Montrose 77098 (Houston, Kirby, River Oaks: cheap apartments, crime, townhome)

[vegankris]

Hello,

Does anyone live in or near this area of Houston? I was looking on har.com and came across a nice house in this area.

I'm looking for: walkability, strong sense of community, friendly neighbors you actually know, good schools and family friendly area.

Thanks for all input!

Take care,
Kris

[testmo]

used to live in montrose. definitely a nice area but it is a mix. some people dont like living in close proximity to cheap apartments or see destitute people. montrose is basically living in the city for houston so you get city type of stuff. big sense of community there, good walkability. eh neighbors - my neighbors in my townhome complex worked all the time or would rather stay inside. never got to know them. in walking around the neighborhood and people i knew its a mixed bag. good schools - but everyone i knew with kids put their kids in private. Lamar is a good HS though

family friendly - i wouldnt let my kids run and bike on the street. too much traffic

looking at the houses online versus looking at them in person could be vastly different. a decent house without needing much work i found to be at least 375k. i needed a larger place for less than 400k. budget does not stretch far there unless willing to do lots of work

[heightsian]

Originally Posted by vegankris

Hello,

Does anyone live in or near this area of Houston? I was looking on har.com and came across a nice house in this area.

I'm looking for: walkability, strong sense of community, friendly neighbors you actually know, good schools and family friendly area.

I have lived near here for the last 8 to 9 years. Montrose is a very cool neighborhood; it's alternative, progressive, has a strong sense of community and culture and has a funkier attitude than neighboring Heights, River Oaks, Museum District and West U. It is very walkable, close to downtown, close to shopping (grocery, antiques, thrift shops, etc), lots of great restaurants (many of which are ethnic and/or vegetarian/vegan friendly).

Schools are generally good (depending on where you're at, I think the high school is Lamar -- which is one the best in HISD and I've heard good things about Poe Elementary and Lanier Middle School, which I think has the only Baccalaureate program in HISD at the middle school level). Property values are generally high due to proximity to downtown, Galleria, Museum District, Medical Center, and the good schools.

Now for the bad -- it does have an unusually large concentration of runaway teens, who are attracted to the alternative vibe of the community; they mostly congregate in some of the parks. So you might have some petty crime and drug use in the area.

That being said, I would not consider Montrose unsafe; we would have considered it ourselves if we could have afforded a single family home there.

[theSUBlime]

77098 is more Upper Kirby (77006 is the primary Montrose zip code) resulting in a significant change in vibe. A lot more new-ish, high-rise, uppity things popping up in that zip code, but everything else said is pretty true, I can say, as an ex-resident.

[HBsteve]

Live in 77006, which as theSUBlime said is the core of Montrose. Like it a lot, in our neighborhood there is a good sense of community, we know more neighbors after six months than we did in three years in WestU, our neighborhood has social events every couple months. Very walkable, though the sidewalks in my neighborhood are in bad shape, and of course keep in mind the humidity, I certainly didn't want to walk anywhere in August. As others said it's a mixed urban area, be sure you're ok with that. See if your new neighborhood has a civic association or yahoo group. You indicated in another post you're in Houston, so go to the house and walk around.

[jilliannie]

Yes, Montrose is 77006. Ive been here a little while now and can share some observations. I know some neighbors, others dont want to be known. Some units around here may be occupied by different vagrants going in and out of the place to crash at all hours of the day. Diversity as far as residents go is not here, maybe its closeby but its like 90% white hipsterish in my immediate area. Car crime and car vandalism seems common. You may also walk into marijuana smoke or be solicited by a prostitute every now and then. But I think this is part of the personality of the area. This is more 20something friendly and gay artsy friendly, cant say its family friendly and to me this is a great thing! I dont think you will get enlightened and progressive people in family friendly areas. Otherwise what was mentioned above seems accurate.