Pearland vs. Friendswood vs. Clear Lake vs. League City vs. Other?

[350days]

I moved to Pearland from Los Angeles (Palos Verdes) and it's very different over here. I would suggest Friendswood over Pearland and League City. That is where we are moving next. Pearland has more of a country feel to it and for the most part the side closer to the 288 has a bit more crime. League city is okay too, one area that is nice is close to South Shore Harbour. Another area to look into is Clear Lake. Friendswood tends to be a bit more on the conservative side, where Clear Lake seems to be a bit more on the liberal side, in my opinion. Clear Lake is a bit more lively than Friendswood and has more retail locations.

You can go to HAR.com and look at homes for sale, which is a great site. There are also other sites like FSBO or for sale by owner. You can also check out HCAD.org and you can type in an address and see who owns the property, in the event you may want to buy direct from the owner. HCAD is Harris County Appraisal District. Friendswood is mostly in Galveston County, but parts are in Harris County. I think GavelstonCAD.org is the appraisal district site for Galveston County, but you can google search it.

Are you talking about politics or how safe/nice the neighborhood is? I know someone has stated to me to stay away from Pearland because of the African American population. Pearland has a small African American population and all AAs do not commit crimes. No matter where you go you will encounter diversity in the Houston area. There are many small towns with barely any diversity in Texas, but good luck with finding a job there. If you need a job get use to living around different people with different points of view in the Houston area. Texas is not like Idaho.

Also as another person mentioned be careful with the tax rates, they are migh higher, they vary from like 2% - 3.25%, which is much higher than CA. Also, your property value is adjusted every year, which is dumb, because you have to fight or hire a company to fight to reduce the assessed value on your home. You can check out the County Appraisal District sites and find out the tax rates for different homes. Also watch out for communities with MUD Taxes (Municipal Utility District) they tend to really increase your tax rate.

Good luck on the move, there are lots of people originally from California here in Houston.[/quote]