re: Best suburb of Houston to buy a house?

Yeah, it has gone up a lot lately. My point was more about justifying living in the loop. It can still take you a long time to get places but all aspects of life are easier. My in-law is a teacher and bought a house in meyerland. The area seemed nice enough and gets to enjoy the same things we do.

With kids - all the downtown museums, miller theater, parks, and the zoo are all 10 minutes away. My job requires me to go around the city so I have seen the traffic and commutes in all directions. There is no good answer to that. Live close to the center and hope you are contraflow to traffic. For I-45, both directions are bad at rush hour.

There is no formula for it since it is personal preference. Land costs more in the city center, so you get less of that but receive more time and ways to spend that time in return. Everyone has their own balance.