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Where To Live In Houston

blackdog

By blackdog
in Moving to Houston

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blackdog

blackdog

Posted
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Hi All,

We're relocating to Houston (I'll be working on Highway 6 south of I-10; I figured that this was a good forum to start) and wonder if any of you can offer some suggestions on where to look for a home. To throw out a wishlist and give you some background on our interests:

1) it would be great to commute 30 mins or less

2) we're early 30's; no children yet, but soon... ;)

3) proximity to running trails and greenery would be fantastic (Terry Hersey Trail ok?)

4) would love to be able to walk/bike to shops, restaurants, pub for a drink every now and then

5) 2-3 times a month, would be great to see plays/theatre and jazz/classical music. It would be great to see live rock and roll/ soul/ funk/ etc. sometimes too.

6) safe neighborhood

7) someplace nice to walk the dog every day...

I've only visited Houston for the job interview, so I don't have a feet-on-the-ground perspective of the city and don't really know if what we've seen on the internet is valid, but... so far, we've thought a couple of places look interesting: "the Heights", which seems nice, but maybe too far of a commute? "the Galleria" and the Westchase area? I've been looking along Terry Hersey trail on google maps looking for nice neighborhoods too...We'll be able to afford a house up to ~300K.

Any suggestions?

Thank you for your help!!!

-blackdog

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Guest danax

Guest danax

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Definitely check out the East End.

just kidding...I would try to buy one of those cool, mod homes in Memorial Bend area if at all possible, but that's my taste. If you're only going to be attending the theatre and all that a couple of times a month, the short commute would be preferred to a short distance to entertainment. I don't think you can really have both.

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blackdog

blackdog

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Forum!

Wow! Thank you for the quick information, especially your detailed response tw2ntyse7en! You all give credit to the Friendly Texas moniker! It'll take me a while to digest all you've written (with map in hand). With your responses, I think we'll be focusing our search to the rectangle described by 610 to the east, I10 to the north, Hwy 6 to the west, and the Westpark Tollway to the south - with caution around Alief.

Is it correct to think that if we lived west of the W Sam Houston Road within the rectangle described above, I'd probably have a 30 min commute to Hwy 6, and that if we lived as far east as 610 (say at the intersection of 610 and Hwy 59), that the commute would be ~ 1 hr? I think I'd shell out for taking the toll road every day...if that's faster than the surface streets.

Would it be crazy for taking the surface streets (say Memorial, 1093, or Richmond) instead of a highway if one lived east of the San Houston Rd? For example, I saw a home online in "Galleria" which was ~ 15 miles to where I'll work. However, that 15 miles would take me close to 45 mins to drive via surface roads (it was off Richmond Ave)?

Thanks! I promise to keep you informed!

-blackdog

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texasdago

texasdago

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Duh... sorry about that.

Take a look at Memorial Plaza... a few nice houses under $300K and your kids could walk to Rummel Creek Elementary, one of the best schools in SBISD. One of them is a very cool split-level house... not the best location but worth a look.

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blackdog

blackdog

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Hello again!

Memorial Bend looks really interesting! I very much like that style home (The William Floyd designed homes). Tw2ntyse7en, I like the 50-60's mod as well as bungalow style...I think I'm just more attracted to something with some individual style rather than the more generic, mass-produced houses (though my pocketbook might not be so choose-y!) Tw2ntyse7en, if you aren't in a Houston real estate czar, maybe you should be by the wealth of information you share. Thanks!

Texasdago, do you have more info on the house with pool there? Anything online? I checked MLS, but didn't seem to find it.

Any realtors that specialize in this general area that are online? I really like karenderr's site, it offers lots of information and videos, though they focus on the Heights area.

Thank you all!

-blackdog

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texasdago

texasdago

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Well, right now what is for sale in Memorial Bend tends to be mostly traditional - there are 2-3 mods for sale. One has a big lot and the owner (GRRR!!!) wants to sell it as a teardown - it is in fine shape, though.

The one with the 20,000 ft lot and pool is listed on buyowner.com and the listing # is 4139.

As for mid-century realtors, go to the Houston Mod board on this web page and send a message to rps324 - he'll hook you up.

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blackdog

blackdog

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Thanks! Thats a beautiful house. Looks to be a little out of our range, but it's close. (I guess it would really depend on if we wanted to spruce up the kitchen (I strongly dislike white kitchens... ;) )

Here are two other houses that really caught our interest, to give you a sense of our preferences:

http://www.har.com/search/engine/indexdeta...=0&backButton=Y

Its MLS # 2719593. Looks really nice to me, I just wonder about the proximity to the main drag street.

http://www.har.com/search/engine/indexdeta...=0&backButton=Y

This one is MLS # 6921398. Again, it looks great, but its right on Memorial, which might be difficult.

Thanks again Forum!

-blackdog

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SpaceAge

SpaceAge

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The house you mention above in Briarmeadow on Longfield was built for the 1957 Parade of Homes. The Parade of Homes was the big yearly event where builders could be in the spotlight and have their creations seen by hundreds of thousands both in person and in the newspapers and magazines. Most of the Parade homes are larger and have more features than the typical houses in the neighborhood.

This house is located at the end of a cul-de-sac about six or seven houses from Richmond Avenue. I did not notice extreme traffic noise when I visited several weeks ago. Briarmeadow is really an undiscovered jewel of a neighborhood. It is very well maintained and has an excellent home owners association. If you enter and exit the neighborhood from Westheimer or north Hillcroft, it seems like you are very close to the Galleria area. Other neighborhoods just a mile or so away have smaller, older houses, that sell for much more.

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texasdago

texasdago

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Both houses are worth looking at and the Briarmeadow one does have a ton of potential. One factor to consider - if you're going to have kids, I would say Memorial Plaza hands-down. The schools zoned to Briarmeadow are not good schools whereas Memorial Plaza is zoned to Rummel Creek, Memorial Jr. High and Stratford High School - much much much better.

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LTAWACS

LTAWACS

Posted
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Definitely check out the East End.

just kidding...I would try to buy one of those cool, mod homes in Memorial Bend area if at all possible,  but that's my taste. If you're only going to be attending the theatre and all that a couple of times a month, the short commute would be preferred to a short distance to entertainment. I don't think you can really have both.

What's wrong with the east end?

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Gary

Gary

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I was thinking about this post while driving to a friends house last Friday and thought I would do some trip timing.

My friend lives in Willowbend ( between South Post Oak and Willowilde) so this is obviously my destination. I started timing at HWY 6 and the Westpark tollway, the time was 5:33 pm. Traffic of course down the tollway was nonexistant. I took the tollway all the way in until I exited on the feeder of 610 South. I stayed on the feeder, went through the light at Fournace and got up on the freeway (South). I then exited onto South Post Oak turning left on Willobend and into the neighborhood eventually pulling into my friends driveway. The time was 5:56.

So on a Friday at 5:30 in the afternoon I made it from HWY 6 and the Westpark tollway to teh middle of Willowbend in 23 minutes and that was with some decent traffic on 610 and at the light at South Post Oak & Willowbend.

I thought I'd post my time to Blackdog to let him know that the great homes (and entertainment) in town are not to far of a commute if you allow yourself 30 minutes.

You said your working off of I-10 & HWY 6 so that might add between 7 and 10 minutes to my above time. And by the way my time was made doing about 57 mph, that is until I hit a little traffic.

Good luck.

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blackdog

blackdog

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Hi Forum & Gary,

Thanks for checking the time of the drive! Sounds pretty reasonable to me. Do you think it would be similar during the AM rush into work (for me on Hwy6)?

We've seen some pretty nice houses on the internet. I can't wait to get into town in 3 weeks to start really looking around! Maybe the prices of those couple of great "mods" will come down some? I can dream, can't I? ;)

Aloha,

blackdog

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Gary

Gary

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Hi Forum & Gary,

Thanks for checking the time of the drive!  Sounds pretty reasonable to me.  Do you think it would be similar during the AM rush into work (for me on Hwy6)? 

We've seen some pretty nice houses on the internet.  I can't wait to get into town in 3 weeks to start really looking around!  Maybe the prices of those couple of great "mods" will come down some?  I can dream, can't I?  ;)

Aloha,

blackdog

I would certainly think so since you would be going out of town in the am and into town in the pm. The time really shouldn't vary much at all.

The cool thing to me is that there are some fantastic mods in this area that are well within your budget, especially on the South side of Willowbend. This area is so close and conveniant to so much the city has to offer.

I have fallen in love with the homes over there and some the yards are like magazine covers, just beautiful. With the budget you mentiond earlier you won't have to dream at all to get into a killer mod.

Good luck.

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Gary

Gary

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To me, the east end and even the area in Willowbend have a lot going for them.  I love the houses over there.  However, if schools/school district are part of the decision-making process, the schools in Memorial are far far better and safer.

Man that's the truth. My buddy who lives there grew up there and he told me that anyone and everyone who can afford to live in the area sends there kids to private schools.

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Gary

Gary

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The commute thing is true but after I took the Westpark toll road I'm not sure that the village is out of the question. If it took me 23 minutes from 6 and the Tollway to Willowbend (and in the neighborhood at that) getting to the village continuing down Westpark shouldn't be much different.

I'm thinking about 30 minutes from 6 and I-10, give or take a couple of minutes. What's really cool is that it's a reverse flow commute so it allows alot more freedom for travel.

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dalparadise

dalparadise

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The commute thing is true but after I took the Westpark toll road I'm not sure that the village is out of the question. If it took me 23 minutes from 6 and the Tollway to Willowbend (and in the neighborhood at that) getting to the village continuing down Westpark shouldn't be much different.

I'm thinking about 30 minutes from 6 and I-10, give or take a couple of minutes. What's really cool is that it's a reverse flow commute so it allows alot more freedom for travel.

Watch that West Belt traffic, though. the toll plaza -- even the EZ tag lanes -- seems to back up frequently, often for 10 minutes+. This can add to frustration and commute time. You're right about Westpark, though. It's a breeze...for now. It's still quite new.

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Gary

Gary

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Watch that West Belt traffic, though. the toll plaza -- even the EZ tag lanes  -- seems to back up frequently, often for 10 minutes+. This can add to frustration and commute time. You're right about Westpark, though. It's a breeze...for now. It's still quite new.

It's new but I don't think it will ever get like the beltway because of all the east/west infrastructure going up. Also in Blackdog's case he would be traveling against the flow of traffic both ways so he should be good to go.

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blackdog

blackdog

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Hi All!

Got the big map of Houston up on the wall and am marking off areas according to your comments. Thanks!

When you mention "The Village", where do you mean? I've found lots of villages on the map...

What about West University Place? Seems like a nice area, probably within 45 mins for my drive, and what about the schools? Are they ok?

Thanks again!

-blackdog

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