Agree with this. We had a house on Livingston back in the 90's and we seemed to be up there almost every weekend. Some of my parent's friends have also bought houses up there and built their retirement homes.
If it were me, I'd choose Livingston over Conroe for a few reasons:
1. Conroe is a small lake when compared to Livingston. It may not seem like a big deal until you're on it on a holiday weekend. Tons of boats and it seems like there were always accidents on Conroe. I'm assuming the GW/Sheriff have cracked down because I haven't heard much in the past 5 or so years, but for a while there, you'd hear about one almost every holiday. On Livingston, it's easy to get away and be by yourself if you want to swim, ski, etc.
2. Land is cheaper. Conroe seems to be the white collar lake of Houston and Livingston is the blue collar lake, and the houses and values reflect that. I think that's changing as it seems nicer homes are being built on Livingston, which may be due to the availability of cheaper land/houses.
3. Country vs. city feel. As stated above, I spent a lot of time on Livingston growing up and have been back a few times in recent years due to parent's friends living there now. I've also spent a lot of time on Conroe since I've graduated college with some work friend's who's parents had houses on Conroe. On Livingston, the neighborhoods are more of what you'd find in the country vs. the suburb feel of many of the neighborhoods on Conroe. To me, the lake is a place to disconnect from everyday life, so going from one suburb to another just wouldn't do it for me.
That said, there are some downsides to Livingston:
1. Due to it's size, it gets rough. I mean rough. There were a few nights spent at Pine Island sleeping on the boat because the lake was smooth as glass on the side we were anchored on, but when we made the turn for the other side to head back to the house, it was just too rough for our 20' boat to handle safely.
2. There isn't much out around it. Livingston is the only big town nearby. Coldspring and Onalaska will have a few restaurants and grocery stores for stuff you'll need, but the selection at Conroe is much better if you're one that prefers to eat out a lot.
3. Stumps. I haven't spent as much time on it in the last 20 or so years and I did my first 15, but one of the things I vividly remember is what areas of the lake you had to be careful on due to the amount of stumps. When the water was low, some people would often tie buoys to them so you'd know. The lake may have been cleaned up since then and Conroe may have the same concerns in some areas that I'm not aware of. I remember being 11 years old and cruising around Dove Island and hearing/feeling a bump. My dad shut off the engine and raised the sterndrive to see the prop being bent to chit. He went to SS after that.