Sugar Land or Champions (FM 1960) (Houston, Austin: low crime, houses, neighborhoods) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

woodsdelo · 01-12-2007, 06:07 PM

Hey all,

I got a Job in Houston and we're looking to relocate in May. We were in Houston in December and became even more confused as to where to buy a house. There were so many nice neigborhoods. We liked Sugar Land, but the houses are a little bit pricey. We also saw great houses in the Champions area. They were older houses but very nice.

Could anyone please give me more insight as to these 2 places or some other nice areas we can look into. My job location is not an issue since my job involves visiting several areas of houston.

Mr. Football · 01-13-2007, 02:02 AM

Champions is a great area. I grew up there and love it. Stay in the Klein or Cy-Fair ISD school zone. I would recommend anything in the Cy-Creek, Klein, Klein Collins or Klein Oak feeder system.

woodsdelo · 01-13-2007, 12:48 PM

Thanks, Mr. Football. My wife actually does like the Champions area. However, we've been concerned about the crime stats in that area. Do you think it is being blown up? The area of champions we're looking at is close to champions park. Do you have any info about what crime is around there? Sugar Land seems to have low crime stat. Thanks for your time.

Mr. Football · 01-13-2007, 03:30 PM

Its surprising that Sugar Land's crime stats actually show that, but if you've lived in Houston for any amount of time you'll know that crime in Sugar Land is significantly worse than Champions or anywhere else in NW Houston (Champions, Klein, Cypress, Spring, Tomball) where we have some of the lowest violent crime rates in the Houston Metropolitan area. Sugar Land/Ft. Bend County appear regularly on the local nightly news with home invasions, driveway robberies, murders, (occuring in upscale neighborhoods!) etc.

Keep in mind that Champions Park is close to Willowbrook Mall, and any crime stats you see in that area encompass the Mall. All shopping Malls attract some crime.

Not sure if diversity is very important to you one way or another, but Sugar Land is quite racially diverse with one of the highest populations of Asian (Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, etc) in the nation. The Northwest Houston area you're looking is 70%+ Anglo.

Check out Cypress as well. Longwood, Coles Crossing, Lakewood, Northlake Forest, etc.

In NW Houston I would suggest anything in the: Cy-Creek, Cy-Fair, Cy-Woods, Klein, Klein Oak, Klein Collins and Tomball HS zones.

One important question though: What part of town will you be working in?

AK123 · 01-13-2007, 09:04 PM

Its surprising that Sugar Land's crime stats actually show that, but if you've lived in Houston for any amount of time you'll know that crime in Sugar Land is significantly worse than Champions or anywhere else in NW Houston (Champions, Klein, Cypress, Spring, Tomball) where we have some of the lowest violent crime rates in the Houston Metropolitan area. Sugar Land/Ft. Bend County appear regularly on the local nightly news with home invasions, driveway robberies, murders, (occuring in upscale neighborhoods!) etc.

I don't think you can go by what you think you see on the news... even so I don't see these things you speak of "regularly" occurring in Sugar Land.

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...d=2006_4208554

Most area counties see drop in crime / 2005 statistics show Fort Bend had lowest rate

Houston-area suburbs saw crime rates drop in five of six counties last year, according to the latest statistics released by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Fort Bend County had the lowest crime rate per capita at 2,487 per 100,000 people last year while Galveston County had the highest among area counties at 4,444 per 100,000. In addition to Fort Bend, Chambers, Brazoria, Liberty and Montgomery counties also saw decreases in their per capita rates last year compared with 2004.

"Public perception seems to be that crime is up all over, but this proves that you are less likely to be a victim of crime in Fort Bend County than anywhere else in the greater Houston area," Healey said.

AK123 · 01-13-2007, 09:17 PM

What areas are you going to have to be in for your job? That matters most.

After that, I can tell you that I have actually lived in both of these areas as well as the Memorial area of Houston before moving here from Austin.

Champions has some nice houses and neighborhoods, but FM 1960 looks like an ugly mess of billboards, parking lots, and basically unzoned madness. Plus traffic was horrible. I got tired of looking at it and dealing of it. I have a friend whose car was broken into along with several others in a parking lot at mid-day on 1960 Champions area restaurant the other week, and another friend's home up there in a weathly neighborhood with a gate (Northgate) was burglarized a few months ago. I would never call it safer than Sugar Land, unless someone can show me some stats proving otherwise.
Now if my job was in that area, I might be more likely to put up with it because there are some nice homes.

Memorial was great in just about every way, other than the expense of the homes (or we may have stayed there).

Sugar Land has been wonderful, it's refreshing to drive down roads that look so nice, shopping centers are well-planned out, even the gas stations look nice. I don't have to see any billboards or worry what might be going up in the front of the neighborhood, since all of that is regulated. We've never had a problem with crime, but of course sometimes it will show up on the news because Sugar Land's not a small area... the city limits alone are about 70,000 people, there's a big mall, and there are lots of businesses and companies in the area.

woodsdelo · 01-14-2007, 02:12 PM

The branch of my company where I'll be reporting to is located in Sugar Land. However, I work in the oilfield rigs and whenever I'm offshore, I'm off. I do 2/3 weeks on the rig and that's it for the month. So that's why I said my job location doesn't matter. My wife, is a nurse and can get a job basically wherever we choose to live. We've already checked out hospitals within 10 miles of Sugar Land and FM 1960 and the number is encouraging.

We've stayed in Sugar land sometime ago when I came for a training program, but the company arranged for the housing and all that and we did like it. But the only people we knew were colleagues, and as always with company housing, you get the best. I don't ever judge a city by where I stayed if it's corporate housing.

We're moving from Anchorage, Alaska, and after living there, you expect the world to be just peaceful and lovely. Maybe, we better wake up to the real world!

Mr. Football · 01-14-2007, 03:53 PM

JJP - You lived in the Bammel area, correct? That's not Champions.

That's like saying that Stafford is Sugar Land.

AK123 · 01-14-2007, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Football

JJP - You lived in the Bammel area, correct? That's not Champions.

That's like saying that Stafford is Sugar Land.

I lived north of 1960 near Stuebner/Veterans, right near Champions. I ran errands/shopping/ate out all along the area from Willowbrook over to Bammel. Because of friends, frequented Tomball too. Aside from the tall trees (or what's left of them now), I disliked that entire stretch of 1960 from Willowbrook all the way down over to I-45...

johnsmith · 01-15-2007, 07:37 AM

JJP:

Why you dislike Willowbrook, I am considering to buy a house around that area.