Besides the name just sounding plain “friendly”, your Friendswood Real Estate Guide offers more insight into what makes this charming, family-friendly, and very livable city a place you will want to call home.
A brief background starts with Friendswood being the only permanent town in Texas that started as a Quaker colony (established in 1895). Early on the economy here depended largely on growing and preserving Magnolia figs. The community became a city when it was incorporated in 1960. The driving force for its growth was proximity to NASA and even being home to several astronauts. Historian Joyce Baker has documented many aspects of the city, with a terrific historical facts and detail.
With a current population of around 45,000 residents your Friendswood Real Estate Guide likes to refer to life here as a slower pace of life while being close to all the amenities offered by the large metropolitan city of Houston (population of about 7 million people). As you would expect – Houston offers multiple professional sports teams, many choices in higher education, an active and vibrant arts and entertainment culture, attractions, events, as well as more dining and nightlife options. That said, Friendswood has its own attributes with quieter neighborhoods, less traffic, no major freeway gridlock, and strong community involvement.
Friendswood has ten city parks and 266 acres of greenspace and nature trails. A few of your Friendswood Real Estate Guide’s favorite parks include:
Again, location is always important to choosing where you will live. Your Friendswood Real Estate Guide reports the following: we are 15 minutes from NASA; 30 minutes from downtown Houston; 30 minutes to Galveston Beach; 20 minutes to Kemah Boardwalk (true boardwalk fun with rides, dining, shopping, and family fun); and 15 minutes to Houston Hobby Airport.
The Cost of Living here runs pretty true to the national mark at 100’ish. Median home prices are currently at about $315K in Friendswood.
The Quaker heritage that focused on church, family and school remains a way of life for the community and continues to shape the character of the area.
The city parks and recreation coordinates year-long activities for the residents. Some things to look forward to include: concerts in the park, 4th of July celebration, movies in the park, 5K fun run/walk, Santa visit, and more!
The economic development of Friendswood includes their Vision 2020 Report, strategic goals and development models. Friendswood is both progressive and smart about how they go about it! Partnering with local businesses is a top priority and a mantra of “live here – work here” is often cited as a way of keeping the economy of the city going.
Part of community involvement revolves around strong partnerships with the school district – Friendswood ISD. The school district has many accolades, including being one of the top high schools in the entire state of Texas. Friendswood ISD partners with NASA and other corporations to enhance various rigorous academic programs. The district has a pre-engineering program at both the junior and senior high levels. All of this is made possible by consistently having quality faculty and staff and tremendous community involvement.
