high five for cinco ranch

Travel + Leisure ranks tight-knit Houston suburb No. 2 in America

Cinco Ranch is the best suburb to live in Texas, and No. 2 nationwide.

Cinco Ranch, a master-planned community in Katy, has been declared the second best suburb to live in America, according to a recent report by Travel + Leisure.

The report, published July 16, analyzed feedback from realtors and data from "recent livability rankings" to determine the 10 best U.S. suburbs with the most "affordable housing, top-rated schools, and excellent job opportunities."

Johns Creek, Georgia (located 30 miles outside Atlanta) was the only city to overtake Cinco Ranch to claim the title as the No. 1 best American suburb to live in.

Rebecca Turner, a Realtor at Houston-based Greenwood King Properties, said in the report that the main attraction bringing families to Cinco Ranch is its seemingly endless outdoor recreational activities. Cinco Ranch boasts three lakes, 11 pools, 70-plus playgrounds, and 231 miles of trails, all of which make the suburb one of the most highly sought after communities in the nation.

"Cinco Ranch, like most of Houston, continues to appreciate at a fast clip," said Turner in the report. "Unlike other areas of Texas and the country, which have had to deal with a real estate reset and falling prices after the COVID-19-influenced boom, Cinco Ranch continues to be a desirable neighborhood where home values and equity are rising at a healthy rate."

Cinco Ranch, Katy, Houston suburb Families can bring their children to enjoy movie nights at the community pool. cincoranch.life/

Cinco Ranch-residing families can also take advantage of the many high-ranking schools in Katy Independent School District, which are some of the best public high schools in Texas, according to Niche.

Moreover, Zillow's Home Values Index says the average home in Cinco Ranch is worth nearly $544,000 in July, which is almost five percent more year-over-year from July 2023. The suburb's hot housing market means available homes go from on sale to pending in just six days, according to the report.

"Today, half of all Americans live in suburbs of different densities, driven by rising costs in cities plus a desire for more space and a laid-back lifestyle," the report said. "Because of that shift, suburbs are now more racially diverse than ever, offering a wide range of amenities like excellent restaurants, shops, and entertainment, but also top-rated public schools, medical centers, and recreational facilities."

The only other Texas suburb to earn a spot in the report was Coppell (No. 5), which is located 22 miles northwest of Dallas. The city is described as a quieter alternative to the hustle and bustle of Dallas-Fort Worth, with average value of a home coming out to more than $643,000 in July.

Houston suburbs have been on a roll in national surveys lately: Missouri City recently ranked the No. 77 most livable small U.S. city; West University Place and Bellaire were listed among the wealthiest American suburbs (which our beloved late columnist Ken Hoffman had some things to say about); and Conroe was just ranked the No. 31 best city in the nation for renters.

The top 10 best suburbs to live in, according to Travel + Leisure, are:

No. 1 – Johns Creek, Georgia
No. 2 – Cinco Ranch, Texas
No. 3 – Okemos, Michigan
No. 4 – North Bethesda, Maryland
No. 5 – Coppell, Texas
No. 6 – Brookline, Massachusetts
No. 7 – Brentwood, Mississippi
No. 8 – Carmel, Indiana
No. 9 – Short Pump, Virginia
No. 10 – Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania

The full report can be found on travelandleisure.com.

houston katy real estate suburbs rankings

rustic ranch livin'

17-acre Hill Country ranch with stunning views listed for $3.7M

HC Carter Camphouse property for sale in Dripping Springs, Spanish-style main house exterior

Photo courtesy of Republic Ranches

The 17-acre ranch is located at 1601 Creek Rd. in Dripping Springs.

A spacious property for sale in the bustling Austin suburb of Dripping Springs is now offering just over 17 acres of land for $3.7 million.

The HC Carter Camphouse, located at 1601 Creek Road, presents a rare opportunity for its next owners to live less than two miles from downtown Dripping Springs. The 17.03-acre ranch was once part of a much larger, 205-acre ranch that contained "one of the finest Longhorn cattle herds in Texas," according to the listing description.

The property features two renovated homes: a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, Spanish-style main house that was originally built in 1956; and a restored "Pioneer Cabin" that was built in the mid-to-late 1800's and currently serves as the guest house.

The primary home has a gated stone courtyard with a water fountain, and a tiled wraparound porch overlooking the front yard and in-ground fire pits. Terracotta tile runs throughout the interior of the home, and rustic wood details cohesively tie the rooms together. The spacious primary bedroom features wide French doors that open to the front porch, a high angled wood panel ceiling, and a Santa Fe-style fireplace.

HC Carter Camphouse property for sale in Dripping Springs, main house primary bedroom The fire place in the primary bedroom will be very handy during the winter.Photo courtesy of Republic Ranches

The restored cabin maintains its vintage charm with stone flooring, all-wood ceilings, log beams, and antique furnishings. The home contains two bedrooms with window AC units, two fireplaces, "working bathrooms," and a kitchen.

Onion Creek runs through the property to provide stunning Hill Country views and a barrier of separation from Creek Rd. However, it also means a majority of the land south of the creek — including the areas where both homes sit — is in a FEMA 100-year floodplain and a Dripping Springs localized floodplain. The property's survey map fills in the details.

"The property has approximately 1,600 feet of frontage on Onion Creek, providing year-round water, and stunning views of the creek," the listing says. "The creek has never gone dry on this part of the creek since the owners have owned the property."

The ranch first entered the market in late July as a 9.999-acre parcel of land, but the listing has since been updated to add 7.031 more acres in an adjoining lot. The land addition improves the property's privacy, nearly doubles the Onion Creek frontage, and increases the size of the "most probable new home site location," according to the listing. The expansion also effectively reduces the price-per-acre by a third.

Photo courtesy of Republic Ranches

The 17-acre ranch is located at 1601 Creek Rd. in Dripping Springs.

Whoever purchases the ranch will also become the owners of an additional one-acre lot located "outside of, but contiguous to" the 9.999-acre lot. This portion of land is leased to the property's caretaker, who previously managed the original 205-acre ranch for 25 years. The listing specifies that the caretaker "does not have the right to sell this 1 acre, which will revert to the owner in case of his death."

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