Most “complete” suburb in Houston? (Dallas, Austin: crime, restaurants, moving to)

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by Dopo

All you have to do is drive a few miles South from The Woodlands and you’ll find lots of diversity

Spring? Greenspoint? 1960/45 corridor? Yeah those areas are more diverse than TW but I still think those areas are a step down compared to what you'll get in Katy or even SL. Btw, Spring/Klein still feels more predominately White west of 45 and Black and Hispanic east of 45. Greenspoint is Greenspoint. And 1960/45 is diverse but man is that area depressing and only getting worse.

Like I've said before TW is pretty much on an Island when it comes to combination of amenities, quality schools, parks, aesthetics. Springwood village hasn't matured yet and it doesn't get really good till you get to the Heights. And there's a lot of undesirable parts in between TW and the heights.

Originally Posted by S.Allen

Sorry, but a mall does not make a burb a great place to live.


With the rise of Amazon and home delivery of everything....the mall is less and less important today. Also, the mall is a hub for criminal activity from car break-ins to drugs to robberies. Even the nicer malls have problems with this. The traffic and congestion around most malls is also atrocious.


The bad thing about The Woodlands is that you are a prisoner to I-45 and whatever construction/accidents are going on at the moment.


Count me out on The Woodlands, sorry.

I would say The woodlands mall location works in it's favor though. It's in walking distance to the Waterway and market street so it stands out a little bit better than a mall like Katy Mills or whatever SL has. With that said though a mall is still a mall and I avoid it like the plague.

And yes one of the worst things about TW is I-45. It's really no way around it if you want to get in the city. Really stressful if you commute to Houston everyday. Glad I don't have to deal with that anymore.

Originally Posted by S.Allen

Dopo....well it is true.


Rows and rows of boring houses that all look alike and congested strip centers.


That is Katy.

Isn't that most suburbs in Houston though?

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I'll add also that while strip centers with pad sites are generally endemic to our region, the stretch of the Katy Freeway from roughly Greenhouse to past 99 outdoes every other newer suburb in terms of being lined with these things. Whatever little aesthetic touches they put on them don't differentiate them enough, and most of the tenants are chains you can find in most any thriving suburb. I find it kind of mind-numbing, the only thing that saves it is the level of sprinkling of ethnically diverse businesses that is greater than most suburbs.

In Katy's defense, they do seem to have a couple of restaurants you wouldn't find in other Houston suburbs. I've noticed a couple more restaurants that you'd normally find in the loop show up in Katy more so than other burbs. But I agree with you though, those strip centers are pretty tacky and generic at best.

[S.Allen]

Many other Houston burbs also have rows and rows of boring cookie cutter homes that all look alike and ugly strip malls, but Katy seems to stand out.


If you are looking for creative and different restaurants outside the Loop, Cypress has many, including The Shack, Frio Grille, Murdoch's Backyard Pub and others that can be found nowhere else.

[TallGreengrass]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Were I to look to move to the suburbs, all I care about is simply the amenities, food, nightlife, entertainment, etc. TW only wins if you like high end steakhouses. I'll admit I'm impressed with their lineup of high end steakhouses. And they're even getting a Mastro's. But good ethnic food? Nope. Katy and Sugar Land win the ethnic food round by miles.

Sugar Land has the Skeeters and Smart Financial Center. The Woodlands had Cynthia Woods Pavillion which goes toe to toe with concerts in the Woodlands. Katy admittedly is missing an events center like this. But they have plenty of concerts and events regardless. Sugar Land and the Woodlands also have a nice downtown/town center. Katy doesn't, but this will change soon once the Katy Boardwalk is complete.

Katy has Asiatown, Buc-Ee's, La Centerra, Typhoon TX Waterpark. Tiger Wood's PopStroke is going to make it an even bigger hit. The Woodlands has luxury shopping, but Katy has a great lineup of middle class shopping. And likewise, Ethnic shopping (latin, arabic, Asian, etc) is far superior in Katy. From my experience, Katy also simply has the best nightlife.

As far as physical beauty, of course it isn't the Woodlands. But I'll take it for amenities. And the Mary Jo Peckham Park is very nice anyway.

As far as LocalPlanner mentioning museums, I honestly can't name any by heart. But there is one or two museums in Katy. Particularly the Katy Heritage Museum. These could be nothing compared to SL's and I wouldn't know.

Perhaps I am biased in my opinion because I am in family mode but these are among the last things I look at in a suburb. I turned 40 and had a kid and now I want safety and consistently high performing zoned schools in a family friendly environment. I accept the compromise and sacrifice of commuting to find the best combination of my priorities. If it means driving 45 mins for work, date night or an Astros game then so be it.

[Shark01]

I live in between SL and Katy, but voted the Woodlands......if it wasn’t so far from my employer area (Energy Corridor) we would have bought there.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by S.Allen

Many other Houston burbs also have rows and rows of boring cookie cutter homes that all look alike and ugly strip malls, but Katy seems to stand out.


If you are looking for creative and different restaurants outside the Loop, Cypress has many, including The Shack, Frio Grille, Murdoch's Backyard Pub and others that can be found nowhere else.

Meh...I can find those backyard podunk vibes all throughout Harris County. Tomball, Spring, Humble, it doesn't matter. Seen one you've seen em all. I much prefer Katy dining options to what Cypress offers.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

Springwood village hasn't matured yet and it doesn't get really good till you get to the Heights.

So how are they attracting all these big companies then? Serious question btw. And I also saw they just renamed to City Place.

[S.Allen]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

Meh...I can find those backyard podunk vibes all throughout Harris County. Tomball, Spring, Humble, it doesn't matter. Seen one you've seen em all. I much prefer Katy dining options to what Cypress offers.

Whatever. I would rather support the smaller, local independent "podunk" places than the larger, boring, faceless chain restaurants and fancier places. To each his own.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by S.Allen

Whatever. I would rather support the smaller, local independent "podunk" places than the larger, boring, faceless chain restaurants and fancier places. To each his own.

Agreed. Which is why Katy and SL take cake.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Other then Fogo de Chao and Mastro’s, there aren’t many upscale chains I get hyped for.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

So how are they attracting all these big companies then? Serious question btw. And I also saw they just renamed to City Place.

I'm not sure why big companies chose that area but I'm simply stating Springwood Village or now City Place is too new. That's why I said it hadn't matured yet it's still in it's infancy stage. I'll give CP 3-5 years till it has finally arrived. I actually like where it's going. Gives me a hint of some of the newer North burbs in Atlanta. Almost like Peachtree Corners. But yeah it's just too new right now to say it's complete.