The Woodlands vs. Klein Spring Cypress Areas - community feel, demographics? (Houston: houses, established neighborhood)

[gigijen22]

Hi, our family just moved to Houston in June, and we are currently in Westheimer Lakes. We like it here but now we need to move again due to a job change. My husband just accepted a job in The Woodlands - Sawdust Rd/I-45. We are considering moving to The Woodlands or the area just south of that, west of 45 and east of 249. If we move to TW, we'd like to be in the sections near 45. We've seen homes in Grogan's Mill, Indian Springs, and Panther Creek that we really like. We love the Life Forms type houses. Is there a way to see which houses are Lifeforms? Was there another builder that had similar homes there? We like houses with lots of windows and natural light and open floor plans.

If we move to the area south of that, we would like to be pretty close to that location. We've heard that 45 is awful, but if he is driving North in the morning and South in the afternoon is it all that bad?

We've seen homes around Cypresswood that we really like, in Enchanted Oaks, Terranova West, Candlelight Hills, and Wimbledon. We'd like his commute to be 20 minutes or less. Is that realistic?

We are looking for an established neighborhood with mature trees. We don't want new construction. Large lots are a definite plus. We're looking for a 3-4 bedroom, 2 or more baths, 2000+ sq. ft. A pool would be a bonus. Price range is 160,000 - 215,000 depending on the house. We'd be willing to do updates if the price was right.

We come from a small town in Kentucky, and we are looking for a close-knit community. Moving to Houston has been a culture shock for our family. We lived in a city that was nearly all Caucasian, and very seldom heard people speak other languages. We would like a neighborhood that is mostly English-speaking, and open to new people. We have found it very hard to make friends so far. We'd like to be near a good Catholic church. We have two children, first and second grade. Our children are currently homeschooled, but we'd like to send them to a Catholic school. We have looked at St. Anthony of Padua and St. Edward schools. We don't want a 'snobby' neighborhood or school in which people are caught up in having the best and latest. We don't want to be in a 'keeping up with the Joneses' neighborhood. We just like to hang out with friends, play cards and have a beer, see movies, go out to eat, and try new things.

I realize this post is very long, but hopefully it will help all those expert Houston natives to give us good advice. Thanks!!!

[a_guerrajr]

Woodlands and Klein area are a good chunk of Caucasian. However you will find diversity everywhere here.

Best bet is to use HAR.com or get a realtor to find something to fit your taste and budget. There are a few established neighborhoods in both areas. Also a lot of new construction ones, I'm moving into a new construction one off FM 2920.

The traffic shouldn't be an issue, because he might not even need to use 45, he can probably just use the back roads.

Both are good areas, Woodlands being a bit more pricey and different class of people in certain areas.

[HoustonBornNRaised]

Lifeforms are very easy to spot, and I can't think of another builder that built homes like they did in the late 80's/90's in The Woodlands. Their homes have craftsman features that stand out. A lot of them are split-level, which may be what's attracting you to Enchanted Oaks. There are similar homes in that development.

I just moved to Tomball, west of FM 249, but lived in Spring for ages. My parents live in The Woodlands. I think you're going to find diversity (I'm not talking racial diversity - however, this is true too) in all of these places, but the most diverse will be The Woodlands, simply because you have everything from starter homes in the low 100's, to estate homes in the millions. You're going to pay more for a home in The Woodlands, than you will in Spring - and I'm talking the exact same home, built by the same builder.

It sounds like you're gravitating towards mature developments, so you might also want to consider Oaks of Devonshire, Spring Creek Oaks and Terranova West.

[DejaBlue]

I think you should look more around Spring/Klein - Cypresswood, Wimbledon, Spring Creek Oaks, etc.

I think TW is really nice but there is a keeping up with the Jones air. Not everyone but it's sort of overhead.

That attitude is all over really but I've found that people are more West Coasty about their money in Spring/Klein over TW. Sort of like, your neighbor knows he's making big bucks and has the cars to prove it but you'll actually see him washing his car in the driveway sometimes and he'll wave and say hello and chat for a bit while checking the mailbox. More personable perhaps. Like money was a progression over TW's more blue blood, unapproachable in a slight way.

For your price range and what you want out of a house and a mature neighborhood I'd add Memorial Northwest. It's a huge mix of houses 1970s-1990s.

Though if Houston is a culture shock in nice but wow, this is hard to get use to. TW would be better for you.

Pretty much every neighborhood is mostly to all English speaking. The only areas that's really a complete split on hearing a good deal of different languages and mostly Spanish are towards Downtown and neighborhoods around there. Northside while really diverse is more English in public, everything else at home.

[HoustonBornNRaised]

I don't think you can go wrong looking at developments off of Louetta, on the west side of I-45.

Pretty much any development in 77388 or 77379 will be worth checking out.

[Dopo]

Driving up I-45 if fine (against traffic)
Check the traffic on Google maps during rush hour, there's a few areas with bad traffic in Spring.

I can tell you that the lights on 2920 from Kuykendahl to I-45 are a mess.
They could easily be changed for stop signs, and it wouldn't make a difference.