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Coyote

By Coyote
in Can You Help Me With This?

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936horn

936horn 910

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There are very few "good" options if you're going burbs honestly. I have similar hours to yours and it makes the commute from The Woodlands reasonable if I take the Hardy toll road. If I left the house any later in the morning or the office in the afternoon and it would be an extremely painful exercise. In the mornings if I leave by 5 mins to 6 (so a bit later than you would be probably), I can be at my desk by 6:35 or 6:40. Ride home is more like 50-55 mins if I leave the office at 4.

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Hate

Hate 20106

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Posted
2 hours ago, 936horn said:

There are very few "good" options if you're going burbs honestly. I have similar hours to yours and it makes the commute from The Woodlands reasonable if I take the Hardy toll road. If I left the house any later in the morning or the office in the afternoon and it would be an extremely painful exercise. In the mornings if I leave by 5 mins to 6 (so a bit later than you would be probably), I can be at my desk by 6:35 or 6:40. Ride home is more like 50-55 mins if I leave the office at 4.

There is also a shuttle bus that you can ride from The Woodlands into downtown.  As long as you leave downtown by 3:30, the commute to The Woodlands down the Hardy Toll Road should be about 45 minutes.

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NeverMarryAStripper

NeverMarryAStripper 21874

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3 hours ago, Coyote said:

Will be working DT, looking for something in the burbs. How miserable is the commute from the Cinco Ranch area down the Westpark Tollway or I-10? What other areas should I be looking?

Single, married, kids?  It makes a big difference what your personal situation is.  If you don't have kids and need the schools there is no way you should life as far out as cinco ranch.  If you do need schools then I would consider parts of the Spring Branch School District.

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Bernard

Bernard 879

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Sugar Land is the best of the burbs IMO. If you don't mind paying the toll, the HOV makes for a really easy commute to downtown. If you can find a second rider, it's free. At your commute times, the main lanes aren't bad either. As long as you live pretty close to 59, getting in town (Galleria Area, Inner Loop, NRG, etc.) are all easily accessible during non rush hours. 

If you need a real estate broker, hit me up. I work cheap. :-)

Bernard

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Coyote

Coyote 269

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34 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Single, married, kids?  It makes a big difference what your personal situation is.  If you don't have kids and need the schools there is no way you should life as far out as cinco ranch.  If you do need schools then I would consider parts of the Spring Branch School District.

Someone has to think of the kids. I’ll look into the area, thanks.

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Okie State

Okie State 3812

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6 hours ago, Mack Tripper said:

I live in Spring Branch and the commute downtown isn't bad, especially if you pay for the toll/HOV lanes. 

And I can't believe this hasn't devolved into our first Houston vs. Dallas pissing match. Yet. 

It will just devolve into a suburbs vs. inside the loop pissing match like it always does.

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tokamak

tokamak 6391

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12 hours ago, Coyote said:

Am I looking at an hour from out there or worse? I already commute 45 minute each way, so it’s nothing I can’t handle. Does that hour frequently turn into an hour and a half?

Yes. Yes. 

Your hours help a little, but Cinco Ranch to downtown is going to be pretty gnarly no matter what. Not to mention that the 59/610/Westpark interchange is about to become a nightmare from hell for the next decade. That's also a mark against Sugar Land (which is otherwise a decent option, IMO). 

I'd probably take a look at Kingwood if I were you. I don't know as much about it up there, but I've heard that 59 from there into downtown ("the EasTex" if you want to start learning the parlance) isn't bad.

Spring Branch has (mostly) good schools and the commute won't kill you. I like that area and would probably live there myself if I could afford it. A few caveats though. 1) You better be fucking rich. Especially if you want to live in the inside Beltway 8 part of SB. 2) Shitloads of places out there flooded. Careful with that. 3) SB isn't "suburbs" like you're probably thinking of. Sure, it WAS a suburb...in 1950. Compared to places like Katy and The Woodlands, it's practically central Houston now though.

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beer

beer 3220

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Whatever you get, make sure it is on high ground.  We recently sold a home in the Jones/1960 area that was almost 40 years old and it got flooded out last year (after we sold it). 

Consider the equation that values your time.  Live almost downtown,  evaluate the school district (rich-ass people living near you somehow found decent schools, you can too) and enjoy the extra time not driving.  Even the Heights is probably going to set you back 30 minutes.

That 2 hours/day really adds up and it is the one thing you cant buy more of.  Play like you make less money to pay the extra "fees" for living near downtown and see if the permanent loss of your time alive in the world is worth it. 

Or you can refurb a giant chemical holding tank just east of town and some HGTV dipshit will put yer ass on TV. 

Edited by beer
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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4639

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You couldn't pay me enough to deal with 10W in the evenings. I live on the west side of town but don't have to deal with that, luckily. Like someone said earlier, leaving at 1530 is fine. You leave at 1600 and it's a 90+ minute ordeal to Cinco. And it's only getting worse with everything still expanding west rapidly. 

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13509

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7 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

You couldn't pay me enough to deal with 10W in the evenings. I live on the west side of town but don't have to deal with that, luckily. Like someone said earlier, leaving at 1530 is fine. You leave at 1600 and it's a 90+ minute ordeal to Cinco. And it's only getting worse with everything still expanding west rapidly. 

Have a buddy that puts together at least one hh per week when he sees Katy fwy looking especially bad.  

Personally I would do everything I could to live closer to work even if I had to pay a lot more for much less.  No kids for me, but isn’t it more important for your kids to actually spend time with their parents than attend a slightly better school?   Maybe it might mean a slightly worse, older car to drive or one less vacation per year but you see your kids more and might get an extra hour of sleep every day.  Just my .02.

my commute is currently between 30-40 minutes mainly inside the loop, and within a few years I’m looking to cut that down to 10 minutes.  Can’t wait.

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Bernard

Bernard 879

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If I had to commute from Sugar Land to Downtown everyday, I'd:

1. Suck it up and pay the HOV/HOT tolls; or
2. Buy a cushy 60+ MPG scooter that can hit 80 MPH, stash some rain gear in it, and cruise the HOV free every day. Super easy ride straight to/from downtown, or
3. Pick up a slug from a Smith Street bus stop, ride HOV to West Belfort Transit Center, drop them off, continue solo on 59 (traffic flows freely after Beltway 8 until 99 mess).

I'm assuming #3 is possible. Never done it. I do know a Texas Ex chick who use to do something similar years ago to get on the Katy Freeway HOV. She kept a small sign in her car. Picked up people from bus stop. She says she never had a problem finding riders. Now she lives in a new Bellaire mansion, so it's not an issue. 

All that being said, at the hours OP is talking about, traffic is rarely an issue. Being close to the freeway is a big help. Some suburb locations are a beating just to get to the freeway. Avoid that at all costs. 

Bernard

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MadTrapper

MadTrapper 152

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Being close to the freeway is a big help. Some suburb locations are a beating just to get to the freeway. Avoid that at all costs. 
Bernard


This x1000.

Used to live in Cypress but closer to 249. It took minimum 15 minutes just to get to 290 or 249. Made the commute to the Galleria everyday miserable.
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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52485

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19 hours ago, MadTrapper said:


 

 


This x1000.

Used to live in Cypress but closer to 249. It took minimum 15 minutes just to get to 290 or 249. Made the commute to the Galleria everyday miserable.

 

I lived in the back of sienna plantation for a while. Took 10 minutes just to get to 6. Maybe 15. Got old reeeeeally quick. 

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Coyote

Coyote 269

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Does OP have to work in the office all the time? You should negotiate some flex office times, where you just stay home on certain days or alter your office times so you are missing the heaviest traffic times. This was a game changer for several people I know.


Thanks for all of the help. Sounds like it’s going to be an absolute beating.

I will be traveling at least a week every month and will be able to work from home on Fridays.

Living next to an interstate sounds like a must.
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royiv

royiv 9253

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Had posted about this on the old site, but I’m also considering a move to a Houston later this year. I currently commute there from Arizona on a weekly basis. I love Arizona, but the weekly commute and staying in a hotel is beginning to take a toll. I work primarily in the Med Center and have zero idea where the fiancé will work or if she even will work in the beginning.

We are used to living in an older pretty centrally located neighborhood where we can walk to a couple of bars and restaurants and others are a very short Uber ride away. Our current home was built by us (tore down and rebuilt) and the fiancé is a designer so has pretty particular tastes, particularly when it comes to kitchens since that is what she designed in a prior professional life. Our budget in Houston is under $1 million and some folks suggested some areas on the old site so I’ve poked around, but I’m having a difficult time finding the Goldilocks area. The homes are either too old/rundown, too new/tacky, too big, too expensive, etc. What am I not considering in Houston that I should be?

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Bernard

Bernard 879

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4 hours ago, royiv said:

We are used to living in an older pretty centrally located neighborhood where we can walk to a couple of bars and restaurants and others are a very short Uber ride away..... Our budget in Houston is under $1 million and some folks suggested some areas on the old site so I’ve poked around, but I’m having a difficult time finding the Goldilocks area. The homes are either too old/rundown, too new/tacky, too big, too expensive, etc. What am I not considering in Houston that I should be?

How badly do you need a real, actual yard? In that price range, the nice houses on top locations are few and far between. If you can deal with a townhouse, you can have the best of the best. 

Bernard

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royiv

royiv 9253

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11 hours ago, Bernard said:

How badly do you need a real, actual yard? In that price range, the nice houses on top locations are few and far between. If you can deal with a townhouse, you can have the best of the best. 

Bernard

Don’t need a gigantic yard. Just need somewhere that the dog can take a dump.

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tokamak

tokamak 6391

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1 hour ago, royiv said:

Don’t need a gigantic yard. Just need somewhere that the dog can take a dump.

Near the Med Center, < $1 mm, don't care about schools, and no yard needed? I'm not an expert on stuff that fits those parameters, but I would think the world is your oyster, honestly.

montrose: https://www.har.com/805-kipling-street/sale_84380959

museum district: https://www.har.com/1814-arbor/sale_84929538

heights: https://www.har.com/1503-rutland-street/sale_49690060

Rice Military: https://www.har.com/612-reinicke-street/sale_48344665

"EaDo" (ugh): https://www.har.com/2602-clay-street-b/sale_25876520

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BrazilHorn

BrazilHorn 6586

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I would look at Briargrove (it's just outside loop) but you can pick up easy surface streets to get you downtown. (will be 15-20 min commute)

Great area, you can get in right at 850-1M range.

Or go inside the loop like mentioned above. I would not go to WestU area though as Kirby is an absolute beating of a street to go on.

 

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