Katy vs Humble

[Tundah]

May be moving to Texas in the near future and we have narrowed our search to these two areas. What are your thoughts between the two? Got two girls in 7th and 11th grade so schools (academics, volleyball, extracurricular, etc) are priority. Other than that, the usual suburbia type stuff...low crime, good shopping, and fishing to an extent, although probably be a while before I get back into that. We will be renting a house our first year before deciding where to buy/build. Thanks in advance for any input!

[Tx Champ]

There are a few here that live or have lived in the area and can give you a better idea than I can, I'm about 6hrs away and spent about 9 months in Friendswood in 2000-2001. But one of my best friends from HS was the track coach for Humble ISD (Kingwood) for 32 years retiring in 2008. He was AD for the last 8 years. He had multiple state champions in cross country and they have an annual meet named after him each year. Knowing he was there that long, I think it says a lot for the area and the people. Those from Katy may not agree though ...

[BigDozer66]

Well if you are moving to Texas you should join up at http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php

Ask over there and I am sure you will get tons of opinions on which one to move to.

We live a couple hours North of Humble in Lufkin.

You will be going to 1 of 3 or so of the biggest High Schools in the State being Kingwood, Atascosita, and Katy.

[WB]

If you and your girls are into HS sports it is Katy hands down. Johnny is your man. He goes by Katag on here.

[Tundah]

Thanks for the information! It's tough researching schools because if you read the district websites and the individual school websites, they are all "great." Then I try to find reviews which are tough because you can tell a lot are from those high maintenance PITA parents. There's test scores, which are subjective to whether a school is good or not. My Mom's an Assistant Principal down here so she gives me insight in that department.

The biggest adjustment in general will be the size of the school. My girls current enrollment is well under 1,000. I'm not too worried about them though, they adapt and overcome anything, routinely test well above average and just good girls all around. I also want them to attend a school with a good amount of diversity in the student population.

It seems the Katy area offers more geographic options (Katy HS, Cinco Ranch, Taylor, Seven Lakes) whereas Humble the only one the girls are interested in is Kingwood.

I will check out that other site as well, thanks.

So outside of schools, how's the general living in these two areas?

[richg99]

Have your realtor(s) check out what areas flooded last year.

We will probably never again have that amount of rain in such a short time....but? I got 43 inches (yes, 43 inches) at my place. We were high and dry but some others, not too far away, were not.

[4Kboater]

I'm pretty familiar with both areas being from Houston. There's no way I would live in Humble. The problem people from the 5th Ward and Aldine areas are creeping into Humble. Going a bit further out from Humble and you get into Kingwood but there's the threat of flooding.
If school is a major factor then yes Katy is an excellence choice. West and Northwest burds outside of Houston are nice. Just my opinion.

[Tx Champ]

... We will probably never again have that amount of rain in such a short time....but? I got 43 inches (yes, 43 inches) at my place. We were high and dry but some others, not too far away, were not.

Yeah, that was kind of a freak occurrence. There was a high pressure system sitting over the TX panhandle that kept him from coming inland and pushed him along the coast. He originally came ashore just about right for us to have gotten a good soaking up here, but nope! Weren't living right, I guess.

[Tundah]

The flooding and flood zones are definitely something I will be looking into down the road when buying, but not a huge concern for the first year of renting.

[berger1b]

My wife is a retired school administrator who is still doing contract work with teacher training around Texas. She recommends these two sites for information on Texas school districts.

School and district report cards using a new rating system came out yesterday. Although they aren't very detailed, the reports can be found here: https://txschools.org

More detailed school data are available here: https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/perfre...017/index.html

Also areavibes.com can provide general rating information for the area.
My sister lives in the older area of Kingwood and had no problem with flooding. But the newer sections in the backend and surrounding areas were hit pretty hard.
Something else you might consider is the commute to work or moving about in general. If you are not used to heavy traffic it can be a real pita. Good luck in your search.

[Hez]

I'm pretty familiar with both areas being from Houston. There's no way I would live in Humble. The problem people from the 5th Ward and Aldine areas are creeping into Humble. Going a bit further out from Humble and you get into Kingwood but there's the threat of flooding.
If school is a major factor then yes Katy is an excellence choice. West and Northwest burds outside of Houston are nice. Just my opinion.

The only downfall to Katy is having to deal with I-10 on a regular basis.

I agree with the comments about Humble as well.

[Tundah]

You guys are awesome thanks! Will check out those sites for schools. As for traffic, I do a daily 50-60 minute commute to Orlando. Sounds like with the new job there will be carpool options and/or metro bus? system from the Katy area.

[Hez]

You guys are awesome thanks! Will check out those sites for schools. As for traffic, I do a daily 50-60 minute commute to Orlando. Sounds like with the new job there will be carpool options and/or metro bus? system from the Katy area.

LOL...I have lived in Orlando and Houston...the traffic on I-4 does not come close to even comparing to what you will experience on the freeways there. TRUST ME.

[Hez]

You guys are awesome thanks! Will check out those sites for schools. As for traffic, I do a daily 50-60 minute commute to Orlando. Sounds like with the new job there will be carpool options and/or metro bus? system from the Katy area.

LOL...I have lived in Orlando and Houston...the traffic on I-4 does not come close to even comparing to what you will experience on the freeways there. TRUST ME.

http://res.cloudinary.com/culturemap...1_original.jpg

[richg99]

Most people, who don't live in a megapolis with TRUE big city traffic, think an occasional 30-minute delay is the end of the world. I have lived and commuted in both Chicago and Houston... All that I can say is....

Ha Ha Ha Ha ha Ha Ha Ha

Seriously, any car-pool or public transportation would be a welcome option.

[txbass1]

We started our family in Atascocita (Humble) for the first twelve years and for the last five have been in Porter (just north of Kingwood). And I really don't know what to tell ya. Crime is no more an issue in this area than Katy I am sure. It's one of the biggest metro areas in the country- there is crime. Katy is a powerhouse in sports (depending on which school and sport of course) but that can also be a bad thing. When you have 3500-4500 kids to choose a dozen or so kids for a Varsity team (a lot of whom have been coached by profession coaches since elementary) your child could be really good and never play- ever. Both of those districts have opportunities scholastically for the children to do as well as anywhere else. Shopping would have to go to Katy area, although a lot of it is on I-10 and don't get me started on that road. Personally I would never live on that side of town for the sole reason of having to use it often. Who wins the fishing depends on how much tournament fishing you plan to do I would think. Katy is an hour from Fayette which is an awesome small fishery with a slot limit. If you just love catching fish=win. NE Houston is about an hour and a half from Sam Rayburn. If you fish tournaments=win. Both areas offer park and ride on Metro buses to downtown. If I can offer my opinion on anything else, let me know.

[BigDozer66]

LOL...I have lived in Orlando and Houston...the traffic on I-4 does not come close to even comparing to what you will experience on the freeways there. TRUST ME.

http://res.cloudinary.com/culturemap...1_original.jpg

up here in our thriving metropolis of Lukin (35K) a long traffic jam is having to wait through 2 red lights!

On rare occasion when something bad happens such as a Haz-Mat tractor trailer incident that will throw the whole Space-Time Continuum into a flux state but that is rare.

[Charlie206]

A fender bender on 10, 59, 45 will set you back half your life. I don’t know how one gets the patience to live in Houston, I only know I don’t have it. I’d look at Magnolia before Katy or Humble, but that’s just me. Great athletes don’t get to play in Katy, the bench is full of em.

[4Kboater]

A fender bender on 10, 59, 45 will set you back half your life. I don’t know how one gets the patience to live in Houston, I only know I don’t have it. I’d look at Magnolia before Katy or Humble, but that’s just me. Great athletes don’t get to play in Katy, the bench is full of em.

I live near Magnolia now, address wise anyway but we are in Tomball ISD. Port Neches Grove HS knocked my son's baseball team out of the state regionals in 2017 and then went on to win state. You guys always seem to have great teams over there.

[Hez]

up here in our thriving metropolis of Lukin (35K) a long traffic jam is having to wait through 2 red lights!

On rare occasion when something bad happens such as a Haz-Mat tractor trailer incident that will throw the whole Space-Time Continuum into a flux state but that is rare.

Believe it or not, I lived in Lufkin in High School off of 103 near Rayburn. Went to Huntington HS...so I know all about that traffic on the loop!!!