Mother of 1, moving to Houston, work downtown (Missouri City, Pearland: day cares, townhouses)

[Meyerland]

Originally Posted by kikiriki

EasilyAmused I'm with you. Apartments and a "playing neighborhood for an only child" doesn't really happen. I've looked for townhomes in the 77024 zipcode but most run for $5-7k a month. Apartments are within budget, but I could not do that to my child.

How long is the commute to Kingwood?

Between 30 minutes to an hour depending on work/home location and if you use the HOV or park and ride.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by Meyerland

You can still find a home in the Meyerland area for under 400,000. The elementary schools are good, and the middle are fine. You will pay more if you are zoned to Bellaire HS.

My friends who work downtown pick Kingswood.

Meyerland is not in the loop. And she said her budget is between $300-315 which still prices her out of meyerland, so its a moot point.

[aimeenp]

Can you work flex hours? I live in Sugar Land and it takes me 20 minutes to get to Greenway Plaza if I leave the house by 6:15 AM, so it would probably take 30 minutes to get to downtown at that time, unless there is a wreck or bad weather. I leave the office by 4:15 and get home in 20-30 minutes.

I know a lot of companies allow for flex time because of commutes, so if you can do that, is there before school care? May be easier than dealing with 8-5 traffic.

Ft. Bend ISD and Lamar Consolidated ISD in Sugar Land/Greatwood both have really good schools. I just bought a 4 bedroom 3000 sq ft home with a pool in Greatwood for $340k. I know there are some around 300K as well in the neighborhood. You can buy an older Sugar Land home that may need updates for higher $200k in First Colony (which has excellent schools). Check out Colony Bend, Williams Grant and Woodstream.

I like Sugar Land better than Kingwood because it's more connected to parts of Houston that have things to do, IE West U and the Galleria. Kingwood has more of a country feel in my opinion. Both are nice though, just depends on what you want.

You will not find anything in town with good schools and your wants in regards to house at that price. I tried.

[FourFiftyFour]

Sugar Land honestly would be your best bet (I recommend it way more than Pearland), yes you will have to compromise unfortunately with the drive time. Flex hours are getting to be more popular for people having to work inside Houston. That or find an after school care system that works for you, and that you can trust. Many after school care places actually would have other children for your daughter to interact with- which is actually something you want. Just some food for thought. Good luck with the move and I hope you find something fairly close to what you are looking for.

[Schumacher713]

Originally Posted by kikiriki

EasilyAmused I'm with you. Apartments and a "playing neighborhood for an only child" doesn't really happen. I've looked for townhomes in the 77024 zipcode but most run for $5-7k a month. Apartments are within budget, but I could not do that to my child.

How long is the commute to Kingwood?

Depends on where you live in Kingwood. You can drive 20 minutes just inside Kingwood once you exit the highway. It is about 40min without traffic. The nice thing about Kingwood is there is no a lot of traffic on 59N. The problem with Kingwood is there is nothing out there. Sugar Land is at least built up for a suburb. Though it is also more expensive. I think Pearland is a dump as far as the burbs go.

[aimeenp]

In addition, I think it would be a great place to raise your 9 year old. There is a nice town square with activities and events for the family, plus restaurants and shopping. There is a museum of natural science branch in Sugar Land, ice skating rink, tons of pools, minor league baseball field, etc.


Check out these cheesy videos if you want to get an idea.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh284Eu6p84


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkYrLCO70H0

[chris_ut]

Kingwood is no longer a 30 minute commute like it used to be which is why I moved out of there. 45 min - 1 hour is more likely. There are no condos or townhomes in Oak Forest or Garden Oaks themselves as they are deed restricted to single family homes only although there may be some on the borders zoned to the same schools. The Middle school is Frank Black which is going through a revitalization along with the gentrification of the area. The high school, Waltrip is still considered marginal but you can always use lottery to get into Lamar or such.

[Dahak]

Consider Jersey Village and surrounding areas, they are not as highly regarded on this forum as some of the newer MPCs like Sugar Land but are still good neighborhoods zoned to good schools in CFISD. The neighborhood proper is zoned to Post Elementary, and the areas just north and east of Jersey Village are zoned to Gleason Elementary, one of the best in the area. The entire area is served by Cook Middle School and Jersey Village High School. Best of all it's a 45-minute drive to downtown tops during rush hour (25 without traffic) and you have the option to take the W. Little York Park and Ride bus to work as well. House prices range between $150k to over $300k for what you're looking for.

[KatieKennedy]

Look at Fall Creek. The commute into downtown is only about 15-20 minutes. There is a good elementary school in the subdivision, and a Chlldrens' Learning Adventure after school care that just opened. They pick the kids up at the elementary school.

[Dahak]

The bad thing about Kingwood is, what if your job moves to the Galleria area or the more populated west side of town? You would not want to make that commute! Otherwise it's a nice, woods-y area that gets recommended a lot.