Houston is home to plenty of museums and parks, has a thriving business community and all the games a sports fan could want, making it an ideal city in which to to live. However, if you are a young couple or small family looking to move to a Houston apartment, your priorities may be a little different. Here are a few recommendations of great Houston neighborhoods for young families.
River Oaks
Located close to Memorial Park and Hermann Park, River Oaks is a gorgeous Houston neighborhood. You can plan family picnics or strolls through the park on the way home from work and school. Test scores at River Oaks Elementary are all high, with most students scoring in the A or B range. If you want your children in private school, River Oaks has plenty options as well.
For a night out with the kids or just the two of you, there is a movie theater and plenty of restaurants in the neighborhood. The River Oaks Shopping Center is the perfect afternoon shopping destination.
The one downside to living in River Oaks is that the area has a high cost of living. So if you are a family just getting on its feet, another neighborhood might be closer to you budget.
Uptown
With more than 700 retailers, plenty of fine dining and several local sports teams, your young family won’t be bored in Uptown. T.H. Roberts Secondary school has an amazing teacher-to-student ratio of five! And it’s a public school. Other elementary schools in the area have low teacher-to-student ratios as well and are highly rated, so no matter where your children go to school in Uptown, they will have a good education.
Uptown is just outside the loop (a highway that rings around downtown) so visiting other parts of the city is pretty simple. Make the most of this advantage when looking for your Houston apartment.
Downsides, again, include the cost of living. Another is that traffic tends to get bad during rush hour.
Montrose
If your family is a little more artistic, this could be the perfect neighborhood for you. With local coffee shops, art galleries and theaters galore, Montrose is sure to inspire your creative side. It is also home to the Houston Museum District.
If your children share the artist gene, Montrose’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts will help your student reach his or her potential. Lanier Middle School is a highly rated charter school in town, if you are open for newer theories in learning.
Over the last decade or so, real estate has increased in value in this Houston neighborhood. Locals do warn residents to lock up at night and to keep the garage closed, but crime is mostly a non-issue in Montrose.
Upper Kirby
This once low-key area has been flourishing in the past few years as cafes and boutiques began to open doors. There are a few exciting spots for date night, including a comedy club and movie theaters.
Upper Kirby has fewer highly rated schools, though it does have Challenge Early College High School, which is a upper rank charter school.
While the Upper Kirby neighborhood doesn’t boast many family subdivisions, there are parks great for outdoor activities.The area has plenty of opportunities for community involvement, so you can certainly find ways to establish your young family if you chose a Houston apartment here.
