Possible move to Houston... (The Woodlands, Katy: apartment, lease, condo)

[kyle450rider]

So I've been actively looking for a job in the Houston area. My wife and I have been reading these boards and it's been a wealth of knowledge. What I'm concerned with is that it seems that most of the locals on this board talk about how bad the traffic is. Can you live in any part of houston and not have the daily task of sitting in it? I recently had an interview with a company and the location is near the houston country club on post oak blvd just off of hwy 610. My hours would be something like 6:30-6:30. Would I miss some of the afternoon traffic on the way home? We wouldn't swoop in and buy a home right off the bat. I learned my lesson doing that in my current home. We would rent an apartment or condo and then get to know the areas we like and then proceed to buy a home. Area's that we like are sugar land, Katy, and Kingwood. I know a person that lived in Kingwood years ago and he say's that its very nice with lot's of tree's, bike trails, and very clean. I'm not real concerned with a drive for myself but I want to make it easier on my wife. Ideally, I would like to be within 40 minutes of work. Is it possible??

[Cbink]

I personally wouldn't want to live in Kingwood and work in the Galleria. It's a long way and not a great traffic route. Katy/Sugarland are much better commutes. You should be okay in the morning if you are getting to work for 6.30 but you will still hit traffic at 6.30 in the evening.

[kyle450rider]

Thank you very much for the reply. I was told that the heaviest afternoon traffic peaks around 4pm. Was I informed wrong? So far from what I've seen Katy is nice but looks like big planned suburbs with no tree's and house's packed in close. Myself, I tend to like the older neighborhoods with big lot's and tall tree's. Seen some nice houses around cypress.

[iamCraigHenry]

Oh my goodness. To work in the Galleria area but live in Kingwood would be quite a commute. The problem with estimating the traffic is that you never know. Sure the "peak" traffic times are at 4pm and 7:30am but what happens if there is an accident, which we know can happen everyday of the week. That turns a normal 40 minute drive into an hour and 15 minute drive. Have you looked at The Woodlands? you can take the hardy toll road all the way into downtown and run that to the Galleria and you can do the same around 4pm. The Woodlands is a beautiful area and you want trees and bike trails, take a look at The Woodlands.

[kyle450rider]

Thank you for the reply. I'll check out the Woodlands.

[ToyYot]

No NOT the Woodlands, it's 40 minutes wth NO traffic.

What's your budget, do you need good public schools?

[Lost_In_Translation]

Sugarland or Katy for generic suburbs definitely. If you don't have kids, places like westbury, willowbend, spring shadows, oak forest could also be worth looking into if you have a modest (200k) budget.

[EasilyAmused]

Omg no, not The Woodlands to the Galleria. Oh heck no.

For a work location near HCC, you need to go to eastern Katy if you want an MPC. Sugarland? its hard to get over to 59 or anywhere near it during rush our from that location.

4:00 its not bad but between 4:45 and 7 is a slow crawl anywhere.

Personally I'd lease a townhouse on the north portions of Bering or Augusta untill you figure this city out. Great neighborhood, close to work.

[kyle450rider]

I appreciate all the replies. Our budget would be around 250K for a home. No kids. We are in our early 30's and if we make this jump we plan on being in houston for a while. Schools wouldn't be that important to me upfront but I'd like to know that if my wife and I had kids we would be in a good school zone. Without being in houston it's tough to factor in traffic. Most maps that I've been on when you add your destination from any of these suburbs you get about 35 minutes or less. However, someone mentioned that the woodlands would be 40 minutes without traffic. So I guess wherever you live you can just about count on 1 hour. Would that be a safe assumption?

[coconutbutter]

Is it possible for you to visit Houston and test out the commute before deciding where you'll be staying, regardless of renting/buying?

I lived in Kingwood, and I liked it. It's a nice suburb with good neighbors; it has good diversity, is clean, and is pretty safe.

However, the Houston commute and traffic can/will suck the soul out of you. Since you have no kids and don't have plans in the immediate future, would it be possible to buy a property nearby your office, live there for a few years, and then sell it when you want to move for schools?

I hate commuting more than anything, and I have admiration for people who can do it. Even when I'm inside the loop and I had to take mom to an appointment from the greater Heights to West U, it took us 50 minutes to get her there by 8AM. And the drive was like 12 mi.