Shadow Creek Ranch (Houston, Pearland, Alvin: real estate, leasing, house)

[ctom]

We are thinking about moving to Shadow Creek to help lighten my husband's commute. Does anyone know if there is a visitor center where we can see model homes and learn more about the community? Anyone have a good real estate agent? Also, I am a teacher and was wondering about the school district. Thanks!

[luvragdolls]

If your husband wants to lighten his commute, Pearland would not be a wise choice unless he leaves the house at 6:00 a.m. Go early one weekday morning to 288 (DON'T get on, take Beltway 8 and you'll pass over the gridlock) and you'll quickly see what I'm talking about. Absolutely no way will this lighten his commute.

[PearGirl]

The commute is not as bad as some claim. I have lived in SCR for almost a year now. I commute downtown and my husband commutes to the U of H. My drive is typically 35-40 minutes and I tend to go at peak traffic times. (Of course, my husband and I laugh out loud at the ads saying that SCR is 15 minutes from downtown. To be fair, though, we live on the western edge of SCR. From the eastern edge, at a time with NO traffic, you could get to the edge of downtown in 15 minutes.) The commute is probably my least favorite part of living in SCR, but realistically, it's not that bad. I've lived in some other major urban areas and I've never seen anything approaching the affordability and convenience of the Houston suburbs. My husband and I are crazy about our home and our beautiful neighborhood and our toddler loves the parks, etc. We've already made lots of friends here. We're huge fans.

To answer your question, there is a visitor center off of the Shadow Creek Parkway (also known as McHard Rd.), I believe at the Kirby intersection.

I can't say too much about the schools since our daughter is not yet school-age. We're on the Fort Bend side. From what I can gather, both Fort Bend and Alvin are good districts generally but there's a lot of variation from school to school. Considering how quickly schools are going up, I've given up trying to predict where my daughter will be zoned when she gets older. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. In the meantime, we're just enjoying our beautiful neighborhood. (By the way, check out the commercial development going up to the south of SCR. Pretty soon there won't be anything we can't get across the street from our development -- at least it seems that way! Actually, my husband and I are a little concerned that commercial development to the north of the neighborhood seems to be fast outpacing leasing -- not sure what's going on with that -- but the plans to the south are impressive.)

I hope you find what you're looking for. Best of luck to you!

[HoustonRE]

Originally Posted by luvragdolls

If your husband wants to lighten his commute, Pearland would not be a wise choice unless he leaves the house at 6:00 a.m. Go early one weekday morning to 288 (DON'T get on, take Beltway 8 and you'll pass over the gridlock) and you'll quickly see what I'm talking about. Absolutely no way will this lighten his commute.

I think luvragdolls needs to double check and see if she was really referring to Katy or the Woodlands...

[attr]

I have lived in Shadow Creek Ranch for a year and my daughter is currently attending Mary Marek. It is an awesome school. We love the teachers, principal, kids, etc. Mary Marek is also rated exemplenary. I would suggest buying a used home versus building a new one because most new construction will be zoned to Fort Bend ISD. Fort Bend is typically a good school district, unfortunately, the schools you will zoned to in FBISD will not be the top of the top.

[Timnwendy]

Originally Posted by attr

I have lived in Shadow Creek Ranch for a year and my daughter is currently attending Mary Marek. It is an awesome school. We love the teachers, principal, kids, etc. Mary Marek is also rated exemplenary. I would suggest buying a used home versus building a new one because most new construction will be zoned to Fort Bend ISD. Fort Bend is typically a good school district, unfortunately, the schools you will zoned to in FBISD will not be the top of the top.

Her kids will only have to go to a school in the Fort Bend ISD if they buy a home on the far western edge of SCR. Otherwise, they will be in the Alvin ISD. However, the point is really moot because the Pearland ISD recently announced that they will accept transfer students from any outside district (this was done to help displaced families from the coastal areas after Ike hit, but it can be used by anyone). So she could move to SCR and still send her kids to most Pearland schools (there were 2 exceptions, as I recall).

However, the bigger problem with the west side of SCR is the close proximity to the Blue Ridge Landfill. That landfill is just on the other side of Hwy 521 (Almeda Road). The smell from that landfill, and the rodents and carrion it draws, have been a source of constant complaints from many of the homeowners on the west side of SCR. Not to mention that there is a very real possibility that Blue Ridge will win the court case and be allowed to expand the landfill to more than double its current size, and be allowed to pile garbage 170' feet in the air. My personal opinion is that if you want to buy in SCR, only buy a house east of Kingsley Drive. That puts you at least 1 mile from the landfill. Personally, I live in Southern Trails just south of SCR, and my home is a little over 2 miles from the landfill. I have never smelled anything from it.

[sharkphem]

288 is a nightmare. Do what RagDoll says and take the drive early one morning. You will see...

[attr]

Originally Posted by Timnwendy

Her kids will only have to go to a school in the Fort Bend ISD if they buy a home on the far western edge of SCR. Otherwise, they will be in the Alvin ISD. However, the point is really moot because the Pearland ISD recently announced that they will accept transfer students from any outside district (this was done to help displaced families from the coastal areas after Ike hit, but it can be used by anyone). So she could move to SCR and still send her kids to most Pearland schools (there were 2 exceptions, as I recall).

However, the bigger problem with the west side of SCR is the close proximity to the Blue Ridge Landfill. That landfill is just on the other side of Hwy 521 (Almeda Road). The smell from that landfill, and the rodents and carrion it draws, have been a source of constant complaints from many of the homeowners on the west side of SCR. Not to mention that there is a very real possibility that Blue Ridge will win the court case and be allowed to expand the landfill to more than double its current size, and be allowed to pile garbage 170' feet in the air. My personal opinion is that if you want to buy in SCR, only buy a house east of Kingsley Drive. That puts you at least 1 mile from the landfill. Personally, I live in Southern Trails just south of SCR, and my home is a little over 2 miles from the landfill. I have never smelled anything from it.

If I'm not mistaken, Southern Trails is actually closer to the landfill off 521. I was reading the landfill complaints from citizens and there were several of those complaints came from citizens in Southern Trails.
I live in East of Kingsley so I have not had any issues with the landfill odor. I live in Morning Side, which is right at Reflection Point and Clear Lake loop.

[Timnwendy]

Originally Posted by attr

If I'm not mistaken, Southern Trails is actually closer to the landfill off 521. I was reading the landfill complaints from citizens and there were several of those complaints came from citizens in Southern Trails.
I live in East of Kingsley so I have not had any issues with the landfill odor. I live in Morning Side, which is right at Reflection Point and Clear Lake loop.

No, Southern Trails is not closer to it. The main section of Southern Trails ends on the east side of Kingsley Drive. However, Southern Trails has a west section called "The Enclave at Southern Trails", which is west of Kingsley and butts up against Almeda Road/521. That puts this west section approximately the same distance from the landfill as phase 4 of Shadowcreek, which also butts up against 521.

What we need to worry about is what the future holds. Right now, in its current state, the landfill is only a real problem to people close to Almeda road/521. But if they win the court case (which currently seems likely), they will have the green light to expand the landfill to a much bigger footprint (with much taller trash heaps). When that happens, the area affected by the landfill odor and pests is going to expand. Will we be safe then? Time will tell.

[Got_the_H_out]

We bought a one story Perry Home in SCR-Eden Cove last July 07 and immediately started having problems with the landfill. The neighborhood smelled putrid at night and frequently the fumes seeped into our home. It was making us sick with all kinds of symptoms like nausea, headaches, aching lungs and burning sinuses. We contacted the TCEQ and their environmentalist informed us the landfill accepts asbestos and industrial waste and our symptoms were consistent with VOC poisoning. The landfill sprays the air with odor masking chemicals but you are still breathing the VOC's even if you don't smell it. We tried to get Perry to buy our house back and they laughed us off. We filed several complaints with the TCEQ and they wouldn't do anything about it. One of their phone reps said it was a political hot potato and it would never get better. We vacated the house last May 08 and gave it back to the bank after 8 mos of trying to sell it - even at $60K below appraisal. During our ordeal we learned that many realtors don't bother to show in SCR because the homes don't retain their values and so many people vacate because of the landfill problems. The regional president of Perry lives in SCR and he actually admitted that he frequently smells the landfill at his home even on the far east side near the freeway, so I don't suggest buying anywhere in SCR. By the way we moved to Katy and love the clean air and the communities are booming. The commute on Westpark takes about 30 minutes to get inside the loop.