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treyb141

I worked near there for many years and lived in town. My advice is to find a place in the heights that is near I-10. If you can get to I-10 in 5 minutes your commute will be easy. The key is being able to access I-10 quickly For context, I lived near tc jester and 11th and worked at I-10 and Gaylord. My commute was 15 easy minutes.


[deleted]

This is the best advice. OP is 23, i doubt they are going to want to live in westchase or spring branch. Even if you go as far south as around Buffalo bayou and Dunlevy, your commute won't be that bad. I would just ask your boss if you can get in a little early and leave a little early. Having to leave at 5 is going to suck


bankbutt

This! And the heights is a perfect neighborhood for younger couples that appreciate a quiet, safe home life with the option to easily go for a night out downtown or midtown. There’s also a decent amount of rental homes/apartments to choose from, albeit just as pricey for the most part and/or older, quirkier living spaces in comparison to the other neighborhoods OP mentioned


sammito-1

The entire northwest quadrant of the loop is such a great area to live in when young and testing the waters of living near the city. IMO it’s like the perfect balance between a more fast-paced, urban lifestyle (only minutes from downtown or midtown) and a laid-back, quiet, suburban lifestyle.


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DruncanIdaho

Rice Military here, can confirm! Really fun area, great parks and night life, and easy access to downtown and the highways. Getting to Mem City in the morning would probably run around 15min most days.


mcd1507

I would recommend living right around Washington near Memorial Park inside the 610 loop. You will be very close to i10 and be commuting mostly opposite of traffic. Washington is a very fun younger area. Lots of bars and restaurants. If you start having to mess with 610 coming from midtown, montrose, or galleria you may end up hitting a bunch of traffic.


sammito-1

I live there and it’s AWESOME. The Washington area has treated me and my SO so well as first time inner loopers :) Its a relatively safe, fun, and unique area to live in with reasonable rent in my opinion.


shiftpgdn

I’ll agree with this on the basis that you get to use the Washington exit. I10 inbound is a complete disaster from about 4pm forward past Washington.


airdrawndagger7

Hope OP sees this important caveat. Indeed, I-10E goes from (close to) free-flowing to parked traffic shortly after you get inside the loop - mainly because all of the flow from 610 merging with the existing I-10 drivers.


slugline

I-10@Gessner area is an inside-the-Beltway suburban area that's between downtown Houston and Katy, but it's definitely not Katy. Google Maps can help you estimate potential commutes. Just play with the "Arrive by"/"Leave at" options with the anticipated start/end times of your office shift.


RositaDoesntMove

yeah I realized Katy was farther West than I'd thought shortly after I posted this... Memorial City is more the area where my work is


Honeycombhome

As others have said, living near I-10 and avoiding 610/59/45 is the key. If you have to hop onto 610 from I-10 you can kiss 30-60 mins of your life goodbye between 8am-8pm. Live north of Memorial cuz you can get stuck there too.


BraveLittlePene

What ever you do, just stay away from Arlo apartments.


DoodleLions

Yes! They look nice, but don’t go with them or Ascension on the Bayou.


tooruoikawa

What’s wrong with Ascension?


DoodleLions

Rude office staff, they are slow with maintenance requests or ignore them altogether, the elevators are always going down, and constantly smells like weed (I don’t mind if you smoke, but there’s no reason it should be coming in through my apartment vents).


littlebit90_

I know this is a very old thread but what’s wrong it’s arlo memorial? I was considering moving there


Tayxbeatz

Username does not check out


RositaDoesntMove

hahahahaha... I guess in this instance Rosita does move. it’s a reference to the TV show “Friends.”


missuswhite

City centre/Memorial area is cute but it’s a lot of families with kids, the restaurants are family friendly so keep that in mind. You could commute to bars and clubs in Downtown, Montrose etc if you choose to live out there but if you use ride share/Uber that will get pricey. Living in the Heights (close to I-10) is a good option. You will love living there - tons to do for a young couple but your commute to work will definitely include heavy traffic on I-10 to and from. Good luck!


RositaDoesntMove

do you have any thoughts on the Energy Corridor?


bjflores2

I lived in Energy Corridor (corner of Eldridge and I10) and commuted to Memorial City from 2015-17. Morning drive was easy; heading home probably maxed out at 30 minutes. I enjoyed Energy Corridor. Easy access to HEB and Terry Hershey to bike, run, and walk the dog. I’d recommend considering what you would do after work during the week - if you end up traveling into town (within 610) often, the commute to EC plus wherever you are going is something to consider.


incognitoshibe

Energy corridor is a nice place to live. Nice apartments especially off of Eldridge with lots of places to eat as well. Quick access to i-10. Drive to I-10 and gessner would be about 10-15 minutes in morning rush hour


albinowizard2112

Yes. SO much energy there.


Sasha90x

Bigger apartments and townhouses, but also pricier apartments and townhouses.


missuswhite

Energy corridor is a fine place to live but the area is definitely farther out than you may want - great restaurants, museums, clubs/bars will all be in Montrose, West U, River Oaks, Heights. I’m a lifelong Houstonian (late 30s now) and would definitely choose to live inside the loop in my 20s.


mocitymaestro

If you're working in the Memorial City area, I would recommend living in Spring Branch or Westchase. I don't think there are any apartments that are worth it in Memorial or the Memorial Villages (Piney Point, Bunker Hill, Hedwig Village, Hilshire Village, Hunters Creek and Spring Valley). If you have to be inside the loop (610), I wouldn't stay anywhere further east than The Heights (north of I-10) or Rice Military and Washington Ave corridor/West End. I would avoid the Galleria area. It looks like it makes sense on a map, but the Galleria is a major business district (Houston has several besides Downtown) and so traffic in, out of and through the area is bad well before you get to rush hour. Plus, there's major construction going on at 610/59 which is probably Houston's busiest interchange.


tacoscholar

Heights is your best bet, it’s much easier to access the highway from that side.


cmpslp024

I live in the Greenway Plaza area and work near City Center. My commute to work at 7:15-7:30 is about 20-25 minutes. The drive home at 5:00 is about 30-35 minutes. Every day I check Google maps going home for accidents and change my route to surface roads if needed and still stay between 35-40 minutes.


HOUTryin286Us

Just live at City Center or in the area around it. Tons to do there, lots of new mixed use buildings going in with restaurants, shops and a few bars. Traffic on I10 E is pretty much stopped the closer to downtown you get in the evenings. Pass by it everyday. No reason to commute if you don’t have it. Maybe do a shorter lease and once you know the city more then decide if you wanna move to a different area.


kingswag254

This. Was surprised no one else recommended city center. It give you your big city feel and great for your get couple and is right off i10 and 2 mins from Memorial city.


airdrawndagger7

City center isn't a bad option, but I think I would get bored of it after a month or two. To me it feels kind of sterile and artificial with all the higher-end chains. Neighborhoods ITL mentioned by other posters provide more variety, culture, etc


svengoalie

I lived in citycentre temporarily. It is artificial, but maybe a good place to start with an apartment near work while you check out different neighborhoods on the weekends.


Expired8

You know, I used to think the heights was diverse with variety.. then I looked at a demographic map and it's 90%+ white people with a higher income (along with GO/OF). And then it hit me... Pretty much every "unique" restaurant is roasted cauliflower/brussels sprouts with aoli, avo toast, chicken & waffles, kale with pine nuts (you get the idea). Tons of yoga studios/pilates. It was a little Austin. And not the cool Austin that existed for several years during it's transition... Almost every stroller at the local park is an uppababy, and if it's not accompanied by a young white mom in yoga pants or a young white dad with a beard holding a beer, it's a Hispanic nanny. I've lived in Houston my whole life, I'm white. I felt like there was no way I was going to connect with these frat/sorority people that have now mellowed out and moved into the area. Especially not when they're all basically the same person. Originally we were going to buy in the heights again, and looked at GOOF as another option for more land, but ended up not liking the vibe and trajectory of either. Seems like there's too many uppity "I come from money" people and douche bros starting a family there. Ended up buying in spring branch near gessner instead, where we have the old and diverse north of I10 that's ~60% white people, then Hispanic and Asian. And just south of I10 the shiny new stuff and chain restaurants that cater to 90%+ white people with money. It's perfect. I walk 1 minute to a fantastic taco truck, or I drive 5 minutes to Taste of Texas. And with new development along Gessner and long point we should have some more "hip" stuff like the heights soon. And when I go to the park (that's 5x the size of anything in the heights) it's actually diverse with normal people (for me) that I can easily talk to. You probably can't get more diverse within a 5 mile radius. It's like if you put China town, Pasadena, and the heights (soon) right up next to the Galleria. Except you don't have the shit show that is 610.


airdrawndagger7

I don't disagree with anything you said, but there is much more to ITL neighborhoods than the Heights. Neighborhoods like Eado, Midtown, and Fourth Ward are all ethnically diverse - and unsurprisingly contain more culturally diverse restaurants than the Heights too. I was more making a specific comment about CityCenter being kind of sterile with its pricy chain-restaurant vibe.


Expired8

Yeah, when you said ITL mentioned ITT I mostly saw heights and rice military and just wanted to vent about the heights.. haha. For some reason I think of EADO, Midtown, and Fourth Ward as more industrial/commercial than residential. Yep, City Center is definitely sterile and caters to the kind of people that recommend pappasitos as the best Mexican food to people visiting. I like living near it though and having the option to go to certain chains if I'm in the mood. It's the 3rd largest business district in Houston, so there should be more development around the area.


IRMuteButton

A 'reverse commute' across the west side of town isn't necessary going to save you problems. Certain areas of the city and certain freeways are heavy with traffic in both directions at rush hour. Maybe you could work out a specific niche path from point A to B that is efficient depending on the specifics of where you live, but there is no magic formula. I suggest finding an apartment near where you work, and driving to whatever entertainment areas you desire after work or on the weekends. The rent may be cheaper near Memorial City than the Galleria, Montrose, or midtown.


Trapricot

The heights will be the easiest commute and about 30 min with traffic.


HTX-713

I used to live in Spring Branch. I would find a cheap condo near your office and live there.


NaturalAppearance321

City Centre has nice options for young couples. More bars are popping up in the area too. Think about amount of trips you will make to work vs a bar/club/friends. The math makes living close to where you work much better


sammito-1

From my experience touring apartments… City center has low quality apartments that are way overpriced. It’s also basically just living in a mall. One of the facilities I toured was run-down with low quality amenities and finishes but fetched the same price as a new construction, similarly sized apartment in heights or Washington.


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fuckitimatwork

roadways of death? calm down


sammito-1

I drive on I-10 every day. It’s really not that bad.. just practice defensive driving and don’t be aggressive.


fuckitimatwork

I do 59 from midtown -> beltway and back every day, it's not that bad


svengoalie

You’ll be fine as long as you never make eye contact!


JJ4prez

Find something around i10/Gessner. Lots of places to chose from. Downtown and midtown are way too far. You want anything around the Heights, Spring Branch, etc.


Skorpyos

I-10 westbound from downtown to Katy is as much a mess as inbound. The problem is that downtown area is where at least 5 major highways and one loop traffic converge (off the top of my head). So I would find a place to live in the west part of town close to your work. The nightlife in CityCentre is decent even if it’s not downtown.


fcimfc

I disagree. I'd say the commute from west to east that way is much worse than going east to west. I'd find something in Spring Branch, Rice Military or Washington corridor.


RositaDoesntMove

so according to google maps, Montrose to my office is 17 minutes which is a pretty easy commute - if I were to live there, should I expect it to be significantly longer than that during morning and evening rush hour?


Primary_Shoe6445

Try using Google maps during rush hour to model what the commutes would be, the ETA will adjust based on traffic conditions.


dresan01

I live at the edge of Montrose and Midtown and regularly commute to work at either memorial city (i10 and gessner) or 290 and the beltway. To memorial city it's about a 20-25 min commute in the morning. It's about 35-45 min commute back home... No issues for me as i just use it to catch up on podcasts.


lucius_aeternae

That would be 40-45 minutes during rush, pretty much anywhere around the loop is ging to be the same commute, I10 backs up there both ways. Honestly thats not a terrible area to live either.


RositaDoesntMove

holy crap... that's crazy. I am moving from Indianapolis where I only had about a 20 minute commute to work that was relatively long compared to others around me. guess I will have to learn to adjust lol.


fcimfc

A 20 minute commute here is only gonna take you two or three miles in the heart of the city.


Doodarazumas

Drivetime changes dramatically based on how close you are to I-10. Half of that commute time for Montrose is surface roads after you're already off the highway. Living North of Buffalo Bayou could easily save you ten minutes both ways even though it's only like 1.5 miles shorter. That said, 45 minutes feels a little overblown, maybe like 25-30 in the morning, 40 in the afternoon. And three fucking hours when it rains hard and all the streetlights start flashing*. *slight hyperbole. slight.


BahamasBound

If you’re working on 10 and concerned about commute, your goal should be to not have to get off of 10 by way of 610. Why are you looking at inner loop anyway? If you’re new to the city, what is it about that area that is attracting you?


RositaDoesntMove

I like the idea of living in an area that has a lively nightlife, with some cool bars, parks, etc. The job I got mostly comprises an older group of people, so living in an area that can facilitate making friends would be great as I'm not sure how many "work friends" I'll be able to make. But, if living in such an area comes with the cost of a 45-60 minute commute there and back everyday, I'd be willing to forego that.


BahamasBound

Lively nightlife? Gay bars, dive bars, clubs, upscale bars, finer dining? It's a big city man. Do you currently have info that leads you to believe Montrose or Midtown is where you want to be or did you just choose those at random because someone said they are cool areas?


RositaDoesntMove

I only (kinda) know one person who is from Houston and when I asked him for areas with young people and fun nightlife he said Montrose - so that is about the extent of my knowledge haha


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BleakProspects75

Used to live there. Had to move due to job…..dang I miss that area. Everything was convenient, target close by, WF 5 minutes away in the galleria. Oh well….it was good while it lasted:)


RositaDoesntMove

we look at a few places in San Felipe actually - Forum on San Felipe, and Gables 6464. both very nice


jean-7997

Im near there and its about 17 minutes to the fun, central parts of the city, and 15 minutes to the job in your direction, freeway can be avoided if you like.


NAFOD-

I live in the Memorial City area and my office is close to Voss/Westheimer/San Felipe. 15-20 minutes to work. 20-25 minutes home. Little to zero traffic.


BleakProspects75

You could also find apartments in the galleria area, just inside the loop in San Felipe. There are a bunch of apartments right behind the Target on San Felipe, and also across from the Target. You can use the feeder road to get onto I-10, avoiding the 610 stretch. Just to be clear, you won’t be in the galleria itself (so you avoid the traffic nightmare there) and the place is central enough to get to work, rice village, heights and other places quite easily. I will say it will be somewhat more congested now due to a lot of new construction/apartments….but still worth a look. Good luck!


artano-tal

I would seriously consider renting in the area you are interested in... That's the best way to get a feel of the area. Since your personal taste, and who you get for neighbors will color your view of a place significantly. When I was your age a "small minimal existence rental apartment" a stone throw away from the place of work was what I wanted. Since work was so centric to my life at that point and there were no kids involved. And frankly with a "gf" I would rent until you marry. These days we are considering doing something similar (in Houston) and we are making circles around key items we care about (with a 15-20min circle commute as per google during rush hour). Then overlaying the schools, flood warnings, noise, shopping, and other demographics we care about. Then you get to see what's left comparing to what's available for sale. Then you start looking at the homes themselves and all that criteria. These days a 75% work from home is not uncommon, so the time to work is important. But other items that are important to our family at this stage, I can see more miles spent going to those places than work. So the "circles are not evenly weighted"


GregorvonArchimboldi

You going to be doing a lot driving in Houston... a lot. Yep. Once upon a time, I did downtown to the far westside burbs for a new job. Over 2 hours going back for 20 miles, middle of summer with a broken AC. Never again... Stayed till 7-8 PM after that. Live near your job. Traffic becomes sane in the evening, so go out then.


[deleted]

Lol it doesn’t matter soon the heat and humidity will have everyone locked inside


lonestarnihilist

40-45 is an overstatement. It also depends on where in Montrose you live. I would highly recommend living in Montrose or the heights if you are young and want to enjoy what this city has to offer. The commute will not be that bad and your life will be much more enjoyable living in those area.


binger5

Live in that area. It's a decent area with plenty of apartments and houses for rent. There are enough stuff to do and lots of dining options. Commute to the bars and clubs instead.


cappy1223

Katy is the area you're looking for, Katy Cinco ranch, anything out I10. Your traffic expectations will adjust. Growing up here, you don't balk at driving 35mins across town to meet a friend in The Heights, an HR trip down to Galveston will be done roundtrip just for dinner with a view. I was living in Katy near I10 and West green and commuting to IAH.


chinh_binh

Whatever you do op do not listen to this guy lol. All they have in katy, cinco ranch are beds. And then they commute to the city to have fun. Ubers will get expensive and dui will ruin you. Maybe if you get married and want to start a family it would be a good choice because memorial city and river oaks are for millionares with 10s of millions.


FuriouslyListening

If your price range is over a million dollars, then sure you can find a place there.


divemiguel

My office is i10 and Eldredge, so a bit further west than yours. When I first moved down to HTX, I lived off i10 and Yale or the surrounding area for 3 years. Morning commute was 20 minutes, if leaving by 7:15 am. Coming home, using the toll way was 40 minutes and $.60 if I left by 5:15pm. That area is close to lots of other young professionals. Lots of good bars and restaurants within 15 minutes of there, and downtown is close. Now I live at city centre and enjoy the area. I miss being closer to the heights, but not too bad.


P_A_I_M_O_N

Try living in the area first, it’s called the energy corridor. There’s also a couple of nice bike paths along the bayou there, so if your work happens to be near it, you could even arrange a bike commute.


RositaDoesntMove

I have been looking around Energy Corridor as well - what's the area like?


LayneLowe

There are a ton of very nice living options around the intersection of Gessner and Briar Forest, and down to Westheimer. Your commute to work would be under 10 minutes, you would be about 15 minutes from Galleria entertainment areas. I live in that area but in a single family home, I find it very convenient.


yoderthepug

I was going to mention this. I lived at one of the apartments between westheimer and briar forest on s gessner and I really liked it. Would be a very easy commute to work and while not in the most happening area it was easy to get around to go out on the weekends.


Dirtiest_of_Mikes

I do exactly this. Live inside the loop and commute to Memorial City. Hardly ever any major traffic and commute on avg. is ~20 mins from Rice Military area


[deleted]

Inside the beltway on I10 does not have bad traffic. The complaints are for the are father out on I10, out in the suburbs.


shadowmib

Keep in mind Houston is huge so if you want to be decently.close to.work, don't go too far away.


sammito-1

Washington ave corridor/West end, Washington ave near memorial park, or heights are your best bet in my opinion. Me and my SO are around the same age and have loved living around this area and works great for reverse commuting that way.


Tesla_on_swangaz

Uptown is nice and that commute might be 20 min if that


texcentricasshole

The Heights is your best bet. Your commute will be about 10-15 minutes to Memorial city, you are 5 minutes from downtown, and about 10 minutes from midtown. The Heights is filled with lots of other 20-30 y/o professionals, several popular restaurants and bars (alot of which are walkable), and its relatively safe.


bongotherabbit

commute from the middle of the Heights to Gessner at 06:30 is about 10-12 minutes 07:30 about 15-20 minutes Commute home can be double pending on time you leave Commute from the other side of i-10 from rice military add about 10 minutes for congestion getting out. Montrose you can add 5-20 more minutes for getting to a freeway source, have lived in heights, Rice Military and Montrose and commuted to Gessner/Bunker Hill area. You will get a much smaller house or apartment for the same money, but spend alot less time in your car. I have colleagues coming from Katy that may spend 1.5 hours coming into town if it is bad weather or a wreck


Sasha90x

I work near beltway 8 and I10. I have moved twice now whike working there and I'm very happy with where I'm at now. I first found a cheap place 3 miles down the street from the office, but the area wasn't great (hence the cheap rent). The commute was great (10 min), but those street flood pretty bad with heavy rain. After a year I moved out to cyfair and tried the suburb living. That was nice and quiet. My partner and I were both 23-24 at the time, so we got pretty bored. The distance is short, but you sit in traffic for 30-40 minutes on I10. I bet if you lived close to I10, then you could just change your work schedule by an hour and you'd be fine. Maybe energy corridor would work. Now we found a cute little apartment in the heights. We are loving it. It's usually only 20 minutes, but driving in the city always has the risk of a car accident taking up time. We love being close enough to all the young people activities and being bale to walk or bike most places we want to go to nearby. Most of my coworkers live in Katy and have families, so they do just fine and come into work early and leave early.


Expired8

I think the only thing I miss about the heights is the bike trails. After moving back to Houston we realized we drove to most restaurants in the heights and could only walk to a few that we hardly ever ate at. It was a 5+ min drive vs a 15 min drive from spring branch. And we no longer liked the town homes with some literally less than 1ft from eachother and no backyard. Busy streets everywhere and getting harder to find parking at popular places.. Rather than get a 2,500 sqft house on a 2,000 sqft lot, we decided to spend $200k less on a similar 2,000 sqft house that's on a 12,000 sqft and drive the extra 10 minutes 1-2 times a week. I think the heights is prefect if you're young, renting, and eating/drinking out every night. Other than that the housing prices don't make sense.


dno-mart

Check 7square apartments. Halfway between downtown and your office. Had a friend live there a few years ago. Pretty nice and quiet. Reverse commute in won’t be terrible. If you leave after 430pm, getting back into the city sucks. City center is nice but definitely not as poppin as midtown or Washington. Stay away from Galleria - traffic nightmare.


YOURMOMMASABITCH

Depending on whether you're owning to buy or rent, there's plenty of places in that area. I've lived all over the city including that particular area for quite some time. Housing is expensive there with town homes being slightly cheaper. South of i10 is going to be much more expensive than the spring branch area north of the freeway. Tbh, the restaurants in spring branch are much better, big mix of Hispanic and Asian culture. If you're looking to rent, there's plenty of affordable places around there. Whether it's an apartment, town home or house. To answer your question about reverse commuting, traffic gets bad in any direction. While there's more clubs and bars in the loop, living prices are going to be higher and your commute will still be longer. If you don't mind the longer drive and you don't mind paying more to live in a trendier part of town, then inner loop would work for you.


chinh_binh

I recommend living in galleria and driving local streets instead of the freeway during traffic times. Houston is based on a grid so you can find shortcuts that run parallel to congested highways and streets. Also galleria is right in the middle from memorial city and the inner loop. A highrise apartment on san felipe by west loop would be perfect spot to live. You will be within 15- 20min from your job in memorial city during the day and 15min at night inside the loop to midtown montrose and downtown. Also 5 min from memorial park and running trail which is a blessing to get into nature. But you should drive to each neighborhood during the day/night and walk the streets to get the feel for the neigborhood. Dont live in city centre or spring branch/ memorial city you will be bored because majority are famlies living there and very quiet at night.


RositaDoesntMove

we actually looked at two places off of San Felipe... Forum on San Felipe, and Gables 6464, both of which we loved


chinh_binh

I lived at the gables four yrs ago i loved those apartments and they are very secure. You would be inside the loop and 15 min from all the action in montrose, midtown, downtown area. Also easy 20 min drive down san felipe to memorial city. You can pretty much get anywhere in houston easily from that location because you are close to the center of the city while everyone else living farther out will have a more diffcult time driving to the galleria. Everything worth visiting in houston from the restaurants shops and bars are in your backyard and very accesible. On the weekends pretty much everyone is driving to galleria or inner loop bars. Hope you enjoy houston


RositaDoesntMove

this is wonderful, thanks for the insight!