Are there places in DFW area similar to Lake Conroe/Montgomery ISD? (Houston: real estate, homes)
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Hello,
We are a family (husband, wife, 2 kids, 2 dogs) who has been contemplating moving to TX for awhile now. It looks like our plans will finally come to fruition in the next few months. I landed a decent FT gig which allows me to work from home, as long as I have internet access, and close proximity to a major airport.
We are targeting either the Houston area or the DFW area.
After plenty of researching, if we do pick Houston, we will pick a waterfront community in Lake Conroe in the Montgomery ISD - combination of a good school district AND an established waterfront community.
My question to the forum is: Are there such areas in the DFW area as well that we can consider?
1) good school district
2) waterfront community
Been doing some research and found out that there are a handful of lakes around the DFW area, but not sure how they compare to MISD and Lake Conroe lakefront living.
I have posted here before with Houston specific questions, and I am hoping to hear from veterans like PedroMartinez, JackLance, CheryJohns and so on... will really appreciate your expert inputs!
I guess I should also post this in the Dallas section to get inputs from Dallas folks as well.
Hello,
We are a family (husband, wife, 2 kids, 2 dogs) who has been contemplating moving to TX for awhile now. It looks like our plans will finally come to fruition in the next few months. I landed a decent FT gig which allows me to work from home, as long as I have internet access, and close proximity to a major airport.
We are targeting either the Houston area or the DFW area.
After plenty of researching, if we do pick Houston, we will pick a waterfront community in Lake Conroe in the Montgomery ISD - combination of a good school district AND an established waterfront community.
My question to the forum is: Are there such areas in the DFW area as well that we can consider?
1) good school district
2) waterfront community
Been doing some research and found out that there are a handful of lakes around the DFW area, but not sure how they compare to MISD and Lake Conroe lakefront living.
I have posted here before with Houston specific questions, and I am hoping to hear from veterans like PedroMartinez, JackLance, CheryJohns and so on... will really appreciate your expert inputs!
I guess I should also post this in the Dallas section to get inputs from Dallas folks as well.
Looking forward to your expert advice!
DrD
I don't know the Dallas area that well but I'm sure You will find comparable properties in the DFW area as far as price, and school districts go. The difference will be a slightly different climate and terrain, and of course you will not be near Houston lol
I don't know the Dallas area that well but I'm sure You will find comparable properties in the DFW area as far as price, and school districts go. The difference will be a slightly different climate and terrain, and of course you will not be near Houston lol
Thank you JackLance!
We are very inclined to pick MISD in Lake Conroe... but just want to make an informed decision.
The Dallas Metroplex probably has more lake living opportunities than the Houston area. You just will not have the pine trees. The lakes are a little smaller.
Rockwall is a community built around Lake Ray Hubbard. It is closer to downtown Dallas than Conroe would be to Houston. it also has hills. We lived there for several years and like it. DH was driving into the city every day and wanted to be 20 minutes to work instead of 35 so we moved to Lake Highlands.
Lake Lewisville on the other side is also a fair sized lake that is a short drive to town.
Hello,
We are a family (husband, wife, 2 kids, 2 dogs) who has been contemplating moving to TX for awhile now. It looks like our plans will finally come to fruition in the next few months. I landed a decent FT gig which allows me to work from home, as long as I have internet access, and close proximity to a major airport.
We are targeting either the Houston area or the DFW area.
After plenty of researching, if we do pick Houston, we will pick a waterfront community in Lake Conroe in the Montgomery ISD - combination of a good school district AND an established waterfront community.
My question to the forum is: Are there such areas in the DFW area as well that we can consider?
1) good school district
2) waterfront community
Been doing some research and found out that there are a handful of lakes around the DFW area, but not sure how they compare to MISD and Lake Conroe lakefront living.
I have posted here before with Houston specific questions, and I am hoping to hear from veterans like PedroMartinez, JackLance, CheryJohns and so on... will really appreciate your expert inputs!
I guess I should also post this in the Dallas section to get inputs from Dallas folks as well.
Looking forward to your expert advice!
DrD
I hate to even do this, but have you considered Lake Houston?
Well, actually, let me backtrack slightly. What type of lakefront lifestyle are you looking for? Will your lifestyle be focused on boating from restaurant to restaurant, bar to bar and anchoring to bust open a case or will it be centered more on water-sports and/or fishing?
Generally speaking, I try to downplay Lake Houston to help reduce boat traffic, property values, etc, but sometimes I don't think properly and do this nonsense.
If your lakefront lifestyle revolves around water sports and/or fishing, you might want to consider Lake Houston. Lake Conroe is more of the party lake of the area. It makes weekends on the lake a lot of social fun; however, during the summer, Conroe is practically useless as a water sports lake. You'll hear it referred to as the Gulf Of Conroe.
Conroe also has more consistent "pretty water days". (Keep in mind this is when you are discussing lakes with the same geological and geographical properties. If you are used to lakes like Lake Tahoe or even Canyon Lake, don't expect that any lake with our geological conditions will ever be the same. It's like expecting good Marlin fishing in Colorado.) Lake Houston can look pretty, and it's getting better all the time, but there are still those days when the winds blow right and the rain has fallen, and the water looks more like Yoohoo.
Conroe is also larger, deeper and has better views.
What does Lake Houston have going on for it? Well, in your case, it's an easy commute to IAH and even not that bad of a commute to Hobby. It's also a good place for water sports with an active wakeboard and wakesurf community. There are a couple of places to go eat and drink on the lake as well, and there are a couple of (shifting) beach areas where people go to park, hang out and have a good time.
Now, if you are into sailing, Conroe will be the instead winner. Lake Houston has a few bridges that really limit sailing. So unless you are sailing with those ultra cool Hobie Mirage Adventure Island trimarans, Lake Houston isn't your place to sail. Of course, if sailing is your thing and you can depart out of Hobby, I'd be looking Clear Lake.
Finally, schools. I hear that Conroe has some pretty good schools, but I have never looked at their stats or anything. There are a number of schools around the Lake Houston area that are pretty decent. Our kids go to the Huffman schools, and we are pretty pleased with that district. The other districts would be Crosby ISD and Humble ISD.
You may have already looked at Lake Houston and decided it wasn't for you, but I figured I'd throw out a little info.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EasilyAmused
Dallas area has a lot more lakes.
Very true, and I've been on a couple of pretty ones up there.
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One other thing, look at the drought history of whichever lake you are considering. Some recover much faster than others. In the Houston area, Clear Lake is essentially never a problem since the Gulf Of Mexico will keep it filled albeit with salty water. Lake Houston will recover faster and be impacted less by drought. This will be even more so once the Luce Bayou project is complete. Lake Livingston, which is probably not a consideration due to the airport commute, is about the same as Conroe when it comes to drought (maybe a little better).
The Dallas Metroplex probably has more lake living opportunities than the Houston area. You just will not have the pine trees. The lakes are a little smaller.
Rockwall is a community built around Lake Ray Hubbard. It is closer to downtown Dallas than Conroe would be to Houston. it also has hills. We lived there for several years and like it. DH was driving into the city every day and wanted to be 20 minutes to work instead of 35 so we moved to Lake Highlands.
Lake Lewisville on the other side is also a fair sized lake that is a short drive to town.
There are many smaller lakes throughout the area.
Thanks very much EasilyAmused and Crone.
Yes I see that Dallas lakes are smaller and narrower. That is why I am attracted to Lake Conroe... size and width.
I am going to research Rockwall and Lake Highlands and Lake Lewisville.
Besides being interested in lakefront views, we wanted to make sure the schools are decent as well.
Pedro! Always looking forward to hear your inputs! Your post yesterday about your "arrest" was hilarious!
You are the 2nd person to tell me to give Lake Houston some consideration. Yesterday my realtor mentioned Lake Houston in her email as well.
I think the only reason we are targeting Lake Conroe is because it checks all the 3 boxes below:
1) Good school district... Montgomery ISD
2) Many homes to pick from that are sitting right on the lake's edge which means I get excellent lake views from kitchen/livingroom/bedroom/office etc
3) Access to VIEW all the social happenings on Lakes
I have never fished, never owned a boat, never been a part of any kind of water sports... in fact I have extremely humble beginnings and never imagined I could ever live on water.
Today, since I can afford it, I thought it would be real cool to have a home right on the water... simply for the water views. No intentions to fish/boat/sail/watersports... simply interested in VIEWS from different rooms in the home OR backyard. Perhaps 180 degree VIEWS?
Perhaps my 2 kids, who are 14 months old today, might get into these activities as they get older, but I am simply interested in the views. Watching all the social happenings and activities and sports from my home would be cool too!
If I didn't have kids, I would have considered Lake Livingston, however, it is pretty far from airport, and seems to be a very quiet/peaceful lake. May be a bit too quiet for me. I think I would love to be on a lake with lot of social stuff happening.
Airport driving will be only twice a week... Mondays to the airport and Thurs from airport... so I am OK with driving times up to 90 minutes.
So given these inputs, do you think I should consider one or the other, or both?
You said Lake Conroe is practically useless in summer... what does that mean? Does it dry up/reduced water levels?
Thanks very much Pedro!
Looking forward to your feedback.
Best,
DrD
I saw (on hardotcom) a handful of nice homes right on the water with very nice views... certainly piqued my interest.
Thanks Pedro! Will look some more.
DrD
DrD76, what I meant about practically "useless" is in regards to watersports. Lake Conroe gets so choppy due to boat traffic, that you can't really ski, wakerboard or wakesurf without quite a bit of frustration on summer weekends. I actually know a guy who lived on the water there. He would pull his boat off of his lift at least twice a month in the summer and take it to the Trinity River for wakeboarding.
If you're strictly going for view and will only be doing that drive twice a week, I'm going to have to agree with you that Lake Conroe is most likely going to be your best choice in the Houston area. Like I said in my previous post, it has the better water color most of the time and the better views. Since I'm a person who LOVES water views, I'd say a place on Conroe is going to give you the best scenic eye candy in the Houston area. I've seen some nice views of downtown, but for someone like me, it will never touch a pretty view across a large body of water. If you plan to make Houston your home, Lake Conroe will most likely be your best bet.
Another potential bug to put in your ear is the Galveston Bay area. This is just something to think about, although it probably isn't the best place for you. It would really depend upon your ability to fly out of Hobby. If Hobby isn't an option, don't waste your time considering the bay, but if Hobby is an option, I'd at least take a glance. Now, even going just 30 miles to Hobby would put you in a nightmare situation as far a traffic goes since you'd be on the Gulf Freeway. Since it's only twice a week, it might not rule it out completely. Of course, I have no idea about the schools in areas down there either, so schools might also kill the deal if Hobby doesn't. Like I said, it MAY be worth a glance.
I will say, a view from a home on the water in San Leon, does give Conroe a run for it's money. Personally, I'd give the bay a slight edge because I'd get a kick out of seeing the ship traffic. I could sit outside all day with a drink in my hand watching cargo ships and cruise liners work there way across the bay.
Throw a pool in the backyard, and this is my kind of living.
If you choose Dallas, definitely look at the drought history of any lake you are considering. Dallas lakes have a horrible reputation of losing water. I couldn't say if it's a well earned reputation, but the reputation is there.
My guess is that Conroe will be the place for you.
Let us know what you end up deciding.
BTW, do you mind sharing your budget?
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