Relocating to Houston with kids before school starts (Sugar Land, The Woodlands: hair salon, big house)

[Alexandersmom]

Hello,
My family (husband and two sons ages 6&2) will move to Houston prior to school start. We currently live in Chicago (wicker park neighborhood) and will be putting our home on the market here. Inventory in Chicago is low so our house will sell pretty quick. Neither of us has been to Houston yet, we plan to make a trip in June.
Of course when I saw prices of homes in Houston I became SO excited and now I want it ALL! You may or may not know, Chicago home prices are ridiculous! Our town home which is 2BR will sell for 500-550k

My newly founded astounding criteria (semi joking but not really, I Want to be spoiled) are:
1. Budget between 500-800k if on lower end, we don't mind buying at 500k and upgrading/updating to make THE perfect home.
Over 3000 sq ft with 4+ beds
2. House with a pool or in a community w pool access
3. Yard of some sorts, even if small.
4. Walkable or at least CLOSE (drivable) to shopping.
5. WithIN 30-35 minutes of downtown. My husband travels for work so there isn't any place he'll be commuting to. The driving distance is only a gage as we are city people and don't want to live in the boonies of someplace.
That said we don't want to be further than an hour from airport.
6. Kids will go to private schools so we're not concerned at all about neighborhood schools other than we do want to live in an area with LOTS of kids. Also, better schools will mean better chance of resale value in the future.
7. NICE, safe, friendly neighborhood (community feel would be a breath of fresh air)

Now for the questions:
1. Am I crazy in wanting all of th above? Is it possible to have it ALL?
2. If you've answered no to question 1, where should I be looking at?
I'm trying to work with a realtor and I'm researching online. However, much like anyone would be going cross eyed with Chicago RELO I'm feeling very confused. I look for THE perfect home only to find that its in a not so nice area or its too far away.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to help me!

[houston-nomad]

search HAR.com. Try the SW side of the inner loop (there's a map search), and 77096, which stretches below the loop and out the SW corner. These are great, close-in neighborhoods, mostly with neighborhood pools, great sports organizations for the kids, lots of private schools nearby.

There are very few places in Houston that are really walkable to shopping but you kind of can here. I could walk to my supermarket, hair salon, a great falafel place, a great bagel place, the nail salon, bank etc. Of course I don't.

[chris_ut]

Check out Oak Forest and Garden Oaks. You may need to put the pool in I found one listing in OF in your price range that comes with a pool: 1638 DU BARRY LN, HOUSTON TX 77018 - HAR.com

OF is 25 minutes from downtown, 15 minutes from the Galleria, 20 minutes to Memorial City area. Lots of nice neighborhood parks and close by neighborhood shopping on 43rd St. There is a very active facebook page for the neighborhood where you can keep up to date on all activities and events.

[nana053]

First, there are many possible neighborhoods that will work for you, but why do you want private schools especially if you are in a suburb like Sugar Land, Pearland, Sienna, Katy, etc. It's not like Wicker Park and Chicago Public Schools. There are many good public schools here. You could be in a district that has good schools like Evanston or Wilmette does (not quite as good, but very good). Katy and The Woodlands are a bit far from town though.

Big houses with yards are pretty easy to come by in some suburbs too. There are plenty of community pools and some houses with pools certainly. You might be able to buy a home and add your own pool if it does not have one.

There is, however, no public transportation to speak of. They are beginning to put in a train system, but it does not cover much.

The walkability is NOTHING like Wicker Park or anywhere else in Chicago. You will be drivable to shopping mostly unless you went really far out. Traffic is horrible though here especially during rush hour. Much worse than I94 or Lake Shore Drive or I 90, imo.

It's good that you are coming to visit in June. It will allow you to gage the heat and humidity. The humidity almost never stops here. The heat is worse from May to October really. No snow to shovel though.

Houston Weather - Climate - Average Temperatures - Visit Houston TX

Average Temperatures Average Precipitation
Month High Low Month Inches
January 62°F 41°F January 3.68
February 67°F 44°F February 2.98
March 73°F 51°F March 3.36
April 79°F 57°F April 3.60
May 86°F 66°F May 5.15
June 91°F 72°F June 5.35
July 94°F 74°F July 3.18
August 94°F 73°F August 3.83
September 89°F 68°F September 4.33
October 82°F 59°F October 4.50
November 72°F 50°F November 4.19
December 65°F 43°F December 3.69

Forgot to mention that the area is quite diverse - in some ways more so than Chicago because there is less housing segregation, imo.

[Svensk08]

You mentioned that your kids will attend private school here. Hopefully you have applied by now, as many have long waiting lists for the few openings available.

If for some reason you decide to go the public school route, there are many variables within each of the area school districts. Unlike many places, our school year here begins in late August.

[Lbjen]

You could get a very nice home in Sugar Land and have your kids attend the very good public schools there, we moved from one of the top Chicago suburban school districts and have been very happy with the school we chose. Sugar Land is like a larger version of Evanston, and I mean the nice part of Evanston, not the Rogers Park side. Of course if your private school fees are covered by an employer then move into the city proper and enjoy it.

[TallGreengrass]

You have a very healthy budget for the Houston market (the upper end of your budget, $500K doesn't buy as much as you'd think anymore). I would look in the Energy Corridor neighborhoods off I10/BW8 in the Memorial area. Sorry, I don't know all the specific subdivision names (Wilchester maybe?). Our friends/peers have 'moved on up' into that area and are happy. It's kind of an urban suburban area with yards and big trees, family friendly and good public schools. It's close to CityCenter which is nice for dining and some shopping. It's got two malls close by. It's *close* enough to downtown. A drive to the airport is never easy unless you live close to them.

[Alexandersmom]

Thank you all very much. All of this info helps tremendously!
As far as to why about private schools, there's a couple of reasons. My oldest would NOT thrive in large classrooms because of learning disabilities. Also, he's currently in private school with a kindergarten class size of THREE, yes 3, could you imagine the shock of moving him into a classroom of 30? So at this point if you want to comment about what experiences he's not having please save it as he has a full schedule, also in comparison to my friends kids who attend (both) public and private he's SO far ahead. Doesn't it make sense that he would be? He has TWO teachers full time in a class of three children. (By the way, in comparing the kids I was only doing so as an example.)

Secondly; I attended public schools my whole life and think that except in certain cases most public schools are "what one makes of them" HOWEVER my husband is a private school snob and he refuses to send our kids to public. I know, not what you may have expected to hear but it's the honest truth hahaha

[Svensk08]

Originally Posted by Alexandersmom

Thank you all very much. All of this info helps tremendously!
As far as to why about private schools, there's a couple of reasons. My oldest would NOT thrive in large classrooms because of learning disabilities. Also, he's currently in private school with a kindergarten class size of THREE, yes 3, could you imagine the shock of moving him into a classroom of 30? So at this point if you want to comment about what experiences he's not having please save it as he has a full schedule, also in comparison to my friends kids who attend (both) public and private he's SO far ahead. Doesn't it make sense that he would be? He has TWO teachers full time in a class of three children. (By the way, in comparing the kids I was only doing so as an example.)

Secondly; I attended public schools my whole life and think that except in certain cases most public schools are "what one makes of them" HOWEVER my husband is a private school snob and he refuses to send our kids to public. I know, not what you may have expected to hear but it's the honest truth hahaha

This being the case, you will need to begin intensive research to find appropriate private schools for your kids in Houston.

[mechteach]

Originally Posted by Svensk08

This being the case, you will need to begin intensive research to find appropriate private schools for your kids in Houston.

I second this. Having just been through the private school application wringer, it is NOT an easy process, even/especially at the pre-K, K, or grade 1 levels.