There is no doubt that the best new places to live in Texas are essentially master-planned communities. These communities differ from ordinary subdivisions in several important ways. Subdivisions are groups of houses, usually completed by one developer. Within a subdivision, the houses are built and sold first with the hope that the houses will attract businesses, recreational facilities and all the other features and amenities that are involved in establishing a community.

Typically, the planned communities are much larger in size than subdivisions. Often, several or many builders will go together to complete various parts of the communities so that different styles of housing, price ranges, and even neighborhood characteristics will be present in one community.

There is no doubt that the best new places to live in Texas are these planned communities. They will include office parks, commercial centers, and recreational parks in addition to the housing plats. There will normally even be hotels and motels incorporated into the master plan. Another indication that the place you choose to live is a master-planned community is the sheer number of conveniences and amenities and the enormous size of the features encompassed in the community.

One of the things that make master-planned communities the best new places to live in Texas is the extensive recreational features available in the community. Often there are large parks with jogging trails and bike paths. There may be golf courses and bodies of water such as lakes with related recreational opportunities available.

Subdivisions will often include green areas and may very well be surrounded by commercial centers, strip malls, and general shopping areas, but these facilities are an afterthought rather than having been included in the original community planning. With the master-planned community, every aspect of life, from housing and food to recreation and transportation, is considered in an effort to make the community attractive and desirable as a place to live.

It is the advance planning that makes the growth of housing and population in the Greater Houston Area that makes it one of the best new places to live in Texas. The entire four- to five-county area contains an abundance of new housing subdivisions and planned communities that are cognizant of the amenities that make a community popular. When availability of great planned communities is combined with attractive climate, employment opportunities, per capita income and cost of living, it makes the Greater Houston Area a wonderful place in which to live, enjoy, and raise a family.