What's it like to live in Bellaire? Moving from the Heights. (Houston: for sale, lawyers)

[millieb1006]

[SIZE=3]We currently live in Heights and need to move in the next year to be zoned to a better school. We were looking at other parts of the Heights (zoned to Travis or Harvard elementary, etc), but with the current house prices in the Heights, it’s comparable to other parts of the city, like Bellaire. Just curious what living in Bellaire is like compared to living in the Heights, from a life-style standpoint. We love the Heights, and have lived here for 5 years so have seen lots of new restaurants and stores open. We will be sad to leave. What’s Bellaire’s culture like? We are politically moderate to liberal - is Bellaire very conservative? Do people go for walks strollers and dogs? We want to move someplace that is a short commute to downtown, family-friendly, has good schools, and still has lots of restaurants and things to do. Any insight is appreciated. [/SIZE]

[testmo]

Bellaire has a lot of restaurants. i'd say they have more than the core of the heights. more than a handful of local and mom and pop places, but you get more chains as well. it being situated within 10 minutes from montrose it is very easy to get to all the good places. i live s. of meyerland (bike ride from bellaire) and when we want to go out to eat something other than just picking up something quick we still just make the drive into montrose or downtown

i do see a lot of people jogging and walking during the day. most of bellaire has bike lanes on the major streets. i happen to know a few young families that live there with young children. there are a lot of youth activities in the area most of them being centered around sports. they have very good schools.

i dont know about politics. from impression it is much more conservative then where i live, but i have the impression it is more moderate than the far suburbs. i saw a lot of Romney signs and not so many Obama if that means anything. But, i also know friends who have equality stickers and had fundraisers for the mayor and obama and they never got any flak. they like it, but you won't find as many cute homes there. standard is spanish tiled mcmansions, but again it is a pretty large city you can find other stuff.

it is my belief Bellaire is going to be more expensive then the heights. $700,000+ for a starting price on a ready to move in. those large homes you see driving through are all in the millions

[crone]

City Data is a wonderful site. Get off this forum and go to plain ol CD and enter Bellaire, Tx. The voting data did not include the most recent election. Bellaire voted +/- 50/50 Obama-McCain.

How do you feel living among corporate executives and lawyers?

[houston-nomad]

To the OP: My sense of the vibe in the Heights and Bellaire is quite different. People pay big $$ to live in the Heights for nearness to downtown, of course, but also for that small-town, slightly off-beat vibe of the Heights. My impression of Bellaire is that people pay big $$ to live there for location, schools. Not for any vibe. Because none exists, as far as I can tell. There is also way too much showiness in Bellaire for my taste. Those new monstrosity houses are the tackiest, ugliest things I've ever seen, and Bellaire is full of them. Would you want to have those people as neighbors? I wouldn't.

Would it be off-topic to ask Testmo or others about good restaurants in the Bellaire area? going out this weekend but don't have time to go out of the Meyerland/Bellaire neighborhood.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

To the OP: My sense of the vibe in the Heights and Bellaire is quite different. People pay big $$ to live in the Heights for nearness to downtown, of course, but also for that small-town, slightly off-beat vibe of the Heights. My impression of Bellaire is that people pay big $$ to live there for location, schools. Not for any vibe. Because none exists, as far as I can tell. There is also way too much showiness in Bellaire for my taste. Those new monstrosity houses are the tackiest, ugliest things I've ever seen, and Bellaire is full of them. Would you want to have those people as neighbors? I wouldn't.

Would it be off-topic to ask Testmo or others about good restaurants in the Bellaire area? going out this weekend but don't have time to go out of the Meyerland/Bellaire neighborhood.

Kinda agree with this. The new homes all have the oddest layouts too. I would look into Southdale, or the east west streets of Bellaire inside the loop. Seems be new homes, without the Mcmansionisation. Also, all the sump pumps in the front yards outside the loop bring back memories of Allison.

[testmo]

Bellaire - Bellaire Broiler Burger, Roadster Grill, Cafe Piquet, Jax Grill Bellaire location, Samurai Japanese hibatchi/sushi place, or drive a few blocks into Gulfton and go to Pupusa Buffet. People love Pico's. I hate it, but it always has a crowd. There is a jimmy john's next to HEB. they deliver inside Bellaire

meyerland plaza (right next to bellaire) has all the chain restaurants and a Fadi's location. these are most of the places I go to locally when I don't want to drive

edit: (sorry i keep growing this post) Cafe Piquet is real cute. Not the best cuban food in the city, but it will be familiar cuban and good. Nice people. Roadster Grill has been around forever and is BYOB. there are literally old folks who still come here and are the "regulars" kind of neat. Bellaire Broiler Burger good burgers. Actually have the full lettuce, tomato, onion instead of the meat, cheese, buns that you get in some of the more "cool" burger places. Jax Grill eh, but it's like bar food. It is pretty popular. They have tvs to watch sports. Samurai not the best sushi in town, but one of the few sushi restaurants here. Habatchi is always cool if you have little kids. The people are nice. Puposa buffet, the best puposa's in Houston although not the best I've ever had. It is a hole in the wall, but the people are nice. SUPER cheap

i get what everyone is saying about the homes. "Mediterranean" style could actually be pretty if it wasn't nearly every other home. But, there are still nice people living in those homes. Blame the developers/investors. A lot of those homes were built then put up for sale, not actual families choosing the builds.

there are plenty of homes that are brick or are away from that look. they are still huge though. some homes in the area have not been renovated yet or are the older 1 story ranches that have been renovated really nicely. I LOVE some of the pockets on the other side of 610

im not sure what area it is but along the bayou on the other side of 610 are some gorgeous homes. the neighborhood looks and feels like Meyerland, but on bigger plots and likely much more expensive. If I were to move within the city I'd buy there. The area is too far north to be Millow Meadows and too far south to be Southside Place. I dont think it is Bellaire

[millieb1006]

Thank you so much for your replies! I hadn't thought to look at the voting patterns, thanks for the information crone. Testmo, thanks for a rundown on all the restuarants. If we move there, we'll definitely give them a try. Also, corporate execs and lawyers don't bother me, but I hope that's not all there is. Home prices in areas zoned to Harvard and Travis elementary are surprising expensive and almost comperable to Bellaire. It's odd to think that the prices in the Heights are competing with Bellaire, I always thought of Bellaire as so expensive and "posh," for lack of a better word. But the schools seem pretty good all the way through high school in Bellaire, and while the Heights has some fantastic elementary schools, the middle schools are so-so (or so I've heard), and the high schools aren't great (again, or so I've heard). I also really like the diversity of Bellaire, in that there are a lot of Asians and being South Asian, I hope our kids aren't the only ones in their class. The electicness and community spirit of the Heights is what drew us here in the first place, and it will be so sad to leave though.

[epjones]

Bellaire has some great local resturants -
Bellaire Broiler Burger
Luigi's Pizza recently built their 2nd location there
Auntie Pasto's is great reasonably priced Italian
Costa Brava Bistro - new, I haven't been yet but it gets excellent reviews

I grew up in Bellaire, and it was good for Kids. I rode my bike home from Condit from 2nd or 3rd grade on. The cops run a much tighter ship than HPD as well.