Looking for residence near Houston

[DarkReign]

Yo. My brother is moving to TX (work thing). I figured you folks would be the best to ask where a nice place to live is. Such as, obviously he doesnt want to live in the projects, or in some shit burrow of Houston.

My uncle already moved down there (work thing), so he already has a place. My brother will be moving into his apartment for now, but I am sure they will move on to bigger and better abodes.

Soooooooooo....

Any suggestions? Places to stay away from? etc etc

I really appreciate any input you fine folks may have.

[bendmz]

Spring, The Woodlands on the north side.... pretty cool places. stay away from downtown... ANYWHERE downtown...

[01Snake]

Perhaps a houseboat would be good.

[Spurminator]

I grew up in Cypress on the Northwest side. It's starting to grow rapidly, but doesn't have near the traffic like 45 in The Woodlands.

[bendmz]

I grew up in Cypress on the Northwest side. It's starting to grow rapidly, but doesn't have near the traffic like 45 in The Woodlands.
haven't beenup there in a few years but they were suppose to widen 45 to 4 lanes both ways... has it happened yet ?

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

The tricky thing about Houston is that there's no zoning or particularly good city planning (Hooray urban sprawl!) so it's tough to make solid recommendations on a part of town. For instance there's the 3rd ward which has some of the worst neighborhoods in the entire city, but it also has some pretty nice ones. I work at the University of Houston; if you walk in 10 minutes in one direction there's a pretty nice neighborhoods with houses in the $300k range, but 10 minutes in the other direction you're walking past crack dens. The north side is generally nice though. The SE end of things has the worst of the floods it seems.

The one thing I say for sure is if he can avoid it, don't live somewhere that he'll have to go work through I-10 east, or 290. You can get some great deals on homes there but you have to factor in cost of gas that come into play with 90 minute commutes. I can say for absolute certainty is that he should not live at 6200 Gessner apartment complex, my old apartment complex. It's a shithole. And yet, five minutes down the road is my new place which is in a fairly nice neighborhood.

[Extra Stout]

Sharpstown. No other place in Houston has that authentic Detroit feel as much as Sharpstown.

[dougp]

Sharpstown. No other place in Houston has that authentic Detroit feel as much as Sharpstown.
Dude, fuck Sharpstown ... when I first moved to Houston and lived with some family, that's where their house is. I came out one morning with the small window on my Grand Prix having a perfect hole and being spidered ... I couldn't find the bullet, but I know that's what it was. That shit cost $800 to repair.

[Spurminator]

haven't beenup there in a few years but they were suppose to widen 45 to 4 lanes both ways... has it happened yet ?

Yeah it's at least 4 lanes now but it's still a mess whenever I drive down there, and that's on weekends.

[DarkReign]

Appreciate the suggestions. My uncle's current apartment has a "Houston, TX".

I google-mapped his address, and if you picture the 610 freeway as a "boundary" for the Houston area, my uncle's apartment is inside the "circle" in the northwest corner on West 20th street.

Good or bad?

[dougp]

Appreciate the suggestions. My uncle's current apartment has a "Houston, TX".

I google-mapped his address, and if you picture the 610 freeway as a "boundary" for the Houston area, my uncle's apartment is inside the "circle" in the northwest corner on West 20th street.

Good or bad?
That's an inbetween area - I believe a lot of the locals refer to that area as "Little Mexico."

Personally, I live in the Memorial area, just south of I-10 ... very beautiful, as well as having lived in River Oaks. Both are some of the best areas of town ... But River Oaks/Galleria/Midtown/Montrose all have wretched traffic.

[DarkReign]

That's an inbetween area - I believe a lot of the locals refer to that area as "Little Mexico."

Personally, I live in the Memorial area, just south of I-10 ... very beautiful, as well as having lived in River Oaks. Both are some of the best areas of town ... But River Oaks/Galleria/Midtown/Montrose all have wretched traffic.

lol. The way I understand it, traffic is unavoidable in the Houston area, so I believe it kind of goes without saying.

Appreciate the insight. I am definately passing all this info along and will be helping them find residence whether it be an apartment or house.

Btw, my uncle is paying ~$1200 a month for a one-bedroom apartment right now. Thats un-fucking-heard of in Michigan, but I realize my state is broke and TX is not. Is that a typical rate for the area?

Forgot to ask this earlier.

[easjer]

$1200 a month? Fuck, we don't pay that for our mortgage + escrow! The rate will depend on location (it's inside the loop - yeah that, more) and the bedrooms. Frankly, it's probably not too high. We were having trouble finding a good 2 bedroom for less than $900 outside the loop, so . . .

As SFIE already mentioned, traffic is a concern. It's not avoidable totally, but some are worse than others. Since construction on the SW Frwy (59, below I-10) has finished, it's a helluva lot nicer and quicker. And frankly, I prefer the SW side of town. Construction along I-10W (the Katy Frwy) makes it awful for commuting, but the areas between the beltway and the loop have some great properties and nice communities (Memorial, as Enigma mentioned).

The NW side (beyond I-45, closer to 290, and above I-10) has good schools and great properties. The problem is that the expansion blew up overnight out there because property was less expensive. You could get some fantastically nice houses for low prices ($100K - $150K, which inside the loop would be $350-500K). Unfortunately the infrastructure doesn't support it at all, so traffic is horrifying. Seriously, it can be a 2 hour commute to the LOOP if there is an accident. The north side is fine, but I'm never ever up there.

If he's looking at apartments, then it's going to be more expensive inside the loop than outside. But he can get some great deals ($600-1000 for a two bedroom) if he's willing to be outside the loop, and the commute isn't necessarily more than 5 or 10 minutes more.

Also, there is an obscene amount of Rockets fans here. Which, ew.

[easjer]

Also, as Monday's weather may have indicated, living along a bayou is perhaps not the brightest idea ever. Keep in mind that the city is a concrete sprawl built over swampland. When it rains, it floods. Some areas more than others, of course, but living along a bayou considerably raises your chances of that. And most of the east side of the city and suburbs have required flood insurance, due to location and greater hit potential by hurricanes, since it is closer to the coast.

[ShoogarBear]

$1200 for a one-bedroom is DC-like. Yikes.

Oh, yeah, and ES: :flipoff. Sharpstown, BabEEE!

[DarkReign]

Thank you, Easjer. Very helpful.

I will be crawling on this thread later tonight with my brother. We will be mapping out some of the areas you mentioned.

Thanks again for everyones input!

[dougp]

I pay $380 a month for an efficiency (read, 205sqft box) ... you might think that's small, but I pay an obscene amount of money in electricity (obscene being $30/month for AC @ 70F, computer & tv on all the time) ... I barely pay 10% of my yearly salary in rent ... so I save a lot.

If you're willing to compromise, there's a lot of nice apartments in the west loop area ... you should also check Craigslist.

[PakiDan]

If he likes urnab living, you can't go wrong with Midtown or the Med-Center/Rice Area, otherwise, just south of Houston is Clear Lake, really nice area, just North, Spring. I recommend Clear Lake.

[DarkReign]

If he likes urnab living, you can't go wrong with Midtown or the Med-Center/Rice Area, otherwise, just south of Houston is Clear Lake, really nice area, just North, Spring. I recommend Clear Lake.

You touched on something there. We arent city folk by any stretch. We are born and bred blue-collar nobodies. Im sure he will want as much peace and quiet as possible, certainly not some studio apartment down town.

Again, this thread has been hugely helpful. Thank you.

[dougp]

I wouldn't suggest Clear Lake - yah it's nice, and fun ... but that place floods like a bitch.

[Extra Stout]

You touched on something there. We arent city folk by any stretch. We are born and bred blue-collar nobodies. Im sure he will want as much peace and quiet as possible, certainly not some studio apartment down town.

Again, this thread has been hugely helpful. Thank you.
If you are most comfortable in a community of blue-collar nobodies, then Deer Park is the place for you.

[Spurminator]

I would also suggest Tomball. But not if he works IN Houston...

[dougp]

I would also suggest Tomball. But not if he works IN Houston...
Tomball is a REALLY nice area - I have a few friends that live out there, but it is a LONG FUCKIN DRIVE! :donkey