Commute Times

[Highway6]

Have a friend moving to Houston in 2 weeks who has enlisted my help in determining where he should live.

He'll be working part time 'in office' in the Woodlands and part time 'on site' in various refineries in the Baytown/Passadena Areas.

I'm prolly going to suggest somewhere centrally located near the freeway like the Alexan or maybe AmLI townsquare.

Can anyone here give me an idea as to what the commute times are Downtown to Woodlands and also Downtown to Baytown ?

Is it much better going in-out instead of out-in or does it equally suck ?

Also, i really don't know the NE part of town at all.. any help in determining where some good safe areas and apt. complexes are would also help.

Thanks.

[musicman]

it depends which way he is heading and when.

[Highway6]

it depends which way he is heading and when.

Normal morning and afternoon rush hour.

Scnenario 1: Downtown to Woodlands (morn) - Woodlands to Downtown (afternoon)

Scenario 2: Downtown to Baytown (morn) - Baytown to Downtown (afternoon)

Scenario 3: Kingwood to Woodlands (morn) - Woodlands to Kingwood (afternoon)

Scenario 4: Kingwood to Baytown (morn) - Baytown to Kingowood (afternoon )

[musicman]

Normal morning and afternoon rush hour.

Scnenario 1: Downtown to Woodlands (morn) - Woodlands to Downtown (afternoon)

Scenario 2: Downtown to Baytown (morn) - Baytown to Downtown (afternoon)

Scenario 3: Kingwood to Woodlands (morn) - Woodlands to Kingwood (afternoon)

Scenario 4: Kingwood to Baytown (morn) - Baytown to Kingowood (afternoon )

1 - traffic would be moving decently except when around downtown

2 - traffic would be moving decently except when around downtown. this is a long drive.

3 - would be pretty good as well if you use toll roads

4 - baytown to kingwood i think is quite a haul too.

i'll bet he'll end up in kingwood

[Highway6]

Are there any good areas to look at just off the NE quadrant of the Beltway ?

I agree, any drive to Baytown is gonna kinda suck purely on distance alone. But you basically asnwered my question.. distance may suck, but I-10 East and I-45 N / Tollway arent so bad traffic-wise going the minority commute direction. .... basically what i figured.. just want that either confirmed or shot down.

[skwatra]

Normal morning and afternoon rush hour.

Scnenario 1: Downtown to Woodlands (morn) - Woodlands to Downtown (afternoon)

Scenario 2: Downtown to Baytown (morn) - Baytown to Downtown (afternoon)

Scenario 3: Kingwood to Woodlands (morn) - Woodlands to Kingwood (afternoon)

Scenario 4: Kingwood to Baytown (morn) - Baytown to Kingowood (afternoon )

its all reverse-commute from downtown, so it should be too bad. in general i would think that 45N would be worst then 10E comparing scenarios 1 and 2.

you can use transtar to get an idea of average speeds at those times:

transtar historic data

not always completely accurate, but gives you a good idea.

question is, do they want to live in an urban or suburban environment. Baytown will probably take close to the same amount of time from either Kingwood or downtown, and Woodlands would be closer from Kingwood (depending where in Kingwood). But from Kingwood they would be paying tolls everyday.

[Trae]

Why doesn't he try Atascocita or areas around Lake Houston?

[Highway6]

question is, do they want to live in an urban or suburban environment. Baytown will probably take close to the same amount of time from either Kingwood or downtown, and Woodlands would be closer from Kingwood (depending where in Kingwood). But from Kingwood they would be paying tolls everyday.

My buddy was born and raised in East Texas and prolly prefer to live in Kingwood. But, has also will be new to town and my roomies and I are the only people he'll know, so part of him won't want to live so far out, he'll want to live close to us in Uptown.

So thats basically why I'm suggesting a close-in option and a suburb option. Kingwood or somewhere close to downtown and near 10.

Unfortunately I know squat about the NE part of town except for Kingwood, so I really can't offer him middle-of-the-road suggestions.

Why doesn't he try Atascocita or areas around Lake Houston?

Thats basically what I mean by Kingwood. I had a friend that lived in an AMLI complex right near the lake and loved it.

Once he settles on either close-in or far-out I'll be able to break it down more.

[ToryGattis]

Fall Creek at 59 and BW8 in the northeast is nice, but that's assuming he wants to buy a suburban house (or, I suppose, rent a suburban apt). He'd have an easy commute around east BW8 to Pasadena and Baytown, as well as up the Hardy to the Woodlands. There are several other developments around the NE corner of BW8 too (maybe Summerwood is one?). If he's looking to rent an apartment and have access to amenities and a singles scene, living inside the loop makes much more sense.

[Highway6]

Fall Creek at 59 and BW8 in the northeast is nice, but that's assuming he wants to buy a suburban house (or, I suppose, rent a suburban apt). He'd have an easy commute around east BW8 to Pasadena and Baytown, as well as up the Hardy to the Woodlands. There are several other developments around the NE corner of BW8 too (maybe Summerwood is one?). If he's looking to rent an apartment and have access to amenities and a singles scene, living inside the loop makes much more sense.

Well, what his new office is telling him, and now me, is that it won't be Baytown, but the Port area... so thats a far cry better not having to cross to the other side of the bay.

Pretty much rules out Kingwood or or the Fall creek area... and he's looking to lease, not buy.

You're right.. he needs to make a decision just how far in he wants to live for social reasons.

Skwatra.. i did look at the Transtar historical data.. i didnt realize they had that, so thanks.

It only a 25 min commute DT to Spring if you're going the 'opposite' direction... and I'm sure faster if ya jigjog onto the tollway.

All... how is the area between 45 and 59, north of downtown and south of the loop ?

Can anyone recommend good Apt or townhome complexes in this area ?

[wxman]

I work in Sharpstown. I live in The Woodlands. This is a 44 mile trek if I take 45 to 59. It is 39 miles if I take the loop. The point is I leave the house at 6:10am and the longest it has ever taken me to get there is 1 hr and 5 min.

The Woodlands to DT takes me 35 min. in the morning going WITH traffic. If you are going the opposite direction, it shouldn't take quite that long.

I suggest Kingwood if he is going to be driving to Baytown as well. He will be A) close to the two major freeways...The Beltway (Sam Houston Tollway) and 59. That's your DT connection. The Beltway is your Woodlands and Baytown Connection. Your practically on top of the airport (IAH).

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Have a friend moving to Houston in 2 weeks who has enlisted my help in determining where he should live.

He'll be working part time 'in office' in the Woodlands and part time 'on site' in various refineries in the Baytown/Passadena Areas.

I'm prolly going to suggest somewhere centrally located near the freeway like the Alexan or maybe AmLI townsquare.

Can anyone here give me an idea as to what the commute times are Downtown to Woodlands and also Downtown to Baytown ?

Is it much better going in-out instead of out-in or does it equally suck ?

Also, i really don't know the NE part of town at all.. any help in determining where some good safe areas and apt. complexes are would also help.

Thanks.

I've had to drive up to Conroe a few times in the mornings from my house (610 at 288). I took 288 to 59 to 610 to the Hardy Toll Road, and made it to Conroe in about 35 minutes. Of course, that's not going the speed limit (47 miles in 35 minutes = 80 mph average speed). But the fact that I could drive 80 mph the entire way says something about the traffic on that route...very easy. The worst part was 288 up to downtown, which takes all of 5 minutes.

I've never had to drive to Baytown at rush hour, but according to MapQuest it's a 26-mile drive. I would assume that doing a reverse commute, you can do well over 60 mph...therefore you could get from downtown to Baytown in less than 26 minutes (it would be 22 minutes at 70 mph). MapQuest estimates 30 minutes. The toughest part of the drive should be waiting through all the downtown stoplights to get to I-10.

Another resource is http://houstontranstar.org/:

Average speed on I-10 Eastbound inside the Loop is consistently above 65 mph...no slowdowns:

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/speedcharts/get_speedchart.aspx?Free=IH-10_East&Dir=Eastbound&Segment=206-207&Line=2006&Street=Lockwood to IH-610 East Loop://http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/...H-610 East Loop://http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/...H-610 East Loop://http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/...H-610 East Loop

Using the same website, as you go farther east towards BW-8 and Baytown, the average speed throughout the day approaches 70 mph.

For the Woodlands commute, the same site shows that average speeds on I-45 North exceed 70 mph on most stretches in the mornings (for example, 1960 to Louetta averages about 75 mph during the morning rush hour): http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/speedcharts/get_speedchart.aspx?Free=IH-45_North&Dir=Northbound&Segment=269-62&Line=2006&Street=FM-1960 to Louetta://http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/...1960 to Louetta://http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/...1960 to Louetta://http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/...1960 to Louetta

[ToryGattis]

Well, what his new office is telling him, and now me, is that it won't be Baytown, but the Port area... so thats a far cry better not having to cross to the other side of the bay.

Pretty much rules out Kingwood or or the Fall creek area... and he's looking to lease, not buy.

I wouldn't necessarily say that. BW8 on the east side goes right to the port area of Pasadena. And if he's going further in, he can take 59 in to the 610 east loop.

All... how is the area between 45 and 59, north of downtown and south of the loop ?

Can anyone recommend good Apt or townhome complexes in this area ?

Not so good. The Heights west of 45 is a better bet. I imagine leasing options are plentiful there, because plenty of people are buying stuff there as an investment, and they need to lease it out.