re: What can you baws tell me about The Woodlands?

Conroe McCullough in tMud.

Friend of mine lives there.

Nice area, lots of traffic, and they have Corkscrew BBQ in the area. Best BBQ I’ve had in a very long time.

Pretty conservative area.

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I’ve been to Houston numerous times but never ventured out that way. What’s it like there? Schools, housing, crime, local politics, etc? For you TX folks, educate me on the sky high property taxes I hear about. Does it balance out since there’s no state income tax?

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First - congrats on the job offer.

Second - The Woodlands is very nice. Great schools, great golf courses, great houses. High property taxes means that your local schools are properly funded. So it’s a trade off that the no state income tax supports. Property values will remain strong.

Third - you should visit. It’s newer than BR, and has a heavy amount of pine trees everywhere. Close proximity to airport and Lake Conroe. Also has a big concert amphitheater.

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His salary should double from the Baton Rouge market

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Also an MD Anderson center up there just in case

All the above. Enough good restaurants, HEBs aplenty. The woodlands pavilion has enough good music. Clean, very little crime, much less traffic than Houston. Easy to get around. If it wasn’t for a certain grand daughter being born, we would still be there.
When we moved there, I thought we would go downtown often. Way less than I thought we would. It’s not hard to plan special trips for special events
Would recommend .

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The Woodlands High baseball team is one of the best in Texas but 0-3 all time against my teams. Just sayin

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Do you (by chance) also own a 2012 Tundra with 230+k miles on it?

I knew there was a reason I woke up earlier than usual today...

1. Taxes - Houston has a thing called MUD (Municipal Utility District) taxes that especially if your house is newer, can be half of your property taxes. In my old neighborhood (1500? homes) I think there were five different MUD districts. The MUD districts take out bonds for sewer, roads, lighting, drainage, etc., and pay those back over a number of years. Early on, they equal your school taxes. They go down over time. The other big chunk is the ISD (school district,) and there are minor fees for emergency services, Houston community college, etc.

Here's the tricky thing: One side of the street may be MUD 171, the other side of the street may be MUD 158. MUD 158 taxes may be down to .5% of property value, whereas the taxes in MUD 171 may be 1.5%. My old house started at 3.61% of property value, but if I went 3/4 of a mile East, the property taxes would be 2.4%, for instance. It's NOT done by county or school district. Whereas, if you go to Plano, there are no MUD taxes, it's just 1.9% across the board (don't get me started.)

2. Patio: In most of the Woodlands, it's not a concern. You're surrounded by 100' tall pines almost everywhere but in the newer neighborhoods, unlike a burb like Katy/Fulshear, where a west facing patio is unusable after 2:30. Different developers cut trees before developing differently, but no shite, there's a reason it's called the Woodlands. A lot of people down on the Katy prairie use sun shades in the backyard.

3. The Woodlands is not 98% white. It's 98% rich, multi degreed households, but some of those are wealthy Mexicans with light skin. The kind that send their kids to "international schools." Not an issue.

4. I'm assuming it's for Exxon or an employer in Spring, etc. Make damn sure you're not going downtown or to the Energy Corridor on a regular basis.

5. You *will* learn backroads and shortcuts. There are two exits off of 45 that feed West into the Woodlands that are always like a scene from the Walking Dead during peak hours. It can be avoided.

If you have kids good place if you don’t then not so good. Lived there for almost 2 years. TLAT Mrs Lith hated it

Beautiful areas with lots of liberal pricks.