Where to live in Houston? (Sugar Land, The Woodlands: how much, new house, school districts)

[ipuck]

Originally Posted by fnh

I encourage you to search ipuck's history of posts and you will learn to disregard much of his 'advice' as hyperbole or outright lies. The "massive construction on 290 for another 10 years" is actually largely completed and scheduled to finish next year:
Home

OP, you haven't seen Cypress recommended much because you indicated a preference for thirty minute commute times. You wouldn't have that for either IAH or downtown. The commute to downtown from Jersey Village area that I recommended to you is thirty minutes, and JV is half the distance from downtown to Cypress.

Further above I too endorsed NE Houston or The Woodlands until proximity to Sugar Land was tossed about, and now you indicate your children will attend Saturday Chinese classes. Our friends and neighbors attended Saturday classes at the Chinese community center along the west beltway, and we've joined them for Lunar Festivals there. It is an easy 20 minute drive straight down the beltway.

So you are considering three commutes really, and I maintain that you will not find a better option for your budget than the Jersey Village area. These are the closest nice neighborhoods with the best schools for your budget, an area that minimizes all three commutes. North of 290 I recommend you look at neighborhoods east and west of the beltway that are zoned to Post or Gleason, south of 290 stay west of the beltway.
Link to full article:
Inside the Loop, affordable housing giving way to high-dollar development - Houston Chronicle

Agree to disagree. Don't call my comments lies. If you don't know how to argue, don't respond.

If you think the 290 construction is done by next year, then the sun should be coming up from the west also.

Most people look past JV because the schools are average at best. Every schools there have been in a declining trend for the past 10 years and will continue that way. The commute is not better to downtown either, so I don't know why you think it is a great idea, or maybe looking at a map is too hard for you.

Lastly, I use to live close to there. There is zero chinese food there. ZERO. The only thing remotely Chinese is the buffet joint on Jones and 290, and that thing is really not chinese.

[alexanderwangsun]

Originally Posted by fnh

I encourage you to search ipuck's history of posts and you will learn to disregard much of his 'advice' as hyperbole or outright lies. The "massive construction on 290 for another 10 years" is actually largely completed and scheduled to finish next year:
Home

OP, you haven't seen Cypress recommended much because you indicated a preference for thirty minute commute times. You wouldn't have that for either IAH or downtown. The commute to downtown from Jersey Village area that I recommended to you is thirty minutes, and JV is half the distance from downtown to Cypress.

Further above I too endorsed NE Houston or The Woodlands until proximity to Sugar Land was tossed about, and now you indicate your children will attend Saturday Chinese classes. Our friends and neighbors attended Saturday classes at the Chinese community center along the west beltway, and we've joined them for Lunar Festivals there. It is an easy 20 minute drive straight down the beltway.

So you are considering three commutes really, and I maintain that you will not find a better option for your budget than the Jersey Village area. These are the closest nice neighborhoods with the best schools for your budget, an area that minimizes all three commutes. North of 290 I recommend you look at neighborhoods east and west of the beltway that are zoned to Post or Gleason, south of 290 stay west of the beltway.
Link to full article:
Inside the Loop, affordable housing giving way to high-dollar development - Houston Chronicle

Thank fnh for your info. I just checked the schools in JV area from GreatSchools. Most of them have a 6-8/10 which is lower than any of the areas recommended.

[DSL_PWR]

I'd look in Fall Creek or Summerwood.

Stay away from 290.. FAR AWAY!!!

[alexanderwangsun]

Originally Posted by DSL_PWR

I'd look in Fall Creek or Summerwood.

Stay away from 290.. FAR AWAY!!!

If I live in north part of Cypress, I can avoid 290 and take 249 then 45 to downtown.

[fnh]

ipuck, your comment about 290 was indeed a blatant lie. DH works in one of the Houston Centers downtown and commutes there daily so we are in a position to comment first-hand on the commute rather than throw out misinformation. And since I super-commuted to Seattle my first year here and have a second home there, I'm also quite familiar with the commute to IAH. Just did that commute on Monday, will do it again tomorrow, then again on Tuesday...

OP, the schools naturally are not going to score as highly as more homogenous ones with terrible commutes or closer-in high-dollar enclaves, but they are solid. Our neighbors with kids in the local public schools are happy and the schools enjoy strong community support. Best of luck finding a better option! I'm still waiting to hear one.

[Hate Minnesota]

Kingwood is really nice, but Katy is where the value is. I'm in Sugar Land and I've been here for a year and I absolutely love it here. I wouldn't think of living anywhere else.

[bunnymcfluff]

I live in, and like Cypress. You can get a lot of house for your money, and we like the school district. It's very diverse, with folks from all over--lots of Asians, though there isn't a sizeable Chinese population that I'm aware of. There is an asian market off 1960, but I prefer to hit Super H Mart off I-10 on my way home from work. My kids aren't in the top rated schools, but not the worst. They still get a good education, have great sports teams, and have access to good extracurriculars. And it's easier to get into the top 10%, so I don't think we're missing out.

290 stinks, but it's not terrible if you are able to work an off-peak schedule. If you leave by 5:30am it's 30 min to downtown and 45 to IAH. Coming home on 290 isn't good after 3:30 (but that's true of anywhere, basically). The Park and Ride is an extremely good option for downtown commuting. I also carpool with a neighbor sometimes, and during peak traffic we get home in 45ish minutes via HOV.

[Failed Engineer]

You are not going to check off everything on your wishlist. Your places of interest are too spread out to get proximity to everything, in addition to hitting your budget and schools requirement. You need to figure out what the lowest order priorities are and go from there.

[ipuck]

Originally Posted by bunnymcfluff

I live in, and like Cypress. You can get a lot of house for your money, and we like the school district. It's very diverse, with folks from all over--lots of Asians, though there isn't a sizeable Chinese population that I'm aware of. There is an asian market off 1960, but I prefer to hit Super H Mart off I-10 on my way home from work. My kids aren't in the top rated schools, but not the worst. They still get a good education, have great sports teams, and have access to good extracurriculars. And it's easier to get into the top 10%, so I don't think we're missing out.

290 stinks, but it's not terrible if you are able to work an off-peak schedule. If you leave by 5:30am it's 30 min to downtown and 45 to IAH. Coming home on 290 isn't good after 3:30 (but that's true of anywhere, basically). The Park and Ride is an extremely good option for downtown commuting. I also carpool with a neighbor sometimes, and during peak traffic we get home in 45ish minutes via HOV.

FNH said there is no traffic on 290. You can get this in 15 minutes to anywhere in the city per his DH, who is the foremost authority on traffic in Houston and 290. Those time you posted are LIES. Please do not spread false facts on the internet as everybody here knows Cypress area and especially Jersey Village is the best neighborhood in the city. Why live in West U when you have Jersey V?

[fnh]

I never said there is no traffic on 290. There is rush hour traffic to be sure, like on every freeway. DH's commute to downtown AT RUSH HOUR is half an hour from inside the beltway JV area. We are 15 miles from his office. The commuter bus from the W Little York P&R to downtown is 26 minutes.

We actually looked at homes in West U ourselves and still chose to live in NW Houston. Impossible for ipuck to understand perhaps but the commute from West U to the Galleria AND to IAH is untenable. Plus, we found West U overpriced for what you get, coming from the west coast. We found a great location and neighborhood in the JV area that has worked very well for us with commutes similar to the OP's.

Pretty curious why you think your knowledge of 290 gleaned from an armchair in Sugar Land has any more validity than mine, ipuck.