Missouri City named best place to live near Houston (Dallas: real estate, HOA)

[SilverWings]

If you go by the idiotically insane rankings just published on CNN money for top 100 cities. Mo City checks in at #56, and only Sugar Land even made the list at #64.

I don't mean to rag on Mo City, which is a fine place, but I ask you - if you had to rank the best small city to live in this area - Woodlands, Sugar Land, Katy, Mo City, Stafford, Clear Lake, Spring, Pearland, and so on... would ANYONE on this list have ranked Missouri City as their top choice? ANYONE?

Link: Best places to live 2008 - States: Texas - from MONEY Magazine

Also of note, TEN - count 'em, TEN - of the top 100 are suburbs of Dallas. What a joke of a list. We should spam Money Mag with flame mail or something. That'd teach 'em.

[Wysiwyg]

go SW

[Topaz]

That does seem odd but it is probably good for property values in Sugar Land since they are next to each other.

[AK123]

I'm in First Colony, on the Sugar Land / Missouri City border.

The only think I can think of is that the commute from Missouri City into Houston is slightly better that the commute from Sugar Land. Other than that, western Missouri City is a twin of Sugar Land (going from subdivision to subdivision you wouldn't know which you were in unless you saw signs) and can use all of Sugar Land's amenities (like the mall and theater) since it's right next door. Eastern Missouri City is not good, but northern Sugar Land is probably even worse (as far as crime and blight).

Something else I think makes these two places stand out is the zoning. You won't see billboards, tall signs, and other ugliness. Lots of building codes and tree planting. Which is really refreshing compared to many parts of Houston.

[AK123]

But yes... if I was going to pick a "small city" near Houston, I'd pick something closer in like Bellaire or the Memorial Villages. They probably didn't make the list because of the pricey real estate most people can't afford.

For suburb cities, Sugar Land / Missouri City is a good choice for reasons I mentioned in the previous post. The Woodlands is very nice, but SO far out from town.

[sxrckr]

All those north Dallas suburbs? No thanks.

Missouri City is actually pretty nice. Most of it. I was surprised how many parks and green space there was.

[Kofi713]

Originally Posted by SilverWings

Also of note, TEN - count 'em, TEN - of the top 100 are suburbs of Dallas. What a joke of a list. We should spam Money Mag with flame mail or something. That'd teach 'em.

Do you want to know why? Because places like Cinco Ranch and area in Cy-Fair aren't in an actual city. They are unincorporated areas. They don't vote for mayors, city councils, etc. The Woodlands is the same way. So is Atascocita. Out of those I named, only The Woodlands will become its own city, and that won't happen until after 2010.

The reason why areas like Katy and Cy-Fair are not in a city is because they lie in Houston's ETJ. Those are areas that Houston can annex in the future. Will Houston? No. Houston is giving up its ETJ in The Woodlands (for a small fee), so The Woodlands can become its own city. Will they do this for Cinco Ranch? Maybe. How about Cy-Fair (Klein, Champions, etc.)? Doubt it, the area is waaay too big. It'll probably never happen.

So basically what I'm saying is, if those areas were in actual cities, you would see more of Houston's suburbs on there. These areas are pretty big. The areas that use a Katy address has 250,000+ people, or the size of Plano, Texas. Unincorporated Northwest Harris County has over 900,000 people and will have one million by 2010. Atascocita has about 40,000 or so. Not sure on The Woodlands. Some say it has 90,000.

I hope that helps.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by SilverWings

Link: Best places to live 2008 - States: Texas - from MONEY Magazine

Also of note, TEN - count 'em, TEN - of the top 100 are suburbs of Dallas. What a joke of a list. We should spam Money Mag with flame mail or something. That'd teach 'em.

I hate to say but Dallas suburbs are waaay better than Houston's, that's the main reason why Dallas was our first choice. I still can't get over the fact that most communities in the Dallas suburbs had cheaper taxes and hoa compared to the ones in the Houston suburbs.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by usc619

I hate to say but Dallas suburbs are waaay better than Houston's, that's the main reason why Dallas was our first choice.

Better in what way? I was miserable when I lived in Dallas and while that might have just been me, I'm curious which suburbs you think are great there.

[icon7]

the places I liked near Dallas are Plano and High Land Park...I think High Land Park is one of the top 5 nicest place in Texas. It is very expensive, but well worth it.