Moving to Huntsville - looking for advice (Houston, Dallas: lease, crime)

[locotio]

I'm moving to Huntsville for work (at SHSU). What is the town like? Is it considered part of Greater Houston?

How good a fit will it be for a family of four? Is it a family friendly town? We're looking to buy a house under $220k.

Any advice is appreciated

[C24L]

Originally Posted by locotio

I'm moving to Huntsville for work (at SHSU). What is the town like? Is it considered part of Greater Houston?

How good a fit will it be for a family of four? Is it a family friendly town? We're looking to buy a house under $220k.

Any advice is appreciated

i would not want to raise a family there because thats where the state prison system is headquartered so there's lots of prisoners.Just my two cents.best of luck to you,OP.

[supfromthesite]

It's a small east Texas town. Pretty landscape and culturally southern.
No, it is not a part of greater Houston.
I think the town will be fine for a family of 4 assuming you are ok with small town activities. There are lakes. You can travel to Houston and even Dallas pretty easily for more big city fun. Maybe get a hunting lease or a few acres in the country.
For $220k you can get a pretty nice place.
I am assuming you or your spouse have a job offer at the university or the prison.

[citidata18]

Originally Posted by locotio

I'm moving to Huntsville for work (at SHSU). What is the town like? Is it considered part of Greater Houston?

How good a fit will it be for a family of four? Is it a family friendly town? We're looking to buy a house under $220k.

Any advice is appreciated

While Huntsville isn't a part of the Houston MSA, it is technically included in the Houston CSA and seems to be within reasonable commuting distance to some of Houston's suburbs (Conroe & The Woodlands), between 1/2 hour and 45 minutes away.

If you want to actually have the experience of being *IN* the urbanized Greater Houston area, I would suggest looking into the aforementioned suburbs for residence. That said, I suspect your housing budget is going to be too low.

[SWIBC]

Huntsville is far enough away from Houston to maintain its own smaller town charm, but close enough to the amenities of a major urban center. You are 60-90 min from Houston and 2.5 hrs to Dallas, so pretty close to middle.
SHSU is a great college and the prison really has little effect on the town outside of right of campus. Also you have Huntsville State Park which is a great park and Lake Livingston 1hr east.

[BobTex]

Originally Posted by C24L

i would not want to raise a family there because thats where the state prison system is headquartered so there's lots of prisoners.Just my two cents.best of luck to you,OP.

Yeah, and those prisoners are roaming the streets, molesting small children, dragging them out of their yards. It's just horrible ! I read about it, . . . well, . . . NEVER ! The criminals are locked up behind 20' walls and barbed wire.

Huntsville IMO is a kool place to live out of the city hustle and bustle. You're on the edge of Sam Houston National Forest so it does have that forested feel to it. SHSU is a pretty nice mid-size university IMO also.

Access to The Woodlands is 30 minutes away with outstanding shopping and eateries. Easy peasy ! The mall is great there and there is an outstanding HEB Plus just off I-45 east on Tx 242. Really not much reason to venture into Houston proper unless going to the museums or major sporting events and such. The Woodlands are considered part of the Greater Houston metro area and is a unique but generally more upscale area. We go there for weekend getaways several times a year (90 min drive for us).

I don't know where you are from or your experience with hyper-heavy traffic but Houston can have some of the most congested freeway traffic and aggressive drivers are numerous. I travel into Houston 4-5 times a year and never make it through town without at least one complete shutdown of a freeway and sometimes end up sitting or creeping for half an hour or more while I try not to be on the freeways during rush hours.

Not knowing you or your wants and desires for a community I'd give Huntsville a thumbs up !

[C24L]

Originally Posted by BobTex

Yeah, and those prisoners are roaming the streets, molesting small children, dragging them out of their yards. It's just horrible ! I read about it, . . . well, . . . NEVER ! The criminals are locked up behind 20' walls and barbed wire.

Huntsville IMO is a kool place to live out of the city hustle and bustle. You're on the edge of Sam Houston National Forest so it does have that forested feel to it. SHSU is a pretty nice mid-size university IMO also.

Access to The Woodlands is 30 minutes away with outstanding shopping and eateries. Easy peasy ! The mall is great there and there is an outstanding HEB Plus just off I-45 east on Tx 242. Really not much reason to venture into Houston proper unless going to the museums or major sporting events and such. The Woodlands are considered part of the Greater Houston metro area and is a unique but generally more upscale area. We go there for weekend getaways several times a year (90 min drive for us).

I don't know where you are from or your experience with hyper-heavy traffic but Houston can have some of the most congested freeway traffic and aggressive drivers are numerous. I travel into Houston 4-5 times a year and never make it through town without at least one complete shutdown of a freeway and sometimes end up sitting or creeping for half an hour or more while I try not to be on the freeways during rush hours.

Not knowing you or your wants and desires for a community I'd give Huntsville a thumbs up !

okay i stand corrected.Huntsville does seem nice from your description.I have had lots of experience with heavy traffic.

[Trainwreck20]

Had friends that went to school there many years ago, so not sure how much has changed, but it is (imho) a very pretty town - lots of pine woods and a surprising amount of rolling topography. The school was (not sure it still is, though) considered kind of a 'commuter school', where a LOT of the students left each weekend as opposed hanging around town. That isn't necessarily a bad thing for a family, though. Not sure on schools or local activities.

[supfromthesite]

Originally Posted by BobTex

Yeah, and those prisoners are roaming the streets, molesting small children, dragging them out of their yards. It's just horrible ! I read about it, . . . well, . . . NEVER ! The criminals are locked up behind 20' walls and barbed wire.

No, but it attracts the prisoners families to move closer to them. They may stay in the area after they get out of prison too.

The prisons made the town of Beeville a lot worse. I can see why they would be a concern.

[dallasboi]

No one moves to a small prison town to be close to their prison inmate relative. "You do the crime you do the time....Me and the kids will make road trips to see you when needed."...That's usually the mentality of families with relatives in prison.

And to be fair...IF THEY DID move to the Huntsville they would most likely get the hell out of there once their loved one is released....even if its just to Houston.