Houstonians...I need your help to find the best neighborhood!

[Singingmom]

My husband is in Houston right now, looking at various neighborhoods for us to move to in the next few months. We don't know much about these communities, except what my husband has been able to ascertain in the last couple of days.

 

Here are the communities we are looking at:

 

1.Spring Trails in Spring

 

2.Harper's Preserve in Conroe/Woodlands ( pretty new and no amenities yet)

 

3.The Falls at Imperial Oaks

 

What I'd love to hear is inside info. How friendly and nice are the neighbors? What are the demographics of the neighborhoods, especially as it relates to families with children? How about convenience to shopping/etc. . Have you heard anything positive or negative about any of these areas?

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who will take the time to respond to this!

 

Laura

[TX6]

We just moved to Houston last month. We live in the Bellaire/Meyerland area. I don't know much about the areas north of Houston. I hope your move goes smoothly and you find the perfect home.

[aggie96]

While I can't speak to the specific neighborhoods you mentioned, my extended family lives (and grew up there as well) in the Spring/Woodlands area. We are currently in Dallas and are considering moving to the Houston area. The Conroe/Woodlands area is in our top 3 choices.

 

I have immediate family in Cypress (south of Spring/Woodlands a short distance off Hwy 290). My baby sister just graduated from high school there this year. It is a wonderful place to live and grow up.

 

Hope that helps a little. Shopping is great in all those areas. Wide economic diversity in Spring and Conroe. Mostly middle class and up in Woodlands (at least in my experience) but can be more expensive area. Lots of families with kiddos in all three areas.

[Alessandra]

I have family that lives (or has lived) in Spring, The Woodlands and the Heights. The area that I have visited is the Heights -- personally, I love it. It is a cross between urban & suburban -- lots of trees, pools, but walkable. There is a range of housing, from modest to pricey -- also quite a bit is older, renovated homes, so the neighborhood has an established feel. It is close to major highways and a quick commute to downtown. Also, it is a faster trip to the beach (Galveston) than places further north. Oh, and the Homeschool Bookstore is just a few minutes away.

[Singingmom]

Alessandra, I am so excited about that Homeschool Bookstore!! And, In N Out Burger is coming to Houston in 2013!!! This was one of the things I was going to miss the most ;) .

 

Thanks to all who have responded! I am so excited about this new possibility for my family. It's nice to hear that everyone so far has had good things to say about the area.

 

Please keep the info coming if anyone else reads this/ thinks of anything to add!

[amy g.]

I grew up in the heights, and while it has some beautiful old houses and trees, I really don't like it. It is probably irrational bad memories, so don't listen to me.

 

When Miss Good was a baby, we lived in Spring. It was a safe friendly blue collar neighborhood.

 

If I were you, I'd look in the woodlands. We sell at a farmer's market there on Saturdays. The people are fantastic. All of the doctors I love are in the woodlands too, so that is my vote.

[Singingmom]

Thanks, Amy. I appreciate the input. I would like to live in an area that will have the best resale value...and I know that would mean the Woodlands area. The issue is that the community we are looking at there ( Harper's Preserve, which is actually just on the border in Mongomery Co.) is so new that they don't have any amenities yet, and there are only a small handful of families living there yet. I guess I worry about what would happen if the builder ran into financial trouble and was nit able to finish out the development....or had to sell to another developer with lower standards, etc.

 

This is a whole lot to think about; while I am trying to make resale value a priority, I also want to make sure this is a place I'd be ok living for the rest of my life. Cause it could happen that way;).

 

Thanks again, all, for taking the time to respond.

[mandymom]

I love the Humble/Kingwood area. It's just a little east of The Woodlands. Kingwood is a nice master-planned community, with great neighborhoods (some older and some newer). We also have an amazing homeschooling community with TONS of homeschooling families. It's a VERY family-friendly place to live, even if you don't homeschool. Every neighborhood has a pool, and there are greenbelt trails all throughout Kingwood. We lived there for quite some time, and actually live in Atascocita (Eagle Springs neighborhood) now (just south of Kingwood over a bridge of Lake Houston) and we love it too. We still do all of our homeschooling activities in Kingwood. It's just a short drive (5-10 minutes).

 

Kingwood also has good resale value as well and some parts of Atascocita.

Edited June 11, 2012 by mandymom

[Singingmom]

Thank you so much, Mandysmam!

 

I really like Kingwood. We have some friends who live there, and we did think about the possibility of buying there. It's a very nice, pretty area ( and they have Pei Wei! ;) ) But, because of logistical reasons, and because we have family that lives in Tomball, we figured that Spring would be a better fit.

 

I am glad that we will be within a half hour of your area, though, because I remember from your last post like there is a lot of organized homeschool activities out that way. Thank you, again!

[Dianne-TX]

I agree with The Woodlands and Cypress area. Both are good areas, growing and great resale. If you need a realtor, I can PM you a recommendation. He is a Christian and very nice and helpful. We used to go to church with him.

[texascamps]

We lived in the Meyerland/Bellaire neighborhood and though it was older, it only took my husband twenty minutes to get to work. If we had lived in Spring or the Woodlands the commute was over and hour and a half each way.

 

Also, if you like to do things, then the Meyerland area was only seven minutes from Herman Park, the Zoo, the Nature and Science Museum, the Children's Museum, and our favorite the Medical Science Museum. We were also closer to downtown and the train. We were only fifteen minutes from the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. On top of that, we were closer to Kemah, Galveston, Sugarland, George Ranch.

 

I loved the Woodlands and Spring where my parents lived because of the newer homes. But, I was glad to be so close to the fun things. We went somewhere every day, even if it was only a free park or the arboretum.

 

Remember also, if you are looking at homes during the day then you are not seeing the true traffic situation. Drive in the real rush hour traffic to determine how long it would take you to get to and from work.

[amy g.]

I'm not sure where Harper's preserve is, but ask your Dh what freeway, or major roads he would need to take to work.

 

When we were looking 6 years ago, there were some houses/properties that I liked, but dh said it would take 30 minutes just to reach the corner during morning rush hour, so we kept looking.

 

On the map, it seems likely that he would be taking 45, which was my husband's first choice of freeways to live close to.

 

We ended up between 249 and 290. dh takes 290 to work, but doesn't mind, the distance because his company provides a van, from 290 to the office, so he just goes back to sleep in the mornings.

 

In a year, when his office moves from The Galleria to downtown, he will use the park and ride which he also enjoys.

 

Because of the HOV lanes, dh gets home earlier than he did when we lived closer into town and was driving himself.

 

The website and pictures of Harper's Preserve really do look nice.

 

When I'm in The Woodlands on Saturday, I can ask my market manager she has heard anything about that particular neighborhood.

 

Good luck. It sounds very exciting.

[Juniper]

It would totally depend on where my dh worked. I can't imagine having to sit on I10 or 45 for hours trying to get home or to the office. I think Spring and the Woodlands were originally very nice areas, but things have grown so quickly that they're just an extension of the whole city, now, with nothing really different than Houston. If I had the money, I'd choose the Memorial area, or the Heights, or some other older area where I could have the big yard, trees, and proximity to the city. Neighborhoods with postage stamp sized yards and rec centers do nothing for me.

:iagree: It really depends on where your dh is commuting to. MY dh had the I10 commute for awhile and it was horrible! We moved south and he now takes 59S. Much better. :D

 

You might consider the Missouri City area. You are closer to the beach, and easy jaunt north up the tollway, near Sugarland the satellite Natural History Museum, the Sam Houston Observatory. There is a small sub neighborhood called Sienna Village which has great amenities and a nice quiet location.

 

Welcome! and yes the homeschool store is wonderful, for getting your hands on things you really want to see in person!

[Singingmom]

Amy, if you do find out anything positive or negative about Harper's Preserve, I would be so grateful if you would either pm me, or add the info to this thead. Thanks for offering! :)

 

My Husband will work in an area that will be close to Spring and the Woodlands, so those areas we could do. Spring Trails and Imperial Oaks would be best commute wise, but he could go as far North as Harper's Preserve.

 

The Imperial Oaks community is nice, has great amenities like a splash pad, community center, dog park, etc, But, the homes are not quite as large. Also, I am not a crazy about David Weekly homes as I am Darling. Anyone have any insight into these builder's homes?