At first, my partner’s job transfer from San Antonio to Houston didn’t seem like a huge deal.
We assumed our family would just go from living with in one big Texas city’s limits to another — and we’d loved our past few years in San Antonio.
Nothing beat the convenience of being no more than a few minutes’ drive from shops, airports, and museums. In addition to all the modern conveniences, our San Antonio home was in a distinct area where synagogues, community centers, and others of the same faith are located.
We desperately wanted our children, who were 11, 9, and 4 at the time, to continue being part of this community, rather than being seen as the weird kids who weren’t visited by Santa or the Easter Bunny. We were hopeful we’d find this in most big cities, including Houston.
However, our Houston house hunt quickly shifted our big-city dreams and led us right into the suburbs.
Soon, we realized living in Houston wasn’t as realistic for us as we’d thought
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After weeks of house hunting in Houston, we found most of the homes within our budget were dilapidated fixer-uppers — many considered “tear downs,” in which the buyer obtains the property just to demolish the existing home and build a new one.
Neither extensive repairs, nor building a brand-new home, were options we were interested in pursuing while raising three children.
The houses we wanted were far outside our budget, many reaching seven-figure prices.
Turns out, there were a few factors we hadn’t considered before our move. Though San Antonio and Houston are both large Texas cities and only about a three-hour drive apart, they are very different.
San Antonio has almost a million fewer residents and its homes, on average, cost less than Houston’s.
In addition to the housing debacle, we quickly realized Houston traffic is no joke (it’s been ranked as some of the worst in the country). This made the idea of living within the city feel a little less appealing, too.
Demoralized, we finally ventured outside the city.
For us, the suburbs were the answer
Lynnette Lyons
When we arrived in Katy, a suburb about 30 miles west of downtown Houston, we were smitten.
It had wide tree-lined avenues, kids outside playing basketball and riding bikes, and friendly neighbors ambling over to introduce themselves as we toured prospective houses.
We were sold when we realized the area ticked our most important boxes: newer, decent housing within our budget and some of the best public schools in the state.
There were, of course, tradeoffs. For example, it takes about an hour to get to the nearest airport and we have to budget more time and put in more effort to visit museums and other attractions in the city.
Though other Jewish families seemed more few and far between, we found a wonderful temple about a dozen miles from our home where our kids joined the youth group and made lifelong friends.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all has been watching our home soar in value over the past 17 years. Though home prices in general have ballooned over this time, we never dreamed our home in the suburbs would keep pace with those in the city.
We purchased our home for $329,000 and its value is about $604,000 — over 80% more than what we paid — according to a recent Zillow estimate. This will be a huge help as we plan for retirement.
The suburbs turned out to be a great place to raise a family. Our kids got fantastic educations, our affordable home has almost doubled in value, and we have enjoyed considerably less congestion and traffic than our friends in Houston.
It’s comforting to know we made the right decision all those years ago, as we continue to enjoy life as suburban empty nesters.