First ring suburbs????????? (Houston, San Antonio, The Woodlands: neighborhood, living in, zip codes)

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by PinkLadyK

When my parents moved to Memorial in 1970 (Voss and Memorial), my dad's parents asked them why they were moving to "the country." When my husband and I bought a home near Wilcrest and Memorial 3 years ago, my parents laughed when we said we didn't want to live in the suburbs and that's why we were buying in the city.


There has to be a breaking point, though, eventually. People won't live in Brenham and Columbus and Beaumont and call it a suburb of Houston. Or will they?

Something tells me that Beaumont will never be a "suburb". I know what you mean, though.

[Texas Ag 93]

I think it's interesting what a person's perception of "suburban" is. The cover of the current issue of Houstonia magazine features the Top 10 places to live in Houston. All the usual suspects are on there, both urban and suburban. The couple they featured that lived in the Heights had previously been residents of Montrose for 10 years, and initially were very hesitant to move to the Heights because of how far away and removed from the city it was (I'm paraphrasing here). They were pleasantly surprised that it turns out they don't really have to venture South of I-10 to get everything they need, and I think their views were a bit over the top, IMO. But, I grew up in SW Houston and lived in the Heights in the late 1990's, and I remember being nervous about moving there because it was so urban and dense and "in the middle of the city".

So, everyone looks at things differently.

[Ghost Town]

Interesting topic.
I am wondering how come the outside area west of Beltway 8 became Houston? Specifically, Hwy 6/FM529 all the way to Barker Cypress.

[PinkLadyK]

Also, since it is Houston, even "close-in" neighborhoods are miles-wise quite far from downtown. I consider Oak Forest, Spring Branch, Memorial, Westbury, Meyerland -- all of those to be close-in. But Houston is so big that you are still talking about a significant drive, even compared to a similar city like Dallas.

[chris_ut]

Oak Forest is only 18 minutes to downtown in traffic, not sure I would consider that a significant drive.

[westres1]

Originally Posted by hbcu

If they dont know 2234 they're not from Houston..lol

born and raised...never heard of it!

[PinkLadyK]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Oak Forest is only 18 minutes to downtown in traffic, not sure I would consider that a significant drive.

But it is 10 miles. That is a long distance when you're talking about traveling from a close-in neighborhood.

[gwarnecke]

Distances are a lot more meaningful than times in Houston. You'll always be 10 miles from downtown, but you will not always be 18 minutes. Enjoy it while it lasts.

From 2010-2013, my 17-mile Houston reverse commute went from a 25-minute breeze to a 40-50-minute nightmare . I went from swearing that I'd never live outside the loop, to swearing that I'd never live further than 5 miles from work.

[3shipguy]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

Distances are a lot more meaningful than times in Houston. You'll always be 10 miles from downtown, but you will not always be 18 minutes. Enjoy it while it lasts.

From 2010-2013, my 17-mile Houston reverse commute went from a 25-minute breeze to a 40-50-minute nightmare . I went from swearing that I'd never live outside the loop, to swearing that I'd never live further than 5 miles from work.

Sounds like you are saying time is more meaningful than distance to me. It doesn't matter that you live 17miles away--it matters that you live 40-50 minutes away.

[hbcu]

you can be close in and still far such as an Oak Forest, etc. just due to quality of roads/traffic

Westbury on the other hand is just as far but has more roads with better access downtown

people better not sleep on sunnyside, south park down the line.