Moving to Clear Lake Area: Questions about neighborhoods and commuting (Houston: transplants, houses) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

maggiemay · 08-12-2009, 02:12 PM

Hi Y'all,
My husband and I are moving to the NASA area and think we will probably find a place in the general Clear Lake area. Two questions:

1. We are currently in the northeast and I am in a neighborhood where I can walk to everything...work, restaurants, markets, and shops. Are there any neighborhoods in the Clear Lake area that sound similar topping out at the $400K range? I've researched the threads and haven't been able to get a real sense of this kind of neighborhood.

2. My current profession is in development (fundraising) at the university level and I'm looking at Rice and Univ. of Houston right now. Assuming we'll be somewhere in the general Clear Lake area near NASA, are those commutes going to be reasonable. (I don't consider over 30 minutes reasonable...don't want to spend my life in the car!!!)

Thanks in advance for any feedback. We have heard great things about Texas and the Houston area and can't wait. Bummer about the heat, though!

Maggiemay

tstone · 08-12-2009, 02:19 PM

1. You should be able to walk to some conveniences if you live in the $200k neighborhoods, but for the most part you will need your car. If you live in the area with $300-400k houses, almost nothing is walkable.

2. You might be able to hit those universities in 30-35 minutes in the morning if you need to be there @ 7. But in the afternoon, it'll take 50-60 minutes to get home.

ShelbyGirl1 · 08-12-2009, 02:36 PM

tstone nailed it!

DanielWayne · 08-12-2009, 02:42 PM

As Tstone said:

1. You will need a car. Especially in the $400+ range. There is some kind of development in Seabrook that MIGHT be kinda sorta a fraction of what you are looking for in terms of a walkable neighborhood type area, but you will still need a car. However everything you need can be found in Clear Lake with minimal driving.

2. It's 30 minutes from Webster to UH during non-peak hours i.e. no traffic. Otherwise much longer. There is a bus, but Houston is not really known for it's public transportation.

That being said I have heard from several Northern transplants that the good outweighs the bad by far.

tstone · 08-12-2009, 02:45 PM

Well, when things are moving I can easily make it to UH in 20 minutes from Clear Lake City Blvd w/o getting pulled over by a cop. Just under 30 to Rice.

The issue is I-45 from just outside 610 all the way to downtown sucks to drive on. Old narrow freeway way past its prime. With volume it slows down fast.

ShelbyGirl1 · 08-12-2009, 03:01 PM

I can only guess DW is speaking of ClearLake Shores in Kemah, which is close to Seabrook...I can not think of any neighborhood in the price range you mentioned within walking distance of anything decent. CLS is walkable to a Super Target and and the whole strip shopping center...but you are limited. Also CLS is EXTREMELY low lands....first thing that floods when the water even thinks about getting high. Then there is the added time with the commute.

maggiemay · 08-12-2009, 05:55 PM

Thank you all so much. This is incredibly helpful when considering housing and job options.

BTW, I am NOT a northern transplant. I'm originally a Savannah girl. I'm just a heat wimp at this point, having lived in CT for the past couple of years.

I'm pretty much singing hallejulahs over the move to TX.

DanielWayne · 08-12-2009, 06:45 PM

Oh I was thinking of that re-development in Nassau Bay (OOPS! not Seabrook) right across the street from Space Center Houston. I think they are making one of those little "town squares" with a bunch of things in a pedestrian area. I may be wrong, though.

Quote:

I'm originally a Savannah girl.

You will like Texas. I visited Charleston for the first time in Feb, and aside from the slightly different Southern food, it felt a lot like Tx with all the hospitality.

LostInHouston · 08-12-2009, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maggiemay

BTW, I am NOT a northern transplant.

You say that like there is something wrong with northern transplants.

My wife makes it from our house in Seabrook to the med center in about 40 mins (taking 146 to 225 to 610) with clear traffic. But she commutes during off hours.

desertsun41 · 08-12-2009, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostInHouston

You say that like there is something wrong with northern transplants.

My wife makes it from our house in Seabrook to the med center in about 40 mins (taking 146 to 225 to 610) with clear traffic. But she commutes during off hours.

That is by far the best route to take. Only slow down is in Seabrook on 146 where it just creeps. You can take 45 north in the morning but coming home it can not be done in less then several hours.