park.

[Guerilla]

There are a lot of people who ride their bikes to work in Houston (inner loop). There was a story on it on KHOU last year.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by houstoner

You mean Hermann Park.

Right. Exactly. My bad.

[hello13685]

Thank you all for your wonderful help. Would anyone be willing to provide a list of zipcodes for the following areas that you've generously recommended so that I can look things up on realtor.com? Otherwise, I don't know how to actually SEE what areas you've recommended. Thanks!

University Oaks
Area south of the 59
Eastwood
Idylwood
Houston Country Club Place
Glenbrook Valley
Area south of Braes Bayou or close to Med Ctr.
Area where west and south loop meet Braeswood
Afton Oaks

And any other areas you think of, THANKS!

[modster]

Oh no, no, no. Do not use realtor.com. It is lame and the info is only updated something like once a week. Go on http://www.har.com instead. It is back up now. On the search page enter the subdivision. You can enter the zip code as well if you want, but it is not necessary. 77023 is Eastwood, Idylwood, Houston Country Club, Broadmoor and Lawndale. University Oaks is 77004 I think. Most of Riverside & MacGregor is 77004 or 77021. Glenbrook is 77061. Afton Oaks is 77027 I believe. Not sure about the others.

Pay attention to the status of the listings, "active" is for ones that are still available, "option pending" or "pending continue to show" means they have an offer working on them.

[BrooklynTx]

I would also not ignore Montrose and the Museum District. Both are a 10 minute drive to UH. And they have the bohemian elements mentioned by the one poster.

Are there low income areas around UH? Yes. Is it a war zone? Absolutely not. I did my undergraduate and some graduate work at UH and NEVER was threatened or felt threatend by anyone in 5 years. Unfortunately, people's racial prejudices are tainting any objectivity they may have. Or they have there own personal agenda against UH.

Reported crimes on the UH campus were equal to or less than that on the Texas A&M and the University of Texas campuses and they are in more affluent areas or towns.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_09.html

[Guerilla]

The Museum District as a lot of nice apartments/small condos going up. It looks real nice, too.