Building In The Heights

[goastros]

We lived in Sunset Heights for several years (2001-2008).  There were no kids on our street until we moved and then only one other family with kids.  We were zoned to Helms Elem at the time.  We moved because we needed another bathroom with a kid that was potty training age and we were exhausted from diy remodeling for the entire time we lived there.  

 

We moved to Lazybrook where we now have 2 bathrooms.  The neighborhood was pretty much blue hair when we moved in but now has lots of younger folks.  We were the only family with a kid on our block in 2008 and now there are 3 other families with kids.  We are zoned to Sinclair but when the kindergarten teacher suggested I drug my kid, we got in the lottery to move to another magnet school.  We're at Harvard now.  I would prefer Travis but we couldn't get in there.  I am happy with the zoned middle school (Black) and don't anticipate putting in for a transfer to another magnet school when we get to that point.  Harvard is pushing Hogg Middle School because it's a continuation of their IB program.  My neighbor that has a school aged child is sending her to Travis.  My husband refuses to pay for private school when he's already paying taxes for school.  My kid is exposed to every type of person and I'm happy about it even though he's still a little spoiled.  He knows kids at Travis, Harvard, Sinclair and Love because of his involvement with little league and cub scouts and Esperanza after school.  I would be comfortable moving him around from school to school if needed because it's not a drastic change for him.  The whole area is a really good community and you start moving in the same circles with other people that have kids just by virtue of participating in extra curricular activities.

 

[s3mh]

That's a good idea, but in practice upper middle class parents tend to be more concerned with careers, socializing, and their own personal lifestyles to spend much time trying to improve the schools.  They'd prefer to drop the kids off at a school with "the right sort of people" so they don't have to unduly worry about how the school is raising their children.

 

The only exceptions to that that I've seen is where the parents were raised in large, close-knit, loving families and in particular where one spouse deliberately leaves a lucrative career to stay home and raise the kids.  That can be hard to do in a place like the Heights where two six figure salaries might be needed to buy a house big enough for a family.

 

 

That is just a bunch of bull.  If anything, I have seen parents getting too involved with schools because they obsess over their kids development.  My wife works full time and is co-room mother with another mom who works full time.  Both are professionals and have family incomes that put them in the upper middle class demographic.  Every time I pick up my kid from school, there is a long

 

A few years before my kids were ready to start school, we looked at Love.  There were parents trying to get organized and replicate the successes of Harvard and Travis.  5-6 years ago, the feeling was that Love was next for a turnaround and Field was stuck because the principal at Love was very receptive to parents getting involved and the principal at Field was not very welcoming.  Everyone rallied very hard to keep Love from closing back in 2011.  Love tried to get a magnet program for computer science when the current principal took over about 5-6 years ago.  But that came too late as HISD was moving in the direction of scaling back magnets.  There was a "Friends of Love" group for a while, but it fizzled and did not seem to be able to mesh well with the existing PTO.  Now, there is momentum at Field with a new principal in place.  Every year, parents have been trying to get organized to work on improving Love, but there just has not been any momentum.  The number of zoned kids going to Love from the Heights has remained at just a trickle even though there is lots of interest and numerous attempts at getting groups of parents organized to help the school. 

 

HISD just does not seem to want to back Love the way it backed Harvard and Travis with magnet programs.  Magnet kids have to maintain a B average and are generally from families that are more motivated about their kids' education because they are wiling to take the time to deal with the lottery and drive their kid around town to find the best school.  Harvard, Travis and school in GOOF have benefitted greatly from the presence of their magnet programs which are probably as much the secret to their success as parental involvement.  Love has a difficult task of trying to improve without the benefit of a magnet program. 

 

We chose a magnet program instead of Love.  It was the right choice.  Our school is on a very good trajectory with lots of parental involvement.  It is actually more diverse than Harvard and Travis.  It is about 50% at risk and white kids are in the minority.  We had spots at private schools, but gladly gave them up for HISD. 

 

It is a bit funny how people wag their finger at parents who do not want to send their kids to Love because the student body is overwhelmingly low income and at risk, but at the same time argue that the only way these schools can improve is if the middle and upper middle class kids zoned to the school attend the school.  I never thought HAIF would be a hub for PC witch hunts.  The reality is that schools like Love are focused on all the issues that come with a large at risk population of students.   Most of the extra time teachers have is spent trying to keep kids from failing behind.  At the other schools, kids are held to higher standards and have more opportunities to do advanced work and get ahead.  If there were good signs of growth and forward momentum at Love, I would have been willing to take a risk.  But there just has not been any real momentum.  So, I made the right choice.

[Purpledevil]

I'm on no witch hunt, and am probably one of the least PC people in here.

You know why I wag the finger? Because it doesn't matter how you try to spin the original statement's wording, the intent is pretty clear. Those class of people are beneath my child and ultimately me, and there's no way I'm sending my child there to be corrupted by those undesirable elements.

Mine went to Aldine after a long argument with my wife, over this very same thing. She wanted him to use her parents address so he could go to Terry in Rosenberg because Aldine was too rough for him, and he won't get the attention there that he would at Terry, and so on and so on. When it was said and done, my boy graduated a Mustang.

I'm certainly not trying to tell someone else how to raise their kids, but try having a little faith in them that they will make the right decision when faced with such adversity.

S3mh, I don't necessarily disagree with what you did. If Love's curriculum isn't up to par, then you did the best thing for your child. That's a whole different set of circumstances altogether, and I applaud you for seeing to it that your child received the finest education available to him/her. I have no qualms with that. I do have a problem, however, when someone basically walks in the front door of the school house, takes a look around, says "Oh my, look at all the Mexicans!" and walks right back out because their child would be "put at a disadvantage" by attending the same school as them.

Apparently, you moved your child for the right reasons, s3mh. Given the wording of the other poster, it seems they did not, and are trying to mask their true feelings with a bunch of fancy words such as "underprivileged" and "English deficient".

...and some people actually wonder why we white folks are hated by so many.

[lowndes]

I'm on no witch hunt, and am probably one of the least PC people in here.

You know why I wag the finger? Because it doesn't matter how you try to spin the original statement's wording, the intent is pretty clear. Those class of people are beneath my child and ultimately me, and there's no way I'm sending my child there to be corrupted by those undesirable elements.

Mine went to Aldine after a long argument with my wife, over this very same thing. She wanted him to use her parents address so he could go to Terry in Rosenberg because Aldine was too rough for him, and he won't get the attention there that he would at Terry, and so on and so on. When it was said and done, my boy graduated a Mustang.

I'm certainly not trying to tell someone else how to raise their kids, but try having a little faith in them that they will make the right decision when faced with such adversity.

S3mh, I don't necessarily disagree with what you did. If Love's curriculum isn't up to par, then you did the best thing for your child. That's a whole different set of circumstances altogether, and I applaud you for seeing to it that your child received the finest education available to him/her. I have no qualms with that. I do have a problem, however, when someone basically walks in the front door of the school house, takes a look around, says "Oh my, look at all the Mexicans!" and walks right back out because their child would be "put at a disadvantage" by attending the same school as them.

Apparently, you moved your child for the right reasons, s3mh. Given the wording of the other poster, it seems they did not, and are trying to mask their true feelings with a bunch of fancy words such as "underprivileged" and "English deficient".

...and some people actually wonder why we white folks are hated by so many.

 

I think people care more about the quality of the education provided at certain HISD schools as opposed to the ethnic makeup of those schools.  We decided to send our kids to private school as we were not zoned to Harvard or Travis and are incredibly happy with the decision (although in all honestly we probably would have sent our kids to private school even if they were zoned to Harvard or Travis or any other HISD school but that is a personal choice).  The private school they attend is quite diverse which we are pleased with because part of an education is being around people of different cultures, who don't look just like us, etc.  It is actually one of the major reasons why we decided to stay living where we do instead of moving to the suburbs as exposing our kids to people of all different socio-economic backgrounds, racial backgrounds, cultures, etc. was something we highly valued.

 

All that being said I think it is a reasonable concern for a parent to have that if a high majority of students don't speak english, come into the school without knowing how to read, etc. that the quality of their kids education is going to take a hit.  It is certainly sad for those other kids and is part of the way our school systems are setup but one of the most important jobs I have as a parent is to give my children the best education they can and I'm not going to criticize a parent who chooses to not use their kids as guinea pigs in helping to turn a school around.

 

On a different note I actually attended Terry High School and thought it was a pretty bad school from an education standpoint (I'd also describe it as fairly rough).

[Heightsfamily]

jmontrose

you are getting just about everything but an answer to your question! You talk about kids in the Heights and this inevitably turns into a discussion on schools in the Heights. Heights people tend to be a passionate lot. I don't necessarily think schools bring kids to an inner loop neighborhood school (there are a few exceptions in Houston). So how do you find out about that elusive age group like your 11 year old son? What is he interested in? There is a very active scout troop in the Heights. I don't know if there are too many really active youth groups in Heights churches. We go to church downtown so it is always a bit of a struggle with the youth as there is not that "parish" community though currently there seems to be growth in this group. There are two little leagues active in the area. You mentioned your son is in private school. Ask the school to give you the list of students in the Heights zip codes - that could be telling. I will say that my first started private school in 1997 when we lived in Timbergrove and there was absolutely no hope of a carpool. We were the only ones in 77008. By the time my second graduated from HS in 2014 there were lots of contemporaries in this zip code. My son used to complain in elementary school that we did not live in West U where much of his classmates lived. He saw that they had lots of informal play opportunities. Trying to explain why we chose the Heights over West U was challenging, but he (college sophomore now) has commented recently how much he appreciates growing up in our neighborhood and sees some of the limitations of a neighborhood like West U. Good luck!

[august948]

It is a bit funny how people wag their finger at parents who do not want to send their kids to Love because the student body is overwhelmingly low income and at risk, but at the same time argue that the only way these schools can improve is if the middle and upper middle class kids zoned to the school attend the school.  I never thought HAIF would be a hub for PC witch hunts.  The reality is that schools like Love are focused on all the issues that come with a large at risk population of students.   Most of the extra time teachers have is spent trying to keep kids from failing behind.  At the other schools, kids are held to higher standards and have more opportunities to do advanced work and get ahead.  If there were good signs of growth and forward momentum at Love, I would have been willing to take a risk.  But there just has not been any real momentum.  So, I made the right choice.

 

No PC on HAIF?  You must have missed the 100+ page thread on the Heights Walmart.

 

[SamHouston]

JMontrose - This is what I've noticed, purely anecdotally:

 

People moving into the large $850+ renovated or new-build houses in the Heights predominately have very young children or are less than a year out from that. The comfort with the elementary and middle schools now is significantly better than with Reagan.

 

Due to this, it seems that a lot of these couples are ones who have kids later in life. Mostly because there aren't a ton of 28yos buying $1mm houses. Thinking about the surrounding blocks, all the new families that have moved here into new/renovated houses, the parents are all 35+. Just an interesting dynamic.

 

I will say, I wish there were more community things to do. For instance, we don't have a pool and really have no care for one, but I would happily pay $2500/year to have a pool club in the Heights.

 

Also, we're not religious at all, but wish there was a place that had all the community events of a church. Hell, just a place to meet other couples of small kids. I guess that's what grade school is for.

[BigFootsSocks]

The only people I see use the term "politically correct" are the people who complain about the "other side shoving PC down our throats" kinda bs. Whereas the progressive's, or the accused PC'er's, don't care so much about being whatever it is conservative white people delicate flower about. They care more about not being assholes to underprivileged people who haven't been given the same opportunity to succeed in life as others.

[txcat84]

A big community pool would be dope.

[jmontrose]

Thanks everyone - I really didn't care about the quality of the Heights schools, since we will be in a private school.  

 

But I got an education very quickly here- the MISMATCH between (percieved) quality and demographics of the elementary VS Middle/High Schools here is a driving force.    

 

Here's what I was trying to find out.  If I move to the Heights, and my 11 year old son is a private school outside the loop, are there likely to be other boys around for him to play with informally, now and for next few years, within walking distance of my house  (and is it safe for an 11 year old to walk three blocks without crossing a major street?).

 

Here is what I have concluded from the evidence so far: from this post, a post to Heights Moms, and a post to Next Door Heights, and to various people in the Heights.  

1. A lot of people started moving to the heights a few years ago, with wee-ones or planning to start families.  Those people could obviously afford the houses in the heights at that time.  The "good" elementary schools with the demographics they like helped them feel like that would be fine even if they couldn't afford private school.
2. Most of those families outgrow the place they had when they moved there.  (Mostly small houses)
3. Some of those families have had their income grow by the same proportion as housing prices, and can afford to buy a bigger place in the Heights now.  (Maybe haven't really heard of them).
4. But some of those families can also afford RiverOaks / Memorial now and decide to move there.  (The house we were looking at north of White Oak is a family with 2 kids moving to West U).
5. And Lots of families cannot afford to expand in the Heights now.  Incomes have not typically tripled like home prices in the Heights.   Esp if it means they will be sending their kids to a private High school with $20K per kid added. So they move.   WHO takes their place?
6. The people who are choosing to move to the heights now to buy houses in the 800K+ range are very likely to be either Empty Nester's or people with young kids (going to those "good" elementary schools you guys are all fighting about).
7. The people in the big new houses with little kids will probably have enough room to stay as long as they like.  Their income will probably grow enough to enable them to afford private schools, and they will probably stay. (Just my guess).  Maybe the public school demographics will shift as well.  They are probably older parents who will have smaller families also.

I did hear from a lot of people with kids that age who are staying in the heights.

I even heard of one family moving in with a kid at St Thomas high.  

I heard from people ashamed to admit they moved away for better schools and bigger houses.

I talked to a mom who has 2 boys that age in the area I was looking who sadly shook her head and said that there were not a lot of boys that age around.

These are all anecdotes. 

 

But the combination of rapid price appreciation combined with a drop-off public school desirability will, on average, mean that there will be fewer and fewer kids my son's age for the next 6 years...  

 

I haven't ruled it out, lots to love about the Heights.   But all these new houses being built are not a sign that a lot more boys his age would be moving in.

 

 

 

[august948]

JMontrose - This is what I've noticed, purely anecdotally:

 

People moving into the large $850+ renovated or new-build houses in the Heights predominately have very young children or are less than a year out from that. The comfort with the elementary and middle schools now is significantly better than with Reagan.

 

Due to this, it seems that a lot of these couples are ones who have kids later in life. Mostly because there aren't a ton of 28yos buying $1mm houses. Thinking about the surrounding blocks, all the new families that have moved here into new/renovated houses, the parents are all 35+. Just an interesting dynamic.

 

I will say, I wish there were more community things to do. For instance, we don't have a pool and really have no care for one, but I would happily pay $2500/year to have a pool club in the Heights.

 

Also, we're not religious at all, but wish there was a place that had all the community events of a church. Hell, just a place to meet other couples of small kids. I guess that's what grade school is for.

 

Isn't there a city of Houston pool over on 35th?  Or are we looking for something a little more exclusive?

 

[SamHouston]

There's even a city pool at Stude park. But it's Memorial Day to Labor Day, is basically just a lap pool, no lounges, no food etc. I'm not looking for the Briar Club, but something at the same level or nicer than Afton Village Swim Club. A kiddie pool, a decent grill, a lap pool. Westside, but 20 minutes closer and better food. The Kickstarter Stretch goal would be a lazy river.

 

Not more exclusive, just nicer with better hours.

[bedmondson]

What other inner loop neighborhood would have a good mix of around 11 year old kids? I would think that anywhere inside the more expensive areas of the loops there is always going to be a smaller density of kids than you would find in a suburban neighborhood.  But if I had to guess what inner loop neighborhood had the most kids per capita it would be the Heights. I would also say to me it feels safe for a 11 year old to be roaming the neighborhood (my nieces are allowed to). 

 

...so who is starting the build a pool club Kickstarter? 

[jmontrose]

Well by my logic it's places where the people who moved there 10 years ago to have a family are in a big enough house to stay, can afford private schools or have a public school they like.  River Oaks, West U, Bellaire...

 

[Angostura]

 

Here's what I was trying to find out.  If I move to the Heights, and my 11 year old son is a private school outside the loop, are there likely to be other boys around for him to play with informally, now and for next few years, within walking distance of my house  (and is it safe for an 11 year old to walk three blocks without crossing a major street?).

 

Here is what I have concluded from the evidence so far: from this post, a post to Heights Moms, and a post to Next Door Heights, and to various people in the Heights.  

 

[...]

 

But the combination of rapid price appreciation combined with a drop-off public school desirability will, on average, mean that there will be fewer and fewer kids my son's age for the next 6 years...  

 

I haven't ruled it out, lots to love about the Heights.   But all these new houses being built are not a sign that a lot more boys his age would be moving in.

 

 

 

I think this is an accurate reflection of reality. 

 

Like a lot of Heights parents, we have an acceptable elementary school situation, but face a difficult decision in a few years when our son enters middle school. My guess is that more middle-school age boys leave the Heights than move in.

[Materene]

Diversity ha, I really enjoy reading the entries for anything concerning the Heights especially since I am probably one of the very few who actually lived in the old Heights before it magically became fashionable.  Spending a fortune on something that was old in the 50s is just bad math no matter how bad you really wish it weren't.  One day the winds will shift and you will find yourselves wondering what happened.  I once sit in a classroom there at Eugene Fields and would fall asleep from the nice fresh smell of Magnolia, drag papers to the paper drive on Tuesdays and hide that nickel from the big guys so I would be able to buy that snow cone on wednesday afternoon.  Not much of a neighborhood when you can't send your kids to the schools.   

[BigFootsSocks]

Ah the internet. Connecting people of all ages, young and...apparently pretty old! 

[s3mh]

Diversity ha, I really enjoy reading the entries for anything concerning the Heights especially since I am probably one of the very few who actually lived in the old Heights before it magically became fashionable.  Spending a fortune on something that was old in the 50s is just bad math no matter how bad you really wish it weren't.  One day the winds will shift and you will find yourselves wondering what happened.  I once sit in a classroom there at Eugene Fields and would fall asleep from the nice fresh smell of Magnolia, drag papers to the paper drive on Tuesdays and hide that nickel from the big guys so I would be able to buy that snow cone on wednesday afternoon.  Not much of a neighborhood when you can't send your kids to the schools.   

 

So, I guess you are saying that everyone should let the neighborhood rot and make the white flight of the 60s and 70s permanent?  The Heights isn't perfect.  And gentrification/redevelopment is a difficult process.  But there is currently good momentum behind getting the elementary schools in shape.  I moved into the neighborhood too soon for Love to be an option.  But in a few years, things may be very different at that school.  But if no one moves into the neighborhood until the schools are better, the schools will never get better because there won't be any kids in the neighborhood. 

[august948]

So, I guess you are saying that everyone should let the neighborhood rot and make the white flight of the 60s and 70s permanent?  The Heights isn't perfect.  And gentrification/redevelopment is a difficult process.  But there is currently good momentum behind getting the elementary schools in shape.  I moved into the neighborhood too soon for Love to be an option.  But in a few years, things may be very different at that school.  But if no one moves into the neighborhood until the schools are better, the schools will never get better because there won't be any kids in the neighborhood. 

 

 

[BullMan008]

So, I guess you are saying that everyone should let the neighborhood rot and make the white flight of the 60s and 70s permanent?  The Heights isn't perfect.  And gentrification/redevelopment is a difficult process.  But there is currently good momentum behind getting the elementary schools in shape.  I moved into the neighborhood too soon for Love to be an option.  But in a few years, things may be very different at that school.  But if no one moves into the neighborhood until the schools are better, the schools will never get better because there won't be any kids in the neighborhood. 

 

I didnt get that at all after reading that post. :/

 

I kind of agree with his/her post. I was here too before it became fashionable. Yeah, there were some shady areas but it wasnt as bad as I've heard. LOL

I've heard some stories from newer neighbors and its no wonder why theyre scared to send their kids to local schools. Build more bars and icehouses before worrying about local schools. SMH.

[BigFootsSocks]

So you guys are Houston's version of Portland?

[mollusk]

We're an odd combination of Portland, Texas, Portland, Oregon, and portland cement. 

[Marksmu]

I moved into the Heights in 2006....we moved out of the Heights in August of 2012....during that time we had 2 kids....we now have 3. 

 

We moved to the Heights b/c it was close to my wife's job, and lots of places to go out and eat/drink...it was a great place to be during that 6 year time frame....much better before we had kids.  

 

What motivated me to leave the Heights was schools and tremendous levels of petty crime.  I was zoned to LOVE, it was and remains very bad...its pretty darn hard to find a bad elementary schools, but there sits Love...a bad elementary school.....As to the crime it got VERY old to have double and triple check that the gates were locked, nothing could be seen in your car EVER even if your car was in your driveway behind a gate, that your garage was closed, that your alarm was set, that your patio furniture and plants were locked to the porch with a security chain, etc....We got our detached garage broken into and I lost a mess of tools, and that was the last straw.  During the time I lived in the Heights my truck was broken into twice - both times NOTHING was visible...they went straight to my console...one time they stole my kids cooler which contained breast milk.  While there was not much violent crime, the petty crime is and remains a HUGE issue.  I still maintain a rental home in the Heights, and a nextdoor account, so I know nothing crime wise has improved.

 

We considered moving within the Heights to a house zoned to Harvard, but why would anyone do that?  You get a few years there while your first kid is in elementary then you have to sell again and pull number 2 to a different school....HCAD also gets to tax you for full value b/c you have moved and then you are still looking for a middle school and private school....all the while the rest of Houston has appreciated as well making it more difficult to afford a new house somewhere the schools are not awful.

 

The cost of private school allows you with 2 children to spend nearly $800,000 more on a house over the course of 12 years if you move(interest expense only)...that is with 2 kids....if you bump it up to 3, its well over $1,000,000 more you can invest in a house.  Consider your typical house in the Heights now is approaching, if not exceeding $650,000 and you can see why moving makes sense....we moved from a 2300sqft house on a 6600 sqft lot, to a 6600sqft house on a 43,000sqft lot, with virtually no crime and excellent schools.  My kids are surrounded by competitive children who are well ahead of virtually all their peirs, instead of kids still learning to speak english, write their name or identify letters....Cost difference was more than the Heights, but will be recouped over the 12 years we stay there....heck in just 3 years its appreciated over 40%   

 

Also the Heights is not actually very diverse...it may be ethnically diverse, but politically and economically, not so much.  Most families moving in are dual income with no kids, or with young kids.  An overwhelming majority of them are professionals (attorneys, CPA, etc) extremely liberal, and predominately white.  These people are anti-everything....neighborhood changes, house changes, guns, you name it....they are basically your salon.com readers....that does not fit my political views, nor is it how desire my kids to be raised so, the move was simple....spend the money now, get the BEST for my kids, recoup when we downsize after they leave.  

 

Not everyone has the means to spend twice as much on their home, but about half of the new coming Heights residents do.  They are choosing the Heights either b/c its cool, its close to work, or because they want to be surrounded by other white liberals who hate change.

[BigFootsSocks]

I respect your opinion but please do not equate liberalism to salon.com.

That's kinda like me comparing you to Fox News..

[Ross]

I

What motivated me to leave the Heights was schools and tremendous levels of petty crime.  I was zoned to LOVE, it was and remains very bad...its pretty darn hard to find a bad elementary schools, but there sits Love...a bad elementary school.....

 

And you are basing this on what? Did you go to Love and talk to the principal and teachers? Did you observe any classes? Or, did you just look at the school profile and think that a school with a lot of kids from poor homes has to be awful? We moved our kid from Love to Harvard 5 years ago., due to the IB program and the STEM magnet, we were otherwise very happy with Love. In hindsight, he would have been just as well off staying at Love. The teacher he had at Love was excellent, and the poor kids were motivated to learn, since many of them are transfers from other schools whose parents wanted them to get a better deal, and have a chance at a better education.

 

As for Middle School, the Learn Local group seems to be doing a bang up job improving Hogg.

[mollusk]

mark, as a Heights resident and home owner both long before you got there and now long after you left, I, too, take issue with your generalizations and stereotyping.  If anything, it is our newer neighbors who tend to have more of the R flavored yard signs come election time.

 

Nevertheless, I'm glad to hear that you have found a happy place among your own kind - which is apparently Lake Wobegon since your kids are now "surrounded by competitive children who are well ahead of virtually all their peirs peers." (FIFY)   

[Marksmu]

And you are basing this on what? Did you go to Love and talk to the principal and teachers? Did you observe any classes? Or, did you just look at the school profile and think that a school with a lot of kids from poor homes has to be awful? We moved our kid from Love to Harvard 5 years ago., due to the IB program and the STEM magnet, we were otherwise very happy with Love. In hindsight, he would have been just as well off staying at Love. The teacher he had at Love was excellent, and the poor kids were motivated to learn, since many of them are transfers from other schools whose parents wanted them to get a better deal, and have a chance at a better education.

 

As for Middle School, the Learn Local group seems to be doing a bang up job improving Hogg.

 

We talked to other parents who we knew had kids in Love.  We only knew about 5 or 6 of them, but none of them chose to return after their first year.  Complaints ranged from minor issues like the facility was old, teachers had too many kids, their children did not make friends b/c english was not primary language for much of the class to other more significant complaints such as other kids in West U, River Oaks & Memorial, were getting assignments that were significantly more advanced than their own kids were, resources such as Bob Books and other materials were not available..issues that pop up based upon resources which are clearly economic in nature. 

 

I did not take tour the school b/c I respected these opinions.  Im not saying anyone was wrong, but the parents I knew who tried all quit, and I share a great deal in common with them and it was enough for me to make the decision.

[bedmondson]

6,600 sqft house and acre lot must be pretty far out. I am sure it is nice but taken the size of the house plus the additional hours in commuting I wonder how much time you get to spend actually seeing your family. Would be awesome for someone who works at home and doesn't care about the typical amenities that living in a big city provides.

 

Also the amount of crime in an area is typically related to population density. If everyone in the neighborhood has acre+ lots, one crime there is worth 7+ in the Heights. Maybe more like 10+ once you factor in the additional retail.

 

If I had that kind of money I would buy a house half that size and then another on a beach or ski mountain. Although maybe you have both lol!

[txcat84]

I have no desire to live in a house over 4000 sqft regardless of where it is. 600 sqft per person is plenty for us with a family of four and the occasional guest. Everything else is money better spent elsewhere. Not dogging the poster, I just couldn't imagine maintaining and paying the bills on 6600 sqft.

[Ross]

Memorial area has many acre size lots. Bunker Hill has a half acre minimum.