I am looking to purchase a new home sometime in the next 12 months and have been strongly considering Pearland. I'm familiar with traffic and such around there, but am not so familiar with the neighborhoods or sub districts in that area.

If anyone has any advice on certain areas to look at in Pearland or certain areas to avoid, I would really appreciate your input.

If purchasing in Pearland and near Clear Creek, I'd be sure to compare the houses elevation versus the flood plain information produced by Harris County for Clear Creek. The Brazoria County side of the Clear Creek floodplain was not remapped after Tropical Storm Allison, and the Harris County flood elevations are higher than the Brazoria County flood elevations.

Any newer neighborhood will not have flooding issues. There are some flooding problems in some of the 30+ year old neighborhoods closer to downtown Pearland.

Along SH 288, Alvin ISD is on the west side and Pearland ISD is on the East side until you get closer to Manvel and then it is all Alvin ISD.

Shadow Creek Ranch has MUD and City taxes so your property taxes will be about 4% vs 3% elsewhere. Other new neighborhoods may have that as well.

If you want to be near Sh 288, I would look at the Silver Lake area.

I prefer East Pearland near Pearland parkway and Dixie Farm over West Pearland.

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I'm familiar with traffic and such around there

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OK...But I'm bookmarking this and holding you to it. No getting on here starting threads beetching about your 1.5 hr commute.

You're making your bed so you better get comfortable in it.

15 O's in your name seems like quite a few

Yes, 288 sucks, but it's about to be widened, adding two toll lanes in each direction. During non-rush hour, commuting downtown is a breeze.

If you're looking at the west side of Pearland, I would look at Silverlake, Southern Trails or Sedona Lakes.

FM 518 is a mess, 24 hours a day. Avoid it unless absolutely necessary, so wherever you buy make sure you don't have to use it every day.

Thanks for the helpful replies CrossBowAg99 and Jack Klompus. I was wondering about MUD taxes over there. I did not know if they were still around, but it looks like they are!

Ag_07: I can't say I blame you for predicting a scenario in the future where I write an angry rant about how terrible traffic is. I have dealt with 610/59/290 traffic my entire life though so there are very few traffic situations that can phase me at this point.

The MilkMan: That is an astute observation. Thank you dairy much for sharing.

So outside of traffic, are there any parts of Pearland that I would be wise to avoid for safety reasons? From what I have seen/researched, Pearland is a pretty safe place to be so maybe there is not really a "bad" area to be in terms of crime or just a generally bad reputation?

I lived in SCR 10+ years ago and my impression at the time was that a lot of people from willow ridge down mc hard and Southen Harris county were the ones committing crime. There were some bad apples in SCR that got $0 down loans that they couldn't afford and were ultimately foreclosed on. That area has changed a lot since then so I don't really know anything current but I would think that the people are still coming from out of the area because their areas still suck.
Regarding MUDs, silver lake for example has a mud but they are not in the city. You have to pay one but it sucks to pay both like in SCR.
Be sure to check the demographics of the schools.

1. 518 sucks
2. There are tons of vunnables living there now.
3. There is lots of shopping but only chain restaurants.
4. Nearest liquor store is in Angleton or Pearland Parkway.

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1. 518 sucks
2. There are tons of vunnables living there now.
3. There is lots of shopping but only chain restaurants.
4. Nearest liquor store is in Angleton or Pearland Parkway.

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There is one on the inside of the Beltway right at 288. Not a bad little store, actually. Pearland Liquors. There is also another Pearland Liquor at Cullen and BW8.

518 does, in fact, suck donkey balls. I pretty much refuse to get on it anymore unless it is the absolute and only choice. The design of the intersection at 518 and 288 must have been done by the dumbest idiot they could find, and was approved by even dumber idiots. Pearland Towne Center is just brutal to get to, even coming from Almeda these days.

The HEB on the other side sucks to get in and out of as well. The good news is that they are building some pretty solid medical facilities in the area, and the tollway down 288 will bring in additional business. Hopefully part of the plan on that project is to build actual interchanges from 288 to BW8. The lack of interchanges makes me want to club baby seals most mornings when I get to about Broadway or sometimes McHard.

Demographics there are dicey. If you don't absolutely have to live in Pearland, looking a little further south also opens up some other options. I live 20 mins south of 518 and am beyond thankful every day that I get away from that mess.

Most of the new Construction is in the Shadow Creek area, or off Pearland Parkway. The Vunnables are evenly distributed, but there are more on the West end. West end is getting a Hooters! It will be in front of Sam's, on 288.

Mostly chain restaurants. But, there is Killen's and Kings Biergarten, and Central Texas BBq...and a new Brewery Opening soon

May not be that big of deal, but make sure to get an idea of the insurance you'll need wherever you're looking. If you didn't know, insurance companies pulled out of Pearland for weather related claims due to the proximity to the coast and Texas Windstorm took its place. I think there are a few companies writing full policies again now which have brought costs down but check it out. You'd pay somebody like Farmers for fire, burglary, etc. and then pay Texas Windstorm another amount for windstorm- basically any event that comes from the sky. Flood done through FEMA like everywhere else. I've lived on the east side in one of the newer neighborhoods since 06, no flooding and no insurance claim needed with Ike. I think we may have been lucky with Ike. Actually dropped flood. Traffic not as bad over here but the windstorm thing annoys me. Overall we like it.

Lived in Silverlake since 2007 and have had no issues. Plenty of back roads to take to avoid 518 on weekends. Wife and I usually drive in to town on the weekends to eat and it only takes 15 mins, so lack of restaurants isn't a big deal to us. All in all we like it and plan to stay.

Thanks for all the helpful information. It sounds like silverlake or a nearby neighborhood is a good area to look in?

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Mostly chain restaurants. But, there is Killen's and Kings Biergarten, and Central Texas BBq...and a new Brewery Opening soon

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Center Court Pizza and Brew off 518 near Silver Lake is great too!

Grew up in Southdown and now live in Lakes at Country Place. Overall the area bordered by McHard, Kirby, Cullen, and 518 is a complete cluster-F. I'll agree with schmellba that the intersection of 518 and 288 was designed by barely functioning retards and is exacerbated by the only slightly less retarded drivers that frequent the intersection. I stick to back roads and neighborhood cut-throughs whenever I can, but even then it's a crapshoot.

Overall the school district is pretty good and the one benefit to living on the West side is that it only takes about 15 minutes to get into downtown and 20 minutes to the heights on days with minimal 288 traffic.

If you can stay North of 518, you'll knock off a solid 10 minutes off your commute from pretty much anywhere South of 518. I've got a co-worker who lives in Lakes of Highland Glen and seems to enjoy it. Quick access to 8 via Pearland Parkway. The wife thought about moving over to the Dixie Farm/Rustic Oak/East side of Pearland, but if you work anywhere in Houston or West Houston you're pretty much hosed for getting anywhere under and hour and a half unless you leave at 4am. Plus, you get the joy of dealing with 45 construction, which there's a greater chance of the rapture happening before that's all ever finished.

There really aren't any areas that are "bad" per se, but there are some neighborhoods that are more desirable than others. Take a trip to the local wal-marts and that'll give you an idea of the demographics in the area. I'd tell you here, but walking through the stores gazing at the peeps is part of the fun.

Living in Pearland you will be subject to TWIA (Texas Windstorm) and they are pretty rapey in their cost since it's more or less a monopoly. You'll have to check the flood maps to determine if you need flood insurance, but more than likely you won't unless you live in a flood plain or in an older neighborhood with sheety drainage.

Center Court is pretty good, but their quality is hit or miss sometimes depending on who is making the pizza. Pizza Parlor is better in my opinion for a standard pie (the New Yorker is nails.) Grazia, good Italian, also makes a kick ass brick oven pizza with a crust that tops both Center Court and Pizza Parlor.

There's also a place called Jet's Pizza over by my in-laws (Pearland Pkwy & 518) that is damn good too.

Gratzia and Pho 518 are good non-chain places as well.

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If you can stay North of 518, you'll knock off a solid 10 minutes off your commute from pretty much anywhere South of 518.

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This.

I've been in Southdown since 1996. Never had anything more than street flooding with TS Allison.

Dat username doe

We actually just sold our house in Silvercreek and moved to Friendswood.

We had been in Pearland for 14 years before deciding to sell & move.

I work in Clear Lake, and when we first moved to Pearland, my commute was 45 min on a bad day. The last few months 45 min was a good day with the normal commute closer to an hour each way worse with a wreck or bad weather.

288 north is a beating even though I was only on it from 518 to Beltway 8.

Silverlake / Slivercreek are both desirable subdivisions since they're in PISD.

Shadow Creek Ranch not as much since it is Alvin schools and has a higher tax rate b/c of Alvin Community College.

Sedona Lakes is also not as good if schools are important since it is AISD as well.

The other reason we decided to move is because of how city council / govt did and does their infrastructure planning and tax basis. Basically the city planners were pants on the head retarded when they did traffic management and road construction. Regarding tax basis, is they will literally let any business or apartment into the community with little consideration to what that might to do the community overall.

Some of the commercial development has been decent Pearland Town Center however there are tons of hood rats that come up from Missouri City area or come south from S. Houston because there is no shopping there. West side Wal-Mart is absolutely ghetto fabulous, and according to a few cop buddies is #1 for crime in the town.

Another thing the city did years ago was to put in concrete esplanades down the middle of 518 and eliminate the suicide lane, so bad traffic became even worse.

The farther east you go in Pearland it gets less ghetto.

Lakes of Highland Glenn and Villages at Mary's Creek by PHS are both nice but also in a higher tax rate than Sliverlake / Silvercreek.

I'm about as far east in Pearland as you can get, on the SE corner of Dixie Farm and 518. The pipeline to the south of my neighborhood is the Friendswood border.

Quicker (non-288) freeway access, less undesirables. Lower taxes than Friendswood. King's Biergarten and Floyd's are right around the corner.

It's 45 min to an hour for me to get to/from downtown every day, depending on when I head in to work. 90% of the Gulf Fwy construction has moved south of Dixie Farm, so I don't deal with it on the daily commute.

I would stay away from west Pearland. As other's have said, it's just cluster city.

We lived on the east side (Clear Creek Park) right off Pearland Parkway and liked it. We moved out JUST before they put in the new HEB and all those stores and I am very happy we got out when we did.

We moved to Friendswood two years ago for the school district and we love it.

I really appreciate all of the good information being shared here!

Does anyone on the east side of Pearland happen to work in the medical center? If so how long is that commute?

My fiance works at TCH - I think it normally takes 30-45 minutes when I drop her off.

West Pearland is only canadian if you're lolpoor

If you are commuting to the medical center during rush hour there's not a huge difference in commutes from west pearland all the way across to clear lake city.

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Yes, 288 sucks, but it's about to be widened, adding two toll lanes in each direction. During non-rush hour, commuting downtown is a breeze.

If you're looking at the west side of Pearland, I would look at Silverlake, Southern Trails or Sedona Lakes.

FM 518 is a mess, 24 hours a day. Avoid it unless absolutely necessary, so wherever you buy make sure you don't have to use it every day.

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you do realize that plan is to be completed by something like 2020 and that will almost certainly get delayed so you have 5 to 10 years of construction to deal with.

you think the commute is long now add at least 45 minutes to it once things start getting ripped up. your 10 miles or so from downtown in some parts and it'll take you 2 to 2.5 hours to get there.

While there will be delays, 288 has a hell for wide median all the way up to just south of 610. Construction interference will not be nearly as problematic as it is on the other major freeways that don't have such a wide ROW to work in and generally require lanes to be shut down for extended periods of time to get the work done.

I'm on the east side and worked in the med Center for a few years. My commute wasn't bad, but I was able to avoid rush hour quite a bit. Most of the time I'd take the beltway to 288 but if 288 was all red on transtar as far as the eye could see, you have a lot of alternatIves to get to the med center. Mykawa, Telephone, Cullen (lock your doors) to the loop, then loop to Kirby/Fannin. From the west side you can use Almeda if 288 is jacked.

Fort bend toll road to us 90a is another good alternative to sh 288 in to tmc