Moving from PA in June 2007 (Houston, Pearland: apartment, condo, how much) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

Meg1076 · 12-15-2006, 10:59 AM

Hi. My husband and I and two children (10 and 6) are looking to move to the Houston area in June. My husband is to attend the Art Institute which is located on Yorktown St. We're wondering about good areas to live that would be a quick, relatively easy commute to the school. I have a friend who lives in Pearland and we have been looking at that as a possibility. What kind of commute is it from Pearland to the school? How are the schools in Pearland?

I work in the medical field and would need to find a job at a good hospital which has an OB/GYN or Labor & Delivery department. Suggestions?

Thanks for any help you can give us.

sallybell · 12-15-2006, 12:05 PM

Do you want to live in the 'burbs or are you open to living inside the loop in the city? How much home can you afford?

How far a commute do you and your husband want and/or willing to drive? There are lots of great areas, but if you are not up for a LOOONG commute, we need to know that too as that will eliminate certain areas.

The Texas Medical Center is located here and if you want hospitals you will find them. It is like a city unto itself; one hospital after the next with world renowed credentials.

Meg1076 · 12-15-2006, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sallybell

Do you want to live in the 'burbs or are you open to living inside the loop in the city? How much home can you afford?

How far a commute do you and your husband want and/or willing to drive? There are lots of great areas, but if you are not up for a LOOONG commute, we need to know that too as that will eliminate certain areas.

The Texas Medical Center is located here and if you want hospitals you will find them. It is like a city unto itself; one hospital after the next with world renowed credentials.

We don't really want to live in the city. More burbs than anything else. We're from a pretty small area in PA and like more of the small town feel. We can afford a house in the 100k-120k price range. Don't want a really long commute seeing as my husband will be at the school every single day. Maybe a 20-25 min commute if possible. Good schools for the kids are extremely important to us. Our son will be in the 5th grade in the fall and our daughter will be in 1st.

Thanks for all of your help.

sallybell · 12-15-2006, 04:53 PM

Pearland is an option, although the commute may be a bit longer than 20 minutes. It really depends on the time of day you are traveling. Traffic in Houston is very bad, so it really does matter what part of town you live in, in relation to where you work.

You also may want to take a look at Cypress.

modster · 12-15-2006, 06:00 PM

I hope this isn't too blunt, but I am afraid somebody needs to tell you and if any locals feel I am incorrect, please feel free to offer suggestions.

Meg1076 I am afraid you are dreaming if you think you are going to find a home within a 20 - 25 minute radius of Yorktown & San Felipe, with good schools, for $125,000. Possibly a 2 bedroom condo in an apartment style complex. That's it.

In peak traffic times it can take you nearly 20 minutes just to get out of the Galleria area. In the immediate vicinity are the very exclusive neighborhoods of Tanglewood, Briargrove & Memorial. To the north of 1-10 is Spring Branch, but while the school district overall is good, you have to really check on individual schools. You might find a fixer upper on the fringes in that price range, maybe, with more of a 35 minute commute. But I am not optimistic that it would be zoned to a good school. You go south you are getting into Bellaire and Meyerland. They are expensive too, $300k and up. You can find houses in that price range in Westbury & Parkwest, but Anderson elem. is not, shall we say, that popular. You might find a train wreck fixer upper zoned to Parker elem. which would be fine. Houses exist in that price in Sharpstown, but I don't think they have good schools there.

You are going to have to make a concession some where, what you are asking for basically doesn't exist. Chances are you are going to have to look at 45 minute to one hour commutes.

bmglab · 12-15-2006, 09:33 PM

I have lived in Pearland for 5 years. We chose this as a place to live because it is the closest suburb to the city. We can get into the med center, midtown, Galleria, downtown in 20-30 minutes. Housing is affordable and the schools are great. There is also zoning laws so the town is not being developed haphazardly.

bmglab · 12-15-2006, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meg1076

Hi. My husband and I and two children (10 and 6) are looking to move to the Houston area in June. My husband is to attend the Art Institute which is located on Yorktown St. We're wondering about good areas to live that would be a quick, relatively easy commute to the school. I have a friend who lives in Pearland and we have been looking at that as a possibility. What kind of commute is it from Pearland to the school? How are the schools in Pearland?

I work in the medical field and would need to find a job at a good hospital which has an OB/GYN or Labor & Delivery department. Suggestions?

Thanks for any help you can give us.

My wife and I are both is the medical field living in Pearland. We commute daily to the med center in about 20-25 minutes. Pearland is the largest community of medical people outside the med center. Pearland is also the closest suburb to the med center. There are a lot of great hospitals, the largest being, St. Luke's, Memorial Hermann/Kelsey Seybold, Ben Taub. I would recommend St. Lukes or Texas Women's hospital (in the mec center) as my first choice.

modster · 12-16-2006, 10:49 AM

Meg1076 Pearland is probably going to be one of your better options, and you should be able to get to the Med Center within 30 minutes. Less if traffic is light and it is off peak travel times.

San Felipe and Yorktown would still be 45 minutes each way. It is by no stretch of the imagination going to be a 25 minute trip driveway to driveway from the Art Institute to the middle of Pearland.

sallybell · 12-16-2006, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meg1076

We can afford a house in the 100k-120k price range.
Thanks for all of your help.

I too think you're going to have some trouble finding this price range. I personally don't live in Pearland, but for that price range you are going to find a fixer upper at best. Go to the website www.har.com and see what you can get for your money. If you are willing to commute an hour or more, you may be able to find something else. As far as a "small town feel" I also don't think you will get that in Pearland. Houston is a very busy city with lots of traffic and over 4 million people. You would have to move quite far out from the city (like Magnolia) to start to get a smaller town feel.