Best places to live between Houston and Austin (College Station, Bryan: rent, neighborhoods)

[ocean2026]

The suggestions are good. Brenham is a distinct community not a suburb as is LaGrange. MD Anderson is South of Downtown so take that into consideration-- not far South though. There is a Residence Inn a block or so away that is decent and inexpensive.

This may not be the most crucial factor in your decision however no one else has mentioned it -you should know that Brenham has a rabbit show ever year or so and we got my daughter the sweetest Castor Rex Rabbit. He was a show rabbit but we converted him to pet rabbit.

[love roses]

Originally Posted by LoriMB

Hello, we really would love some advice. We currently live in California. My husband has rare cancer and he has been having to fly back and forth to MD Anderson almost every month. It has taken a toll. We have two children and I home-school them. Just to give you an idea about our situation. We are very serious about moving within the next few months, but we are not able to fly back and forth to check out places to live. So, MD Anderson is in Houston and my husband's company has an office located in Austin. He needs to be close to both, the definitely he needs to be close to MD Anderson. Maybe within two hours or so. We are not huge city people and we like a simple life. A family friendly and safe place. I was looking at one place, Brenham, and I saw some negative things about living there (drugs, etc). Can anyone advice us, please? Thank you.

I have an Aunt and Uncle who live in Brenham and they love it. I think Brenham is a really pretty town. It's also a College town. A coworker of mine is going to Blinn right now and she is able to make frequent trips back home to Austin. I would go check it out personally if I were you, but I don't really think whatever problems it has are really that horrible or rampant or I'm sure I would have heard my aunt say something about it by now.

[love roses]

I also love the suggestion of Bryan/College Station. It would have more amenities available and I agree about the medical facilities. My uncle had to have a quadruple bypass and he chose to have it done in College Station instead of Houston. The hospital staff was great. While my Grandma was there visiting him, she fell and cracked her hip (lucky she was at the hospital when she fell!) The doctors and nurses were so good to her! An old high school friend of mine lives there with her 10 year old daughter. She's a nurse there. Reading her Facebook posts, I notice that there are lots of activities for kids.

[hound 109]

What city would La Grange be a suburb of...Ellinger?

[Robb44]

Hi.. I am Lori's husband, the one with cancer.. First, thank you all for your replies.. The situation we have is that I travel to MDA about once a month from the west coast and its been brutal on the family. The company I work for has an office in Austin, but does not require me to go in too often because I do software and mostly from home. lately we have been discussing about what matters most to us, in terms of living somewhere.. and what is coming to the surface is that we think towns like Brenham, etc, may be too isolated for us. So we are looking more in places where there is more activities for kids, access to shopping, the ability to meet new friends and people, etc.. Austin to Houston once a month is not a bad drive, considering I would drive in one day, stay overnight, and drive back the next night.. Or take a cheap SW flight from Austin to Hobby and just be there in less than an hour.. So we are still considering the Austin area. The other area we seem to keep hearing about is the Woodlands/Conroe areas north of Houston. Ideally, wherever we live, we are looking to stay at maximum $250k and hopefully live in a place where we can be on at least a 1/2 acre lot.. ie a short drive to the Austin area, or a short drive into the Woodlands area.. We know finding a place for $250 in Austin would mean probably living in very small lots, which is what we really dont want. So any advice, we are open!

[Watchful]

Just a few comments....since people will probably be reading this thread for many months to come...

First, La Grange is not a "suburb" - it is a small town - smaller than Brenham - but nothing close to a suburb.

Second, Brenham is not really a "college town" at all. It is a small town that has a community college. Very important distinction! The presence of Blinn College (a 2-year school) is a considerable asset, but this is quite different from what I would think of as a "college town!"

Now back to your regular programming!

[Westerntraveler]

I don't know where people got the idea of La Grange as a suburb lol....Ive been there a couple of times and it defiantly aint no suburb....its a very nice small town.

[love roses]

College Station or Bastrop because they aren't really isolated and there are plenty of things for kids. Tomball might be good too. It's closer to Houston. Threw it in because you like the Woodlands.

[madrone2k]

I agree with Watchful's advice. Also, while I am more of a city person, I would consider La Grange or Brenham to be more attractive places to live. If I wanted to be in or near a large city, I would choose Austin.

That said, my guess is that living in Austin and commuting by air to TMC (Texas Medical Center) could be pretty exhausting, especially if one were dealing with the side effects of cancer treatments.

As a more convenient alternative, you could consider Richmond/Rosenburg or other more rural spots in Fort Bend County, just SW of Houston. Some has transitioned into being suburbia, but a lot still has a rural feel. It's flat, but there are some quite pretty areas forested with old pecan groves near the Brazos River (the so-called "Brazos River Bottom").

[Jack Lance]

I don't know what you do in your business life, but maybe you should lobby your company to open an office in Houston and let you run it. That would simplify things, would it not?.....