Bellaire (77401) living - Benefits?

[Houston14]

Originally Posted by Vicman

In your case that's true since southern Bellaire (in 77401) and northern Meyerland (in 77096) are both zoned to high performing Lovett Elementary.

However in the case of the border between Bellaire and the Gulfton area it absolutely matters.

• See the boundary of Condit Elementary and Pershing Middle
• Compare to the boundary for Cunningham Elementary, and Long Middle

Yeah both places would be Lovett/Condit then Pershing/Bellaire.

Houston Home would be on the boarder of the Lovett/Pershing lines - should that be a worry? How often are rezonings in HISD done? Not a worry now since no kids in school but will be an issue in some years. Have no problem with Lovett/Pershing/Bellaire as the worst case scenario.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by travelguy_73

Total aside, but it makes me sad that residents in the northern part of Bellaire literally drive past Cunningham to get to Condit, and really only because Cunningham has "those people." I don't think I appreciated just how terrible it is until I looked at a boundary map. I wonder if there is another HISD school boundary as stark as that one.

HISD board member Donald McAdams found a justification for that Condit/Cunningham line, in that the Bellaire areas are in the city of Bellaire and should remain in that community. https://books.google.com/books?id=4eY4cg07-CAC&pg=PA55 He chose not to support another request to rezone from Braeburn to Herod because of fear of racial discriminatory grounds. https://books.google.com/books?id=4eY4cg07-CAC&pg=PA56

Originally Posted by Houston14

Yeah both places would be Lovett/Condit then Pershing/Bellaire.

Houston Home would be on the boarder of the Lovett/Pershing lines - should that be a worry? How often are rezonings in HISD done? Not a worry now since no kids in school but will be an issue in some years. Have no problem with Lovett/Pershing/Bellaire as the worst case scenario.

Southern Meyerland is Kolter elementary school. Condit's zone is mostly Bellaire with parts of Houston to the north.

HISD rezonings are quite rare and I dont see HISD changing zones in Bellaire nor Meyerland in the foreseeable future.

[gwarnecke]

I've never lived in Bellaire, but I used to rent in West U before moving to City of Houston and then recently to Spring Valley Village.

My experience with the "enclave cities" is that their city governments and employees are far more responsive, helpful, and competent than their City of Houston counterparts. You can email the mayor and get a response in an hour or two. City-provided services like water/sewer tend to be cheaper (although I don't know if this is the case for Bellaire, specifically). Roads and sidewalks are better-maintained. And the city tax rates are lower, to boot!

These benefits are probably not worth $200k by themselves, but they are something to consider.

[travelguy_73]

Originally Posted by Vicman

HISD board member Donald McAdams found a justification for that Condit/Cunningham line, in that the Bellaire areas are in the city of Bellaire and should remain in that community. https://books.google.com/books?id=4eY4cg07-CAC&pg=PA55 He chose not to support another request to rezone from Braeburn to Herod because of fear of racial discriminatory grounds. https://books.google.com/books?id=4eY4cg07-CAC&pg=PA56



Southern Meyerland is Kolter elementary school. Condit's zone is mostly Bellaire with parts of Houston to the north.

HISD rezonings are quite rare and I dont see HISD changing zones in Bellaire nor Meyerland in the foreseeable future.

Thank you for linking to that book--I have some reading to do!

[Houston14]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

I've never lived in Bellaire, but I used to rent in West U before moving to City of Houston and then recently to Spring Valley Village.

My experience with the "enclave cities" is that their city governments and employees are far more responsive, helpful, and competent than their City of Houston counterparts. You can email the mayor and get a response in an hour or two. City-provided services like water/sewer tend to be cheaper (although I don't know if this is the case for Bellaire, specifically). Roads and sidewalks are better-maintained. And the city tax rates are lower, to boot!

These benefits are probably not worth $200k by themselves, but they are something to consider.

Thanks for the insight!

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by travelguy_73

Thank you for linking to that book--I have some reading to do!

You're welcome! I think another angle to the aspect was that in the late 80s early 1990s Gulfton schools became massively overcrowded due to the influx of immigrants. Gordon Elementary in Bellaire was re-opened as a relief school for Gulfton area schools, so it didn't serve Bellaire families. I can see why Bellaire families, even disregarding the ethnic or even socieconomic differences, saw Condit as a more desirable option.

[Houston14]

Originally Posted by Vicman

HISD board member Donald McAdams found a justification for that Condit/Cunningham line, in that the Bellaire areas are in the city of Bellaire and should remain in that community. https://books.google.com/books?id=4eY4cg07-CAC&pg=PA55 He chose not to support another request to rezone from Braeburn to Herod because of fear of racial discriminatory grounds. https://books.google.com/books?id=4eY4cg07-CAC&pg=PA56



Southern Meyerland is Kolter elementary school. Condit's zone is mostly Bellaire with parts of Houston to the north.

HISD rezonings are quite rare and I dont see HISD changing zones in Bellaire nor Meyerland in the foreseeable future.

Hopefully that’s true about the rezoning and rarity. Thanks!

[Houston14]

Response time of Bellaire PD and Houston PD (or fire dept) that much different? Are they able to go into each other’s territory (one closer etc.)?

[travelguy_73]

Originally Posted by Houston14

Response time of Bellaire PD and Houston PD (or fire dept) that much different? Are they able to go into each other’s territory (one closer etc.)?

I would guess that police response time of any incorporate city will beat HPD. However, many surrounding middle- and upper class Houston neighborhoods pay for supplemental Constable service, so it might be a wash. In fact, the Constable office tells us to just have our alarm system monitoring stations call them FIRST before calling us (plus vacation watch service is an added plus).

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

If you are fine in the location you're in, why on earth would you pay 200K more to move across the street? What would change for you-- would you get a better school? More convenient access to tennis courts? I've always thought that being Bellaire-adjacent was the best deal around. Enjoy the shopping/restaurants but let someone else pay the premium. I was laughing with someone in my neighborhood about it... she owns two houses for the price of one Bellaire house (probably less even). She rents one out. She's laughing all the way to the bank.

The answer is mainly property appreciation. Thats what you get.

Other than that, you probably also get better services and better use of your tax dollars. I dont live in Bellaire but in a Village and we have brand new streets, great drainage that was recently upgraded, own police and fire and they are there within literally minutes if anything were to go down. But mainly I bought due to property appreciation.