While everybody else is jumping on the Westbury bandwagon, you'd be wise to check out Sharpstown, which is less a "hidden" neighborhood than it is one that's undervalued and underrated. Like Westbury, Sharpstown offers spacious, mid-century mod houses on generous lots and is pretty convenient to everything worth going to — in fact, perhaps even more convenient, as Westbury's freeway access is poor. Unlike Westbury, Sharpstown happens also to be a riotous cavalcade of pan-American, pan-African and especially pan-Asian sights, sounds and smells, a far cry from that utterly outdated Baby Boomer-era myth of Sharpstown as a Levittown-style suburb of cookie-cutter houses and whitebread values. That Sharpstown has been dead and buried since about 1985. The neighborhood's single-family homes on the backstreets are still a bargain, and that will only increase as those once-scrubby little trees continue to grow and start throwing some serious shade.
i rent a condo in the area and i'm considering getting a house here Pat Neff elementary in an exemplary,and has a separate school,just for pre-k which i love!I wanted my son to go to a great school for pre-k and u just can't beat that,saved $4,500 tuition on private school ,and a school only for pre-k,great!slgy
When I tell people I live in Sharpstown, they cringe. However, I have two large lots, mature trees, great neighbors, a low mortgage. I have never been afraid here--the police presence is awesome. Many of the thugs go to Sugar Land where they think the rich people live. I love it here.
I also live in Sharpstown and work in real estate... bought my house 11 years ago after moving out of the Inner Loop (Montrose and Midtown actually) because I wanted a one story, brick home with a nice sized yard that I could remodel to my tastes... much like people are doing in areas like Westbury, but at a better price and better freeway access. I also love being close to the Beltway. I have had no issues with crime in Sharpstown and I love my neighbors, my house, and my mortgage payment. However, when i lived inside the Loop, I dealt with drug dealers and crime every day. Crime is everywhere.. mostly in the areas where the apartments are... so to say Sharpstown is bad is ridiculous. Just watch the news.I have seen my property appreciate in the last 10 years. I as well as my neighbors have put money into our houses, updating them and adding on... That is a good sign and the active civic association is very good. Several of the schools are now ranked exemplary and many of my neighbors send their kids to private schools right in the neighborhood.I anticipate the area will continue to grow and thrive. The area is not just the mall.
I to keep the Sharpstown reputation the way it is it keeps the snobs out! love not having a huge mortgage during this recession has been nice. Dont forget the 15 commute to downtown and med center. I have been raising family there for 10 years now and not a single issue with crime. some of the neighbors are annoying but there are some that are equally awesome.
JP, crime is not rampant in Sharpstown. I live there. The SW Houston notorious for crime is much farther out. Not all the public schools are horrible--Pat Neff elementary school is excellent. However, with what you save on the low property cost, you can send children to private school and then some.
I bought a house in Sharpstown in 2004 and love living here. The main benefit is easy commute (15 minutes one way door to door to Greenway Plaza. The have not had a day of trouble living here like crime, etc as its reputation would suggest. The perception of crime is why a decent 3 bedroom 2 bath home is still in the low 100k. Bellaire had a crime problem too when their 3 bedroom homes were about 100k in late 80s and early 90s.
That's great and all, but the public schools in that area are horrible and crime is very high (being basically part of Fondren SW). Until those two problems improve significantly, Sharpstown's unique homes won't be enough to attract a critical mass of young upward professionals and (especially) young families.
Sharpstown is NOT part of Fondren SW. Please get your areas correct. It's like saying crime is extremely high in the city of Bellaire because it's right next to Gulfton. NOT TRUE.
Sharpstown could be the next Bellaire or Heights, it just needs some work. Those apartment complexes need to gooo, FAST! However along bellaire they have been tearing down some of the complexes, one particularly horrible one off of renwick has been demolished for a brand new shopping center. I think as time progresses and gas prices increase we will see real change.
i love living in sharpstown near beltway 8 & bellaire. there are two distinct areas, at least... east of 59 including HBU and houses from the mid '50s; and west of 59, including the Beltway 8/Bellaire complexes, with houses from the mid to late '60s. Access is excellent and the neighborhood always has something interesting to see and do.
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