Favorite Working-Class Neighborhoods In Houston? (Spring, Post: fit in, real estate market, townhomes)

[houston lover]

Interested in solid, moderately safe (because this IS big city after all) working-class neighborhoods in Houston. Many of us have discussed the ripple effect of economic isolation on the real estate market in Houston. It sometimes feels like there are no reasonably priced, safe neighborhoods here but I know that can't be true. I recently stumbled upon some interesting suggestions, such as Robindell and Sagemont. I think that there is bit of neighborhood snobbery about some places that are clean and OK to live in, and that may have unfair reputations about crime. Any thoughts? Please elaborate if you think a place is not safe as to why you believe that. On some areas, I read people who say they think an area is unsafe and yet I can find no statistics that support their ideas.

On a side note - my maid mentioned the other day that she thought that Westbury was unsafe and was surprised to learn that I had lived there as a single college grad, had no problems and I fit in there fine. She also was surprised because she thought it was a mainly black neighborhood whereas I found it to be rather homogenous with whites.

That brings up another thing- I don't think that a neighborhood is unsafe just because it is a mixed race community so if you are uncomfortable with an area because it is multi cultural, please state that.

[DJboutit]

Your maid is thinking of Fondren Southwest which borders Westbury on the west side the heart is West Bellfort & Fondren. Westbury is a really nice area Westbury Maplewood & Willowbend are the best value neighborhoods in Houston

[philopower]

Maplewpod is hardly working class. The homes there start in the 200.

[hbcu]

Hiram Clarke...in between West Orem and Allum....nice area despite what's around...or off Tidewater and Post Oak (the older area, not the new one)

[txdemo]

Gotta put my vote in for Robindell. Working class, active civic club, neighbors that talk to each other and wave as you pass by, some real mid century modest gems, neighborhood pool, mature trees, 6 minutes to the 610 loop. Lots of original owners and many young folks moving in.

[houstonfan]

Define "working class" neighborhood?

[houston lover]

Good point Houstonfan. What I'm referring to is really a safe lower income neighborhood. I'm talking for people making a household income of 50k roughtly.

[testmo]

pockets of neighborhoods in pasadena, deer park, baytown, and south houston, robindell (SW Houston), some pockets around Hobby airport and sharpstown

westbury definitely isn't lower income and maplewood starts closer to 300,000 than 200,000

[houstonfan]

Originally Posted by houston lover

Good point Houstonfan. What I'm referring to is really a safe lower income neighborhood. I'm talking for people making a household income of 50k roughtly.

Depends on if you want urban/suburban, new or old house, how big, etc.
50k household, imho, means you shouldn't be buying more than $120k house at the most. If you want safe and close to the city, there aren't many choices unless you are ok with older smaller house or townhomes, and not highly rated school district. This doesn't mean the schools are necessarily bad, but people usu put so much emphasis on 'ratings' and that drives prices up or down.
If you are ok with living further out, there are lots of good and even excellent choices. As previous poster said, houston has many pockets of good and bad mixed in amongst each other, can't even generalize them by subdivsions. You should work with a good realtor to help you sort it out.
I would add, to above recommened neighborhoods, that there some nice areas in spring branch school district that are safe and nice and still barely in that price range.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

Depends on if you want urban/suburban, new or old house, how big, etc.
50k household, imho, means you shouldn't be buying more than $120k house at the most. If you want safe and close to the city, there aren't many choices unless you are ok with older smaller house or townhomes, and not highly rated school district. This doesn't mean the schools are necessarily bad, but people usu put so much emphasis on 'ratings' and that drives prices up or down.
If you are ok with living further out, there are lots of good and even excellent choices. As previous poster said, houston has many pockets of good and bad mixed in amongst each other, can't even generalize them by subdivsions. You should work with a good realtor to help you sort it out.
I would add, to above recommened neighborhoods, that there some nice areas in spring branch school district that are safe and nice and still barely in that price range.

This. Binglewood and Kempwood, along with several other neighborhoods in 77080, are going to see some good appreciation over the next decade. Schools will improve with that, and currently you can select other schools within sbisd to attend..with the exclusion of MMS and MHS

Springwood Forest used to be my favorite in that area for the working class range, but now those have almost doubled in value. Shadow wood went completely nuts. 10 years ago you could get one of those huge lots with a nice ranch house or under 200 k. Now they are near a million.