Does Anyone know a small town? (Houston, San Antonio: crime rate, school district, living)

[torrancefour]

We are looking for a small town (35,000 or less) that is on the outskirts of a major city. Our kids are very much involved in football and baseball. As well as us, team mom and coach. We love church. We are visiting in Feb, 2007 and need to know what cities to visit before hand. We have been to San Antonio and El Paso. Though my husband work is only offering in Austin, Fort Worth and Houston. But everyone ( in CA) is saying to stay away from Houston. According to the internet Roundrock is the safest city in TX. And we are looking for safety considering we have kids. We can't wait to leave CA for the southern hospitality in TX.

[Muhnay]

I would suggest Rockport, its on the coast, near Corpus and just a couple hours outside of San Antonio. And only a few hours from Houstin, should you want to venture that way.

I also would suggest Temple or Killeen TX, small town flair, but with big cities an hour or two away for when you want that big town shopping, entertainment.

[KewGee]

I don't think Rockport, Temple, or Killeen fit your criteria, torrancefour. They all have higher crime rates. Temple has over 54,000 people and Killeen, over 96,000.

Round Rock has over 82,000 people but you are right, the crime rate is fairly low. Georgetown is a city I like with a population just over 36,000. The violent crime rate there has the same rating as Round Rock but for property crime, it is a bit higher.

It is a charming town and if I wanted to live in a large city, I'd definitely consider Georgetown. It's way too big for me; I like the quiet, small towns, like less than 2,000 and definitely would live outside of town. I'm actually describing where I now live.

My son lived in Georgetown for a few years and really loved it.

[Vicman]

The Houston areas I will list have either suburban or rural flavors (Therefore I am excluding everything outside Beltway 8)

I am only going by incorporated cities and incorporated towns and villages: - If you want, I can make a list of "rural feeling" unincorporated areas, which are plentiful

HARRIS COUNTY/FORT BEND COUNTY/WALLER COUNTY

Katy (11,775) is in Katy ISD (The Katy Independent School District), by the way.
* The surrounding suburban areas are unincorporated, so they do not factor into this count. There are other developments around Katy with Katy addresses, but they are not actually in the city of Katy. They are in the Katy ISD.

WALLER COUNTY/HARRIS COUNTY
* Waller (2,092) is in Waller ISD

HARRIS COUNTY

Jersey Village is in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD (6,880) - Just outside Beltway 8, near many unincorporated suburban developments

Areas in Clear Creek ISD:
(Mainly suburban in character)
* El Lago (3,075)
* Nassau Bay (4,170)
* Seabrook (9,443)
* Taylor Lake Village (3,694)
* Webster (9,083)

Areas mostly in Deer Park ISD, partly in La Porte ISD
(Mainly suburban in character)
* Deer Park (28,520)

Areas in La Porte ISD
* La Porte (31,880)
* Morgan's Point (336)
* Shoreacres (1,488)

Areas in Tomball ISD
* Tomball (9,089) (It's sorta rural but is becoming suburban in character)

Areas in Humble ISD
* Humble (14,579) - However, Humble is sort of urban-feeling and is next to an airport

GALVESTON COUNTY
Areas wholly in Clear Creek ISD:
(Mainly suburban in character)
*Kemah has 2,330 people
*Clear Lake Shores has 1,205

Areas mostly in Friendswood ISD, partly in Clear Creek ISD
(Mainly suburban in character)
*Friendswood has 29,037

Areas mostly in Dickinson ISD, partly in Santa Fe ISD
*Dickinson has 17,093

Areas mostly in Hitchcock ISD, partly in Santa Fe ISD
*Hitchcock has 6,386

Areas in Santa Fe ISD
*Santa Fe has 9,548

Areas in La Marque ISD
*Bayou Vista has 1,644

Areas mostly in La Marque ISD, partially in Dickinson ISD, Hitchcock ISD, and partially in Santa Fe ISD
*La Marque has 13,682

Areas partially in La Marque ISD, partially in Hitchcock ISD
* Tiki Island Village has 1,016

Areas in Galveston ISD
(Feels rural since it is west of the heart of the city of Galveston)
*Jamaica Beach has 1,075

FORT BEND COUNTY

Areas in Fort Bend ISD
(Mainly suburban in character)
*Arcola has 1,048
*Meadows Place has 4,912 (It is just outside Beltway 8, and is near some very urban parts of Houston - I.E. Alief)

Areas in Lamar CISD
(The areas are becoming suburbs)
*Richmond has 11,081
*Rosenberg has 24,043

Areas mostly in Lamar CISD, partly in Katy ISD
*Fulshear has 716

Areas in Stafford MSD (Municipal school district)
* Stafford has 15,681 - Stafford has operations bases for many large companies, is just outside Beltway 8, and may have an urban feel to it

Areas in Needville ISD
* Needville has 2,609

BRAZORIA COUNTY
Areas in Alvin ISD
(Right now they are rural, but the character is becoming suburban)
* Alvin has 21,413
* Manvel has 3,046
* Liverpool has 404

Areas in Angleton ISD
* Angleton has 18,130
* Bailey's Prairie has 694

Areas in Brazosport ISD
* Clute has 10,424
* Freeport has 12,708
* Lake Jackson has 27,022
* Oyster Creek has 1,192
* Richwood has 3,012
* Surfside Beach has 763
* Town of Holiday Lakes has 1,095
* Town of Quintana has 38

Areas in Sweeny ISD
* Sweeny has 3,624

Areas in Danbury ISD
* Danbury has 1,611

Areas in Pearland ISD
(This area has a suburban character and is just outside Beltway 8)
* Brookside Village has 1,960

Areas in Columbia-Brazoria ISD
* Brazoria has 2,787
* West Columbia has 4,255

[madmann101]

Yeah I agree with amjb, Killeen is more of a military town and Temple dosen't really fit your description of the town you want to live in.

[Muhnay]

Originally Posted by amjb

I don't think Rockport, Temple, or Killeen fit your criteria, torrancefour. They all have higher crime rates. Temple has over 54,000 people and Killeen, over 96,000.

You do realize that the crime rate in Killeen or Temple is because of the soldiers, and I am quite sure her kids would be fine, unless they are cruising bars and pickin fights with the soldiers.

[NOTAM]

Fort Worth-HANDS DOWN. and there are PLENTY of great small, moderate sized towns/cities on the outskirts.

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

You do realize that the crime rate in Killeen or Temple is because of the soldiers, and I am quite sure her kids would be fine, unless they are cruising bars and pickin fights with the soldiers.

Personally, I don't care about the reason for the crime; I am just giving my opinion to her and thinking if my children were still young, would I want them there? The answer is, "No, not on your life." Not only is there crime, the population is much higher than that of which torrancefour is looking.

And if you say the soldiers are the reason, wouldn't it be possible that their children are following in the footsteps of the parents? It does happen, you know. I wouldn't want my kids in such a school unless the majority of the children have strong Christian values. Again, my opinion and what I'd do if I were in torrancefour's shoes.

I have heard on the news about the increasing crime rate especially in Killeen. Most people with children wouldn't want to move to a place with such ratings when there are so many other places that are even nicer in which to relocate even if one didn't take the crime into consideration.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by torrancefour

We are looking for a small town (35,000 or less) that is on the outskirts of a major city. Our kids are very much involved in football and baseball. As well as us, team mom and coach. We love church. We are visiting in Feb, 2007 and need to know what cities to visit before hand. We have been to San Antonio and El Paso. Though my husband work is only offering in Austin, Fort Worth and Houston. But everyone ( in CA) is saying to stay away from Houston. According to the internet Roundrock is the safest city in TX. And we are looking for safety considering we have kids. We can't wait to leave CA for the southern hospitality in TX.

Don't listen to the Houston-bashers in CA. They probably don't know much of what they're talking about, Houston is a very underrated city and it's been a great place to live for us. I get really tired of outsiders saying to stay away with no good reason (and little knowledge of the place).

I'd look at Richmond and a few other cities west/southwest of Houston. You'd have smaller-town living, with driving access to all the amenties of the nation's 4th largest city.

[torrancefour]

WOW! What a response in such a short amount of time. Thank you all so much for ALL your opinions. Right now we live in a city with a little over 5,000 people, but the city next to us is about 25,000 people. We share the same school district and have three grocery stores, fast food places, gas stations and tons of mom & pop places. The closest mall is about 1 hr away, which I haven't been to in 4 yrs. The hospital is 45 min. Airport is about an hr or so. Though we do have our own sport organazations. Really it sounds like we would want to stay on the outskirts of Austin. Once again, Thank you all for your responses! Keep them coming.