Moving to Katy, Tx from Little Rock (Houston, Austin: new house, neighborhoods)

[Kymme]

Hi,
We'll be moving to Katy, Tx from Little Rock. My research revealed that Katy was listed as 1 of the top school districts in the nation in Texas, in top 17 percentile. This sounds like a great school district for my youngest.

My oldest will be going to college. What is a good college in Katy, with degree programs in engineering? Or would the closest college, be the University of Houston, in downtown Houston?

Thank you

[cheryjohns]

The nearest is U of H downtown. An alternative is the Houston Community College Katy campus for a short while, to establish Texas residency for lower tuition - and then shift to A&M in College Station. They have a great engineering program.

[DanielWayne]

UH = University of Houston.

UH has a small branch in Katy, but don't think they offer any engineering courses.

The closest school will probably be Rice, which is on par with Ivy League schools. Best education in the city, and possibly the state. Expensive.

UH has multiple campuses across the city. UH-Main campus is the largest (this is a different campus from UH-Downtown), and it has a very strong engineering program. Around the 90's, the chemical engineering program there was rated #1 in the Southwest.

Next closest is Texas A&M in college station. All around very strong engineering program. Although I am not particularly fond of A&M, there is no denying that it is one of the best public academic institutions in the country.

Katy is an excellent school district, but it isn't the only excellent one in the metro. Numbers and metrics are only telling you how many students passed standardized tests and did not drop out.

[just4ivaylo]

UT (though it's in Austin) might be a better alternative than Rice or UH.

High schools in Katy that ranked on Newsweek's list:

500
Cinco Ranch

726
Seven Lakes

1040
James E. Taylor (dropped 500-600 spots since the start of the list)

1476
Katy

America's Best High Schools: The List - Newsweek

Keep in mind that those schools are pretty much how the different areas of Katy are financially. Cinco Ranch is a lot more expensive than the other areas in which the schools are located.

[Selah_Angel]

I would not even hesitate to move to Old Katy over Cinco Ranch. The small town feel is there, the neighborhoods are so friendly. There is a country feel to it rather than crowded shopping/city feel, it has great schools - and the Katy Tigers Football team! I raised my kids here, and have never regretted it. You can't take school rankings as a "speak all" for the area - I have 4 kids, one when to Carnegie Mellon, one to Georgia Tech, one is going to TSU and the youngest to Texas A & M. All of them are either in great careers or finishing school.
The housing prices are lower and the neighbors in our neighborhood (Hunters Terrace) actually get together and bbq or have parties and such...I love it here.

[gcbeehler]

Baylor is near by. Then there is Texas Tech (Lubbock - probably 6 hours from Katy maybe less). UT was suggested, but an awesome school. Same with Rice and UH. Sam Houston is close too. Not sure about the engineering programs though. If you don't mind the drive, you've got New Orleans within 6 hours, so that opens up Tulane, etc.

A lot of good schools to choice from!

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by gcbeehler

Baylor is near by. Then there is Texas Tech (Lubbock - probably 6 hours from Katy maybe less). UT was suggested, but an awesome school. Same with Rice and UH. Sam Houston is close too. Not sure about the engineering programs though. If you don't mind the drive, you've got New Orleans within 6 hours, so that opens up Tulane, etc.

A lot of good schools to choice from!

Lubbock is closer to 8 or 9 hours away from Houston.

[tmc300]

Originally Posted by Selah_Angel

I would not even hesitate to move to Old Katy over Cinco Ranch. The small town feel is there, the neighborhoods are so friendly. There is a country feel to it rather than crowded shopping/city feel, it has great schools - and the Katy Tigers Football team! I raised my kids here, and have never regretted it. You can't take school rankings as a "speak all" for the area - I have 4 kids, one when to Carnegie Mellon, one to Georgia Tech, one is going to TSU and the youngest to Texas A & M. All of them are either in great careers or finishing school.
The housing prices are lower and the neighbors in our neighborhood (Hunters Terrace) actually get together and bbq or have parties and such...I love it here.

Where is Old Katy? What communities are located in Old Katy? I am considering Cinco Ranch, but I also want to check out Old Katy as you recommended.

[Selah_Angel]

Old Katy is North of I-10. In Google Maps if you simply put in Katy, TX look where the "A" is. Zoom in on that. Old Katy is from Katy/Fort Bend Road (actually you could go to South Peek on the North Side) to just past Winchester Business Park. It is a Small Town with Avenue D as the main street.

If you follow Ave. D North past Morton you will see a street called "SpoonBill" that is Hunters Terrace. All the street names are names of ducks or geese. The neighborhood is divided into 3 neighborhoods. The homes up front on the first few streets are in the mid $150's, then on the next few streets they go to the high $100's then the last part of the subdivision is in the $200's. The last part of the neighborhood and back on Mallard (past teal) is where you will get homes that back up onto acreage - so they have no seeable back yard neighbors.

Hope that helps. You can PM me if you are looking for a particular type of home or size of home and I can tell you which streets are the best for that.

Angel

[tmc300]

Originally Posted by Selah_Angel

Old Katy is North of I-10. In Google Maps if you simply put in Katy, TX look where the "A" is. Zoom in on that. Old Katy is from Katy/Fort Bend Road (actually you could go to South Peek on the North Side) to just past Winchester Business Park. It is a Small Town with Avenue D as the main street.

If you follow Ave. D North past Morton you will see a street called "SpoonBill" that is Hunters Terrace. All the street names are names of ducks or geese. The neighborhood is divided into 3 neighborhoods. The homes up front on the first few streets are in the mid $150's, then on the next few streets they go to the high $100's then the last part of the subdivision is in the $200's. The last part of the neighborhood and back on Mallard (past teal) is where you will get homes that back up onto acreage - so they have no seeable back yard neighbors.

Hope that helps. You can PM me if you are looking for a particular type of home or size of home and I can tell you which streets are the best for that.

Angel

I found it on Google Map. Thanks. How old are the houses in that area? Are there new houses in that area?