Contemplating a move to the Woodlands (Houston, Pearland: condo, townhouse, neighborhoods)

[I have a voice]

Hi,

My fiance and I are contemplating a move to the Woodlands from Long Island, NY. We visited the Woodlands before and loved the houses. The one issue for me (aside from the bugs) was that everything seems to be a long drive away. In particular, I would probably work in downtown Houston (the medical area) - so I'm wondering how the commute from Alden Bridge would be?

Also, if there are any former Long Islanders currently living in the Woodlands (which I'm sure there are) and you frequent this forum, could you please describe your experience and if you would recommond other LIer's to make the move? Thanks!

[EasilyAmused]

75-90 minutes without wrecks during peak hours.

Just search The Woodlands and Commute. Nuff said.

[tstone]

That 75-90 thing ain't no exaggeration! That's how long my 90 mile one-way commute goes these days. But that may be no issue coming from the NE, where people regularly spend 2 hours each way commuting in some form.

[I have a voice]

2 hours commuting is too much for me. I'd do 1 hour each way in my car but no more than that. How come the commute is so terrible?

[tstone]

Freeways with 1970's style design + 2008 style traffic loads = bottlenecks. I-45 is the poster boy freeway regarding this problem.

[I have a voice]

Originally Posted by tstone

Freeways with 1970's style design + 2008 style traffic loads = bottlenecks. I-45 is the poster boy freeway regarding this problem.

Are there any plans for fixing the free ways? What about the HArdy toll road? Is that quicker?

[tstone]

Hardy should be faster.

Not sure if they're doing anything about 45 yet. Re-doing any freeway is going to be a massive project and will choke things off worse for several years before it gets better.

On both north and south side of towns, 45 has goofy left & right exits & entrances. This causes confusion & wrecks, and if not, serious bottlenecks regardless. Choke, flow, choke, flow is usually how things work on 45. The north is worse than the south it seems.

[EasilyAmused]

And then you have the nightmare of lights along Woodlands Parkway........or 242........or 1488.......
Yes, you drive everywhere there, and good distances too, to get to places.

For lack of a better phrase, "It is the Suck."

Thank You

[chris_ut]

If you look at Spring Trails and Bender's Landing Estates those are both right at the entrance to Hardy Toll road and nice neighborhoods. Would shave a bit of time off your commute.

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by I have a voice

Hi,

My fiance and I are contemplating a move to the Woodlands from Long Island, NY. We visited the Woodlands before and loved the houses. The one issue for me (aside from the bugs) was that everything seems to be a long drive away. In particular, I would probably work in downtown Houston (the medical area) - so I'm wondering how the commute from Alden Bridge would be?

Also, if there are any former Long Islanders currently living in the Woodlands (which I'm sure there are) and you frequent this forum, could you please describe your experience and if you would recommond other LIer's to make the move? Thanks!

The Woodlands, even by Houston's standards, is a far suburb. If you are going to be working near the Med Center than you should look into Pearland Sugarland. In my opinion, Pearland is a newer area than Sugarland. I live by Sugarland and love the area because of all the mature trees. Commute wise, I'm not entirely sure which would be better; I would guess Pearland would be shorter. However, Sugarland has many options for getting into the downtown/medical center area. I think Pearland mostly relies on one freeway for getting into town.

Also, there are many options if you don't want to do the 'suburban" thing. The are many houses/townhouse/condo options near the Med Center. Rice University and the Musuem district are next to the Med Center and well worth looking into (even if you aren't looking to buy there).