Copperfield, Oak Forest, or Spring Branch? (White Oak, West: apartments, for rent, HOA)

[Soon2btexan]

Hi there, I am in the process of finding a home. My husband will be in town on the 10th to begin our house hunt and I am wondering what you think of the above locations as we are interested in some of the houses in and around them. I am a stay at home mom with a toddler so school districts aren't too important right now, but I also don't want to be living in a crime ridden pit either. I would like to be close to shopping and dining etc, and my husband would appreciate not having the worlds longest commute to downtown. Any advice would be great.

[Nanner]

I live in Oak Forest, so I'll start with that one. For the most part, I love living in this neighborhood. It's convenient to just about everywhere, and you don't even have to get on the freeway to get downtown if you don't want to. There's good diversity here, a growing number of families with young kids, and the HOA is really working hard to make the community even better. Most of my neighbors are really friendly and take good care of their properties. The homes original to the neighborhood are ranch homes built in the late 40s, early 50s after the war. If you can, try to stay east of White Oak Bayou. There are a few sections that are further west, that reach 290. While the homes are just as nice, they are closer to the apartments on Antoine and Mangum, and there are more properties for rent--and with the deed restrictions written so long ago, this can make for some poor looking property (cars parked on lawns, junk in the driveways, etc.). You'll def. spend more money east of White Oak, but it's just a nicer area. There is some crime, but mostly cars being stolen and such. Not a lot of violent crime, and I don't ever hear of break-ins. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but it's obviously not such a big deal that it's big news. For being inside the city, it's not bad at all. I feel safe here. Also, there is a lot of "tear down and rebuild" happening in this area. It's been going on for several years, and is now really starting to pick up. So if you plan on being in the area for a long time, be prepared for the feel of the neighborhood to change. Your husband will see what I mean when he comes down to visit.

Spring Branch--it's a huge area. Your husband will have a decent commute into downtown, depending on what part of Spring Branch you'll be in. I-10 is well known to be a monster, but it's under construction right now, I think to be finished in 2008? Some parts of Spring Branch are really nice, some parts okay, some parts bad. There are some areas that have been undergoing revitalization for many years, and are pretty established as good neighborhoods. Generally, south of Westview and east of Blalock is going to be your expensive area. I'm not completely familiar with how the rest of the neighborhood fares, so maybe someone else can chime in.

Copperfield--not very familiar with the area, but I have a friend who lives there. Your husband's commute will be hellish, as 290 is very congested. From what I understand it will be expanded soon, but that will be a long process. The upside is, it's a beautiful neighborhood with nice big homes and mature trees. Out of the 3 neighborhoods you mentioned, it would probably be best for your toddler to make friends, and for you to find other SAHMs. The elementary and middle schools are great, although I hear the high school, Langham Creek, has been having some trouble. That's all word of mouth, though; I don't know any specifics.

Hope this helps a little.

[Soon2btexan]

Wow thanks so much that is very detailed! I think we have prettty much narrowed it down to copperfield but the draw of being closer in with Oak forest is tempting as well. Currently my husbands commute to work is a 5 minute drive to the train station, a 45 minute train ride and then a 5 minute walk to work. So anything under 55 minutes would seem pretty darn good. Would you say Copperfield would be a longer commute than that?

[CDeb]

Originally Posted by Soon2btexan

Wow thanks so much that is very detailed! I think we have prettty much narrowed it down to copperfield but the draw of being closer in with Oak forest is tempting as well. Currently my husbands commute to work is a 5 minute drive to the train station, a 45 minute train ride and then a 5 minute walk to work. So anything under 55 minutes would seem pretty darn good. Would you say Copperfield would be a longer commute than that?

That depends on what time he plans on leaving the house. A commute to the Galleria area takes about 35 minutes from that part of town (near Copperfield), but that's leaving the house a tad before six a.m., before the rush for the most part. I imagine that downtown would only be about ten minutes more, at most.