Searching for home dilemma: Meyerland, Bellaire or suburbs (Houston, West: for sale, crime)

[mandh]

Dear forumites,

We would be moving to Houston for new jobs close to center of town ( Rice Univ). However, we are confused about housing. We want great schools, lowest crime and good neighbourhoods. Less commute as possible. Out budget can go up to 750K - we would like to get for much lesser but can go that far for best housing options.
We looked around Meyerland area and are considering that. Which schools are better in that area? We figure Kolter and then Parker elementary.. what about other elementray schools - are they as good?
Bellaire seems very expensive. But we are considering. Any elementary schools that stand out in the area?
For now we will consider two options: 3 bedroom with 2 bath ..smallish home ~2000sq feet and decent yard --where we can manage for few years or longer if needed..or a larger home 4-5 bedroom..considering long term.

At the same time, suburbs seem nice too- like Sugarland..minus the driving. We both hate driving and we have two kids who will go to day care which we like to be not too far from home or from work..

Any wise suggestions?

[testmo]

if location is one thing that is important to you than definitely don't look to sugar land. not that sugar land is bad, but i hate driving as well and that commute would likely cause me a mental break

bellaire schools are great there is not a "bad" elementary that i heard of. I looked into bellaire and meyerland before buying further south in Westbury. but if bellaire prices is something you don't want to spend you could buy in meyerland which has a really nice feel for less. some zones in meyerland go to bellaire schools most importantly bellaire HS. if you got daycare kids i wouldnt care much about that but someone buying after you might

id strongly agree that meyerland is a great compromise if looking inside the loop is something you dont want to do. i figured you already cut that out as those neighborhoods aren't listed. i'd personally look to buy in the loop and commute to rice but it gets way more expensive fast. you could still buy in there for under 750k though. traveling up 610 to 59 in the morning would be tough. going the back streets to Rice may take just as long but it would be less irritating

there are several additional elem schools you might be zoned to then kolter and parker. here in westbury kolter is said to be better than parker. those two are more of Westbury/Maplewood i thought. i think for schools you do pretty well in Meyerland despite being in the HISD which people here in Houston hate for good reasons or bad. there is also an abundance of private schools which it seems most families filter their kids through

[mandh]

Dear Testmo,
Thank you for the suggestions. Other areas near Rice would be WEst Univ. area which seems too expensive. We could potentially find something with little or no yard. I am not sure if it is worth it. Greatschools ranking gives similar ranking to nice schools in Meyerland as well. Do you know about Red Elementary school? I also hear that West Univ. high school (Is it Lamar) is not as good as Bellaire High..

We will be only looking for houses zoned to Bellaire high.

What about middle school..Is Johnston a good one?

There are a bunch of houses in Yarwell Dr. now that seems closer to busier streets.. I haven't seen that area.. But anyone can comment on that area (in Meyerland). Is there a so called preferred area in Meyerland.

TestMo, which area in Westbury did you buy? Do you like it there?

[testmo]

braes, southside are inside the loop and are not as expensive as west u. it also is a little more iffy with some dumpy stuff next to some nice stuff. but thats houston

lamar isnt as good as bellaire, but if i had kids i would send them to either without a problem.

johnson is a good middle school. i believe it has held its exemplary standing. people here call it great. many white families send their kids there - IMO i have picked up on a bit of a racial bias in all of this. if its your kids education i can understand not wanting to mess around

i love westbury. I'm on on the far side before it gets questionable. brays bayou separates the "good" and "bad" side. of course that is subjective but in driving through the two sections there is a noticeable difference.

i had a house budget of 200-250k and bought a house much nicer than most i saw for 179! its over 2000 sq ft good sized yard and completely redone.

but this section is zoned to a bad middle school which i am hoping will be shut down. i have a secret desire bellaire/meyerland will get sick of the HISD stigma and somehow consolidate to create their own school district. ha. but it would help me out in the future if they did that

here in westbury you get some neighbors who are dieing off (elderly people) and companies coming in to flip the homes. many flips are done very well. this same thing happened in meyerland and bellaire it is just now hitting hard in westbury. so because of this a lot of younger people and people with young children are moving in. there are a few tear downs semi mcmansions that have sprung up. even in my zone, but not as bad as Meyerland. i love the original homes.

most of my neighbors are professionals with college educations are more. but not everyone and that makes it cool. very close knit, barbques, block party type stuff atmosphere on my street

i dont have kids but if i had kids i'd pay to get them into a different school district or do private for middle and high school (most of westbury is zoned to westbury HS)


im a rambler... westbury, like meyerland from what i saw, is socially liberal and very open. one other reason i love it here. some people may like that or not

[14Bricks]

1. Bellaire 2.Meyerland 3.Suburbs. In that order.

[crbcrbrgv]

We just moved to Meyerland and couldn't be happier. I'd switch 14Bricks list to Meyerland first, but I really think that's just comes down to personal preference. In my opinion, the suburbs are a distant third.

[cheryjohns]

It is just personal preference as to Bellaire or Meyerland. I would suggest looking in both to see which you like better.

[Houston_2010]

Bellaire! there are a bunch of houses around here that are for sale...old and new. Many of the old ones are well kept and livable (unless it's a true as-is teardown). Horn Elementary is all around academics program. They are about to finish a brand new campus that will start housing the kids in Fall 2011. Very exciting! Condit Elementary is great as well, but serves those in Bellaire outside the Loop. Still a great family-oriented and low-crime area.

[HtownHomes4U]

Congrats on the new jobs. I don't think you can go wrong with either, Meyerland or Bellaire. You will find plenty of homes for sale in both areas. And as stated above, schools are nice as well. Good luck.

[mandh]

So since my last post, we got a chance to drive around both Bellaire and Meyerland.

In Meyerland we are considering only areas zoned to Kolter at this time. We liked Meyerland- Large trees and houses with some charm. Bellaire seems nice in its own way. Houses are newish.

One thing that bothers me is that Bellaire may have a more moving population. People may be staying for schools and may move away. It seems like a much higher income place than Meyerland. We do make a good income and may actually be at par with many Bellaire residents. But I worry that there will be less friendliness and more vanity in these newer neighborhoods. So I am wondering if Meyerland is better considering long term and making good friends and solid neighbirhoods.

Anyone has comments on Condit vs Horn vs Kolter. In reading Kolter's website, I get a very good vibe.

There seems to be more housing stock in Bellaire at this time compared to areas of Meyerland that we are looking for.

So now torn between Bellaire and Meyerland.. No suburbs. Also which place has more parks and recreation for young kids.