Advice on commute to downtown and good catholic schools (Houston: real estate, renting)

[pasdenombt]

Hello,
We will be moving to Houston in a couple of months and it seems that for a 20 minute commute to downtown, the galleria area /bellaire are good locations. We will be renting first (<2000) and buying in a year or so (350k). Does anyone have advice on any other location (safe parks, walkable, possible whole foods store) for a family with 2 kids in elementary school. I have read a lot of posts that seem to suggest that the teachers at some of the catholic school may not be certified, could you please suggest which catholic schools are excellent but reasonably priced that are also within the 20/30 minutes to downtown. We would prefer catholic schools but if the elementary schools are good catholic schools are not a must.

Thank you

[hello2200]

st. micheals

consider rob/presbyterian/aos/sjs/kinkaid

they're not catholic but i know aos presbyterian and rob are religious strongly

consider west u

[MIBS98]

Consider West U on $350k? Not a chance.

Real estate agents on here can give you better advice but my immediate reaction is it will be tough for you to meet your stated target inside the city for under $350k. Tend to say that puts you in a transitional neighborhood which may not meet your standards on safety. West U is great but would be tough to find something there much under $700k.

[testmo]

i dont think bellaire for $350k is all that easy to get into. extend your search

[Poltracker]

Try Timbergrove and Lazybrook areas. There are some good Catholic Schools nearby.

[MIBS98]

Median list price this week in Bellaire is $642,500. Median list price in West U is $799,000.

[pasdenombt]

Thank you for the responses. Could you please give a sense of how long the commute is from Timbergrove to downtown. Wow, so house prices are pretty much the same as we have in the bay area. We don't mind getting a townhouse just keep the commute short.

[Poltracker]

Timbergrove is about 15-20 minutes or less to downtown on surface streets. House prices are in the range you're looking at. For catholic elementary the closest are St. Theresa and St. Rose of Lima. Catholic High schools would be St Thomas for the boys/Incarnate Word for the girls or St Pius for coed. All are doable if you live in Timbergrove or even Garden Oaks areas and work downtown.