Tanglewood vs River Oaks vs 77024 for family (Houston, Austin: buying a house, transfer)

[Houston parent]

"Herman Park and Memorial Park are huge, not to mention the excellent cross-cultural opportunities there are on the playgrounds."

I guess you mean the startling number of homeless people sleeping on park benches around the zoo & playground areas of Herman Park?

You cannot understand the answer to your question because you are not the kind of person who would live in Memorial.

There are a lot more affluent people in Houston than there are homes in River Oaks, and not all of them work in the same place. How myopic can you be?

[ToyYot]

If you want cross cultural opportunities any public playground in the energy corridor is full of them. Meadow Wood students speak 19 different languages.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by ToyYot

If you want cross cultural opportunities any public playground in the energy corridor is full of them. Meadow Wood students speak 19 different languages.

I think the "Memorial mentality" that is described earlier in this discussion kind of tapers off west of Kirkwood though. Kirkwood to Chimney Rock, north of the Bayou, is the heart of it. Folks in this area (partly in City of Houston, partly in the Villages) haven't often been supportive of change. For example: the fight over the completion of Chimney Rock, displeasure over proposed condo towers near San Felipe and Woodway (I don't think that plan is active anymore), unjustified anger at MetroNational ever since the office towers were built in the 1980s, initial resistance to Terry Hershey Park (parks in nice areas should be private, not public, if they should exist at all).

I went to Kinkaid (grew up in Memorial Glen) and noticed after graduation (I went to college and lived out of state through graduate school five years later) that there was a common cycle amongst many classmates: finish college, live in an apartment in the Uptown area or just inside the West Loop, get married, buy first home in Briargrove, have a kid or two, get promoted to high-paying job, move to the Villages or maybe Tanglewood (but usually the Villages), get kids into Kinkaid if possible. Sort of its own little ecosystem.

[jerbear30]

Local Planner has it exactly. Memorial is not just rich, it is rich with an agenda. If I got rich and was somehow forced to spend my money on a home in Houston, I'd spend it in Bellaire, West U, the Museum District, the Heights, even the Woodlands or Sugar Land--anywhere but Memorial.

[LocalPlanner]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the crazy opposition to anything dense on the old Baptist Haven site across from Lantern Lane. Ridiculous.

[ToyYot]

Don't disagree with you, was more to the point that cultural diversity is not relegated to Hermann Park. Whether one chooses to embrace it or not - different story!

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by ToyYot

Don't disagree with you, was more to the point that cultural diversity is not relegated to Hermann Park. Whether one chooses to embrace it or not - different story!

So true. I live in Parkway Villages - the diversity of children arriving at Bush Elementary each morning is amazing. It certainly hasn't kept that school from being one of the top desired elementaries in Houston.

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by jerbear30

Local Planner has it exactly. Memorial is not just rich, it is rich with an agenda. If I got rich and was somehow forced to spend my money on a home in Houston, I'd spend it in Bellaire, West U, the Museum District, the Heights, even the Woodlands or Sugar Land--anywhere but Memorial.

Yes, rich with an agenda...got it. That agenda being:

1) Aversion to high rise buildings which most frequently lowers property values and turns quiet residential areas into high traffic semi-commercial areas.

2) Aversion to traffic and the increase in cut through streets...That is quite an agenda....keeping a quiet residential area quiet and residential. Nobody wants to live on a freeway, and adding large cut through streets increases traffic, and brings criminals and others from outside of the area into the area.

3) Aversion to crime....Quiet streets that go nowhere, mean that people who are out of place and should not be there in the first place stand out....yes, that it is an agenda....I believe the rich should be subjected to the same level of crime as all others!

4) Good schools where English is the primary language....that must be awful - the hate and racism of these people is astounding....These people have the audacity to believe that their hard work, the fact that they pay through the teeth for good schools and their belief in a good education should somehow entitle them to something of higher quality because, well they pay 25x more for it than the rest of the general population ...lousy 1% rich conservative white folk always holding the others down!

5) Family environment where people are surrounded by others with similar moral and religious beliefs...The humanity! Dont these rich crackers know that their exclusivity and religious belief systems are offensive to so many people!?! It sickens me to think these people are allowed to procreate and continue their good, moral beliefs, strong work ethic, and belief in god and family values. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE

So ya, an Agenda, to be left alone, to live in a quiet residential area, surrounded by good, moral folks, with good schools, and little traffic. THAT is an AWFUL agenda. We must STOP IT NOW, before these people continue to improve the rest of the crap hole that is much of Houston.

[EasilyAmused]

Agenda? Lmao. RO and West U areas must have similar agendas too. The reciprocation rate there is high as well. Go to St. John's, live in townhouse near Kirby,get married, move to RO/West U once you get a high paying job, enroll kids in St. John's, fight Ashbury, etc.

Jerbear- I thought your child/children attend Memorial High School? How can you do that to them?

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I think the "Memorial mentality" that is described earlier in this discussion kind of tapers off west of Kirkwood though. Kirkwood to Chimney Rock, north of the Bayou, is the heart of it. Folks in this area (partly in City of Houston, partly in the Villages) haven't often been supportive of change. For example: the fight over the completion of Chimney Rock, displeasure over proposed condo towers near San Felipe and Woodway (I don't think that plan is active anymore), unjustified anger at MetroNational ever since the office towers were built in the 1980s, initial resistance to Terry Hershey Park (parks in nice areas should be private, not public, if they should exist at all).

I went to Kinkaid (grew up in Memorial Glen) and noticed after graduation (I went to college and lived out of state through graduate school five years later) that there was a common cycle amongst many classmates: finish college, live in an apartment in the Uptown area or just inside the West Loop, get married, buy first home in Briargrove, have a kid or two, get promoted to high-paying job, move to the Villages or maybe Tanglewood (but usually the Villages), get kids into Kinkaid if possible. Sort of its own little ecosystem.

I thought about your statement on my run :

I think you have ecosystem right. But when you think about it,those exist all over the Houston area with families that are at least on their second generation. In fact, that exists all over the world. People tend to grow up with their parents beliefs and are creatures of habit. I am a product of the Tanglewood/Memorial system. I see nothing wrong with that. We have lived in Houston for generations and have large families for modern day society. Living close to siblings and parents is an incredible support system. Living next to lifelong friends creates security and happiness. We don't have an agenda, we are simply happy. Knowing that a certain formula works in a city for a successful life for you and your family...why would you deviate from it? I do see some people leave the bubble, but normally its for another state. I see some try to leave the bubble, but then return. But there're plenty that you couldn't drag back. They usually stay in Austin.

I would say RO/West U have their own ecosystem. Different private schools and different political leanings than Memorial.

Sugarland has become its own ecosystem for successful Asians.

The Woodlands could be the most white, conservative,materialistic, bible thumping ecosystem, in the Houston area if it wasn't so transient.

Etc.

There's no right or wrong. Personally I like where I live, I couldn't imagine setting down roots in a place that I don't feel comfortable. We've done that once, it wasn't fun.

If you hate an area, for pities sake don't live in it. There're plenty of eco bubbles around this enormous city. None of them have an "agenda." One will be just right for you.

Ps: I love the idea of Memorial Green. In fact, we might invest in one of townhouses.