We just purchased in Nottingham Country this spring and are loving it.
Let me give some background to what factors went into our decision. Hopefully will be helpful.
We moved into a "starter" home in the Katy area south of I-10 approximately 10 years ago. This has made us quite familiar with the area. You could say we've been doing research this whole time, on which neighborhood to move to when we outgrew our starter home. Really, when purchasing a home, there are a lot of factors that go into it. Commute time was very important to me, not so much the wife. Schools were a big factor. Finally and this shouldn't be overlooked, is the style of home and the feel of the neighborhood. Many neighborhoods I didn't mention here, just don't have a good feel to the neighborhood or architecturally just weren't up to par in our opinion.
When it came time to get serious about finding a neighborhood, we had to nix anything west of 99. Commute is simply horrible and it isn't getting better anytime soon. If you have any kind of reason to be west of 99 between the hours of 4 and 7, it's easy to see how traffic backs up not just on 99 itself, but also (as another poster mentioned) on the E-W streets leading up to 99. Want to save yourself some time by exiting Mason and cutting across via Kingsland, Highland Knolls, CR Boulevard etc? It's not really happening. As far as Firethorne, we did consider it and viewed some model homes that direction. Simply put, there are access problems and bottlenecks that again will not get any better until the area is completely built out and access roads are upgraded. In the meantime, expect bottlenecks, construction delays, etc etc, without relief in sight for years. Now, it's doable, and the homes, schools and neighborhoods are really nice, but it's a tradeoff and you have to make a decision as to what's more important.
We also considered the Old Katy area north of I-10 and west of 99 which doesn't have the access problems we've been talking about. In the end, the quality of schools at the elementary level, while still Katy ISD, weren't up to par so we had to eliminate that area as well.
We considered in passing the Lakes of Bella Terra area zoned to Foster, but it's just too far from literally everything.
What did that leave? Old Cinco, is a great choice. Not as close to I-10 so you're adding a little more time to the commute, but no bottlenecks and the area is built out nicely (traffic will probably stay at current level). Schools are bulletproof.
Nottingham Country and Green Trails honestly have the best access to I-10, and again the area is completely built out so traffic is stable. Schools are some of the best in Katy ISD. Mature trees and landscaping if that's your thing. Personally the wife loved the architectural style of both NC and Green Trails, so that was a plus.
For us, Green Trails was out of our price range, but it's great for those that can afford it, or need a larger house, etc. The homes are more uniformly larger, more luxury homes. Not a lot of 3 bedrooms. Most of the houses would not need quite as much updating. We're talking approx. 20-25 year old homes.
NC is a larger neighborhood, with a lot of sections, so it stands to reason that it has a larger range of square footages and prices. There is something for most. The top range is very comparable in price, size, etc, to Green Trails, the Kelliwoods, etc. One last thing to consider is that much of the price range you'll see is driven by whether the home is updated or not. Many of the homes hover around 35-40 years old. If they've been remodeled you'll pay for it, and if not, a good deal can be had with the caveat that you'll need to either live with it, or be the one who remodels.
Hope this helps.
