moving from Little Rock (Houston, Pearland: sales, apartments, foreclosure)

[corunmila]

Im moving from Little Rock in Feburary, a realtor found a condo at 7903 Grove Ridge Dr , is this a bad neighborhood? The realtor said it was not really a bad area, but I never trust a realtor.

[icon7]

Based on the area, I would say it is a working class (lower-middle income) industrial location. It is near Hobby Airport....the area is pretty rough...

[TX_AGGIE13]

Sounds like South Houston....hope your packin' heat!!...lol.

[texas7]

From the map it appears to be the older but well-kept townhomes that are considered Glenbrook. Not considered "South Houston" which is its own city. It is near Hobby Airport with a large population that is majority Hispanic and African-American, a minority of Caucasian residents throw into the mix with with a fairly sizeable Asian community in nearby apartments at Broadway and Bellfort -- all in a all , a melting pot of residents. I don't believe that the area is as rough as many who don't live in the area make it out to be. If you go to www.har.com and search for townhomes in zip code 77061 you should find all of them in this little area. One of the descriptions even says that they have a 24-hour houston police department bike patrol (i'd definitely ask to see if that is still in effect -- that would be nice to have). The poster called Modster lives in the general area and could probably give you a much more unbiased report on the area that these townhomes are in. Modster - you out there?

[TX_AGGIE13]

Maybe not "South Houston", but anything close to Hobby Airport is close enough. Im not biased either, I own a strip center, and a house down there. Anything in that area isn't all that great. Never claimed it to be 5th Ward, but deffinately not a "good" area of the metro.

[texas7]

Owning but living elsewhere and actually living in the area day to day are two entirely different things. There are a lot of people coming back to Glenbrook and it is in an "early" transitional stage as more and more people opt to move back closer to town. I wouldn't shop in the immediate area however those who currently live in that area are able to to give the OP a better view of life in that area which is why I am hoping that Modster see's this post and can address the OP's question. A lot of elderly still live in the area and when they die, the kids frequently update and resell or they live in the area themselves so. So how far do you have to get from Hobby Airport before you think it is okay? 1 mile, 5 miles, 10 miles? I'm in no way ignoring the fact that you own a business there because I'm sure strip centers see a lot of things. However, as far as crime - it seems that a lot more happens in the heart of Southwest Houston than it does in Glenbrook.

Now a single female - I might have second thoughts just because I wouldn't feel comfortable shopping in the immediate area. Just depends upon the OP's needs and wants. Plus any time you get a townhouse at a bargain price - you have to know that it isn't the premium part of town.

[modster]

There are some real concerns with the proximity to Leonora and I will get into that in a minute. But to paint the WHOLE area with the broad brush that TX_aggie has, I can assure you, is totally incorrect. There are certainly some wretched areas, more than our share even, but there are also some very nice sections. to say there isn't anything at all down there "all that great" is patently false.

The townhouses themselves are actually nice enough. The ones on Grove Ridge are accessed through a section of nice single family homes. The section of Glenbrook that it borders to the south and east of the complex is good. The townhomes offer a fair amount a space for an extremely reasonable price and you are convenient to downtown and the med center. But that is about the extent of what I could say positive about them.

The proximity to Leonora Street would be my concern. This lies just to the southwest of Grove Ridge. There are apartments on the east side of Leonora, small complexes, but they are not maintained and they don't screen tenants very well apparently. There are some condos on the other side of the street and they are not much better. Leonora is pretty tragic any way you cut it. That would be my issue with those. Leonora is just too rough and too close.

While the single family section right there is okay, those houses don't sell for as much as the ones a little further east due to their proximity to Leonora.

Everytime someone gets on here and dismisses the entire area, of course I have to have my say on that, sorry but my cord got pulled, here I go again. There are some very nice sections down there, areas that are known for their mid-century moderns, among other styles. There are some small hills and valleys that are very unique to Houston, and moss draped trees. When Glenbrook was new it was one of the priciest suburbs in Houston. Homes north of Bellfort were in a price range that would have also gotten you into Tanglewood at that time. The housing stock reflects that era in its history. Certainly it is a sort of "island" and the lack of good retail is a short coming, however, you aren't far from downtown or a lot of other things either, since you are right on the loop.

It has gentrified quite a bit in the last few years, at least or especially in the northern sections. There is still room for improvement, but it is a nice area and a great value to get so close in.

It has been featured in articles in the Chronicle 3 times in the last couple of years, once in the Wall Street Journal, Change magazine, and once in a newsletter for a national preservation group headquartered in Virginia.

Just for full disclosure, I am far from unbiased. I live there & I sell houses in the area, the lion's share of the ones that sell north of Bellfort. This does give me a front row seat on knowing who is moving into the area, especially in the northern part of Glenbrook.

In the past year or so there have been two sales in that section bordering the townhouse being discussed. I don't know yet who bought either of them, but one sale was for $200,000 which I consider a respectable sum, the other was less, but an all cash transaction so obviously neither buyer is exactly broke.

In the balance of the northern section, one house sold to a couple that used to live in the Heights, moved to Coles Crossing, and then to Glenbrook. They both work at major downtown Law Firms, one of which is Susman Godfrey. One on Colgate sold to a couple that moved from Clear Lake, a Phd and a computer programmer. Another was purchased by a Phd that is a college President, another as bought by a Project Manager from Centerpoint moving from the Energy corridor area, another by a Physician's assistant with MD Anderson and his wife, moved in from Pearland, another was purchased by an Architect with Rottet Studios, and and two were purchased by the people that live in the gray brick Mcmansion that corners Broadway, they purchased for relatives to live in. There were 4 all cash sales out of all of the ones over the last year or so.

One other sale was a foreclosure I had the bright idea of redoing for myself. So far I have gotten next to nothing done on it, so there it sits. 3875 sq ft of train wreck. I will probably just end up selling it.

So yes, TX_aggie, you are right, it isn't exactly the 5th ward.

If you need a visual, check the photo gallery:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/houst...unities-7.html

[TX_AGGIE13]

Im not implying that it is the worst place on earth at all, im just simply stating that it in my personal opinion is "undesireable". Im not everyone though. I would deffinately put it in the bottom 1/4 of areas in the Houston Metro.

[WillysB]

Where will you be working? Will you be socializing with co-workers? Where do you want to shop?

If the area is re-vitalizing you may have an opportunity to make a good investment. If you're working across town or expect to socialize with people across town or want to shop at the Galleria then you may want to reconsider.

This was great neighborhood in the 60's but value growth has trended elsewhere. If the area is making a come back... well, for you to decide.

[corunmila]

My husband works for a union construction contractor, he makes about 25.00 an hour, myself I will be working in a retail shop, making very little, with our income we live comfortably here in Little Rock, but the housing prices in houston are a lot higher. So we cant afford much, but still want a safe place to live. Or as safe as we can afford.