My wife and I will be moving either Katy, or Cinco Ranch from Chicago early next year (Houston: transplants, real estate)

[Gee_Chicago]

Hello Everyone

My wife and I will be moving either Katy, or Cinco Ranch from Chicago early next year and any help you could give us would be fantastic
My Wife has lived in Chicago all her life and I've lived in the Windy City for 14 years and we will be moving to Texas because my Wife has been offered a job in the Energy Corridor, and we’ve been told that Katy, and Cinco Ranch are great areas to live and a short drive for her to work.
We have 3 Children under the age of 7, so it's a massive move for us, and any help, or advice would be fantastic.


Thanks in advance for your time

[War Beagle]

Katy proper is really small, though a huge area is referred to as Katy. Cinco Ranch is probably a good choice, though there are some nicer, older neighborhoods to the east of CR. I'd probably avoid north of I-10 though as it doesn't seem to be aging all that well.

[3a's]

There are many options in the Katy area for you to live not just Cinco Ranch. You could look at Pine Mill, Cardiff Ranch, many more options do a few house hunting trips. Go to Katy ISD to see where the new schools are popping up and there are alot of new developments happening in Katy. You can call most of the builders for Cinco Ranch the other areas also and they can help you, most likely the company your wife is relocating with will link you up with a realtor. If not do not worry there are many around to choose from.

Beware depending on where your wife works the traffic pattern will slow you down a little bit but Houston/TX is building more highways. There is no L Train here in Katy/Houston if you use that system in Chi Town but there is no lake affect either. Houstonians are very friendly people and in Katy(downtown it is a very cute small town feel). We do get snow here in Katy-it only happens on one day with a snow machine downtown Katy. Good Luck!

[alex188]

I have seen Katy grow tremendously in the last 10+ years. It even has its own "med center" (including a children's hospital) along I-10. I have a friend who used to live in Cinco Ranch Greenway Village. It's near an elementary school, I believe. Now that they have a freeway up (Grand Parkway), it makes it even more convenient to get around. There's also a golf club and a decent size mall in the area.

One thing a lot of out-of-towners/transplants will be quick to point out is that we are all Texans proud! Haha. You'll notice just by driving around what with all the Texas flags (I never thought this was out of the ordinary until my friend from Iowa pointed this out to me one day). But we're all pretty friendly!

Welcome! Here's a video on H-town:
Houston Texaplex - YouTube

[rpal]

We live in Richmond, literally a stones throw from Cinco Ranch, and love it! Cinco is very nice, however you will pay a higher premium for those houses (although 3a's has a great point, there are other neighborhoods tucked within the Cinco Ranch area that are just as nice but not as expensive-like ours). My husband is also from up north (Michigan) and likes the accessibility of West Park toll road into town (it will take you 22 minutes to get to downtown Houston, without traffic, and about 35 min. in traffic). Good luck on your move! The Energy Corridor is within a short driving distance too. Another option is the Bunker Hill area (South on 1-10, East of Beltway 8), these are older homes but a really NICE area (once again depends on your price point, but I will assume working in the energy corridor may make that an option for you).

[Gee_Chicago]

First off I’m blown away from the positive responses I’ve got on my post in less than a day, thanks to everyone, and also thanks in advance to anyone else who is nice enough to post
We don’t have to move to either Katy, or Cinco Ranch, but they were recommended to us and that is why I mentioned them so all the other areas we should look at will be looked at for sure

We have 3 Children under 7 Years of age and we will be looking to find schools for them to attend, and were actually looking forward to that part of the move, as all 3 of our Children attend a private school here in Chicago and when you add in before and after school care it can become very expensive

Anyone from Chicago would know that the Chicago Public Schools in the Wicker Park/Humboult Park area are not a place you want your Children to attend without a Knuckle Duster

Anyway if anyone has seen good homes within an easy 30 minute drive from the Energy Corridor with 4 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, please let me know
All info is greatly appreciated, and of course if anyone knows of a bar that will play the Chicago Bears games that would also be Awesome

[Johnhw2]

Price point is always helpful as well. I lived within 5 minutes of the BP complex in the energy corridor until I sold to move to DFW. The home I sold was 3500 sf with 4 bdrms and 4 and 1/2 baths on a smaller lot right off memorial drive. The house had been extensively updated but was built in 1977 ,,,Katy ISD was the school district for this home and it sold for roughly $400k. I am not trying to sell it just giving you a feel for what you can get very close to the energy corridor if an older home with a short commute is something you would like to consider.

Welcome to Tx... its a great place to live and work.

[OducksFTW!]

Originally Posted by Gee_Chicago

First off I’m blown away from the positive responses I’ve got on my post in less than a day, thanks to everyone, and also thanks in advance to anyone else who is nice enough to post
We don’t have to move to either Katy, or Cinco Ranch, but they were recommended to us and that is why I mentioned them so all the other areas we should look at will be looked at for sure

We have 3 Children under 7 Years of age and we will be looking to find schools for them to attend, and were actually looking forward to that part of the move, as all 3 of our Children attend a private school here in Chicago and when you add in before and after school care it can become very expensive

Anyone from Chicago would know that the Chicago Public Schools in the Wicker Park/Humboult Park area are not a place you want your Children to attend without a Knuckle Duster

Anyway if anyone has seen good homes within an easy 30 minute drive from the Energy Corridor with 4 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, please let me know
All info is greatly appreciated, and of course if anyone knows of a bar that will play the Chicago Bears games that would also be Awesome

Whats a Knuckle Duster? haha I'm afraid to ask.

Houston will be a huge change from Chicago, just be prepared for that. Although some of the far out suburbs, (Joliet and Elgin) do resemble the newer portions of I10.

Since the Texans are doing well, and its the only successful professional team in town(except Dynamo), we're all Texans fans right now. But nothing is stopping you from watching it in your own home!

[crbcrbrgv]

Gee_Chicago, I am from Chicago originally. Did you grow up in Chicago or the burbs? This is actually a very important question.

[katydogs1]

A great website is Houston Real estate, Houston homes, Houston Realtors: HAR.com. Katy is a great area with fantastic schools. Their are 2 Katys the City of Katy and the Katy area. The city is great, curbside recycling and a fantastic police force. If your kids play football Katy High School is the place to be 5 state tiles since 1997 and on our way to another this year. Good luck in your search. Coming from Wisconsin it took me a while to get used to Y'ALL instead of YOUS GUYS.