Other than Heights, are there any safe, liberal, integrated sections of Houston? (Austin: to rent, low crime)

[Texas Mack]

In all honesty, it sounds like Meyerland or Maplewood is the way to go for you. You can get a decent three bedroom, two bathroom house for $230K and up in Maplewood (add another $30-$40K for Meyerland) and you can get your kids zoned to schools like Bellaire High (I don't know how old your kids are but this is just an example) that are solid.

Another area to consider is perhaps the Spring Valley area along I-10.

Both options (Meyerland/Maplewood in SW Houston) and Spring Valley on the west side are both about 20-minutes away from downtown and even closer to Uptown / Galleria.

[BrooklynTx]

Are there no options in Montrose?

Low crime, liberal, diverse, fantastic schools (Lanier and Lamar).

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by BrooklynTx

Are there no options in Montrose?

Low crime, liberal, diverse, fantastic schools (Lanier and Lamar).

For renting, yes, she's got plenty of options in Montrose and inside the loop. For a house, no, not within her price range unfortunately. Most everything I saw on har.com was around $375K and up. There are a few doable options in the Heights area, mostly west of Shepherd, in Sunset Heights, etc.

[jfre81]

I definitely recommend renting before buying - home ownership is especially overrated IMO in Houston with the lack of zoning and the possibility of hurricanes and the attendant insurance costs. On the other hand renter's insurance is cheap.

[ny2tx]

Our oldest got into U of H Charter School!

So now it's just about safety (which is relative, I know) and an area that is somewhat progressive and not too conservative.

Does anyone know anything about Eastwood or Riverside Terrace? There seem to be reasonably priced options in both. Those areas look affordable for being inside the loop. Please be honest as far as what you know. Thanks.

I guess we could go up to $250K if need be.

[jfre81]

Conservative/progressive is relative too...you are still in Texas and Houston is not Austin by any means. Avoid the suburbs - right-wingers everywhere. For this purpose the suburbs pretty much start on the other side of the 610 Loop.

Heights, Montrose, Midtown and Meyerland are probably the spots you want to look at...

Riverside Terrace is near the worst part of the Third Ward near UH....high-crime area. Eastwood is not much better.

[modster]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Conservative/progressive is relative too...you are still in Texas and Houston is not Austin by any means. Avoid the suburbs - right-wingers everywhere. For this purpose the suburbs pretty much start on the other side of the 610 Loop.

Heights, Montrose, Midtown and Meyerland are probably the spots you want to look at...

Riverside Terrace is near the worst part of the Third Ward near UH....high-crime area. Eastwood is not much better.

Again, do you have any statistics to back up your claims about Eastwood? Or did you just make this up as you go along? I'm betting it is the latter.

When was the last time you were in Eastwood? Do you know anybody that lives there? What are you basing these comments on?

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by modster

Again, do you have any statistics to back up your claims about Eastwood? Or did you just make this up as you go along? I'm betting it is the latter.

When was the last time you were in Eastwood? Do you know anybody that lives there? What are you basing these comments on?

Houston Crime Map - South Central Patrol Division - 10H20 Beat

There's Eastwood.

Happy?

[modster]

Originally Posted by ny2tx

Our oldest got into U of H Charter School!

So now it's just about safety (which is relative, I know) and an area that is somewhat progressive and not too conservative.

Does anyone know anything about Eastwood or Riverside Terrace? There seem to be reasonably priced options in both. Those areas look affordable for being inside the loop. Please be honest as far as what you know. Thanks.

I guess we could go up to $250K if need be.

Eastwood is a booming area. It has its own web-site http://www.eastwood-houston.com and hosts an annual home tour. Every year more homes get restored and the area continues to improve. The warehouse district between Eastwood and downtown is redeveloping into townhomes. You can already see redevelopment along streets like Polk and Leeland. There is also a proposed rail line that is going to go down Harrisburg just across the RR tracks from Eastwood. All these thing will positively impact the area. There is a great Thai Place in the area and a new coffee house/art bar called Bohemio's in the same center, (Telephone at Lockwood).

Riverside Terrace varies depending upon what section you go into. Timber Crest off north MacGregor and University Oaks are both very nice. The sections along South Macgregor also have a lot of nice homes. Many of these were designed by the who's who of Houston Architects. (Birdsall Briscoe, John Staub, Joseph Finger, Bailey Swenson, Bolton & Barnstone, etc). Riverside and Washington Terrace both are benefitting from an audience that continues to broaden.

[jfre81]

Since we're all about statistics, here is the Riverside Terrace crime map:

Houston Crime Map - South Central Patrol Division - 10H60 Beat

Relatively not too bad, but then you look north:

Houston Crime Map - South Central Patrol Division - 10H50 Beat

I would say that the area around UH doesn't seem as run-down as it used to be, but it obviously has a long way to come yet.