BEST and WORST of The Woodlands? (Houston, Dallas: to rent, house, safe neighborhoods)

[MxL]

I think it would be interesting to see your lists of both the best and worst things about living in The Woodlands. My fiance and I are going to be moving to the Conroe/Woodlands area this upcoming spring and would like to hear more about it.

[Nairobi]

i would assume that the best part of living in the woodlands is the natural beauty and everything that town offers

the worst part would be the fact that it's still the suburbs and it's pretty far from central Houston.

[Kandy]

I don't live in the Woodlands, but we visit there often.

~The worst thing for us is all the congestion.
~The best is all the family friendly restaurants & shopping.

[MissDaisy]

Originally Posted by MxL

I think it would be interesting to see your lists of both the best and worst things about living in The Woodlands. My fiance and I are going to be moving to the Conroe/Woodlands area this upcoming spring and would like to hear more about it.

We are moving to the same area-where did you purchase/lease?

[MDMontemayor]

Shopping and dining would be the best things and traffic would be the worse in my opinion.

[EasilyAmused]

Worst: Dining, its Chaingrala.
What isolation from reality does to its residents.
Graduated Association Fee and high taxes.
The commute. Makes my "best" part look not so wonderful.

Best: What you get for the money. You can get a house for 400k that would cost 1.5 million in Houston.
The schools don't have gangs or violence problems yet.
There are a lot of community parks (Just don't buy next to one).

[MxL]

MissDaisy:

We're going to rent at "Pine Creek Ranch" on College Park. Visited there and loved the complex and the area. I agree with some that it can get congested in the busy areas, but it's no worse than Houston. I liked the natural beauty that exists in the area and the access to amenities. Obviously the most fun resides in Houston, but we don't mind the occaisional drive in so we don't get too bored of the burbs.

We visited Sugar Land on one of our visits and I really did not like it at all. We didn't venture around too much, but to me it seemed like it was just a big mall and that's it. The traffic was horrid too and you couldn't find anywhere to park -- worse than what we experienced in The Woodlands. I know all suburbs are cookie-cutter to an extent, but it seems that The Woodlands has a shot of something more that keeps it unique (in relation to other burbs).

[Lake Conroe resident]

Worst: Getting to the freeway if you live in the back of the Woodlands.
Having the upper middle class yuppies tailgating you trying to "get ahead" (kinda like Calif). As a matter of fact it is like most Ca burbs only with lots of trees

Best: Lots of parks & walking trails
Great access to lots of retail/shopping
Master planned and well laid out with preservation of trees
Close to Lake Conroe if you have a boat.
Close to Houston to visit museums/sporting events as long as you don't have to commute there to work everyday.
Safe neighborhoods
Good schools

[sunny57]

worst...traffic

best...bronze sculptures

[bymendipside]

Best: The place is pretty beautiful and has good schools.

Worst: A lot of the people I know from there are very nice. Stepford wife-ish. (No offense.) Kinda blends in with a stereotype of a suburb you would expect of Dallas. Culturally bland.