Will be working in Galleria Area - where to live Katy, Sugarland, or near the loop? (Houston: public schools, prices)

[rbchamps2]

I leave highway 6 and 59 area in Sugar Land, at 6:30am and make it to uptown park around 6:50 - 7:00, but one accident or stall can double the commute.

[RaulMansour]

Originally Posted by mikehtown

For accurate estimates on commute times, I think we need to know where around the galleria you are going and how far inside a subdivision you are.

The traffic on 610 sucks in rush hour- worse than 59 or I10 for the most part. I live on the west side and it is quicker to go downtown than post oak and 610. But from I10 and BW8 to Post Oak and 610 it is about 25-30 minutes in rush hour. To the western portion of the galleria area (eg Bering and San Felipe) I take Memorial or Westheimer and it is 15-20 minutes.

Given that you are going with Awty, I'd try and get closer to work/school but that's just me. Outside of townhomes you will struggle to find anything too close to the galleria in that price range that doesn't have some drawbacks.

Thanks - I think b/c of our budget we'll be forced to live a decent ways from AWTY/my office. I'm just trying to figure out which suburb would provide the shortest commute - Katy, or Sugarland? Or would they be pretty similar.

[cheryjohns]

For the size home you want and the price ceiling, it looks like a commute from Sugar Land or Katy will be in the cards.

[houston-nomad]

Why not live north of 1-10, near Awty? I'm confused... there are 3-bedroom houses there for 200K. You could be 5 minutes from Awty. It's a somewhat transitional neighborhood, I gather, but we have very conservative friends who are definitely not into gritty, and they just bought a house there for UNDER 200K. Needed some work, but still.

[RaulMansour]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

Why not live north of 1-10, near Awty? I'm confused... there are 3-bedroom houses there for 200K. You could be 5 minutes from Awty. It's a somewhat transitional neighborhood, I gather, but we have very conservative friends who are definitely not into gritty, and they just bought a house there for UNDER 200K. Needed some work, but still.

Thanks - What zip code are you looking at?

What about zip code 77042 - any good given my situation?

[modster]

You might keep a look out in 77018. It would be at the top of your price range and pickings would be slim at best, but something could come up there as well, especially if you were willing to go a wee bit smaller.

[houston-nomad]

I'm looking at Spring Branch, area 24 on the MLS map. I don't know the neighborhood at all, I've just heard about it from my friend.

[houston-nomad]

Oh, and we did look in 77042. Considered it pretty seriously, but it didn't work so well for our commute. Walnut Bend has some very cute houses. I hear that you should stay as far north as possible, away from Westheimer. But again, I'm not an expert in the neighborhood.

[EasilyAmused]

77077 in Ashford Forest as well.Only 1/4 mile from Walnut Bend. There are homes right on the Bayou, backing to the park, in the low 200's with excellent schools. The homes are above average remodels, as well as about a 10 minute drive to Awty.

There's no reason to drive in from the boondocks.

[CDeb]

We live in New Territory and I commute to Wooday near Chimney Rock. I leave at 6:00 a.m. and am at the office in 30 minutes. Commute home takes about 30 minutes as well, leaving at 4:00 p.m. Takes about 35 minutes when I leave at 4:30.