Moving to htown

[BrandonH]

pearland/silverlake area. lots of housing, great schools and Houston is 10 min away. seems like everyone is moving down here,lol

This. We've been here 9 years now and love it. Everything is convenient and the schools are good.

[JGreen31]

Moving to htown

I would look at hwy 288 south. Pearland area. Take 288 north to 45 north and get off right at the aquarium. Shortest route with the least traffic IMO.

[Masmak]

Do your homework on school districts. We got burned when we moved here and had to move 3 years later

https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-school-districts/best-overall/m/houston-metro-area/

[johnspencer]

Thanks

I would look at hwy 288 south. Pearland area. Take 288 north to 45 north and get off right at the aquarium. Shortest route with the least traffic IMO.

👍 will check it out tomorrow. Thanks

[Mary]

One son age 10. Two daughters under 3. Private school won't really be an option I don't think. I have no idea what it costs but with out a doubt prolly can't afford it. And we realize the driving is going to be crappy. But we just really want out of Lubbock and she could transfer to Houston. So she is going to.

Do you really realize? I really hope you guys spend a day or two here in the area you think you want to be in and let her drive it during rush hour. Then let her think about doing that EVERY day....especially with kids that age.

I am not trying to discourage you from moving to Houston, just spend some serious time weighing your options on where you should live. That daily commute of 1 - 1.5+ hours to and from is extremely stressful....especially when you have young kids.

[HouCav]

I'm with Stan. Live in the energy corridor, too, and have enjoyed it for 12 years now. Spring Valley area just west of 610 & north of I-10 is very close to her and significantly cheaper than anything south of I-10. Still in the very good Spring Branch school district, which would save you $20K per year (going by most of the good private schools on this side of town) to apply to your mortgage if you've got 2 kids. I'm a little further out toward Westchase, but frankly it's a lot further from her and more expensive in the neighborhoods around us (for similar construction but with lower value neighborhoods a little further away).

Think about what you're going to be doing, too, though. If you make it convenient for her but put yourself driving across the wrong section of town to get to work, you could create a real nightmare. Definitely consider balancing the total travel time.

HAR.com has a nice search feature that lets you draw a line around an area of the map that you want to search and look for houses meeting your criteria just within that area. Ought to try that. Can look at rentals the same way if you want to.

[d arrow]

H town area is a big town and yes, it is also a crowded place. I remember dealing with traffic when living down there, I much rather deal with the everyday commute I dealt with rather than the traffic else where around H town area. 288 was a very forgiving route and I was thankful we lived in Alvin, pass hwy 6 on 288 was a good route, I still can see it up to these days whenever we drive down to see families. Rosharon further down 288 may be a place to look into as well, your out in the country yet, not far from the big city.

[d arrow]

I would not be surprise if you find a rental properties on a nice piece of land around my old stomping ground within your budget, I'm sure there are some around if you decide to look in that area.

[d_e_smith]

Do you really realize? I really hope you guys spend a day or two here in the area you think you want to be in and let her drive it during rush hour. Then let her think about doing that EVERY day....especially with kids that age.

I am not trying to discourage you from moving to Houston, just spend some serious time weighing your options on where you should live. That daily commute of 1 - 1.5+ hours to and from is extremely stressful....especially when you have young kids.

That's why when we moved here initially, we moved inside the loop. But had 5 days to figure things out and made it an easier choice to rent to test-drive things. Memorial Dr is a speedway.

[raceruss2003]

The Heights area is making a nice comeback and though property values are soaring in that area, there are still some good deals to be found. It'll be a pretty easy commute to her job if it's near the Downtown Aquarium. Public schools area no-go anywhere around there, but there are pretty good private school options in the area. Good luck.

Good luck finding anything other than a garage apartment in The Heights for under $2000. That place is WAY over priced.

Funny how someone mentioned above that the market may bust in the near future. In the past two years that I have been here there has been so much building and urban sprawl from Houston up through the Spring area where I live, that I am thinking about going out even further when I purchase a house in the next year or so. This city is growing like it is on steroids!!

[txpitdog]

I've lived in Houston for going on 20yrs, and there are PLENTY of nice, safe, affordable areas and neighborhoods to live in. Don't get all worked up by the comments from some who've likely never even been to Houston.

I've lived in Alvin, Pearland, Jersey Village, Westbury, Magnolia, and just recently moved to Kingwood. Everything is a trade off. The further out in the burbs you go to get to better schools you pay for in traffic depending on where you work.

The Número Uno driver for selecting where you live should be the schools. If you don't make it a priority now, you will after you realize your mistake. We moved away from Jersey Village/Cypress because the schools within Cy-Fair we were zoned to were garbage. There are good schools in Cy-Fair, but you'll need to be way out on 290 to Bridgeland to get in them. Pearland has been pretty consistent with their school system, and I believe Alvin ISD has too.

When we looked at moving we quickly narrowed it down to Tomball ISD and Humble ISD (Kingwood only). Conroe ISD is really good, and so are Friendswood, and The Woodlands. Be sure to look at the district as a whole and then once you begin honing in on an area, make sure the elementary, middle, and high schools all meet your expectations. There are districts with good and bad pockets, like Klein and Cy-Fair, and you don't want to move into a neighborhood you love only to find out the schools are bad.

[Mayhem]

We live in Porter 59 just north of Kingwood and my wife and i both commute. She drives to the Galleria area and i drive to Missouri City everyday. Granted, my hours make it to where i dont have any traffic and the wife has been making the same run for 11 years. We have 2 small children 5 and 2.

[Stick-Launcher]

Just a word of advice.....let her drive that one morning and one evening, before you move out there and she has to do it everyday. It is not something I could do!

We live in Seabrook and my wife drives to downtown. I sure she would have quit if not for her ability to work from home a couple days a week.

The traffic is tough. I would take Mary's advice.

[texansfan]

H Town is like any big city and you need to keep your head on a swivel all the time.

I don't understand this.
I don't think Houston is *that* violent or changes *that* quickly.
You can EASILY spot the "no go" areas before you come upon them.
Unless you have specific business in the bad areas (Acres Homes, Sunnyside, etc) then you will not be there (Antoine/Little York, Bellfort/Cullen, etc)

And most private schools start at $12k per year and the "good ones" go for about $18k per year.

[Texastaxi]

Do you really realize? I really hope you guys spend a day or two here in the area you think you want to be in and let her drive it during rush hour. Then let her think about doing that EVERY day....especially with kids that age.

I am not trying to discourage you from moving to Houston, just spend some serious time weighing your options on where you should live. That daily commute of 1 - 1.5+ hours to and from is extremely stressful....especially when you have young kids.

Listen to this woman ... there is SO much value in this post.
I turned down a GOOD job, downtown, because of the commute.

And if you're already calling it H-town, you might want to check out the 5th Ward.