native5th

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good moving company? We need a major one, like Mayflower or United to move us from one 2700 sq foot home to another. We have a full attic and garage, too. We are moving from Houston to Spring. We are doing the packing ourselves. Thanks!

Hey, you guys..we are moving from Houston to the Woodlands. We LOVE the Lifeforms homes, too. The only problem is..most of them were built around the Grogans/Panther Creek/Cochrans Crossing that is zoned to a different elem/intermediate school than we'd like them to be. We'd love to be closer in like Grogan's or Panthers where so many of the great Lifeforms homes are.

If any one out there can relate..I have a question for you about some of the private schools up there. Does anyone know about the Esprit International school in the Woodlands? It's a Montessori School that has applied/received International Baccalaureate ranking (While ALL the schools are great in the Woodlands we are in a Vanguard/IB school in Houston..sorry to get a little off topic here)..we are curious about this school. It is off Panther Creek Blvd. Some of the older Lifeforms homes are smaller and so much better priced, it would almost be the same price to buy one of those we really like, and go for a private school if it's not as pricy as Cooper..

Here's a thought..are there telephone poles near where the blades were found? Maybe someone working on a telephone line..or cable above your house had them and accidentally dropped them.

Does anyone know what will happen to the little Devonshire neighborhood? That's the small(three streets) neighborhood between Cambridge and Staffordshire, behind where the proposed Cambridge Tower on Woodbury will go and in front of the propsed Baylor Hospital..

yep - there are so many beautiful 20s and 30s era homes in Binz and Devonshire Place. Unfortunately, many of the Binz area homes haven't been kept up so well in the last few decades, allowing for the "easy" choice of demolition.

oh, apparently Patt made a killing on the property - when he sold, he probably looked something like this:

$$ > $$

Any idea what Patt got for that property? You'd think developers would be buying up land quickly in that neighborhood.

Does anyone remember that hamburger joint next to Westbury Square? It had a carousel in the middle of the restaurant.. It went really slow, and the animals on the carousel all had trays on them, so kids could sit on the animals and eat their hamburgers..this would have been around 1968..

My husband's commute has gone from 45 minutes each way to a minimum of 1 1/2 hours each way. Some days he has sat for over 2 hours. Life is too short for that and the Woodlands isn't worth that type of commute.

And yeah, I miss the city, Texans and good service of all types.

Thanks, Katie..but we're looking for something a little closer in to the Woodlands than Sterling Ridge, so the commute will not be bad. But my realtor might know someone else...

No all the homes are the same age. One with pools are selling for more, despite what the house looks like.

Hi KatieDidIt-

We are looking for a house in the Woodlands in the next(I hope) month or two.. I am glad you are private..we are, too. our realtor is Kayelyn Wright with Coldwell banker. I will tell her you have a house for sale, and that you might be contacting her. Give her the information on your house, and she can forward it to us. Thanks, and best of luck to you..

Hey, you guys are freaking me out a little bit. We live in Houston, and we are seriously considering moving to the Woodlands. We know several families who have moved out there/been there for at least five years and they love it and plan on staying out there. We are moving hoping to find a safer place/better schools for our family. I'd like to know..what villages are y'all talking about where you have these loonies walking around and knocking on your doors? Are you in the back of the Woodlands(like Alden Bridge areas?) Thank a lot for your input-

I think you're confusing two different places here - the building that housed Hamburgers by Gourmet on Alabama (at Yoakum, I believe) is long gone; the barrel-shaped burger joint is Lucky Burger, on Richmond at Mandell, and it is indeed still in business. I used to eat at the Alabama HBG regularly, as I lived only a few blocks away from it for most of the 80s. Wish they were still around.

Me, too. I have googled them, to see if anybody has posted any of their recipes, but no luck.

Does anybody know what will happen to the land that U of H owns on the corner of Braeswood and Wyndale? It's all fenced off now with "University of Houston" property signs. It is right across the street and down a bit from the Parkwood Apartment site where Baylor is building their new facility(ies) soon..

Does anybody remember the hamburger joint called "Hamburgers by Gourmet"? They had one on Kirby, I think around the place where Castle Dental/Shipleys Donuts are(on Kirby close to Sunset.) The Hamburgers by Gourmet there later became a fish and chips place. There was a Hamburgers by Gourmet on Alabama, that actually stayed in business I think until the late 80's early 90's. It's still a hamburger place. you can't miss it. It's in a little building shaped like a barrel. I'd REALLY LOVE to get the Hamburgers by Gourmet recipe for their hamburgers with the hickory smoked sauce. I tried e-mailing Ken Hoffman once for his fast food section in the CHronicle, but I didn't get a reply.

Thanks for this. Any news on when they will start building the hospital? I know they are still demolishing the apartmetns right now..

Hey guys, surprised no one has posted more details.

There was an article in the Baylor College of Medicine "Solutions" magazine.

http://www.bcm.edu/solutions/v2i3/center.html

Some people in my lab (I am a student at BCM) lived in the Parkwood and had to move out.

I'll keep my eyes posted for actual renderings -- I walk by the office that always has the renderings and architectural models every day.

I grew up in the Southgate area. I remember the Shamrock Theater very well. I saw the Halloween movies there, Amityville Horror, and I think the last movie I saw there was Urban Cowboy in 1980(?) I also remember going swimming at the Shamrock Hilton Hotel, and they had a bar there next to the hotel called Trader Vics. Does anyone remember that? How about the Ruby Reds hamburger joint that was close to the corner of Main and Greenbriar? They had great hamburgers. I remember thinking how cool it was when I was a kid, because you could throw peanut shells on the floor. And now the Stables is gone, so that whole main area is completely changed. There used to be a restuarant..was it called the Red Lion? (Next to the Stables, and then the Shamrock was further north, a little closer to Holcombe, I think. )

Nope, and I've tried to pry it out of them. They won't budge. They just kept telling me to wait until mid-January.

Mid January? That's interesting. Let me know if you hear anything!

We don't currently live in The Woodlands (right next to) but we are in the same Boy Scout district. My son is a Cub Scouts and they are primarily done by school to keep the boys together. I know Awana is done by churches. We do meet a church though. They don't have anything to do with the running of the Boy Scouts.

Thank you SO MUCH, you guys. By the way, the more people we tell about our plans to move, the more we hear from others who are planning on moving there as well. We are also moving aging parents, and I know the Woodlands has a lot of things for them to do. Thanks again for all of your help!

Does anyone have any information on the new hospital Baylor is building off Wyndale, where the old Parkwood Apartments used to be? I have not been able to find any new information on it. However, the old apartments continue to be demolished. There was also a rendering in the Baylor newspaper that showed a bridge going from Pressler (off Holcombe) going over the bayou, connecting to Wyndale, near where the hospital is to be built. U of H owns the land on the corner of Braeswood and Wyndale, and recently fenced off their land. Does anyone know anything about that one? Also, I know Cambridge Properties did own the land at 7000 Staffordshire, down the street from the proposed hospital. But Cambridge sold the land several years ago, and it has sat vacant ever since. If anyone has any info on the area(including the Devonshire Place neighborhood) please pass it on! thanks!

Thanks so much, you guys..The big issue will be the schools in the Woodlands. Anyone out there who can give their opinion is welcome to respond. I am concerned about intermediate schools all the way through high school. We are zoned to HISD right now in Houston. Which schools have the best advanced classes for the Woodlands? We are probably choosing the schools first and then the neighborhood. I have to tell you, I was a little freaked by the news about the Woodlands High School kids being caught with Molotov(spelling?) cocktails near another school. Would you choose the new College Park High School, or the old one? I am a native Houstonian, but we were hearing so many mixed things about the middle and high schools in Houston, we decided maybe it would be best to get out of HISD. Basically, we haven't found a neighborhood in The Woodlands we wouldn't be happy with. We love the Grogans and Panther Creek areas, because they are older. But we were surprised that those are the ones zoned to the new College Park High School. Cochrans Crossing and Indian Springs we like a lot, too, and those are the old Woodlands High School, right? Also, do the kids in the Scout programs in the Woodlands go to the Boy and Girl Scouts affiliated with their schools, or with their churches? Thanks again..

Thanks for that! We are going to tour the schools. We have also looked at the Life Forms houses, but we are not limiting ourselves to those. We love the open-ness of them. We have a friend who lives on the golf course in Grogan's, and when you are in the backyard, you can hear the freeway, but she says it doesn't bother her.

vicman will need to respond about the school districts.

my nephew, who lives with us, attends college park (we live in grogan's mill near town center). i'm not a fan of public schools; however, college park has been great for him. in comparison to the woodlands high school, i think the present culture at TWHS is superior to TWCP (the woodlands college park). college park is a new school. TWHS has 30 years of tradition and consistently receives high marks in education and athletics. i believe that college park will continue to improve and will be a true rival of the woodlands high school in years to come. if your kids are not yet in high school, college park may be just as noteworthy in a few years.

there are interesting houses in every village in the woodlands. grogan's mill is convenient and has homes from 90k to over a million dollars. the eastern side of grogan's mill suffers from i-45 road noise. west of grogan's mill road has some quieter spots. the deeper you go into the woodlands the quieter it is, with the exception of homes backing up to the woodlands parkway or research forest. also, find out where the nearest fire station is. i was not aware that there was a fire station right down grogan's mill road from my house. we hear the fire trucks every time they head south on grogan's mill or hit the woodlands parkway.

if you haven't already done so, get a map of the woodlands and/or use google maps when looking at houses.

feel free to PM me if you have other questions. i'm a woodlands geek and love to talk about it.

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vicman will need to respond about the school districts.

my nephew, who lives with us, attends college park (we live in grogan's mill near town center). i'm not a fan of public schools; however, college park has been great for him. in comparison to the woodlands high school, i think the present culture at TWHS is superior to TWCP (the woodlands college park). college park is a new school. TWHS has 30 years of tradition and consistently receives high marks in education and athletics. i believe that college park will continue to improve and will be a true rival of the woodlands high school in years to come. if your kids are not yet in high school, college park may be just as noteworthy in a few years.

there are interesting houses in every village in the woodlands. grogan's mill is convenient and has homes from 90k to over a million dollars. the eastern side of grogan's mill suffers from i-45 road noise. west of grogan's mill road has some quieter spots. the deeper you go into the woodlands the quieter it is, with the exception of homes backing up to the woodlands parkway or research forest. also, find out where the nearest fire station is. i was not aware that there was a fire station right down grogan's mill road from my house. we hear the fire trucks every time they head south on grogan's mill or hit the woodlands parkway.

if you haven't already done so, get a map of the woodlands and/or use google maps when looking at houses.

feel free to PM me if you have other questions. i'm a woodlands geek and love to talk about it.

Hey, you guys rock with all this helpful Woodlands housing advice!

My husband and I are looking at moving to the Woodlands in the summer. We have been out there several times, and LOVE it! We are moving for the schools, and great housing prices! We are even moving the grandparents, and we are equally impressed with ALL the cool senior stuff out there! Here are my questions for you..any feedback you can give would be GREATLY appreciated! The first question I have is about housing. Right now, we live in Houston, in the MIDDLE of the medical center, literally! We are close to the site where Baylor is building the new teaching hospital. What we love about our 38-year-old house, is its charm. Solid foundation, cool architectural details, high ceilings..stuff you don't find anymore. What neighborhood would you guys recommed, where we can find that in the Woodlands? Here's my equally important second question for you. Where do we look for a home if we're concerned about schools? I know they're all good out there. We would like to have Mitchell Intermediate, McCullough Jr. High and old Woodlands high school. Are they zoned to Indian Springs and Cochrans Crossing? We like both their subdivisions, but, we really like the old homes in Grogans Mills, PLUS Grogans Mills is so close to 45 and everything..does anybody know about the new College Park High School? What about students going there who live outside the Woodlands? Thanks, guys!

Thanks for the info about the demolition. Does anybody know who Cambridge Properties sold the land to at 7,000 Staffordshire in the Devonshire Place neighborhood, and what will happen to the homes around the Baylor Hospital and the land Cambridge sold?

We drove by the Parkwood Apartments and it seems like most of the residents have moved out now. The neighborhood does seem really quiet ..There are houses right across from where the apartments are and on the street directly behind them(Wyndale and Canterbury). It will be interesting to see what happens when the demolition starts..

Does anybody know what is going to happen to the nice old neighborhood(Devonshire?) by the Parkwood apartments.. They are one street in front of where Baylor is supposedly building the hospital. Has anyone heard what will happen to them? It seems like the builders have moved in further down close to Holcombe, with all those townhouses. There's not much land over there left for the Med. Center to take..