Houston area

[gregthehand]

We live in the Champions area and really like it. It's on the East side of 249 where it intersects FM 1960. Bad traffic on the weekends.

[Syntyr]

I live in a quiet neighborhood in Richmond, near Sugar Land. We have some good areas out this way in Fort Bend county along with a few not so good. Southwest Houston proper is a high crime area.

Richmond area, South Katy, Fulshear, Sugar Land, Needville and many areas of Fort Bend county are not bad.

I live in Richmond... About half a mile from SQLGeek. When someone hits our entry gate and damages it and their car it's like headline news. Once when I was out of town my wife left for work at 6 am and left our double garage door open with all of my power tools in it... She came back at 7pm and not a thing had been touched... We don't lock our doors until nighttime.

Good
Sugar land
Richmond
Rosenberg
West chase
Memorial
Galleria
Uptown
Katy
Bellaire

[Excaliber]

The Porter area (Northpark Drive off Hwy 59) is very quiet and a very easy commute to downtown.

I use the Metro bus - 25 minutes from the parking lot down the HOV lane to the very center of downtown while I read the paper or catch up on emails. You can set your watch by it and get to work for less money than you could drive it and with no parking fees at all. Can't beat it.

I know of some very nice properties currently available. PM me if you'd like details.

A web site you might find handy is My Local Crime. It shows graphic representations of the types of crimes near an address and where they occurred. It's a great way to assess a neighborhood with next to no effort.

[Wodathunkit]

Moving from Alvin (42 years) to League City, I feel like a fish out of water but I'm excited. Can't wait for house construction to end.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

I live in the 2nd Ward, supprisingly quiet here. We are .75 miles from downtown and actually commute to Baytown to work so we are usually opposite of traffic. Our neighborhood is quiet and most of the people know each other and have lived here for a very long time.

[anygunanywhere]

Seabrook is great place to live. It's so freakin quiet after 7pm it's great

Traffic getting to/from the Kemah Boardwalk through Seabrook especially on weekends can test a man's patience, though.

La Grange is a wonderful place to live. The new super Walmart is opening soon but the number of traffic lights increase by 2 which equates to a 50% increase.

Anygunanywhere

[Vol Texan]

I don't know the Houston area, but always see chl shootings and robberies posted here. Is there anywhere safe to live out there or within a reasonable commute?

Where will you be working? That will help us provide more feedback. Houston is huge, and a cross-city commute is crazy, no matter how you look at it.

[Dadtodabone]

Another vote for Kingwood. We've lived in King's River Village since '01.http://kingsrivervillage.org/default.php
Beautiful, green, quite neighborhoods with very nice amenities, parks, pools, boat ramp for Lake Houston, watch bald eagles fish the lake, several nesting pairs in the area. Nice retail areas in the community, or a short trip to a fairly large mall. Community arts, theatre, music, farmers market. Home prices vary with the neighborhoods. Up Front starts in the 90's, with some high 6 figure properties/areas also available. Lots more in the median(KRV)range though.
Commute not a problem, Park-n-Ride, express bus, paper, coffee. Even if you must drive, the 59 experience is much more survivable over the other major arteries at rush periods. Check the Houston Transtar map;
http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/laye ... rs_ve.html
You are able to pull up historical average speeds at specific times and over specific segments of all the major freeways. This was the major deciding factor for me on the Kingwood area. My office was in the Galleria area on Post Oak and I had a shorter drive commute(time wise)from Kingwood than did my colleagues who resided in Katy/Cinco Ranch(now though with the Katy Freeway up grade it's much better! A local talk radio host used to have an alert and game called "What's blocking traffic on the Katy Freeway" the answers were always a laugh, couch and love seat, Portajohn, lumber, etc..) If you travel frequently(I did) IAH is 20 minutes away. Many was the time I was soaking in the tub with a nice single malt, while my colleagues were still making their way thru traffic. Crime is negligible. Some property crime, auto burglaries, kids with too much time on their hands. There was a murder a few years ago in Atascocita, the victim was followed home late in the evening from a McDonalds Red Box by 3 thugs and shot in his driveway.
While not a factor for us, the public schools are award winning and very safe, KHS had something like a 99.7% graduation rate with 94% of grads entering a 4 year university course of study(there are a large number of Aggies in the area, car pools to Aggieland for games, bringing home students for the holidays, etc. Aggie Mom and Dad clubs.) Lots of golf opportunities if you have the inclination. Friendly indoor shooting range 15 minutes away. Outdoor range rifle, pistol, skeet, trap 25 minutes away.

[texanjoker]

I live in the 2nd Ward, supprisingly quiet here. We are .75 miles from downtown and actually commute to Baytown to work so we are usually opposite of traffic. Our neighborhood is quiet and most of the people know each other and have lived here for a very long time.

baytown is always hiring...

[texanjoker]

. . . So if you are looking to move to the area, and while you haven't stated where you would be commuting to, I would think:
Clear Lake, League City, Webster, Friendswood, Pearland. But as I have said, that does not mean crime does not happen in those areas, but just doesn't seem to be as prevalent.

Near southwest Houston is a war zone. Go to the small town suburbs as Teamless listed, with one exception. For some unknown reason, Shadow Creek Ranch and Southern Trails in Pearland are getting hammered with various crimes, especially burglaries.

Okay, I "modified" Friendswood, but I'm obviously bias. We also have very little crime and PSC is 4 miles from my home.

Chas.

I was again looking at the map. I might be headed down that way next week for an interview.

[WildBill]

. . . So if you are looking to move to the area, and while you haven't stated where you would be commuting to, I would think:
Clear Lake, League City, Webster, Friendswood, Pearland. But as I have said, that does not mean crime does not happen in those areas, but just doesn't seem to be as prevalent.

Near southwest Houston is a war zone. Go to the small town suburbs as Teamless listed, with one exception. For some unknown reason, Shadow Creek Ranch and Southern Trails in Pearland are getting hammered with various crimes, especially burglaries.

Okay, I "modified" Friendswood, but I'm obviously bias. We also have very little crime and PSC is 4 miles from my home.

Chas.

I know many people who are very happy living in the Clear Lake area, including League City, Webster and yes even Friendswood.

[texanjoker]

. . . So if you are looking to move to the area, and while you haven't stated where you would be commuting to, I would think:
Clear Lake, League City, Webster, Friendswood, Pearland. But as I have said, that does not mean crime does not happen in those areas, but just doesn't seem to be as prevalent.

Near southwest Houston is a war zone. Go to the small town suburbs as Teamless listed, with one exception. For some unknown reason, Shadow Creek Ranch and Southern Trails in Pearland are getting hammered with various crimes, especially burglaries.

Okay, I "modified" Friendswood, but I'm obviously bias. We also have very little crime and PSC is 4 miles from my home.

Chas.

I know many people who are very happy living in the Clear Lake area, including League City, Webster and yes even Friendswood.

Those areas seem like ones I may look at next week while down there. I kayak fish and miss salt h20 fishing. Being close to a bay is a huge plus for me. The job works out of Pearland.

[silverbear]

+1 for Seabrook. Great community. Fun stuff during the weekends and pretty quiet during the week.

[WildBill]

+1 for Seabrook. Great community. Fun stuff during the weekends and pretty quiet during the week.

I lived in Seabrook when I moved to Texas [for the third time].

[texanjoker]

+1 for Seabrook. Great community. Fun stuff during the weekends and pretty quiet during the week.

I was checking it out on the 'net. Probably gonna roll through there next week when I'm in town.