Westbury - Houses on Hillcroft (Spring, Howe: lease, month to, neighborhood)

[pandapuck]

Based on what I gather from reading the forums, Hillcroft is generally considered to be the western boundary of the "good area" for Westbury. Would we be crazy to consider a house that is located directly on it (between Willowbend and Bellfort)? I like the location with regard to commute, the price seems right, and it is zoned to Parker (we are currently expecting our first and would like to buy in an area we won't feel compelled to leave in 5 years). If having to buy on a busier street is the only downside to be able to check off the rest of those boxes, I feel like that may be our best option, but I want to see if there's anything I'm missing that should be smacking me in the face.

[LizzySWW]

I wouldn't live on Hillcroft with a child if you gave me a free house.

You're having a baby soon.......a toddler can make it out the door and into the street in just a few seconds. Hillcroft is four lanes of horrible traffic. I'm sure you plan on keeping doors deadbolt locked at all times but things happen, it's not worth the risk.

Another negative is your child will miss out on being able to run down the street to play with a friend or ride bikes in the neighborhood.

Seems like a very isolating way for a child to live.

[pandapuck]

We were learning more toward a cage in the attic, but I see your point. *sigh* I feel like our only other option is to buy in Spring Branch, north of I-10, and then sell in 5 years when the kid starts elementary school. We currently rent up in Cypress, but between my husband having evening classes at UofH and any future job for me being Galleria/Downtown... I'm tired of paying rent on this stupid house and I want our next move to be somewhere a bit more permanent.

ETA: Maybe it's just my self-justifying, not-yet-a-parent side, but I feel like plenty of families in plenty of cities are perfectly happy in living situations where their kids can't just run outside and ride their bikes down the street. I guess I'm just trying to weigh all the pros and cons and decide which option has fewer cons, because "perfectly ideal" is not really in our budget right now.

[Meyerland]

You put a dead lock on the front door with a sliding bolt on the top. lots of people have kids and live on a busy street. Obviously it is better to live on a quiet street, but if you must live on a busy street then you just take precautions.

There are lots of nice parks nearby to let your kid run, play, and ride a bike.

I am sure you could even put up a short fence around the yard, or plant shrubs into a green fence.

[DJboutit]

Westbury is a really nice neighborhood but most of the homes on this street are kinda junky and there is way to much traffic

[txdemo]

You may want to consider Robindell. Budget friendly for now, lots of young families moving in, active homeowner association, has a neighborhood pool, lots of renovations going on. Elementary school is Herod.

[houston-nomad]

Our friends, with small children, rented a house exactly there for several years. They really didn't use their front door-- their driveway was on the side street and they oriented their lives that way, away from Hillcroft. It wasn't a big deal, and they were happy there. However, they did say that the buses were loud, and bothered the child in the front bedroom.

[Meyerland]

I would second Robindell. It's a very family friendly neighborhood and herod is fantastic.

[pandapuck]

TBH, I think we're a bit priced out of Robindell. I figured the houses on Hillcroft were priced more where we were looking (<$230k), because of the busy street. We've been looking for a while, and things keep selling quicker than we can even go take a look, or for more than we can afford. We're just in a bit of a pickle at this point, because our lease us up at end of April and our landlord hasn't responded about letting us extend for a few months. We're probably going to end up stuck extending our lease by another year, just so we're not making a purchase with our backs against the wall. I was just hoping that maybe we'd found a viable option that other people looking in the area could spend more to avoid.

[Chris V]

Panda.
Look at your lease agreement. See what there rule was.
Make the call to your landlord. Let them know, you want to do month to month for now.
They would work with you.

As far as house searching, you may have wide your search.