Houston Area Members...HELP!

[ADay73]

My job may be relocating to Katy, TX next fall and I plan on living in an apartment for a few months until the wife can come out and we can buy a house. I have heard that Sugarland is a great place to live, however I don't know. Without knowing anyone or where anything is can those of you there make any suggestions? My wife is spoiled with a Nordstrom type shopping being only five minutes away....therefore recommendations to meet the following are appreciated and I doubt we can meet them all....

Within a 30 minute communte of Katy
Good schools (wife is a teacher here in NC)
Close to good shopping

Any ideas???

[bigpapy]

I recomend you the Galleria area for the shopping center still close to sugar land but that area is more espensive

[cking2729]

Sugarland is a great place to live, IMO. Traffic sucks, but the shopping, dining, schools/facilities, and amenities are all A+. You are also right on 59 and have quick access to almost everything great around the area. I don't know, but I can only assume the housing costs are high, as it's a very upper-class area. Unlike a lot of Houston, Sugar Land has also greatly maintained its curb appeal and doesn't have all the billboards and clutter. I grew up in deep East Texas but my in-laws live in Stafford (literally blocks away from Sugarland.) I enjoy it thoroughly there, and especially with all the great theatres and a brand new Fry's superstore less than 2 miles away.

[HornsFan]

Sugar Land is a very nice area. The traffic is horrible right now towards the Sugar Land/Richmond/Rosenberg area b/c all of the traffic. Traffic is always horrible in Katy (i don't think they will ever get construction done there). If you are going to work in Katy (but don't want to live there) I would recommend living anywhere on the 99 corridor (also known as Grand Parkway)...if you like golf, Greatwood is a very nice area with a pretty nice little golf course (not to challenging, but very well kept and a nice play). New Territory is also nice. The great thing about living on that corridor is that you would probably have the easiest commute in Houston--meaning you won't really have too much traffic to worry about. The Galleria is definately the prime shopping location in Houston...but YOU DON'T WANT TO LIVE ANYWHERE IN THAT AREA--unless that is your style. Distance wise, you are about the same from Katy/Sugar Land to the Galleria area...traffic wise, you will ALWAYS be worse off in the Katy area. Your wife being a school teacher, if you live in Katy-Katy ISD is a good district to work for. If you live in the Sugar Land area, have her work in Lamar ISD. I actually do retirement planning for TX educators and I get quite a bit of feedback from my clients and the ones working in those two districts seem to be the happiest career wise. If I can be anymore help, please let me know...take care and good luck with your move!!!

[HornsFan]

Forgot...from 59 (Sugar Land) to I-10 (Katy) via 99 is about a 25-30 minute drive

[stauburn]

I live in Sugar Land and it is an awesome place to live. There are traffic headaches at the moment but if you are working in Katy the Grand PRWY ( aka Hwy 99) makes it easy to get to. There are a lot of communities on the Grand PRWY and a few on FM 1464 , which runs paraell to it. I live on 1464 and can make may way around the area without much trouble if yo avoid the typical rush hour times.

[groovyone]

I have many friends in Sugar Land. I am down in Dickinson/League City, but that would be a horrible commute to Katy.

[yakman]

You want your kids in either the Sugarland or Katy schools. There is better shopping(higher end anyway) at and around First Colony Mall in Sugarland than in Katy( but Katy Mills mall does have the Nieman-Marcus clearance outlet). There is a Saks Off 5th clearance outlet in both aof those 2 areas. We recently moved from Pearland(SE Houston burb) to Sugarland(SW Houston burb)and are so far loving the Sugarland area.

[spicynacho]

Katy is pretty far west. If you live east of katy, you will live closer to the center of houston and have a more pleasant commute. I would recommend live as close to where you work as possible, Houston is already one of the worst cases of urban sprawl, don't be part of the problem. My folks live in northwest houston, my dad's office is an hour away and my mom's is 45. But my mom only goes in once a week and telecommutes the other days and my dad travels for his job 75% of the time so he is closer to the airport.

[blurayforever143]

I will say you have to be pretty narrow minded if you think Katy and Sugarland schools are that good.....the HISD has a solid programs and from experience, they hire -way- better teachers. Maybe the demographics or the locations aren't what you're looking for, but teenagers are teenagers and kids are kids no matter what school district they go to [yes, even the suburbs have drug problems, sex problems, and gang problems] UH and Rice are also great universities, over all education is very solid in Houston, even the HCC is worth attending for leisure learning or transfer credits.

As for the shopping in Houston? Well, off in the suburbs to be honest you've got nothing but crap. First Colony Mall is a dump, so is Woodlands, and Katy Mills is HUUUGE and very nice, but in the end, crap. The center of Houston is where it's at. Galleria for the upscale: Nordstrom's, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue [not an outlet], Macy's, Dillard's, every single mall chain clothing/accesory store, dozens of speciality stores [Sony Style, Apple] and as far as the media side of it...two GS/EB in the mall..plus FYE, Borders. As far as the bargain shopping? Houston, actual non suburb metro Houston is still where it's at. Well, let's see, just inside Houston city limits? Dozens of Wal-Marts, Targets, a Costco opening soon, dozens of CC, dozens of Best Buy, dozens of GB/EB, a Micro Center and two Fry's. There are also dozens of JC Penney's, Marshall's, Ross, and even TJ Maxx and Kohl's and Big Lots. Silverlake by Pearland [about ten minutes from the Astrodome/Reliant Stadium] has pretty much every single B/M store in one block of street, so good if you want to do a long day of mixed shopping

Pretty much, if you can't FIND it in HOuston, it doesn't exist...that's the honest truth, between the local stores, and the hundreds of national stores, it's pretty much impossible not to find something, plus on the blu/tech side of it, most cities aren't blessed to have the national chains plus three Fry's and Micro Center.

Houston also has the best food, from super cheap to super expensive, but better than most anywhere in the country. Not to mention the foods that belong to texas natifely, TEX MEX, TEXAS BBQ, and MEXICAN. You can find the best BBQ pits, taquerias, tex mex restaurants, etc in Houston...contrary to most people's belief that Dallas/Austin is where it's at.

As for the rest of life? The Rockets are a fun NBA team to watch, the Astros can be pretty decent, it makes up for the Texans being crap. Not to mention, Houston has MLS and NHL...so you get all five sports..plus you're close enough to cheer for the Cowboys, and you still have the Cougars, the Long Horns, and the Aggies if you like football that much.

The medical center is top of the line, the museum district and zoo are pretty good, the theatre district is one of the best off broadway in the USA, and you're only an hour away from the beach, sure, it's not the best beach, but at least you aren't landlocked.

traffic? Trust me, it's not that bad, you know who suffers from traffic? The people who work in downtown and insist on living 60 miles outside Houston. If you plan everything well enough, getting around is a breeze. Driving quality varies by area of the city..don't go on Westhimer on Saturday night and expect textbook driving...don't drive through the "barrio" or the "ghetto" and expect smooth paved roads and courteous wheelmen..and don't get on the freeway during rush hour and expect clear sailing.

Weather? Houston is lucky, not that many floods, it can get pretty hot and pretty cold, it snows once every five or six years..ice rarely forms on the roads..but other than that the weather is stable, save for the awful humidity. If you live in the suburbs though, the weather is almost as much of a problem as in Florida. Pretty much this is the way it goes down: Hurricane season hits, those of us in or around the loop laugh our asses off at those out in the suburbs or near the coast.

Other than that, Houston is probably the most underrated city ever: it's huge, it's active, the money is flowing and business is good, there is TONS TO DO, and everything you need is in one place...it's a classy strictly business type of city..which is why some poeple prefer austin/san antonio/dallas...but if you're life revolves around your family, or your job, or your education, then Houston is a great place for you. If you're looking for a city filled with constant festivals, 6000 bars, live music, and a transgendered antiquing district, Houston is not for you. I'm not saying Houston isn't diverse..in fact...it's probably "Strictly Business" because of how diverse it is....pretty much every single nationality lives here in huge numbers....religion and sexuality aren't a big issue either.....so I'm pretty much telling you, congratulations on making the move to Houston

[ADay73]

WOW, that must have taken an hour to type! Thanks for the information and the sales pitch.

[GaS]

Lived in Katy my whole life, great place. When I moved there, it was all rice fields. Boy has it ever changed.

My suggestion, live somewhere where you can go against traffic if you don't want to live in Katy. Living in towards town and driving out to KT should not be too bad, especially after all the freeway expansion is finished. That also puts you near the galleria.

[ADay73]

Should I think about looking in Katy for real estate investment reasons or think closer to Houston? Where are home values on the rise?

[spicynacho]

Originally Posted by blurayforever143

Pretty much, if you can't FIND it in HOuston, it doesn't exist...that's the honest truth, between the local stores, and the hundreds of national stores, it's pretty much impossible not to find something, plus on the blu/tech side of it, most cities aren't blessed to have the national chains plus three Fry's and Micro Center.
[...]
Weather? Houston is lucky, not that many floods, it can get pretty hot and pretty cold, it snows once every five or six years..ice rarely forms on the roads..but other than that the weather is stable, save for the awful humidity. If you live in the suburbs though, the weather is almost as much of a problem as in Florida. Pretty much this is the way it goes down: Hurricane season hits, those of us in or around the loop laugh our asses off at those out in the suburbs or near the coast.

For the first part, I was driving around in houston and I saw a place named either Prosthetic Limbs Unlimited or Prosthetic Limbs Outlet. I don't remember but it was a big store that specialized in prosthetic limbs.

The second part about houston weather OMFG houston is hot! This year they got hit by several hurricanes, TS, and torrential rains. My brother lives inside the loop near the federal reserve and I know certain areas around there had flooding and my mom works at one of the hospitals downtown and I know that area was flooded.

I personally think houston is a boring town, there is lots of shopping and eating. But beyond that, the cultural scene and music scene aren't that great. Austin is the best as far as Texas goes.

[Nathan_Drake]

Originally Posted by bigpapy

I recomend you the Galleria area for the shopping center still close to sugar land but that area is more espensive

+1. Although the only experience I have is visiting and staying with my parents several times when they lived near the Galleria.

[yakman]

Originally Posted by spicynacho

The second part about houston weather OMFG houston is hot! This year they got hit by several hurricanes, TS, and torrential rains. My brother lives inside the loop near the federal reserve and I know certain areas around there had flooding and my mom works at one of the hospitals downtown and I know that area was flooded.

Wow, I didn't know we got hit by several hurricanes this year. Unless the OP lives up in the Piedmont or west there of he is no stranger to heat and humidity.

Someone made a good point that working in Katy you could live more central and commute against the traffic both ways. I would still keep it to around Beltway 8(AKA Sam Houston toll Road). The more central in Houston the higher the property value. I live in a 4,000 square foot 5/3.5 in a nice planned golf course community out in Sugarland for the same money I could only buy a lot in centrally located West University.

[Texitura]

I've lived in many parts of the U.S., except the deep south and Houston has by far the worst heat and humidity I've ever experienced. I lived in Houston for years and never got used to it. If you enjoy the steam room at your health club, you'll love it.

[ADay73]

Well I guess the single agreed upon answer so far is that Houston is HOT!

[ADay73]

So give me some zipcodes for living in Sugarland, Galleria, and Grand Parkway so I can lookup some realestate and stats....I do not want to have to drive longer than 30 minutes to get to I-10 at Igloo Road. Suggestions?