New to Area, Where Should I Live

[yoda126]

Hi,

I'm moving to the Greater Houston Area in mid-August. I've accepted a position with a company in La Porte which is east of the city. I am not too familiar with the area and am looking for a good place to live. I've recently graduated from college and I'm looking for an area with a relativly short commute Having just graduated, I'm looking for a vibrant, young-ish, active area with things to do. Any thoughts or comments would be apprecaited!

[Greens!]

Have you considered the Clear Lake area? League City, Nassau Bay, Seabrook, and Webster and the southern tip of Houston come to mind when i think of nice places on the eastside. There is also plenty to do at night as far as clubs, bars etc.

[Mayor_McCheese]

I've lived here about 5 years now and I've heard from a lot of people to stay out of the East side of Houston

I live in Katy, which is about 25 miles west of Houston. I highly recommend it, plus its not a flood zone.

[colin]

It's outdated, but I still wanted to add my 2 cents:

Clear Lake is actually a great suggestion, or anything in the Bay Area (Kemah, Seabrook). If you like boats, you could always live on the bay in San Leon!

HOWEVER, this is not a young, fun area. The only youth-oriented neighborhoods in Houston are exclusively Downtown (read: Inner Loop). Even the nightlife area that is in Kemah is more or less solely for the 30+ child-rearing sect (there's a tacky amusement park in the middle of it). And the only bars in the Bay Area seem to be chain sports bars or dive-ish "Irish" pubs.

Living in the Montrose (the "alternative" neighborhood in town) or The Heights, you would either have to trudge down I-10 East to 610 to 225 East, or take I-10 East to Loop 220 to 146 to get to La Porte. It's at least 20 miles, but it's against traffic. However, it's important to note that the "against traffic" principal does not always apply in Houston. I lived in the Montrose and worked at HP near Tomball for about 6 months, and I usually left before 7am to avoid the traffic (I'm all about living close to work, but there's no way I was moving to Tomball for such a short contract), and tried to leave before 4pm to avoid the mess coming back.

It's kind of a toss-up really. It's either live in a vibrant, eclectic community but be over 30 minutes from work, or be about 15 minutes from work but live in a homogenized, ultra-suburban, "master-planned" community.

Oh, also, it's very true that the East Side of town sucks. Stay away from anything in Channelview, Deer Park, La Porte, Wood Forest, or Baytown. I'd add Pasadena, but a portion of Clear Lake City is technically in Pasadena proper.