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LGBT Family- Pittsburgh PA To Woodlands/Spring TX


Travis Simpson-Hun

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We are Gay couple moving from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Houston.  We have 3 boys (4-5-8 years old) two are black.  I'm Native American and my husband is European.  What do you all think about The Woodlands & Spring Texas for a place to buy a home and settle down? 

 

Do you all think that those two areas are nice, safe or open minded and tolerant? 

 

---Travis & Stephen

travisbernard.hunt@gmail.com

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28 minutes ago, Travis Simpson-Hun said:

We area Gay couple moving from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Houston.  We have 3 boys (4-5-8 years old) two are black.  I'm Native American and my husband is European.  What do you all think about The Woodlands & Spring Texas for a place to buy a home and settle down? 

 

Do you all think that those two areas are nice, safe or open minded and tolerant? 

 

---Travis & Stephen

travisbernard.hunt@gmail.com

Fantastic area, and please don't overlook Shenandoah. Great neighborhoods, community oriented, and you will find some nice homes on the market. This is between Hwy 242 & Research Forest Boulevard, west of the North Freeway. The Woodlands is a very busy area. If you need accommodations while you search for a home, please come and see me. I have a couple of nice Homewood Suites within 5 minutes of one another, and we'll be opening up a Home2 off of Tamina Rd. in the coming days. Feel free to PM me here @ the HAIF.

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Montgomery County is the MOST conservative in the Houston area. It's also one of the least diverse. If you're set on the suburbs, I'd look towards Fort Bend County (Sugar Land, Missouri City) but so much will depend on where you'll be working. 

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Thanks for the heads up.  We work from home. 

We would like to be in a nice neighborhood. With great school and shopping and dining close by. Side walks are important around with parks.  And we would like to have 4-5 bedrooms and a pool.   So with a wish list like this. The burbs is the only option.  

 

If anyone One has a realtor recommendation please send it on over. 

 

---Travis & Stephen

310-770-2334

 

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I'd also recommend against Spring/Woodlands.  You might also consider the suburbs of Pearland and Clear Lake City.  There are many neighborhoods in these two areas that might suit what you're looking for and you'll sense far less insularity.  Best wishes to you and your family!

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As a gay guy, I wouldn't be comfortable knowing 3 out of every 4 people in Montgomery County (home to The Woodlands and parts of Spring) voted for Trump. Not saying anything bad would happen, but I'd rather not be completely isolated in a Republican bubble. 

 

Fort Bend is the one suburban county that leans Democratic now. It's also the most diverse and more reflective of Houston's overall diversity. I also prefer the location better because the Southwest side of the area seems better connected than the far Northern suburbs. You'll have easier access to downtown, the Galleria, parks, zoo, museums, sports venues, etc... 

 

Lastly, I much prefer the Fort Bend model for schools, especially at the high school level. They prefer more and smaller rather than large campuses. Fort Bend has several highly regarded high schools whereas the Woodlands just has two. Springs schools are rated lower.

 

 

 

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I have several gay colleagues who live in The Woodlands, and love it. Yes, the area votes mostly Republican, but that's driven more by a dislike of Democrat fiscal policy than anything else. I've never heard of any issues towards non-traditional families, and my colleagues are the types that would be saying and doing something if that occurred.

 

The Woodlands is much greener than the areas South of Houston, with more trees, and, the last time I checked, lower taxes in many areas, as Conroe ISD tax rate is relatively low. In The Woodlands proper, MUD taxes are lower than average as well..

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As a 40 yr old gay Houstonian who has lived here all my life, I'd steer clear from the northern burbs nearest or within Montgomery County. It is the most conservative of all Houston burbs and consistently votes deep red. While I accept there are also socially liberal conservatives, unless you identify as such and don't mind the risk of possibly having hateful neighbors, I would look elsewhere.  Fort Bend is much more diverse and would be a better LGBT family friendly option.  

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15 hours ago, intencity77 said:

As a 40 yr old gay Houstonian who has lived here all my life, I'd steer clear from the northern burbs nearest or within Montgomery County. It is the most conservative of all Houston burbs and consistently votes deep red. While I accept there are also socially liberal conservatives, unless you identify as such and don't mind the risk of possibly having hateful neighbors, I would look elsewhere.  Fort Bend is much more diverse and would be a better LGBT family friendly option.  

Is that based on experience, or just an assumption that people who vote for politicians with an anti-LGBT bent will be personally hateful to their neighbors? I know a lot of folks in Montgomery County, and they vote for Republicans mostly due to a desire to eliminate taxes, not to support discrimination. On a personal level, they don't care who you are or what your personal life is, as long as you keep your house looking neat and follow the deed restrictions.

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21 hours ago, intencity77 said:

As a 40 yr old gay Houstonian who has lived here all my life, I'd steer clear from the northern burbs nearest or within Montgomery County. It is the most conservative of all Houston burbs and consistently votes deep red. While I accept there are also socially liberal conservatives, unless you identify as such and don't mind the risk of possibly having hateful neighbors, I would look elsewhere.  Fort Bend is much more diverse and would be a better LGBT family friendly option.  

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Travis and Stephen,

Welcome to Houston to y'all and your family. 

As a gay man, I have generally found Houston to be very tolerant and accepting.  Much more so than the national impression that Texas has in general.  If you are willing to work hard and be good people, then mostly, regardless where you live, you won't find a lot homophobia and bigotry.  That's not to say it doesn't exist...it exists everywhere.  I've had gay friends that have lived in the Woodlands and have enjoyed it.  They didn't stay but, I don't think that they left due to hateful neighbors.  It was just too far out.  So, for you and Stephen, I think that generally, you would be fine and appreciated even.  Certainly exotic. (lol)   Your family certainly would help with Fort Bend diversity problem too.  

I am not so sure about how your kids would be received at schools.  My partner and I do not know any gay parents that have kids in Fort Bend Schools.  So, I am of no help with the topic of tolerance at schools.  But, kid's today do seem to be generally and genuinely not interested people's sexuality (finally). Just doesn't seem to be a big deal, anymore.  At least that's how it seems to me...from an inner city prospective.  I hope I'm right. 

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What unites Montgomery County is its political conservatism.  Otherwise, it's pretty schizophrenic.  The Woodlands (and adjacent suburbia) are definitely upscale suburban, with just about everyone having come from somewhere else and therefore generally not overly interested in their neighbors' personal lives.  Once you get north and east of Conroe you get into our own equivalent of Pennsyltucky - some refer to it as "behind the Pine Curtain." (***cue banjos***)

 

One thing that I don't think has been addressed is that traffic IN The Woodlands can be pretty bad.  There just aren't a whole lot of ways in or out, nor are there many through streets.  Also, as an area that started out from Day One as a master planned cul de sac suburb, pretty much all of the services (stores, gas stations, restaurants, schools, churches, etc.) are around where those few main thoroughfares intersect with one another.  Trivia note:  Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" album was written about The Woodlands, where the Butler brothers grew up.

 

I will also add another log to the "it's waaaaay out there" fire.  It takes 45 minutes +/- to get there from downtown Houston without traffic - and significantly more with traffic, on top of the time spent getting to the freeway or toll road. 

 

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10 hours ago, nate4l1f3 said:

If possible, wouldn't the best advice for anyone moving to Houston be to RENT first?  There are waaaay too many options to pin down a choice without visiting for a bit, and that's just the suburbs.  

 

For us we would like to have a rough idea going in so our children will not have to switch schools.  And also,  rent in the areas that we like (The Woodlands & Spring) would be around $25-$30,000 a year that we could be putting toward a home that we own. 

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Speaking from experience, people in the suburbs can find a way to be snotty neighbors for any or no reason at all, while others will be very welcoming and friendly. I found the same to be true when I lived in town. Any insularity that I have experienced was not mitigated by my own personal matching demographics or (presumed) political preferences.  Here's hoping that your family and everyone else here is lucky enough to live close to a few non-jerks wherever you land.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Not sure if you determined your family's choice yet, but I would strongly recommend the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest or Spring Branch areas of Houston. You'll be in the city and still be able to get most of what is on your wish list, plus be around tons of diversity with easy access to the best parts of the city. I honestly don't know of many suburbs in Houston that are "progressive" but if you wanted to take the chance on suburban living, I'd recommend Sugar Land as well. It's the only suburb I've been to that feels diverse. The Woodlands is nice but far far away from Houston and you'll feel pretty isolated from the city. 

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  • 2 months later...
On 8/10/2017 at 10:12 PM, Travis Simpson-Hun said:

We are Gay couple moving from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Houston.  We have 3 boys (4-5-8 years old) two are black.  I'm Native American and my husband is European.  What do you all think about The Woodlands & Spring Texas for a place to buy a home and settle down? 

 

Do you all think that those two areas are nice, safe or open minded and tolerant? 

 

---Travis & Stephen

travisbernard.hunt@gmail.com

 

Woodlands is a nice area as far as living but not sure about the tolerance.  It is Montgomery county and tends to be quite conservative.  But it is ultimately your choice.

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On 8/12/2017 at 0:37 AM, Travis Simpson-Hun said:

Thanks for the heads up.  We work from home. 

We would like to be in a nice neighborhood. With great school and shopping and dining close by. Side walks are important around with parks.  And we would like to have 4-5 bedrooms and a pool.   So with a wish list like this. The burbs is the only option.  

 

If anyone One has a realtor recommendation please send it on over. 

 

---Travis & Stephen

310-770-2334

 

 

 

You may also consider Montrose or Heights area if your money is long because inner loop is quite expensive but quality of schools may be lacking but they do have alot of private schools.  Welcome to H-town!!

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