Heights vs Woodlands? (Houston, The Woodlands, River Oaks: renters, condo, townhouse)

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by Schumacher713

For the things you want the Heights will provide in spades. The Woodlands will have a movie theater. It will have lots of chain restaurants. I guess you are close to Lake Conroe. The town center and water walk get boring after a day or so. I have been up there for a few dates before. There is just nothing to do. There is no culture. There is nothing interesting. The food is boring.

This is just flat out not true - and I don't live in the Woodlands. About the only thing that Houston has going it for it in the "hip" scene is its scene for those living alternative lifestyles...I would say if you happen to be one of those folks the woodlands may not be great.

I really have no idea what "culture" you get in Houston. Downtown is completely dead at night, Montrose is pretty much dead, Midtown & Washington are for kids, West U and River-oaks are just as commercialized as the Woodlands...and everything else in Houston is just strip malls.

I guess in town has its museums, theaters, and the zoo, but people probably goto those 5x a year, and that is if you are very bored, or you just love those things...or if you live in an apartment and use the zoo as your park.

If you just want Bars and hip places to go - the woodlands has plenty, and if you need a hole in the wall trendy place it exists both places. Weird coffee shops, one off yogurt joints, etc - they are all everywhere.

Im sorry, but the entire Houston Metro area is pretty much the same thing with varying levels of affluence....thats coming from someone who has lived here for 34 years in pretty much every area of town.

[EMGuy]

Yes, kids left the roost. Just the two of us now. Surprised by what people are saying about prices. From what we observed, the prices in the Woodlands (near Town Center - like Waterway & Eastern Shore) are actually the same or more than a comparable place (size and age) compared with The Heights area. Maybe further out in the Woodlands is less money, but then I would have a long commute through TW (and no sense in doing that). Certainly didn't see anything in the 350 range in TW in those areas. More like 600-800 in the type of place we would be looking for.

[Schumacher713]

Originally Posted by marksmu

This is just flat out not true - and I don't live in the Woodlands. About the only thing that Houston has going it for it in the "hip" scene is its scene for those living alternative lifestyles...I would say if you happen to be one of those folks the woodlands may not be great.

I really have no idea what "culture" you get in Houston. Downtown is completely dead at night, Montrose is pretty much dead, Midtown & Washington are for kids, West U and River-oaks are just as commercialized as the Woodlands...and everything else in Houston is just strip malls.

I guess in town has its museums, theaters, and the zoo, but people probably goto those 5x a year, and that is if you are very bored, or you just love those things...or if you live in an apartment and use the zoo as your park.

If you just want Bars and hip places to go - the woodlands has plenty, and if you need a hole in the wall trendy place it exists both places. Weird coffee shops, one off yogurt joints, etc - they are all everywhere.

Im sorry, but the entire Houston Metro area is pretty much the same thing with varying levels of affluence....thats coming from someone who has lived here for 34 years in pretty much every area of town.

As I said to each their own. We all have different views. You can say it is flat out not true all you want. Different people like different things. Montrose is not dead. It is basically food central for Houston. Half the best restaurants in the city are there. There are tons of bars. Tons of shopping. I agree downtown is not all that, but that is also changing. With the amount of highrises going in down there the support will follow. You can say midtown is for kids, but it is also really fun. To me it sounds like you have no clue what you are talking about. As I said. We all have different views.

[nervouslaughter]

The Heights has much more diversity than the Woodlands...by a long shot. The Woodlands is good for raising families in a typical suburban type lifestyle. But, there really isn't much character there. I spend quite a bit of my time in the Woodlands and it's so painful sometimes how generic and bland it can be. You definitely won't find a true dive there, unless it's a kitschy wanna be dive. The Woodlands isn't bad, just not my cup of tea. Some people like being surrounded by pine trees, I like being surrounded by oak trees.

[nervouslaughter]

Originally Posted by EMGuy

Yes, kids left the roost. Just the two of us now. Surprised by what people are saying about prices. From what we observed, the prices in the Woodlands (near Town Center - like Waterway & Eastern Shore) are actually the same or more than a comparable place (size and age) compared with The Heights area. Maybe further out in the Woodlands is less money, but then I would have a long commute through TW (and no sense in doing that). Certainly didn't see anything in the 350 range in TW in those areas. More like 600-800 in the type of place we would be looking for.

Go by average price per sq ft and you'll see the difference.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

You will probably be driving most of the time in TW when you go out to eat, or to grab a beer. You can walk to more places in the Heights.

Actually, no.

If they lived where they are talking about, Town Center The Woodlands, they would probably have more restaurants in walking distance than they would in the Heights.

Looking at Google Maps, I can count 28 places to eat within walking distance.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

Actually, no.

If they lived where they are talking about, Town Center The Woodlands, they would probably have more restaurants in walking distance than they would in the Heights.

Looking at Google Maps, I can count 28 places to eat within walking distance.

Yes, if you live in a shopping center, you won't have to walk much at all.

[Mr. Krinkle]

The Height without a doubt. You will be spending the majority of your time driving into town for entertainment otherwise.

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by marksmu

This is just flat out not true - and I don't live in the Woodlands. About the only thing that Houston has going it for it in the "hip" scene is its scene for those living alternative lifestyles...I would say if you happen to be one of those folks the woodlands may not be great.

I really have no idea what "culture" you get in Houston. Downtown is completely dead at night, Montrose is pretty much dead, Midtown & Washington are for kids, West U and River-oaks are just as commercialized as the Woodlands...and everything else in Houston is just strip malls.

I guess in town has its museums, theaters, and the zoo, but people probably goto those 5x a year, and that is if you are very bored, or you just love those things...or if you live in an apartment and use the zoo as your park.

If you just want Bars and hip places to go - the woodlands has plenty, and if you need a hole in the wall trendy place it exists both places. Weird coffee shops, one off yogurt joints, etc - they are all everywhere.

Im sorry, but the entire Houston Metro area is pretty much the same thing with varying levels of affluence....thats coming from someone who has lived here for 34 years in pretty much every area of town.

Downtown is not dead – that statement was true about 7 to 8 years ago, but it sounds like it’s been that long since you’ve truly been downtown except maybe in a parking lot.

Montrose is far from dead – if anything it’s being taken overtaken by everyone else who wants a piece of it.

And there’s no comparison between West U and River Oaks and the Woodlands. Most of the homes in West U have no almost no yard to speak of and are crammed together in almost-urban fashion; nothing else needs to be said about the opulent mansions in River Oaks. And that’s not even discussing the people who live there – yes, all 3 neighborhoods are affluent but the people who populate them are vastly different. There’s just no comparison.

You have no idea what “culture” you can get in Houston? The culture you can get in Houston is from the vast diversity of experiences, diversity of people, and diversity of places (yay no zoning!) that exist in the city, something that a homogenous suburb like the Woodlands tends to lack. But if you think that everywhere in Houston “is pretty much the same” even after having lived here for that many years, then there’s nothing much anyone can say that will convince you otherwise.

[hendersj31]

You are absolutely right. There are definitely some pretty expensive parts of the Woodlands.

Originally Posted by EMGuy

Yes, kids left the roost. Just the two of us now. Surprised by what people are saying about prices. From what we observed, the prices in the Woodlands (near Town Center - like Waterway & Eastern Shore) are actually the same or more than a comparable place (size and age) compared with The Heights area. Maybe further out in the Woodlands is less money, but then I would have a long commute through TW (and no sense in doing that). Certainly didn't see anything in the 350 range in TW in those areas. More like 600-800 in the type of place we would be looking for.