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Hi Mom of 3,
I have 3 children too, and I'm trying to decide between West Memorial/Older Katy verses the newer master planned communities in Katy. I like the older homes, but love the amenities of Cinco Ranch. I have also found that it's much easier to make friends in newer communities because everyone is "out to make friends."
In older neighborhoods the age demographics/phase of life of the neighbors seems to be a bit of a barrier. I'm in a lovely older neighborhood now, but I rarely see children playing outside! I've never seen the neighbors to my left outside their home. I've only seen my neighbor to the right when he had a minor complaint. I can't wait to move to Texas, and I certainly hope that I'll be able to meet some Texans when I get there!
When we lived in a new neighborhood, almost everyone was friendly. Families played together in front of their homes, and there were tons of clubs.
I would love to hear from anyone who has had similar or different experiences!
We have only 1 kid (under 5) and we chose a master planned community (Cinco Ranch) because of the school district, amenities, and walking distance to the CR library, La Centerra, elementary, jr. & sr. school.
Cinco Ranch has numerous (pocket) subdivision parks. There's actually one right across the street from my house. We've lived here since August 2007 and the park is usually empty -- occaisionally there will 1 or 2 other families or a couple of kids but not often. However, there's also a soccer field there and when soccer season is in practice, the playground is full of soccer player siblings a couple of times a week but these kids aren't necessarily Cinco Ranch residents.
The Cinco Ranch playground across from "the beach" tends to have lots of kids using it but it's a short drive for us. I recently biked around both lakes with my 4 year old and that was a lot of fun. There's also a gated playground at the CR Waterpark that's nice too -- next to the waterpark is a walking/biking trail along the bayou that's nice.
Residents of Cinco Ranch can join the CR Ladies Club for $20/year and then join playgroups if you're kids are under 5. The CR Ladies Club also has about 20 other clubs from monthly movie night, bible study, garden club, tennis. The CR Ladies Club meets once a month so you can meet other CR residents there too. The CR Ladies Club also hosts socials, luncheons, and fundraisers.
The Cinco Ranch pools were a lot of fun last year too and a great way to meet other CR kids. CR also has a swim team that practices during the summer.
We really haven't met a lot of the kids that live in this subdivison but maybe once our son is older -- we do see a lot of older kids out riding and walking to the elementary school and just playing outside.
The CR HOA hosts several parties throughout the year for its residents that have been a lot of fun. The new waterpark/clubhouse is also supposed to have an activities director hosting events so that should be fun too.
You can also find mom's groups with Katy moms through yahoo groups, meetup.com, MOPS, and MOMS club if your kids are under 5.
We like Mary Jo Peckham park & playground in Old Katy and there's always lots of kids there and the indoor pool and fitness center are free. There's also free mini golf there too and covered basketball courts.
Good luck on whatever decision you make and welcome to Katy.
When my family moved into MNW in the 70's, Klein High was the only thing on that intersection, the nearest McDonalds was 45 & 1960, the nearest grocery store was Stuebner & 1960. Intersections like Louetta & Kuykendahl and Stuebner-Airline (now Veterans) & Bammel N. Houston were 4-way stops, (no lights). 1960 was being widened from 2 lanes and had no left turn signals at any of the intersections.
Considering precious little was built during the 80's oil bust out there, it really didn't take long to change. Enjoy your open space while it lasts, it will not be a long time!
I know, I thought about that as I posted... development will just keep on going.
The distance to McDonalds really made me laugh! You can probably find 10 McDs between those points now.
In my life, I've lived in both MN and Windrose. MN is very kid/family friendly. I don't think its snobby at all.
Then again, I lived in Windrose, and while many of the people around me were more affluent, most of them were extremely nice and down to earth. I don't think you can go wrong with either.
Both are priced right for what you get, in my opinion.
[FONT=Verdana]My family and I lived in Memorial Northwest Subdivision (MNW) for two years. We came from out-of-state (CT) and needed to buy quickly. I flew in to looked in areas of: Sugarland, The Woodlands, Some of Katy, Richmond (too far) and Spring. I fell in love with the trees in Spring. I personally like the LESS restrictive HOAs in Spring vs. TheWoodlands. I can say that MNW HOA is very strong and very involved. The fees are so CHEAP, I can't even mention it![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]I pick MNW because for several reasons one being the size of home for the money. What you also get in a lot for the $$. The majority of homes are MOSTLY brick (area 1) and the chimney’s are also brick and not just wood surround. The mantels are huge of either stone, brick or beautiful wood ornate pieces. The 14+inch crown moldings in almost all of my rooms. I just can’t help but smile. Because in CT, this type of molding would have put us in the poor house! ALL WOOD not cheap fake stuff they put in the newer homes now! Trust me when you walk it it’s the first thing you notice! My super high ceilings downstairs and upstairs part of it is high. For us it was the master bedroom that did it. My bedroom is almost the size of a three car garage and it’s downstairs. I have a “normal” sized one upstairs in case I change my mind. The upstairs one is my sewing/work room. The granite tops, upgraded floors and built-in bookshelves. Most homes that I looked at here at MNW were remodeled or updated to fit current tastes. I had my closet redone to enlarge and the wood was solid and not the press wood like some of the newer homes I looked at. You most definately get more for your money. (note: if brick isn't your "thing" we have 2200 homes in our development so we have all wood, semi-brick, stone and brick!)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][URL="http://www.mnwcenter.com/"]www.mnwcenter.com[/URL] [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]I moved to Texas to be in the middle of the country. My husband travels and need close access to INTERNATIONAL airports we have two! I'm not going to mention the low cost of food and fuel![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Note: Yes, some of the homes are very close. Mine isn't because I pick it on a cul-de-sac and I see NOONE. And some of the yards are too big for my taste in the back. Especially on Hertfordshire. So we have it all Area ONE - 10,000 sq ft homes down to 2500 sq feet in some of the older areas. I think because we are diverse we have something for the first time buyer up to the established family homes.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Yes, some are not updated. BUT, then they are priced right for revamping! You can get into an establish neighborhood for less! Then you can add as you need to![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Trust me I came from SNOOTY neighborhood CT and this is the OPPOSITE! I chat wih my neighbors almost TOO much! (smile) My neighbors have a email list so if someone want to go for coffee they can every few days at the local Starbucks. MOMS can chit chat away! I feel comfortable wearing flip flops and my hair up walking to get my mail. Perfect for me. But, we have the polished look also, with the big fancy cars, suvs and the like. That’s what storage units are for. I use one about three miles away. Everything is convenient and if my husband and I WANT to go kick up our heels and go on a romantic date, downtown Houston is only 35 mins away. But even closer is THE Woodland, we still can enjoy the waterway, water taxis and the cute shops without paying for it![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Re: NO sidewalks:[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]My son is 6 years old and he has kids from all ages up and down the street. I live in a cul-de-sac so we let them ride bikes, big wheels, and play basketball there. We just put up cones. We have the whole gamut from newborns to seasoned grandparents! [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Theiss Elementary retained its Exemplary School Status. [URL="http://classroom.kleinisd.net/webs/theiss/"]http://classroom.kleinisd.net/webs/theiss/[/URL][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]I love his school! It's not a problem to chit chat with the teachers or administration. The principal is accessible, you can call her directly! OOPS! Which I did yesterday to find out more about the meetings with Tiger Cub Scout meetings! His principal is great! She was the assistant principal and moved up. This is what I love about her is she kept BOTH MUSIC AND PE. My son goes TWO days to music and THREE DAYS of PE!!!!!!! AND they have orchestra after school! This is important because some of the OTHER elementary schools in the area have removed one or both of these programs. Or if they offer it, it's only ONE day.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Here is another PLUS. The Memorial Northwest Club House is RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO THEISS! Which both uses each others facilities. We were having a JOINT family night at the club house or THEISS students and family members but because of the hurricane it was cancelled.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Our club house has many things to do. FREE fitness gym (most all new equipment) , tennis and a FREE classes on Tuesdays. We have a PAID staff member for fitness also for water and mega training. All key coded to get in. We have several tennis courts and a walk path. There are plans to UPDATE the whole club and field area. The pool is great as another person mentioned it has a deep end where you can dive. It's also where we have a resident swim team! I have a pool, but it's nice to have a change and go with the kids and have fun with neighbors. The kids love getting the snow cones or hot dogs at the concession stand! [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Our tennis club is very active! Oh and for the guys & some women, we have poker nights and get togethers.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]What I forgot is the great shopping! We have two malls in close driving distance. 4 MAJOR supermarkets less than a mile away. Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart’s (2) are within 8-9 miles away, Target a little closer, Ross, Kohl's, all the domino's, Italian, Mexican, doctors office, emergency care only 4 miles away. My son was a preemie and I need access to great hospitals. We got it all close. Day care places are a plenty. I have several nail places to go to in less than a mile. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]During HURRICAN IKE:[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]I can also say that my roof stayed on because of professional pins to resist wind(nails). One of my business acquaintances lives in Windrose and most of her roof flew off because they were along with many, many homes in her subdivision because they were put on with roof STAPLES and not nails! It was total devastation for her. (I saw the pictures on 10-2-08). So, if you are going go buy a home make sure you have a HOME INSPECTOR look at how the roof is attached! [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Also, because we have a strong HOA, they increase BUG spray from two times a week to four! Well, trust me here in Texas you NEED the bug spray! They also several thousand to PAY for rubbish removal to hurry along the clean up AND have already coordinated with HARRIS county to start removing the 5 inch or bigger tree logs out (and large debris). Yesterday, it was so noisy two streets over because they had two backhoes with pick up attachments and 4 semi-trucks to load the yuck out! We are so lucky![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]My sister who lives a mile away. ONE mile away has debris piled up the sky and nothing. NO help from her HOA![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]That's the other thing we have PRIDE in MNW! And the neighbors help! Everyone was out cleaning, sawing (borrowing each other stuff) and sweeping to make it "whole" again after the hurricane. I drive around and see how almost everything is back to normal already it's truly amazing![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]If you want info about the neighborhood email me. [EMAIL="springmom1@gmail.com"]springmom1@gmail.com[/EMAIL]. I'm proud of where I live. This is my home and I have great neighbors![/FONT]
There was one builder in there that was not so hot. He built a lot of the really large ones.
Can you elaborate?
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I live in Spring, TX - Two Years
