Dallas Suburbs/Exurbs Nature vs North Houston (Spring/Conroe/Woodlands)

[Bk400]

So sort of a specific question because I've searched through a lot of the Dallas vs. Houston threads already. Basically, living in central Houston for the past 4-5 years renting, and since then have really been attracted to the Woodlands/Spring/Conroe areas of due to the relatively reasonable housing/land availability (ideally wanting large SF, 1+ ac of land preferably forested backyard etc) that some neighborhoods around Woodlands/Conroe areas provide. Also really like the greenery/nature, access to Spring Creek trail, lake Conroe/Lake Livingston for possible future bass boat/general leisure, access to Sam Houston NF and the other national forests in E. TX. Having access to world class diverse foods and basically any shopping you need inside the Houston city limits within 1-1.5hrs is a plus, but I really don't have any ties to the city and reason to stay in the Houston MSA, and really would not consider the southern suburbs/west suburbs at all.

Dallas area in general has more finance/corporate related jobs in my field outside of O&G and just seems like the better MSA to start putting down roots. I'm tired of the humidity and rather the dry heat and colder winters, and rather trade away the flooding and hurricanes for the hail/thunder storms. I like that the general Dallas MSA seem to have more lakes, but don't really like how its more prairie and less trees, however, I know east of Dallas closer to Tyler has a lot of that nature and more forested/hilly E.Texas topography.

The question is a little bit niche, as a lot of Houston people don't consider Montgomery/Walker/Liberty counties to be Houston, so when finding Dallas vs Houston comparison threads, it's difficult to find any focused on specifically on comparing those areas to Dallas's equivalents.

I know Dallas doesn't really have anything super master planned like the Woodlands, but is there a similar large suburb/small city that's heavily forested, new homes etc besides Plano? (Plano and N. Dallas although i hear are similar, the topography and subdivisions just seem like almost Oklahoma, more flat and short landscaping trees only, seems almost like a Katy/Cinco ranch?)

Bonus fun question, what would be the equivalent of like a Willis, TX? E.g semi rural with the ability to have a small hobby ranch/farm animals in similar forested geography while being 1-2hrs drive to downtown Dallas?

Has anyone lived in Woodlands/Conroe/Spring areas and then moved around in the various Dallas suburbs/exurbs and can give comparisons?

[compSciGuy]

A few years ago I was looking into the southwestern part of Flower Mound as it was attractive for being an area with "good schools", and also there were areas surrounded by forests, etc. (and likely not going to be developed into) I don't think 1+ acre would be available at what I consider a reasonable price point then, ... and almost most certainly not now.


At least around here, what I would consider commutable to professional jobs, with larger lots, ... there is increasing risk (even more so since Covid-19 and more transplants) for whatever nice quiet area you move to, ... that it was be overrun with development. So that nice huge field with cows and horses may soon enough turn into retail, etc.


Also, in general there are better options for "diverse foods" in the Houston area. Not that DFW is bad, but generally it's more expensive than Houston.

[tcualum]

There are areas like that in Tarrant County but they wouldn't offer a convenient drive to jobs in North Dallas/Plano/Frisco.

[ChristieP]

The big questions:
What's your budget for that large SF house on heavily wooded small acreage and near a lake within 1-2 hours commute of Dallas?
How often are you going to be making that commute into town?
Do you need high speed internet to work from home?
Do good public schools matter?

I can tell you from the start that once you get east of the DFW metro, you will not find good ethnic food besides Mexican, and there is not much shopping besides WalMart, a few little boutiques in the downtown areas, and First Monday at Canton.

[Mr. Clutch]

OP, two things. First, I don't know if what you're looking for exists in DFW. It really doesn't get that forested/green (in the sense of the northern Houston suburbs) until you start getting well east of the metroplex. There are some areas within the metroplex I'd consider forested on that level, but they are more isolated areas than a forested landscape. The area is what it is - mostly prairie. If you're looking for something like Willis I just don't think you're going to find it within an hour of the metroplex - that part of the state just doesn't look like that. If you're willing to drive 2 hours, you have plenty of options to the east - you start to get that East Texas forested look maybe 10-20 miles west of Tyler and you can go from there. But that's around a 1.5 hour drive in good circumstances.

Second, are you married to being in Texas? Based on your preferences somewhere outside of Atlanta or Charlotte might be more your speed. None of these places are a "dry heat" but neither is DFW (though it's usually somewhat less humid than Houston). If you truly want to escape humidity you're going to have to go further than that.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

OP, two things. First, I don't know if what you're looking for exists in DFW. It really doesn't get that forested/green (in the sense of the northern Houston suburbs) until you start getting well east of the metroplex. There are some areas within the metroplex I'd consider forested on that level, but they are more isolated areas than a forested landscape. The area is what it is - mostly prairie. If you're looking for something like Willis I just don't think you're going to find it within an hour of the metroplex - that part of the state just doesn't look like that. If you're willing to drive 2 hours, you have plenty of options to the east - you start to get that East Texas forested look maybe 10-20 miles west of Tyler and you can go from there. But that's around a 1.5 hour drive in good circumstances.

Second, are you married to being in Texas? Based on your preferences somewhere outside of Atlanta or Charlotte might be more your speed. None of these places are a "dry heat" but neither is DFW (though it's usually somewhat less humid than Houston). If you truly want to escape humidity you're going to have to go further than that.

I agree. Atlanta, Charlotte and potentially Raleigh are calling OP’s name

[Luka4MVP]

Originally Posted by Bk400

So sort of a specific question because I've searched through a lot of the Dallas vs. Houston threads already. Basically, living in central Houston for the past 4-5 years renting, and since then have really been attracted to the Woodlands/Spring/Conroe areas of due to the relatively reasonable housing/land availability (ideally wanting large SF, 1+ ac of land preferably forested backyard etc) that some neighborhoods around Woodlands/Conroe areas provide. Also really like the greenery/nature, access to Spring Creek trail, lake Conroe/Lake Livingston for possible future bass boat/general leisure, access to Sam Houston NF and the other national forests in E. TX. Having access to world class diverse foods and basically any shopping you need inside the Houston city limits within 1-1.5hrs is a plus, but I really don't have any ties to the city and reason to stay in the Houston MSA, and really would not consider the southern suburbs/west suburbs at all.

Dallas area in general has more finance/corporate related jobs in my field outside of O&G and just seems like the better MSA to start putting down roots. I'm tired of the humidity and rather the dry heat and colder winters, and rather trade away the flooding and hurricanes for the hail/thunder storms. I like that the general Dallas MSA seem to have more lakes, but don't really like how its more prairie and less trees, however, I know east of Dallas closer to Tyler has a lot of that nature and more forested/hilly E.Texas topography.

The question is a little bit niche, as a lot of Houston people don't consider Montgomery/Walker/Liberty counties to be Houston, so when finding Dallas vs Houston comparison threads, it's difficult to find any focused on specifically on comparing those areas to Dallas's equivalents.

I know Dallas doesn't really have anything super master planned like the Woodlands, but is there a similar large suburb/small city that's heavily forested, new homes etc besides Plano? (Plano and N. Dallas although i hear are similar, the topography and subdivisions just seem like almost Oklahoma, more flat and short landscaping trees only, seems almost like a Katy/Cinco ranch?)

Bonus fun question, what would be the equivalent of like a Willis, TX? E.g semi rural with the ability to have a small hobby ranch/farm animals in similar forested geography while being 1-2hrs drive to downtown Dallas?

Has anyone lived in Woodlands/Conroe/Spring areas and then moved around in the various Dallas suburbs/exurbs and can give comparisons?

Nothing really heavily forested, but Southlake is a pretty close comparison to the Woodlands otherwise. Fairview is also similar in some ways but is definitely not as planned.

The equivalent to Willis, based on your description of it, would maybe be Celina, but again, not forested.

[ChristieP]

I can't think of anywhere in Texas that is heavily wooded and also not very humid.

Some of the areas around Lake Palestine are very heavily wooded and pretty, and so is Lake O' The Pines in East Texas. Unfortunately those would all be a lengthy commute into Dallas.

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by Luka4MVP

Nothing really heavily forested, but Southlake is a pretty close comparison to the Woodlands otherwise. Fairview is also similar in some ways but is definitely not as planned.

The equivalent to Willis, based on your description of it, would maybe be Celina, but again, not forested.

Love the username lol

[IShootNikon]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

Love the username lol

Jokic for 3rd MVP