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I completely disagree with JerBear about West U being better....it all comes down to what you are looking for in a place to live. West U and the Villages are VERY different places. West U is definitively more diverse demographically. West U has smaller houses (though still very nice), on much smaller yards. 6,000-10,000 sq ft lots with 3,500-5,000 sqft houses sitting on them. West U has a much higher density with lots of street parking, and all of the issues that come with higher density homes, and lack of parking. West U schools are good, but at the middle/high school they are inferior to the areas zoned to Memorial middle & Memorial High School.
The villages tend to be larger homes, on much larger lots. Most homes in the villages are on 12,000 to 22,000 sqft lots and are in the 4,000sqft and up range. There are many 6000+sqft homes in the area if you are looking for space. Many yards in the village are a full acre, or right at a full acre.
Crime wise, the villages are safer. Neither area has any significant violent crime, but West U has much more petty crime such as people breaking into cars....this is almost exclusively related to the amount of street parking in West U and the opportunity it provides. Both areas have their own police departments which is great b/c HPD is relatively non-responsive.
Traffic in and around West U is much worse. The area is more densely populated, so it is expected, but if traffic at all hours of the day is a concern for you, even when just running to the grocery store it is definitively worth noting as well. The villages are more spread out, so the traffic there is much less.
I do not find a higher concentration of oil/gas in the villages than any other area of town. The Villages are convenient to the energy corridor, but are also the only place in Houston where you can be in downtown in 20 minutes and still have excellent schools. I know lots of doctors/lawyers/engineers that live in the villages.
I think the biggest difference would be political. West U is relatively liberal in its political views, where as the Villages are more conservative. I have never found politics important in where I live, but if you do- then its worth noting.
Both areas are absolutely great....I personally value space, privacy, and lack of traffic, and made my choice accordingly.
Its easy to get anywhere from West U. Lots of stuff is nearby-groceries-Randall's, Krogers and HEB all easy to get to.
You can't get to or from downtown from the Villages in rush hour in 20 minutes.
West U. is NOT liberal. Its mostly Republican. Its just not 80-90% Republican, more like 60%.
I second what marksmu posted. More room, bigger houses and, in my opinion, a prettier setting in the villages. Tons of on-street parking in West U and I don't think I'd want to walk around much on Bissonnet or Buffalo Speedway.
West U is several miles closer to downtown though, which can certainly make a difference.
To clarify for the OP, on-street parking means lots of people park on the street instead of in their short driveways.
Comment about Bissonnet or Buffalo Speedway is odd. Bissonnet is a border street to West U. Buffalo Speedway is a (by West U. standards) a busy street, but its still pleasant with relatively deep lots and nice houses. Kind of like saying you wouldn't want to walk around on Memorial Drive or Voss in the Villages.
Also, petty crime in West U. is pretty limited. You can get the police there on a suspicious person in 60 seconds (I've done it). They've caught criminals who said, "I wouldn't have broken in if I knew it was in West U."
I don't know if the Villages have more or less petty crime, but it is insignificant.
In your price range you could even look in the beautiful neighborhoods north of Rice University, around North and South Boulevard or Sunset. That gets you zoned to Lanier middle school. If you can image what a neighborhood where almost everyone has a Dr. in front of their name instead of Mr./Mrs. that's pretty much what that area is like.
Its easy to get anywhere from West U. Lots of stuff is nearby-groceries-Randall's, Krogers and HEB all easy to get to.
You can't get to or from downtown from the Villages in rush hour in 20 minutes.
West U. is NOT liberal. Its mostly Republican. Its just not 80-90% Republican, more like 60%.
Don't take my previous post as dogging West-U. I like West-U quite a bit. I was merely spelling out the differences between West U and any of the Villages.
Traffic/street parking/slightly more petty crime....these are all trade off's people make to be closer to work if that is important to them. West U is about 3x more densely populated than the villages. I choose less congestion, and more space....I like my space. Others do not prefer more space, its a preference.
To the OP Traffic from Beltway 8 to downtown from 7-9am will take you about 25 minutes to get to downtown...Afternoon traffic is worse than morning, and will take about 35 minutes to get to the beltway...occasionally its worse, and occasionally its better.
Traffic to downtown from West U from say the elementary school is 14-20 minutes....afternoon is about 5-10 minutes longer. You can easily map this on google maps to compare drive times at different times.
Don't take my previous post as dogging West-U. I like West-U quite a bit. I was merely spelling out the differences between West U and any of the Villages.
Traffic/street parking/slightly more petty crime....these are all trade off's people make to be closer to work if that is important to them. West U is about 3x more densely populated than the villages. I choose less congestion, and more space....I like my space. Others do not prefer more space, its a preference.
To the OP Traffic from Beltway 8 to downtown from 7-9am will take you about 25 minutes to get to downtown...Afternoon traffic is worse than morning, and will take about 35 minutes to get to the beltway...occasionally its worse, and occasionally its better.
Traffic to downtown from West U from say the elementary school is 14-20 minutes....afternoon is about 5-10 minutes longer. You can easily map this on google maps to compare drive times at different times.
Well I haven't lived there is a few years, but it was about 10 minutes pretty consistently in the morning to downtown. Afternoon was 5-10 minutes longer.
I cannot thank you all enough for taking the time to offer your insight. As a Dallas native, it is very bittersweet to be moving. What I know of Houston is simply how long it takes to get through (I grew up visiting grandparents in Texas City). The traffic and congestion is a huge concern for me. i was sort of looking for an oasis in the city that made me feel like I wasn't so urban. No disrespect to the park cities in Dallas but we specifically chose to plant our family in Lakewood for the culture, the feel, the proximity to a green belt/lake, and the larger lots. Sounds like to me that West U is very similar to University Park. It appears the villages may be better suited to us (larger lots, less traffic, good schools, aesthetically pretty, etc). And for what's it's worth, my husband is in the energy business but will be working downtown.
Questions on the villages:
1) Any major differences between them? Reasons to pick one over the other or simply let the right house dictate?
2) I know Houston zoning or lack thereof allows for commercial buildings in and around neighborhoods. Will I find commercial buildings w/I the villages?
3) what percentage of kids go to private vs public in this area?
4) assuming this area is very family friendly and has active neighborhood camaraderie?
5) does real estate here go quickly? Is there a who who's real estate agent/firm to use?
6) are there parks/running trails in this area
I cannot thank you all enough for taking the time to offer your insight. As a Dallas native, it is very bittersweet to be moving. What I know of Houston is simply how long it takes to get through (I grew up visiting grandparents in Texas City). The traffic and congestion is a huge concern for me. i was sort of looking for an oasis in the city that made me feel like I wasn't so urban. No disrespect to the park cities in Dallas but we specifically chose to plant our family in Lakewood for the culture, the feel, the proximity to a green belt/lake, and the larger lots. Sounds like to me that West U is very similar to University Park. It appears the villages may be better suited to us (larger lots, less traffic, good schools, aesthetically pretty, etc). And for what's it's worth, my husband is in the energy business but will be working downtown.
Questions on the villages:
1) Any major differences between them? Reasons to pick one over the other or simply let the right house dictate?
2) I know Houston zoning or lack thereof allows for commercial buildings in and around neighborhoods. Will I find commercial buildings w/I the villages?
3) what percentage of kids go to private vs public in this area?
4) assuming this area is very family friendly and has active neighborhood camaraderie?
5) does real estate here go quickly? Is there a who who's real estate agent/firm to use?
6) are there parks/running trails in this area
On commutes: the poster who tried to compare the commute to a commute from Beltway 8 may be over-estimating commute time if speaking of the Villages. In terms of commute, the longest it ever took me to drive from downtown to Briar Forest/Gessner via Memorial Drive (west of the Villages) was 45 min after work at rush hour. Most of the time was 20-30 minutes.
On question #1: The eastern most Village is Hunters Creek (just west of Voss Road). I would look there to start. One of the long-time posters of this forum (search name EasilyAmused) has lived in the Villages or (close enough) within the Memorial area. She will know more specifics about individual villages.
On question #2, the Memorial Villages are outside the City of Houston jurisdiction. They may have a Houston address, but that is all they share from the City. That means they have zoning restrictions and actively protect property owners. They enjoy excellent city services and it is the one area of Houston with excellent schools for every age (elem/middle/high). On election day, you vote for your individual Village's mayor, cannot vote in City of Houston elections (mayor/Houston City Council/Houston police,etc).
On the Oak Forest recommendation, that is a good one. Right now, it's one excellent elementary school is Oak Forest. Make sure the home is zoned to Oak Forest Elem. You would have to go private for middle and high school. That neighborhood might have a higher proportion of private school vs. public school students. There are parks/trails near by (TC Jester). This area is in the City of Houston.
marksmu and others who live in the Villages may have better answers to your questions, but here are my thoughts (we researched the Villages extensively and made offers on a couple of homes, but ultimately bought a place a little ways to the west):
1) In general, the villages north of I-10 (Spring Valley and Hilshire) have smaller lots, more original ranch-style homes, and are therefore less expensive and more popular with young families. The "Village Acre" lots are almost exclusively found south of I-10. There are a few slivers of the Villages south of Buffalo Bayou zoned to HISD instead of SBISD - avoid these as the schools are less well-regarded and resale value suffers accordingly.
2) I believe all the Villages have zoning. There are a few commercial plazas within the Villages, mostly along larger/busier streets. In general - the city governments of the Villages prioritize quality of life for their own residents ahead of Houston/Harris county's mobility concerns (by refusing to widen and connect streets, installing traffic control devices to slow cut-through traffic, etc). Government offices are amazingly responsive - I once emailed the mayor of Spring Valley (as a non-resident) with a question about upcoming street projects, and received a thoughtful and detailed response within an hour.
3) Not sure.
4) That was our impression, as we were walking around prospective neighborhoods and talking with homeowners who were out and about.
5) The low end of the market (under 1 million) is on fire, but in your price range homes move more slowly and you should have no trouble finding something you like.
6) There actually aren't that many parks within the Villages themselves, but there are plenty within a reasonably close drive. Running is a mixed bag...by design, most streets in the Villages don't connect through. This means that traffic is limited (and the scarcity of sidewalks isn't really an issue for running), but it also means that it's hard to chart a longer course that doesn't keep spitting you out onto a major road. All of the major roads do have sidewalks. I prefer running in Terry Hershey Park, to the west.
Note that there is quite a difference between the various Spring Branch ISD schools. Memorial HS and Stratford HS are much more highly regarded than Northbrook HS and Spring Woods HS. That impacts property values.
As for running, Memorial Park just inside Loop 610 is very popular with runners, probably more so than White Rock Lake is in Dallas. There's a 3 mile loop and many people run along Memorial Drive and on the trails along Buffalo Bayou between the park and downtown.
In the opposite direction, just outside Beltway 8, as the previous poster said, there is Terry Hershey Park as well as Bear Creek Park.
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