Have some acquaintances that live in Summerwood in Atascocita, nice neighborhood and I know that entire area is great bang for your buck on housing. Don't know much about the schools though, but I think that is probably the easiest commute into downtown from BW8.
I live in Great Wood in Sugar Land. Awesome area. I highly recommend Sugar Land. Cypress is muy terrible...
I do magnet in HISD with my kids. HISD has a few dozen schools with magnet programs of different kinds. Some are more in-demand than others. You can apply to as many as you like. Each school has certain minimum requirements (not very high, imo) and then it's a lottery after that. You get placed into your highest-priority school in which you qualify and win the lottery. It's a viable system and you can get your kids into some of the best schools in the HISD by it. There is some uncertainty involved as to where you can end up, and it can mean you have to deal with your kids' commutes as well as your own. For full disclosure, I used this strategy so I could live in the Third Ward and have my kids go to school in Meyerland. But, the kids' commute eventually broke us down and we moved closer to their schools.
Eagle Springs, Summerwood, Fall Creek. Nice area. Been here two years. Cant speak for schools as my kid graduated three years ago.
I just moved out here to the fall creek/summer wood area. I love it. 59 north is nice because it's so wide. I have some family that went to Summer Creek High School. Nice mix of kids. It's like Humble meets Atascosita. There are a few knuckleheads wherever you go though in Houston.
East looks like a nightmare coming into downtown on I-10. I go from West to East for work and that line of red lights goes on for miles and miles every morning, and if there's a wreck (once a week) you can plan on an hour or two in your car. Their ride home from downtown back east is the same. I don't get how they do that every day. I hate being in a car, it would drive me insane.
I feel like most of the white families that used to live in Sugar Land through the 90's now live in Richmond, likely because Sugar Land started to feel too Asiatic (South and East) for them.
Inside the loop people are crazy. I went to Arnes party store and that whole area is rundown with puddles, tracks, and homeless people... yet I see a bunch of women jogging around spandex pants and out of towners thinking this boston downtown.
This is right on. I live in Kingwood and I LOVE it. It's a great place to raise a family. But man....it's getting pretty over-crowded here. I've only lived here for about 10 years, but it's totally unrecognizable from when I first moved here. I can see it more closely resembling the Woodlands than 1988 Kingwood sooner rather than later. But hopefully in the next few years, I can move further towards the back, east of West Lake Houston and it won't affect us as much. But yeah, the Eastex commute is a breeze compared to all the other major freeways in Houston.
I grew up in The Woodlands and after college and 5 years living in an apartment on West Alabama, my wife and I moved back there. We live in the old section of The Woodlands, which means we're really close to 45, the pavilion, market street, etc. but we live in a very modest house and neighborhood. It's nice - living in a very wealthy zip code and enjoying all the amenities that brings without having to pay a crazy amount for our house or taxes. At the time we moved up there, I worked near the Greenway/Galleria area... driving from Rayford/Sawdust to 59/610 on the SW side was a MOTHER****ER. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I work off FM 1960 now and the commute is still about 10 minutes longer than it should be based on mileage. I'm sure 99 has helped if you work on the far West side. I adore The Woodlands... loved growing up there and love living there now... but unfortunately, the commute to just about anywhere sucks.
I'll also speak up for The Woodlands. Schools are very good. Hardy Toll Rd makes getting downtown very easy. With 99 now open, you can get to all points east and west much easier. I, too, grew up here. Moved here in the early 80's when it was very small and few options to do anything. Had to go down Louetta or 1960 for just about anything then. Moved back about 2 years ago with the family and we love it. So much to do and options for just about anything we need. Like I said, as long as you time things properly, you can get into the city easily. I'm lucky enough to work from home and plan any meetings in the loop between 10-2.
