Apartments around Westchase area (Houston, Spring: sales, apartment complex, insurance)

[hooverfb84]

This is my first post, was doing some research on the threads, but wanted to get a clearer view. I will be moving to Houston from a small town, North Canton, OH. The job I got is in that southwest region, near westheimer / westchase. From what I was reading, it looked like the best place to move me and my new wife would be out west towards katy, or somewhere in sugar land. However it still seems like safety can vary depending on region of the area. Obviously crime happens regardless, so I'm happy to be moving to Texas with my guns. Long story short, I was just wondering what the safety landscape is for the above mentioned regions (sugar land clearly seems the safest), and what apartments would be recommended? Our price range would be 500-700 (I will be making a decent starting salary for a new grad, but still not made of money what with paying off what loans I do have). My loans aren't a terrible burden either thanks to working while in school.

I appreciate any helpful insights.

[BinhDoan]

With 500-700 you can find a good apartment in West chase. Just stay away from HCC Alief Campus - my suggestion.

[hooverfb84]

Any specific apartments or areas? From what I saw it looked like it was best just to avoid living directly in the westchase district.

[tc1209]

To rule out living in westchase would be silly. I live in eth area and I love it. It is continually improving, centrally located with easy access to everything and you dont have to pay ridiculous amounts of money to live there, although rents and home prices are definitely on the rise in the area. I have a certain route i take from my house to the park where I ride my bike and there are some pretty nice looking apartments that are older that are probably (I'm not sure) in your price range. I looked up the names of them and here are the links of the apartments I was talking about

http://www.parkatwoodlake.com/ParkAtWoodlake/DisplayFloorPlan.aspx

http://www.richdale.com/houston/woodlake-oaks-apartments

http://www.richdale.com/houston/woodlake-on-the-bayou-apartments

http://www.apartments-briargrove.com/

These are all inside the beltway loop. 3 miles to both the galleria and city center. easy access to the beltway/59/I10. Surrounded by Million dollar homes. Close to Terry Hershey Park which runs along the bayou and if you play your cards right that park provides access to about 20+miles of vehicle-less paved trails It starts at the Beltway and really provides paved trails all the way out passed fry road. This is probably my favorite feature of this side of town. Anyway, I'll stop my sales pitch, do some research and make the best decision for you.

[gsmj]

Similar concurrent thread: //www.city-data.com/forum/houst...-district.html

My only two pieces of advice:

1. Get renter's insurance. Apartment fires are a reality here. And it's never your apartment, it's the one below or besides yours.

2. Get a safe for those guns, especially while staying in an apartment.

Once you start finding some properties you think you like, post them up and I'm sure there will be someone here that can let you know how they really are.

[hooverfb84]

Thanks for the input. Definitely plan on getting a safe, and didn't even think about apartment fires. I redid my budget calculations (I was accidentally using half my salary per month, which led to me freaking out about how in the world I would afford somewhere nice and safe for 6 hours until I realized my mistake), and I'd say our top end is around 1300 a month. Obviously no absolute need to spend that, but I gotta do what I gotta do to make sure my wife will be safe and comfortable. Also outside the loop is preferred. One thing that is still nagging at me is the number of thefts/burglaries. Granted it's a huge city, that sort of happens by nature in apartments, etc. I had looked at the properties mentioned above, and I didn't get the same feeling implied about the area after looking at crime maps and other statistics. So at the high end of the spectrum, I first looked at places in the energy corridor, like Domain by Windsor and The Eclipse. Also near there i looked at AMLI on Eldridge. I then looked at Parkside Grand Parkway and Elan Briar Forest(closer toward Terry Hershey Park if I remember right). I found some in Spring Branch area, only to find they were in Greenspoint which I've read on here to be lovably named gunspoint. As far as westchase area, the main apartments I remember standing out to me were the Aberdeen apartments, but again was hard to stomach looking around there with another tab open looking at a crime map. Also stretched my look out to Cinco Ranch but haven't done a whole lot of research yet.

I greatly appreciate the help. I'm finishing up my senior year so it's a good bit of stress thinking I've found an awesome place, and then having second opinions after reading statistics and crime maps. Maybe I'm kind of smudging perceptions of areas over the whole of the westside haha, so any help in clearing up what these areas are really like is helpful (especially with the terrible lack of reviews, other than one website like apartmentratings i think it was).

[hooverfb84]

You know I don't know where I got my perception about woodlake oaks. It's fantastic lol. I think i need to do more of my research before midnight haha. I think it may have been crime maps showing more to the south of there.

[JLB001]

Check out Dolce Living Grand Harbor. You can certainly get a one bedroom with an attached garage below that price range. They are brand new.

[Corridor Chick]

Originally Posted by hooverfb84

Thanks for the input. Definitely plan on getting a safe, and didn't even think about apartment fires. I redid my budget calculations (I was accidentally using half my salary per month, which led to me freaking out about how in the world I would afford somewhere nice and safe for 6 hours until I realized my mistake), and I'd say our top end is around 1300 a month. Obviously no absolute need to spend that, but I gotta do what I gotta do to make sure my wife will be safe and comfortable. Also outside the loop is preferred. One thing that is still nagging at me is the number of thefts/burglaries. Granted it's a huge city, that sort of happens by nature in apartments, etc. I had looked at the properties mentioned above, and I didn't get the same feeling implied about the area after looking at crime maps and other statistics. So at the high end of the spectrum, I first looked at places in the energy corridor, like Domain by Windsor and The Eclipse. Also near there i looked at AMLI on Eldridge. I then looked at Parkside Grand Parkway and Elan Briar Forest(closer toward Terry Hershey Park if I remember right). I found some in Spring Branch area, only to find they were in Greenspoint which I've read on here to be lovably named gunspoint. As far as westchase area, the main apartments I remember standing out to me were the Aberdeen apartments, but again was hard to stomach looking around there with another tab open looking at a crime map. Also stretched my look out to Cinco Ranch but haven't done a whole lot of research yet.

I greatly appreciate the help. I'm finishing up my senior year so it's a good bit of stress thinking I've found an awesome place, and then having second opinions after reading statistics and crime maps. Maybe I'm kind of smudging perceptions of areas over the whole of the westside haha, so any help in clearing up what these areas are really like is helpful (especially with the terrible lack of reviews, other than one website like apartmentratings i think it was).

I lived at the AMLI several years ago. It was OK, I guess, though the walls and ceilings are super thin. I could hear whatever my upstairs neighbors were doing. I suppose to an extent this is true in all complexes, but I especially noticed it there. It's also a large complex, over 600 units, and 2 pools. I was broken into while I was there. It's gated, but I think in any apartment complex, gates are more an illusion than anything else. And the traffic on Eldridge is horrendous during rush hours.

There are some complexes on Park Row near 1-10 that I liked better. Park Row is, for now, a quieter street, especially on weekends. And both my complex and my boyfriend's had alarm systems in the units. It's up to you and an extra charge if you want to have it monitored. I didn't, but felt comfortable without the monitoring. Complexes are late-90s era, but at least one is renovating units to include granite countertops, brushed nickel features, etc. The big downside is the distance to grocery shopping. You have to either go to Fry Rd. or Eldridge for your nearest stores. And the restaurants in the immediate area keep mostly lunch hours, as the area pretty much clears out after 5 pm.

Good luck in your search!