Photo Credit :: Neighborhood.com
Garden Oaks and Oak Forest are the third largest group of subdivisions in Harris County, behind Kingwood and Sharpstown. These areas are centrally located in Houston with beautiful, vintage homes. Garden Oaks is directly off 610, sandwiched in between Hwy 290 and Hwy 45. Newer construction homes are updating the area, keeping the same charm and growing the neighborhood.
Garden Oaks has many great neighborhoods to consider, like Oak Forest, Fantasy Woods, Forest Pines, Independence Heights, Garden Oaks, and many more! Neighborhoods.com is a great place to start to find out more about these neighborhoods and to find a house.
Why Moms Love it
This close-knit neighborhood allows for a community of families to grow. There is always something to do in Garden Oaks. Families flock here for the great schools and the convenience of location, as well as the organized family activities all around.
Local Family Favorites :: {Playgrounds, sports, activities, parks}
At HMB, we love family-friendly activities. If it’s hot outside {because, it’s HOUSTON}, we recommend these indoor play places and these awesome splash pads! We also love taking care of ourselves. We have compiled a list of mommy-favorite fitness classes around town that can help you with self care.
- Oak Forest Dad’s Club– Sports groups and teams for littles which are more than just youth sports. It’s about family and dedication to the community. In fact, many of the parents and grandparents of current players at the Oaks Dads’ Club were players here themselves!
- Houston Public Libraries boast quite a few family friendly activities. Find your closest location here. Your kids will love the library and all of its FREE fun things to do. A few of us may even want to move into it! A lot of neighborhoods even boast Free Little Libraries that can help your kid keep their love of reading alive.
- Candlelight Park– This park has made our list of the BEST Parks in Houston! This is a cute, neighborhood park that after 5:00 pm, is packed with locals and their kids. They don’t have an impressive play structure, but it does the trick. The best part is that the park is surrounded by nine acres of green space that is perfect for flying kites or kicking soccer balls.
- Pengu Swim School is a swim school with beautiful facility with great teachers
- Body 3 Personal Fitness– Our contributors highly recommend this gym for parents. Check it out for their awesome personal training classes.
Childcare and Schools
We know finding great child care and schools is a daunting task. There are hundreds of great day care options in this area, but finding the right one for your family takes work. We love St. Matthews CDC for their amazing pre-school/day care program. For grades K-12, the area is zoned to HISD and parents should research carefully how to navigate the HISD schools. For private school, St. Rose of Lima Catholic School is in this area. There are also many charter schools across Houston, like YES Prep and Harmony Schools.
Perfect Date Night/Staycation
Mommy breaks like date nights, an occasional brunch, and staycations are an important part of self care.
A few Garden Oaks restaurants have made our list of the 30 Most Family Friendly Houston Patios and our list of Family Friendly Restaurants around Houston. We even know the most kid friendly breweries in this area! Interested in bringing your own alcohol and saving a bit of money? Check out our list of BYOB restaurants around town. To top off your evening off, check out one of the Top Ten Ice Cream Shops in Houston!
We feel comfortable “peacing-out” and leaving our kiddos in the trustworthy hands of Best Buds Babysitting, knowing they will be taken care of {especially after we pick up one of the best pizzas in the area for everyone to enjoy}. They are happy. We are happy. Everyone wins!
Learn More
It’s important that you find the best area that fits you! We know what it means to find the right neighborhood and neighbors that fit your family! For more information on Garden Oaks in Houston, check out the Garden Oaks section on Neighborhoods.com . There are tons of great resources about moving here, photos, and more helpful details on this area. We love Houston and love that we get to raise our families here. Check out why here.
Neighborhoods.com is a full service brokerage and an easy to use online real estate resource that helps people find the perfect home as well as the ideal neighborhood. We believe that the neighborhood you live in is just as important as the home you live in. The people, places, schools and amenities that surround your home have an enormous impact on your quality of life. When you’re looking for a place to live, you aren’t just picking out a house. You are also deciding who your children will play with and who you might become friends with. So while many people search for their dream house, we believe you should look for your dream home. And your neighborhood is a huge part of that dream.
Check out the other areas featured in our Houston Neighborhood Guide for Families and learn more about our guide sponsor, Neighborhoods.com.