Why in the world shoud I not move to the Woodlands? (Houston: home, theater)

[EasilyAmused]

Teehee.. 30 minutes.

I want one of the commuting helicopters too.

PS..TW is flat as a pancake, just it has all those vertical pines, no real, mature shade trees. But you are very correct, homes are very cheap up there. Enjoy!

[texas7]

Originally Posted by westhou

You must know about some mysterious freeway that no one else knows about going from Downtown Houston to The Woodlands. I'm sure someone will pay you good money to clue them in on that secret freeway to make their commute 30 minutes. Heck I think they would make you the mayor of The Woodlands and build a statue in your honor in Market Street.

I can get to the Woodlands in 30 minutes if I go at totally off-peak times. Had a luncheon to attend at Americas in the Woodlands and took me roughly 1/2 hour to get there from downtown at around 10:45 in the morning. That is the only time it takes 1/2 hour or maybe on weekends.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by pelode

Ok, so is Houston as flat and treeless as the prairie? The woodlands does not look at all like that, nor did it when I have been to the area. But perhaps I'm missing some terrain?

NO... no clue why the other person implied that. Houston has way more/larger trees than DFW. The exceptions are Katy and maybe Pearland.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Houston Sprawl is among the worst in the entire country. On par with Atlanta.

Really?

Index of 271 sprawling metros from worst to least
Index of 271 sprawling metros by population

Planned growth vs. sprawl: the best and worst cities - CSMonitor.com

30 most sprawl-threatened cities (Map)

[AK123]

Originally Posted by pelode

Dallas was flat, treeless and plain ugly.

Originally Posted by BDFP

Um, that's Houston too.

Um, no. It's flat, but certainly not treeless.

[pelode]

Originally Posted by BDFP

Yes you are, Houston, not sure how you missed it, it's pretty big.



That's not what you asked, write what you mean if you want help. Good public or private schools? Make a decision, its a huge factor.

Snarky comments to the people helping you is not the best strategy.

Take your help elsewhere. I've actually been to the city and know what you and several others are saying isn't true.

Mod please close this thead or take it down. This isn't a decent place to get information for a move to Houston as far as I'm concerned. I'll be visiting the area again in person and will not make the mistake of using this site again.

[bluelion_ms3]

Haha

[jek74]

Originally Posted by pelode

Born and somewhat riased in Atlanta area. For good reasons (not crime or anything bad) can't really go back. Sometimes you just can't go back no matter what the song says..

Anyway the homes in woodlands are nice and cheap. The area looks pretty, and every amenity you could possibly want seems to be there. I've lived in CA and Dallas. We really just didn't care for Dallas although we do like Texas food and stuff.

I'm also wanting to get hooked up with Houston area startup community. So what if anything is bad about woodlands? Commute is not a factor. I'm somewhat worried about moving to "Texas" but Dallas and Houston are very different. I like Austin, but it's too small a town for me.

Pelode, be careful. There is a rather large anti-Woodlands contingent on this board. I don't think it's personal by any means, I think a lot of people hate what they "think" the Woodlands represents. The Woodlands has many advantages compared to other burbs. I'm comparing burbs to burbs here, not burbs to city.

One, the Woodlands is pretty close to IAH. Not close, but pretty close especially compared to the west side, north west side and south side.

Two, you are right, Woodlands is very wooded. I honestly think it looks like a forest, others here claim it's fake. To each their own.

Three, the Cynthia Woods Pavilion is the 2nd most popular outdoor amphitheater in the country. You have great concerts there, many of which are free.

Four, probably one of the only burbs to have a theater playing art house films if you are into along with a large multi-plex.

Five, one of the better downtown town centers. Again, people like to make fun of it, but it's very dense, completely walkable and a lot of fun.

Six, a lot of corporations are based there. This adds to a nice mix of people and draws in a lot of retail development.

Seven, parks and trails. I mean a ridiculous amount of parks and trails. I mean it's almost over done. There are over 70 miles of wooded trails to hike, bike and walk and I don't even know how many parks. Honestly, the parks and sports facilities here are as good as most division one colleges.

If I was a kid, I would have a blast growing up here between the parks, sports fields, trails, lakes and town center area.

As a bonus you have some of the best hospitals in the state right in the Woodlands.

The only reasons not to live in the Woodlands is commuting to downtown. Although they do have park and rides which zip you downtown pretty fast going on the HOV lanes. Also if you carpool, you can get downtown pretty fast as well as you can ride in the HOV lanes too.

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by AK123

Really?

Index of 271 sprawling metros from worst to least
Index of 271 sprawling metros by population

Planned growth vs. sprawl: the best and worst cities - CSMonitor.com

30 most sprawl-threatened cities (Map)

LOL-- that USA Today study is backward. The higher the percentage of the population in "urban areas" the more sprawled it is according to them. It seems like more of a ratio of urban/suburban to rural. And that is also itself meaningless because it depends on where you set the boundary of the metro area.

[testmo]

Woodlands is not hilly - houston is not hilly. DFW is 100x more diverse terrain than the houston area, but Woodlands does have a lot of trees.

there is no way on the planet the commute from woodlands into the city is 30 minutes. you could be driving at a random time of day (outside of our 4-5 hours of rush hour) and luckily not be stuck behind some freak accident and make it from the outside of the woodlands to the city in 30 minutes. door to door on an average day? i doubt it. no one is trying to be snarky about this. it is just a fact. people who live here are well aware the drive from woodlands to the city is probably the worst in the area. fair warning

downtown houston is the epicenter of stuff going on - meaning within the 3-4 miles radius of the heart of downtown is where the most active stuff is (new alamo drafthouse, sundance, high end restaurants, concentration of high end and laid back bars, galleria, rice village, upper kirby). im talking about the museum district, downtown and montrose. it is getting to the point in time where all of this should simply be referred to as "downtown."

you mentioned the west side. west side inside the beltway or close to it is also a nice area akin to the woodlands, but for a nice place a whole heck of a lot more money. city center - the inner suburbs response to a downtown district - is a pretty active place for a slightly older crowd (30 somethings - 50s, people with kids). good public and private schools

if your comment about Atlanta being expensive for the city I don't know if houston will be very different. i dont think you mentioned a budget at all except that is wasn't an issue. for close to the city living, or west side I would suggest an entry level of $500,000. you could get a comparable home in the Woodlands for significantly less.