My wife and I are looking to make a move to accommodate a growing family, and we're hoping our next house will be where we raise our kids for the next ~20 years. For the time being, she says she still wants to work so thus far we've been targeting neighborhoods closer to downtown, primarily in the Memorial/Spring Branch area just outside BW8. However, I've got a couple of coworkers who live in Tomball that were talking it up so I'm starting to look into the area more seriously. The past several days I've checked commute times and during rush hour it seems like Tomball is only an extra ~10 minute drive because I-10 is so frequently bottlenecked and there's only one good way in and out (at time of writing, 51 minutes vs. 61 minutes per Google). Given the cost premium is 2-3x to live closer in, it just seemed logical to explore further. To that end, some thoughts on our preferences and questions on Tomball are below:

• I work downtown so I don't really want to endure a commute from outside the Grand Parkway. We would probably be targeting the more established neighborhoods that are zoned to Tomball Memorial HS (e.g., Lakewood Grove), but open to other options.
• Schools are important, so any specific insights on desirable schools or ones to avoid is appreciated, especially if GreatSchools or HAR doesn't paint a fair picture. Thus far, I've been looking west of 249 to avoid Klein ISD but not sure if that is fair or not. Commentary on schools north of 99 is welcome too.
• We aren't huge fans of the developments which have houses crammed together with the garage/driveway taking up 50% of the front profile of every house. We've done a few drives through the stuff west of 249 and south of 99, and while not a deal breaker, this seems to be a strike against some of the "newer"(?) developments like Northpointe and Village Creek (though even the older stuff isn't great in this regard).
• What is your long-term outlook on property values inside 99/Grand Parkway, and what are the zoning laws and HOAs like up there? My concern is that values will slowly erode as more and more people seek the newer developments expanding ever northward. Who wants a 40 year old house when a new one is only 10 minutes down the road?
• I'd appreciate some local parks/greenspace/tennis courts in close proximity. This is a big draw of places like Nottingham Forest for me. Amenities specifically for kids would be nice, but we aren't looking for a full blown waterpark in the neighborhood.
• Anything in particular that sets Tomball apart from other suburbs with equally long commutes?

I greatly appreciate any insight you are willing to share with this ignorant ITLer.

Obligatory: We're not moving to El Paso

Tomball to downtown is way more than 10 min difference than Memorial/Spring Branch to downtown

Nah we know it only takes everyone outside of Grand Parkway only 20 minutes to get downtown!

Ag_07 said:

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Tomball to downtown is way more than 10 min difference than Memorial/Spring Branch to downtown

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Agreed. And now that 290 is finished it will continue getting worse.

I'm west of Spring Creek Park on Brown Rd
Work downtown
1 hr leaving at 7:30am on HOV
45 minutes leaving at 6:00 on HOV (usually)
Beltway between 45 and 249 worst part of home commute

Are you comparing Tomball proper, like north of 99? My comparison point has been Meadow Wood Elementary vs. Lakewood Elementary, so basically as far south as you can get and still be zoned to Tomball ISD. I swear I've punched both of these commutes into Google Maps at least 6-7 times over the last two weeks during both morning and evening rush hour, and it's been pretty darn consistent at around 10-15 minutes difference unless one or the other has a bad wreck. And even in off peak hours, it doesn't appear all that different -- currently 20 min vs. 32 min into downtown.

Not looking to turn this into a pissing match about commutes, just trying to clarify where my numbers are coming from. As my former boss once said, "commute time is the second most lied about statistic in the history of man."

Sounds like you've made your mind up.

I'm just letting you know it's not a negligible difference.

Now I will say after reading your OP again you mention being outside the BW which may close the gap a little. When I read SB/Memorial I was thinking SB/Memorial like inside the BW around Gessner, Bunker Hill, Voss area.

When in doubt drive it yourself multiple times on different days and get a realistic sense for what kinda commute you're getting into. I've done the commuting thing and thought I wouldn't be a big deal and I found real quick I wasn't cut out for it and it sucked ass.

12thAngryMan said:

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Are you comparing Tomball proper, like north of 99? My comparison point has been Meadow Wood Elementary vs. Lakewood Elementary, so basically as far south as you can get and still be zoned to Tomball ISD. I swear I've punched both of these commutes into Google Maps at least 6-7 times over the last two weeks during both morning and evening rush hour, and it's been pretty darn consistent at around 10-15 minutes difference unless one or the other has a bad wreck. And even in off peak hours, it doesn't appear all that different -- currently 20 min vs. 32 min into downtown.

Not looking to turn this into a pissing match about commutes, just trying to clarify where my numbers are coming from. As my former boss once said, "commute time is the second most lied about statistic in the history of man."

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This is the 'variable' that you can pretty much guarantee is a daily occurence. I dated someone that lived in the Northpointe Forest area and if I left her house after 6:30AM during the week, I was screwed. Easily an hour to get from her place to my house in the Heights. Hell, with absolutely no traffic I was still at 35mins.

She worked in the Galleria and it would take her well over an hour to get to/from work.

I feel like he's confused on Katy vs SB/memorial

Yeah I wasn't gonna get into that pissing match

It takes me 50 minutes to 70 to go from 249/99 area to Eldridge and i-10 in rush hour.

Tomball is great but is growing rapidly. They are building a new high school. Hopefully it stays decent for the next 12-15 years and doesn't end up like Spring. I think they have planned for longer business driveways because I've been told on here that short driveways are the #1 factor for an area turning ghetto.

It looks like most of the housing construction is planned communities but I have seen some land getting cleared that will be for apartments.

Tomball memorial gets good marks and I think Tomball high school is still decent. Not sure about some of the elementary schools.

Nm

COME SEE PAWPAW!!!!

terradactylexpress said:

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I feel like he's confused on Katy vs SB/memorial

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I mentioned both Meadow Wood Elementary and Nottingham Forest in my posts. That doesn't seem like Katy to me, but anyway, thanks for the responses. Sounds like Google Maps is optimistic on commute times.

Put those into Google maps to go downtown and you get 20-30m on a Monday morning.


Going from Tomball HEB is 40-1:10

So not really comparable at all timewise

But 40 is 10 more than 30 so he's all good.

I live in Gleannloch Farms which is very near Tomball. I wouldn't wish that drive on anyone.

I live east of downtown and work selling new construction homes in Tomball. my commute is about 50 minutes most days. I'm very very close to 99, but I don't find that the toll is worth the time saved 90% of the time and I keep going to 45.

Most people come to my community because I'm a Klein ISD/Klein oak and Mahaffey school oriented.

really, you need to be close to 99 or 249.

I grew up around 249/Cypresswood area. There's a couple other posters who are from the same area around the same time. They'll come along and star this post later.

Here's the long and short of it. There is nothing keeping the 249 area from 1960 up to Spring Cypress from continuing a downward spiral. It used to be Compaq that made things nice. It used to be an area of low traffic commute into town. It was a nice midpoint escape to taller trees without having to make it up to the woodlands.

That area is none of that anymore. Neighborhoods are turning over and not into good hands that want to keep up with their homes. There were three back to back to back floods in that area that made people say I quit. Harvey being the latest gut punch. Section 8 apartments going up didn't help either. If you're looking at CFISD, they've already made the have and have not lines apparent. The money flows to 290 and south, not between 290 and 249.

You're working with a wrong set of base assumptions. In Houston, where land is cheap and highways are plentiful, every area will go to crap over a long enough time period unless there is something drawing people to an area.

For those who lived inside the loop it was access to amenities that kept your neighborhoods updated, improving, and more money flowing in. Out in the suburbs its a different ball game - your neighborhood has to make its own worth. Its all about good schools and low crime.

Readjust your expectations. Start looking for things within the greater houston area that will keep people wanting to live wherever you chose for generations.

(Hint: the market's already spoken and its the woodlands or the energy corridor).

one MEEN Ag said:

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I grew up around 249/Cypresswood area. I went to Creek High School. There's a couple other posters who are from the same area around the same time. They'll come along and star this post later.

Here's the long and short of it. There is nothing keeping the 249 area from 1960 up to Spring Cypress from continuing a downward spiral. It used to be Compaq that made things nice. It used to be an area of low traffic commute into town. It was a nice midpoint escape to taller trees without having to make it up to the woodlands.

That area is none of that anymore. Neighborhoods are turning over and not into good hands that want to keep up with their homes. There were three back to back to back floods in that area that made people say I quit. Harvey being the latest gut punch. Section 8 apartments going up didn't help either. If you're looking at CFISD, they've already made the have and have not lines apparent. The money flows to 290 and south, not between 290 and 249.

You're working with a wrong set of base assumptions. In Houston, where land is cheap and highways are plentiful, every area will go to crap over a long enough time period unless there is something drawing people to an area.

For those who lived inside the loop it was access to amenities that kept your neighborhoods updated, improving, and more money flowing in. Out in the suburbs its a different ball game - your neighborhood has to make its own worth. Its all about good schools and low crime.

Readjust your expectations. Start looking for things within the greater houston area that will keep people wanting to live wherever you chose for generations.

(Hint: the market's already spoken and its the woodlands or the energy corridor).

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The decline of Willowbrook really accelerated in the early 00s when I was in high school (grew up in Tomball and went to Tomball HS). It's steadily moved north and the above is correct. I still keep up with some of my old teachers at THS and they've all mentioned a change in the student demographics (even with the new high school in the south of the district that took more of the lower-income students back in the day). You either have to move north of Tomball now (which is booming because of the Aggie Expressway and 249 toll road all the way past Tomball to the north with a 1 to 1.5-hour drive in with tolls) or move into one of the expensive neighborhoods where entry cost is a barrier to most. Based on what is stated in the OP, I'd look at Bridgeland or Towne Lake or those other master-planned communities north and west of Cypress with short-ish drives to 290. Regardless, you're going to have an hour commute unless you leave prior to 730a and after 630p.

cupcakesprinkles said:

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It takes me 50 minutes to 70 to go from 249/99 area to Eldridge and i-10 in rush hour.

Tomball is great but is growing rapidly. They are building a new high school. Hopefully it stays decent for the next 12-15 years and doesn't end up like Spring. I think they have planned for longer business driveways because I've been told on here that short driveways are the #1 factor for an area turning ghetto.

It looks like most of the housing construction is planned communities but I have seen some land getting cleared that will be for apartments.

Tomball memorial gets good marks and I think Tomball high school is still decent. Not sure about some of the elementary schools.

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Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't get it but I'm unclear as to the relationship between business driveway length and ghetto status.

Look up posts by anagrammatic nudist and check the threads he is heavily involved in and you will see all the arguments.

one MEEN Ag said:

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I grew up around 249/Cypresswood area. I went to Creek High School. There's a couple other posters who are from the same area around the same time. They'll come along and star this post later.

Here's the long and short of it. There is nothing keeping the 249 area from 1960 up to Spring Cypress from continuing a downward spiral. It used to be Compaq that made things nice. It used to be an area of low traffic commute into town. It was a nice midpoint escape to taller trees without having to make it up to the woodlands.

That area is none of that anymore. Neighborhoods are turning over and not into good hands that want to keep up with their homes. There were three back to back to back floods in that area that made people say I quit. Harvey being the latest gut punch. Section 8 apartments going up didn't help either. If you're looking at CFISD, they've already made the have and have not lines apparent. The money flows to 290 and south, not between 290 and 249.

You're working with a wrong set of base assumptions. In Houston, where land is cheap and highways are plentiful, every area will go to crap over a long enough time period unless there is something drawing people to an area.

For those who lived inside the loop it was access to amenities that kept your neighborhoods updated, improving, and more money flowing in. Out in the suburbs its a different ball game - your neighborhood has to make its own worth. Its all about good schools and low crime.

Readjust your expectations. Start looking for things within the greater houston area that will keep people wanting to live wherever you chose for generations.

(Hint: the market's already spoken and its the woodlands or the energy corridor).

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We left in 2013 because of all the reason's you stated. Lived just north of 1960/Perry road (edit). It was a 'decent' area but lots of our friends moved out and we could see the decline coming.

I commuted to the Med Canter and left the house at 6:00 AM and it took me 35m on a good day. Would try to leave work by 4PM and it took me 45m most days, sometimes longer. I had like 5 routes home. I'd look at the traffic map (not google maps) and see which route home had the most green and I'd go that way.

That and realizing I was spending over $5,000/yr on gas, tolls and parking, not to mention ridiculous car insurance made me realize I could take a pay cut, move to a better area with a new job and be way ahead.

Sea Speed said:

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Look up posts by anagrammatic nudist and check the threads he is heavily involved in and you will see all the arguments.

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That dude is a beating.

Just north of 249/Perry? You either lived at Oreilly Auto Parts or Prince of Peace.

2013 was just a few short years after they started throwing together housing right next to Creek.

That was the signal to bowl your last frame at AMF bowling alley, eat at Jade Garden one last time, and gtfo.

one MEEN Ag said:

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Just north of 249/Perry? You either lived at Oreilly Auto Parts or Prince of Peace.

2013 was just a few short years after they started throwing together housing right next to Creek.

That was the signal to bowl your last frame at AMF bowling alley, eat at Jade Garden one last time, and gtfo.

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EDIT: 1960/Perry Rd. Just south of Creek.

And 3 mornings a week, I'd sit at the green light on Perry/1960 for a few extra seconds and watch 3 cars blow through the red light on 1960 at 20-mph over the speed limit before I would proceed through the intersection on my way to BW8.

So is the consensus that the downward trend in those areas is going to continue creeping upward into Tomball ISD, or that boundary a potential bulwark against the decline? The areas y'all are talking about now are mostly CFISD, right? At least based on what we've driven through so far, we would definitely be looking north of Louetta. I acknowledge that there's still plenty of undeveloped land to be tapped further out, but surely that has to stop somewhere. There are only so many jobs in The Woodlands, and I can't imagine that many people want to commute downtown from Magnolia...

Tomball:

Live in Treeline which is about as far south as you can get for Tomball. We enjoy it. Been here about 7 or 8 years now. Home values have pretty much doubled since we moved in. Tomball ISD is highly rated and is ranked better than Klein and CFISD. If you buy around 249 and spring cypress be on the west side of 249. Traffic coming from the east to 249 is terrible. Commute around town isn't bad. I'll go to work on 249 in the morning but a lot of evenings I'll run 290 to Huffmeister and hit the back roads on the way home. It's faster to do that in the evening. Any specific questions feel free to ask.

That's what we people said about Katy now there's subdivisions all the way to Fulshear and Brookshire.

Same with 290. 290 and Fry used to be the sticks

You want Montgomery County Tomball, not Harris County Tomball.

WorthAg95 said:

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You want Montgomery County Tomball, not Harris County Tomball.

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if he votes the way I vote, I'd prefer him stay in Harris County Tomball
If he wants to buy in my neighborhood, I'd also prefer him to stay in Harris County Tomball

Get a new job that's not downtown.

strohag said:

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Live in Treeline which is about as far south as you can get for Tomball. We enjoy it. Been here about 7 or 8 years now. Home values have pretty much doubled since we moved in. Tomball ISD is highly rated and is ranked better than Klein and CFISD. If you buy around 249 and spring cypress be on the west side of 249. Traffic coming from the east to 249 is terrible. Commute around town isn't bad. I'll go to work on 249 in the morning but a lot of evenings I'll run 290 to Huffmeister and hit the back roads on the way home. It's faster to do that in the evening. Any specific questions feel free to ask.

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Man, I hated when they closed Treeline golf course. Played that the day 249 was bumper to bumper during the Rita evacuation.

My senior year at Creek (1988) we moved back to a house off of Guernsey and Eldridge. They had started that subdivision and the builder went bankrupt. There were only a few streets with houses. Now, just as you said, that area is a CF for traffic. A buddy of mine lives in a subdivision closer to 249 off Spring Cypress. Crazy.

We had a friend that lived in a nice subdivision right near Eldrige and NorthPointe.