Tell me all about Friendswood (Houston, Pearland: crime rates, custom home, neighborhoods) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

abbybaby · 06-04-2013, 07:05 PM

It looks like Friendswood is now at the top of our list. I want to know all the good and bad about Friendswood. So far it is our top pick because it is the only district with all exemplary schools. The location is pretty good for my husbands commute.

We really liked West Ranch. It is more like what we are used to. We were thinking about building because updating a used home is such a task. Building limits us so is there any other subdivisions in the Friendswood area that are extremely nice? Price point anywhere between 300-700k. We are willing to go up to 700k if we just absolutely love the place.

texas7 · 06-04-2013, 10:02 PM

Friendswood is notorious for flooding so be sure you talk to neighbors who have been there for 10 or more years. Some areas flood and others don't. You can't go wrong with Friendswood, its a great area.

LeavingDetroit · 06-04-2013, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abbybaby

It looks like Friendswood is now at the top of our list. I want to know all the good and bad about Friendswood. So far it is our top pick because it is the only district with all exemplary schools. The location is pretty good for my husbands commute.

We really liked West Ranch. It is more like what we are used to. We were thinking about building because updating a used home is such a task. Building limits us so is there any other subdivisions in the Friendswood area that are extremely nice? Price point anywhere between 300-700k. We are willing to go up to 700k if we just absolutely love the place.

Hi I recently posed a question about Friendswood vs other areas I that intereseted me, and received a lot of feedback, plus I've seen several other threads on it, so search the forum for "Friendswood."

I haven't lived there but just spent a couple of weekends house hunting there. It seem very nice if you are used to the more tract housing feel. To me though it felt "Trumanville" -esque. I didn't like the lack of trees, the newness and sameness of the houses, and also the people seemed a little less worldly than in the more close-in areas. I kept asking about "modern" homes or asking the builders at West Ranch about doing a more contemporary kitchen and I got a lot of blank stares, people pointing me to styles that were far from modern or at least the honest ones asking me what I meant by modern. None of the builders had flat panel cabinets, which I don't think are really that far out there.

However, if Friendswood is your style I don't think you can go wrong there. Everyone I've met who knows about Friendswood, raves about the schools and the community. My boss lives there and is very happy with it even though she has a long commute into downtown. One very positive thing about Friendswood, is that there is only 1 middle school and 1 high school so once you hit 6th grade, you generally go through school with the same group of kids. If you are moving your kids while in middle school or close to it, this can be huge since if like me, you don't want to keep uprooting your kids. It affords a little more stability. Also, you should investigate the size of schools. They public schools in Houston have some sort of system with letters , I dont really understand it, but Friendsfood is classified as being a smaller high school than many of the other HiSD schools. As you do a little more investigating, you will see that many HISD high schools are gigantic with 3000 plus kids.

I may even end up there if I can't find what I what closer to DT.

good luck,

DanielWayne · 06-04-2013, 11:17 PM

Friendswood has lots of trees in the older parts and around the high school. Also the tract housing is the newer areas. The older, and often larger homes are not similar. It is a great town with excellent schools and one of the lower crime rates in the state. The older area still has a small town feel. I mean the area near the library.

timtemtym · 06-04-2013, 11:39 PM

When I grew up in Clear Lake in the 80's and 90's, Friendswood was the rich kids. It still has great areas especially along Sunset. There are some neat old neighborhoods, especially the one with the weird italian fountains. I know now it's built out with tract homes but it used to be the quiet rich acreage area.

Funny that Pearland is now boomed and swanky. It used to be the trashy rural area. I think Friendswood is still a great area and it's finally more linked to Houston with the connections to 45 and the south belt. I think that isolation is what kept is nice longer than Clear Lake.

Any school district with upper middle class families in the majority is going to be considered "good." Those are the people with the time and money to fight for good schools and bring in higher performing teachers who don't mind being bothered by over involved parents (a good thing!).

texas7 · 06-05-2013, 07:53 AM

Lol. Pearland is big and booming but hardly swanky. I much prefer friendswood to pearland.

houselooker · 06-05-2013, 08:22 AM

Friendswood is a great area with great schools. If you have children... it's the place to be. Go down Sunset and tell me that those are tract homes...

abbybaby · 06-05-2013, 08:27 AM

Anyone know the average commute time? Husband would be working in downtown by the Texas Commerce Bank Building off Travis Street.

abbybaby · 06-05-2013, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by houselooker

Friendswood is a great area with great schools. If you have children... it's the place to be. Go down Sunset and tell me that those are tract homes...

We have 3 children. The oldest will be entering 2nd grade and we also have one entering 1st grade. So we definitely want an area with lots of kids. That is one of the main reasons we were looking at West Ranch. With the amenities I was hoping my kids could make new friends before school starts back up. My 2nd grader does not do well with moving. She is extremely upset which makes me feel like complete crap for doing this to her. I went to 4 different schools by the time I reached 6th grade and hated every change. I swore I wouldn't do that to my kids and now this will be her 3rd school change by 2nd grade.

marksmu · 06-05-2013, 08:58 AM

Friendswood is great! I grew up there. I would go back in heart beat. The commute is awful though to downtown. It will take every bit of 1 hour to make it downtown, every single day, and on the bad days it will take 1.5 hours. B/C of construction on 45 the traffic is always there, even on weekends.

The schools are excellent, exemplary all the way through every school in the district....The high school is 4A, not 5A which means there is less exposure for sports, but highschool football, and the general small town feel is VERY prevalent throughout town. Prom/Homecoming these are things the whole town supports...they still have a homecoming parade down main street, and a giant 4th of july festival in the park by the fire station.

There are some older neighborhoods that do flood, but flooding in Friendswood is not widespread. Its the exception, not the norm. There used to be street flooding down 518 (the main drag) but they have fixed that now.

As to the neighborhoods, West Ranch is new & nice if you like the standard nice tract homes - there is also a new nice small pocket neighborhood called Monte Bello Estates, they are upper end custom homes. There are still a few lots there available...lots are about $140K, average home there probably about $1,000,000 - some more, some less.

I loved Friendswood, the small town feel cant be beat, the people are great, the cops are shall we say responsive (aggressive) and its one of the safest cities in the US.