Moving to Houston

You should move to the Meyerland area. It is in Southwest Houston, and you are about 10 minutes away from the Galleria. Plus you have every major highway in the city not more than 15-20 minutes away. They have some really nice neighborhoods so it is definitely worth looking into. Well, good luck and I hope you like Houston. You can email me if you have any questions!

Sincerely,
K. Steward
____@____.com

The Village is a subdivision pretty near the Galleria, but I'm afraid real estate will be too high there. You will need some help from someone in the area that knows which neighborhoods are ok. J.

Welcome to Houston! If you don't want to commute too far (although in Houston it's hard to avoid), I'll throw in the suggestions of the Heights (around 610/Ella and 290) or Spring Valley (I-10 between the Belway and 610). I have several friends who live around there and love it. Both are close the the Galleria and the Med Center. I live out NW of Houston near Tomball. I've been here for 11 years and love it. My husband and I have worked all over Houston and have had various commute. It looks like you have a lot of good suggestions. Good luck!

Hi D.!

I can recommend a great neighborhood! It's called Meadows Place. It's between Houston and Sugar Land. My husband works next door to the Galleria and it only takes him about 15 minutes to get to work.

I grew up in Meadows Place, my dad was transferred when I was 13, but we came back to Houston and when my husband and I started looking for a house, this neighborhood was our first choice. We found a great house and awesome neighbors. The homes are older, built in the early to mid 1970's, but some have been fixed up really nicely.

Meadows Place is its own city, with their own police department. The elementary school (Meadows Elementary) is exemplary and within walking distance. Police officers patrol the streets around the school in the morning when the kids are going to school and in the afternoon when they get out. There are also playgrounds, baseball fields, a track, and a swimming pool, home to the Meadows Marlins swim team. There are also other activities, Garden Club, Karate at the Community Center, Water Aerobics in the summer.

As you can tell, I love living here, and highly recommend this community.

If you want to look up some houses on the internet, you can go to www.har.com. Click find a home, click single family, then in the second box on the left hand side, under Location, scroll down to Meadows Place. Also, if you want more information on the community, google Meadows Place, TX and it should take you to the website.

I really hope this helps and that you'll consider our community. Let me know what you think!

Good luck!

J.

Very cool! Well their is alot to consider and a few big questions you have to ask yourself. If you are willing to pay a little more for rent or a house you could live inside the loop which puts you in the Galleria area. Or you could get a much cheaper rent/house if you choose to live outside of the loop. We live in Richmond right next to the Westpark tollway. This is a highway that takes you right to 59 without a whole lot of traffic. This area is great because its being built up so all the subdivisions are new, shopping, and the schools are all new. For us, Richmond was a cheaper alternative than Sugarland. We wanted to build a new house and could not do that for our starter home in Sugarland(houses are more there)but Richmond is also still in Fort Bend County so their are good schools and you are basically sandwiched between Sugarland and Katie. I know 3 families that moved to the galleria area first and then realized that this area fit their needs, finished a short lease and then bought out here. Houston is so big! You may be happiest doing this as well, instead of settling down immediatly just come and check out all the different areas and what fits your family.
Good luck to you!

Welcome D.!

Praying for a smooth transition for yous. I think KATY, TEXAS is a quiant,welcoming community with lots to offer. Safe & much for children.

L.
www.yourhealthyaltetnatives.com

Hi D., as you can see there is a lot to choose from. You will need to add criteria other than length of commute (i.e. school district, are you you buying and if so long (5 yrs.) or short term(2 yrs), how much you want to spend, etc). I live in Cinco Ranch which is a spectacular neighborhood in Katy TX (just W of Houston, some of the neighborhood is actually in Houston...it's a big neighborhood). It has incredible schools, tons of amenities, great resale value, etc. But anywhere near Highway 99 and the Westpark Tollway is awesome and convenient to Galleria if you don't mind paying to use the tollway. The Westpark Tollway runs straight to Post Oak, near the Galleria. You are in the suburbs instead of the city but have every convenience you could possibly want or need. I have been a realtor for 6 years and have lived in the Houston area for 27 years. If I can help you out email me and I will send you my contact information. Goodluck and God Bless!

I agree that Briargrove would be a great choice. It's incredibly close to the Galleria, and schools are great. West University & Southampton are also good choices, but as someone else posted, the house prices are pretty steep (tear downs go for about $600,000), and the taxes are equally high. If money isn't an issue, River Oaks is the nicest part of the city.
We live in the Heights, which may be a good option. The house prices are more reasonable (houses start in, about, the high $200s/low $300s). We are 10 minutes from the Galleria (in traffic) and downtown (again, in traffic), as well as Whole Foods (they are actually building a new one about 5 minutes away), and Central Market (the HEB equivilent to Whole Foods...but much, much better, IMHO). The Heights is a very family-centered community, with lots of parks, and almost all of our elementary schools have magnet/vanguard programs. Also, some of the top chefs in the city are opening restaurants here.
If you are considering the suburbs, and commute is a real issue for you, I would suggest visiting on a weekday and watching the traffic reports on the morning news. Most of the suburbs are 25-30 minutes away, without traffic, and rush hour is pretty miserable here. However, you can get a bigger house with more land for less money if you go further out, and some of them, like the Woodlands, have many of the same stores & restaurants.
Good luck with your search!

To me, a job in the Galleria and a love of gourmet grocery stores sounds like Bellaire! But I'm still kind of a new kid myself, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. i will tell you that Bellaire is convenient to the Galleria and has the best public high school in the Houston area, or it was when we were researching neighborhoods 5 years ago. A super cool thing about Bellaire high school is that they teach loads of languages -- your kid could learn Hindi or Hebrew or Chinese!!! (For me, this was the basis of many an idle daydream over my poor daughter's bassinet...) Anyway, the thing about Bellaire is that they are pricey -- real estate prices in Houston still haven't dropped much and my guess is that they will start to slide as the economy continues to do what it has been doing, so if buying a home in a high-demand area at a time when home prices are probably still inflated is a problem, there are some neighborhoods close to Bellaire but a bit further out, like Meyerland, Westbury and, further still, Braeburn Valley. The further out down 59 you go, the more inexpensively you can buy a great house with a yard and perhaps even a pool, and the worse the schools get. The basic dividing line in Houston is whether a home is inside or outside the 610 loop, by the way. When we bought a house outside the loop we had a very hard time getting friends to come visit us, because psychologically we had moved out into the wilderness. But we got a GREAT deal on a gorgeous three bedroom house with a swimming pool, gorgeous landscaping and a deep, jacuzzi tub that I still miss on hard days! However, the ONLY thing we could walk to was a Walgreens, and our neighbors were all old couples who'd raised their children out in Braeburn Valley back when it was a bedroom community on the far fringes of Houston who were openly racist and just not our type of people at all. My one little social triumph when we were out there was when an old guy stopped me and my husband and told us how good it was to see nice, decent people like us moving in (meaningful glance in the direction of the largely latino-occupied apartments down the street), because it's so hard to keep the riff raff out. I told him we must have snuck past when they weren't looking. Poor guy tried to further clarify how he could tell at a glance that we are NOT riff raff, which of course did nothing to make him look any better. We moved to the Montrose ourselves, which entailed paying twice as much money for half as much house and considering ourselves crazy lucky to do so -- if that old guy from Braeburn Valley could see us here among our own kind he'd know I wasn't kidding when i said we ARE riff raff, and proud of it!

Good luck -- scouting Houston really IS an undertaking! Two other thoughts: concerning the dogs, Houston has GREAT dog parks -- so that is something you might try to move close to. And again concerning schools, one great money-saving tip some folks have found to work is to buy in a place with weak schools planning to do what you can to get your child into a Vanguard or Magnet school (so complicated I STILL don't understand it even though we just went through it) but prepared to send your child to a private school if need be. Apparently the savings on housing prices and property taxes more than pay for the tuition at a private school. I never thought I'd be advocating such shenanigans, but the differences here between strong and weak schools appears to be pretty appalling, although the differences among elementaries are the least shocking and the differences among the high schools are the worst.

Best wishes!
M.

The other factor, apart from schools,

oak forest. that is all that needs to be said. close, convenient and affordable. i sound like a realtor, but i am just a resident of the neighborhood. need a realtor? i have a great friend who can help.

i don't know what your finacial situation is, but briargrove is a fantastic neighborhood, crawling with kids, very community oriented. it used to be pretty affordable, but because of the location (5 minutes to galleria IN traffic!) and the schools, the homes can be pricey. still a great neighborhood to look into...... there are townhomes in the area for sale and for lease that all seem to have green space for playing, a great big and very nice ymca walking or biking distance, and several parks. so, check out zip 77057 or 77057 on www.har.com and see what strikes your fancy. welcome!

We also recently moved here....we ended up in Briargrove...a cool neighborhood with tons of kids. There is a brand new elem. school right there in the 'hood.
Pre schools to check out St Martins, Westminster, Chapelwood. Mother's day out program at Bethel Pres. This is all within a quick drive of the Galleria.
Other nice neighborhoods....the Heights, West U and Tanglewood(which is part of the Briargrove area). THere is also a Gymboree in the Post Oak area, swim classes with your little one at Saint St...and the Houstonian Country Club...Whole Foods and Central Market...you're set!
Good luck

How far is your husband willing to drive to work? I live in Spring which is north of Houston and just south of The Woodlands. I live in Spring Trails and love it. The schools here are new in our neighborhood which makes it really nice. We are right by the toll road so your husband could jump on the toll road and would avoid lots of traffic. I am very close The Woodlands Mall, Town Center/Market Street and great gourmet stores like Hubble & Hudson and HEB Central Market. I will list the links to these places below. Hope this helps!

www.springtrails.com
www.thewoodlandsmall.com
www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com
www.hubbleandhudson.com
www.centralmarket.com

Sugar Land all the way! I have lived in the inner loop on Westheimer, in Friendswood, and my husband and I purchased a home in Sugar Land when we found out we were pregnant with our first child. It is one of the safest places to live in Houston and the school system is phenomenal! Anything that you want/need is within a 10 minute drive. My husband, too, works in the Galleria area and has a 30 minute commute everyday. It really is a very nice area and I wouldn't trade my life or the place I live for anything! The homes in Sugar Land tend to be a bit newer, better built, and less expensive than other comperable homes. We also found that our taxes were dramatically cheaper than the rest of Houston! Good luck in your search. I hope you find what you are looking for!

Welcome! Check out the Silverlake area on 288 South. You will find many neighborhoods to pick from and a new mall with a new large HEB and I believe a grand Kroger is going up also. I worked in the Galleria area and there are several Vans that go out of that area into Galleria, or if your husband is on his on time, he can drvie during a better traffic time. It is about 20-30 minutes from Galleria depending on the time of day. Good luck and God Bless!

Welcome to Houston! It is a great city with so much to do. There are a lot of wonderful family neighborhoods near the Galleria area. I would get a good realtor and see what is available. I live in West U and love it! But like I said, there are a lot of great family neighborhoods around this area. Good luck with the move!

Check out www.har.com and search under zipcode of 77035, namely Willow Meadows. If you want newer homes, try www.shadowcreekranch.net.

Hope this helps

D.,

I would highly recommend Sugar Land. We have all the shopping and specialty stores you could ask for and more is going up. We have excellent neighborhoods and excellent schools. You have everything you want from a city like Houston without all the hussle and bussle.

If you do like to be in the middle of everything and can afford it, then living right in the Galleria would be ideal to avoid the commute. But if you prefer to be away from the city life in a more family-oriented area, then there are many to choose from in the Houston area, but most of them will come with a decent commute.

I'm no expert on the areas closest to the downtown/galleria area, but I just wanted to put my 2-cents work in about The Woodlands. My husband worked in the Galleria for several years, and he did get tired of the commute, but he said he would do it forever if he had to, in order to stay in The Woodlands. It is a very family-oriented place. There is a fantastic variety of price ranges and styles in homes. You feel like you are tucked away in a forest, but everything is so convenient (especially in the sections closest to the freeway, like Cochrans' Crossing, Panther Creek, Indian Springs and College Park). We have a great mall area with a Riverwalk that is still somewhat under construction. Right next to the mall is Market Street, which has an HEB Market and many high-end stores and restaurants, plus a common area where kids play. They also just put in an upscale food market, bistro and Viking cooking school called Hubble & Husdon right next to the big movie theater. LOVE this new store!!!

We also have an abundance of great parks, all of which can be accessed by over 100 miles of hike & bike trails that follow along just about every road and through every neighborhood in The Woodlands. There are concert venues, wonderful schools (public & private), great restaurants, and it's still growing every year.

Anyway...we just love it here. We've lived here for 11 years and absolutely love it. My husband has had several job offers that would have had us moving to another city, but we just can't seem to make the move. He turned them all down and eventually started his own company so he wouldn't even have to leave for work each day. Hahaha!!!

Again, there are many places in the Houston area that could be great for your family. But since I only know about this area, I thought I'd give you as much information as possible about it. It's a difficult area to figure out on your own, because the bigger roads running through the town all appear like a drive through a forest of nothing. And if you get off the beaten path in to the neighborhoods, there is a good chance you'll get lost! So I recommend you find a realtor to show you around if you decide to look around at housing. But you could check out the mall area to get an idea of the ammenities.

Okay...I'm on done rambling. Welcome to Houston, and I hope you guys find the perfect place for your family!!

cc

Hi D.,

I used to live in Houston and now I live in Sugar Land. You can live a lot closer to The Galleria, but if you are willing to pay a lot more for your home. Sugar Land is a great town with great schools and we have Whole Foods here as well; not to mention our phenomenal Sugar Land Police Dept. I wished I would have moved here a lot sooner. Fort Bend County is known for having a very quick responsive Sherriff's Dept. and great Sugar Land Police Dept. It is a very clean, progressive town. There is a Town Square that has activities for adults and children on the weekends, as well as great shopping and restaurants. I have been here for seventeen years and crime is certainly not an issue like it is in other large cities. If you want a good school for your children, shopping, churches, good Bible Studies, low crime, movie theators close by, smaller communities, then Sugar Land is the town for you; and it isn't as though you have to travel far to get into Houston. Good Luck, E.

Hi D.,
We live in Katy and love it. It is very safe and there are great schools, shops and anything else that you need.
We moved here from Singapore about 10 months ago and love that there is so much for families to do here.
The commute to the Galleria area is probably about 25-30 minutes but there are park and rides that can help to avoid the drive.
Good luck. I hope you like it here as much as we do.

Stafford! I just moved from houston to San
Antonio and I loved living in Stafford! It's only about 20 minutes from the Galleria. The school district is a municipal school district and is very small. The taxes are super low. Sugar Land is about 10 minutes away and has all of the gourmet stuff you'll like but taxes are crazy and traffic is even crazier. If some tells you to move to Katy, don't do it unless you like being stuck in traffic! Katy has great schools but the commute into Houston is crazy.And so is the Woodlands, Clear Lake and League City. Pearland is a nice place to live and the commute to the Galleria is not too bad. Inside the city limits there are really nice areas to live like Tanglewild, Memorial, West University and the Village. Send me a message if you need more info.

Because it is the Gallaria you will have to commute. I am from Houston ( the entire southwest part) and I have heard my out of town relatives say that Houston has a lot of "Downtowns". Well the Gallaria is one of them and has so much traffic. You really don't want to move children anywhere close to it.
The best place for a family is Sugar Land. About a 20 min. drive. It is voted one of the top 5 places to live with a family. There are great schools ( at least 2 computers in each classroom starting in grade school), a great mall, and anything you want (from food to family fun) is right at your door. You can try First Colony or Tail Fair as great places to live. Sweet Water and Lexington Colony are great too.
Hope this helps!

Bellaire or University Place may fit your needs. Bellaire is a city within a city right near the Galleria and has recently gone from 1950 houses to rebuilds. It probably will feel a little like Frisco...We play soccer in Frisco and it has lost some of its appeal because of growth. Bellaire puts you near everything and you dont have Houston as an address. My grandparents lived in Bellaire for about 40 years.Good luck........

Hi there D.. 13 years ago I too moved from Dallas (actually N. Richland Hills) to Houston. I love Houston so much more than Dallas. Anywho, the Galleria area where your Hubby works is a very expensive part of town to live, although if you can afford it and love the busy, hustle bustle and gourmet dining and the gourmet shopping that you said you liked then it is definitley a happening place to be, on the other hand most people who are not very rich and have families tend to live in the suburbs. I know you said you would prefer to not have a commute, but in a city this size, if you can not afford to live in the Galleria area, you will have some commute no matter where you decide to live. So, I wanted to let you know about the 2 best suburbs here. One is Sugar Land, it is newer, located south of the city and has many upscale shops, atleast 2 malls, and the gourmet grocers you prefer. Also, there is the Spring/Woodlands area. I prefer these. They are both located on the North side of town (preferable if like me you will be driving to Dallas once in awhile to visit family) ,b/c it is on the North side you will be located on the route back to Dallas. If you lived in Sugarland for instance and you drove to Dallas, it being on the Southside adds another hour atleast to a drive to Dallas. I had to keep that in mind and we have been very happy in Spring for the past 10 years. Both suburbs have very good school districts. Sugarland is newer so their diversity boasts a lot more cultures than Spring since Spring is older. Didn't know if that is something important to you. Hope this helps and if you have any other questions about Houston, please let me know and I know you'll love it!!

I emailed your posting to a friend that lives close to the Galleria in Houston. hopefully she will respond about neiborhoods close by for you to choose from
-good luck
G.

Look in Southwest Houston in the Meyerland or Westbury areas. That's close to the Galleria and lots of great shopping and churches. You have a 15 month old and Westbury Baptist Church on Hillcroft has a great Mothers' Day Out program, plus, it's a great church. You can get to the Galleria in about 12-15 minutes. These areas are near 610 and Beltway 8, both of which can get you straight shot back to Dallas to visit.

Hi D.-
I am a Realtor in Houston with Keller Williams Metropolitan and both live and specialize in the inner loop and close in neighborhoods in Houston. I would be more than happy to help you if you all are interested. I work with buyers as well as leases. There are quite a few areas I could recommend that are convenient to the Galleria.I can also recommend some great Mothers day out/days school programs, etc if you are interested! You can call me on my cell at ###-###-#### if you would like! Thanks and good luck with your move!

S. Clark

Houston is a very diverse area. Too not have a long commute the best bet is to live in the Galleria /West U area. Property value is VERY high in that area.( I would say a nice house would be around $400,000 at least).
I live in Katy and to be honest you will be in traffic from all roads leading to the Galleria easier.
WE have toll roads in HOuston that all lead to the Galleria area to make commuting area.
As far as Gourmet grocery shopping, in Katy we have an HEB plus store.
The area I live in in Katy is Cinco Ranch.
You can go to har.com
That will show you houses in houston and surrounding areas for sale.
You can do a search by neighborhoods.Feel free to send a message if you have any questions.
Good luck with the move.