Cypress, Sharpstown and Pearland (Houston, Bellaire: real estate, apartment complexes, houses)

[Novamax]

I am a reporter with a Houston-based magazine and I am working on a story about Houston's hottest neighborhoods. What can this forum tell me about those three neighborhoods? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these three? (They don't need to be compared against each other, but you can if you want.)

Which offers the best investment potential? Which is the best for families? What type of person should think about each of those neighborhoods?

[Lost_In_Translation]

Sharpstown is a hot neighborhood? What have the hooligans lot on fire now? And Pearland may be expanding from all the expansion in the medical center, but cypress, what crazy fools are moving up there, masochists that can't wait to get stuck in the 290 expansion disaster?

[War Beagle]

Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation

Sharpstown is a hot neighborhood? What have the hooligans lot on fire now? And Pearland may be expanding from all the expansion in the medical center, but cypress, what crazy fools are moving up there, masochists that can't wait to get stuck in the 290 expansion disaster?

Yeah, my impression was that Sharpstown hasn't been a "hot" neighborhood for a couple of decades now. Maybe "hot" is referring to the prevalence of stolen goods.

I also agree about Cypress. 290 during rush hour might very well be the worst road in the Houston area.

[Novamax]

Sharpstown is kind of the new Westbury -- perfectly fine houses with terrible apartment complexes and bad schools. I read that home prices have doubled in Sharpstown since 2000.

[ToyYot]

Does posing questions on anonymous online forums pass as reporting these days?
How about interviewing real estate agents who specialize in those areas?

Just a thought...

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by Novamax

Sharpstown is kind of the new Westbury -- perfectly fine houses with terrible apartment complexes and bad schools. I read that home prices have doubled in Sharpstown since 2000.

Sharpstown may be the new westbury, but its still a decade behind westbury (and really the golf course presents a big "if", just ask residents of Inwood Forest). Home prices having doubled is surprising because that means they were exceedingly low in 2000, like in the 60's-70's. Sharpstown is alot like Glenbrook Valley, recovering from the worst depreciation imaginable, but not yet ready to leap in popularity beyond the eclectic artist types and blue collar Hispanics that are looking to move up from apartment living. If its a hot area for a subgroup, it would be them. But Sharpstown residents aren't sitting on retirement funds anytime soon.

[desertsun41]

Sharpston? Hot? Any self respecting Reporter from this area would know Sharpston is a very dangerous place. An ugly place, and a place to avoid at all costs if you value your life and your possessions.

Cypress? I'm in this area now and hate it. Most of my dislike comes from the extreme congestion. It takes an hour to drive 2 miles up and down Highway 6. Imagine living in NYC with all it's congestion only spread out more. And 290 may well be the biggest abortion on the face of the earth. This road is truly the armpit of Texas. What fool would move to the northwest if they have to travel downtown? That's insanity!!! What human stamina and patience could endure having to be on this road twice a day? Especially knowing the horror of what's to come with the expansion of 290.

Pearland? I lived there a couple years in 2010 and 2011 and I still miss it. I liked it a lot. 288 is another abortion where these wonderful Texas Traffic Engineers who flunked Engineer school forgot to put feeder roads. But despite the 2 to 7 MPH crawl to downtown, it's still a shorter commute then 290 or 10 where you basically never take your foot off the brake pedal.

Pearland has the most to offer by far when referring to entertainment, restaurants, stores etc. Cypress has nothing really but some small strip malls scattered for shopping or eating. Except for 1 major one. But just getting to it by any other transportation then helicopter is not a doable thing for the impatient type of person. Cypress is more of a bedroom community which don't make it bad at all. Sharpston has nothing but minority owned, many illegal immigrant owned stores. The eateries are not even inspected by the health dept and those who work there don't even know what safe food handling practices are. It's all old and run down. White flight and urban decay will rock this area forever with little hope of recovery.

[asonnier]

My family of 5 has lived in Pearland since 1999 and we love it.
Everything is close by. You don't have to leave Pearland to do anything unless you want too. It is a very close-knit community divided by the East and west side and everyone knows everyone else. My kids have grown up with the same families since we moved here. People don' really move away. There are great local places to eat (like Killen's and Central Texas BBQ) and are also chain restaurants if that's your thing. We have good parks, good gym and a great local Walgreen's. The schools are great and the teachers and coaches are fabulous. There is no other place I would want to live while my children are in school!

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by BDFP

Does posing questions on anonymous online forums pass as reporting these days?
How about interviewing real estate agents who specialize in those areas?

Just a thought...

Have you not been paying attention to the media that's last 5-10 years? Journalism in this country sucks now! They either spend all their time cheer leading the president, or waste all their time doing TMZ gossip celebrity news. The days of who, what when, why, how are gone. I don't even think journalist know how to do research/investigation anymore.

[timtemtym]

Sharpstown is destined to turn around. It is surrounded by high-priced areas, huge employment centers (Greenway, Galleria, not too bad to downtown, Bellaire, etc...). As Bellaire prices keep going up, people are pushing farther west and some of the old complexes are slowly SLOWLY being torn down. I wouldn't feel safe living in Sharpstown just yet, but I believe it's headed toward a recovery that is long overdue.