Anyone live in Houston or in a surrounding suburb?

[fumbalina]

I have lived in Houston forever. I did not go to church until about 5 years ago and it is not unusual to find that several people do not go. You can not buy liquor on Sunday if that affects your decision. The different neighborhoods have different atmospheres. So it helps to know what you want.

[ellipses84]

I moved to Houston from SoCal and lived there for 3 years (DH was there for 4 years). I worked downtown and we lived in the city, in a few locations right around the inner loop. My DH worked further south by NASA and we have good friends who live in Spring.

It took a lot of convincing to get me to move there, but we did it for job opportunities, lower cost of living and we were hoping for a better work life balance. It just didn’t work out for us that way. Everything people warned me about ahead of time - humidity, conservatives, big bugs, etc. weren’t really a problem. Nobody warned me about flooding and we moved away after 2 floods in 2 different houses in 16 months.

There are a lot of great things about Houston - it’s incredibly diverse, the people are very hospitable and down to earth, and it has every amenity you’d find in a huge city, especially great restaurants and the arts. There’s amazing neighborhoods, but there’s some strange urban development things about it, like sprawl, that make it not one of my favorite cities, although I enjoyed most of my time living there.

It was great for our careers, but due to our jobs/locations and having young kids we had to live in a place with a reasonable commute and we paid a premium for it. Our house was a little bigger but our total monthly bills were the same as SoCal. Gas and groceries were cheaper but car insurance was more expensive. Property tax is fairly high but no state tax. In the suburbs I feel like you pay the same but get a way bigger/nicer/newer house. You couldn’t pay me enough to live in Katy or The Woodlands and commute to downtown although I know lots of people who do it. We have better work life balance in SoCal and I feel like everything was very fast paced for us in Houston.

My coworker and his wife who are professionals a few years younger than me relocated from NYC and are loving Houston. They bought a house that has never flooded, near the heights, and work downtown, with extended family that lives in Katy.

If you do decide to move there, let me know if you have any questions.

[ellipses84]

Jan 11, 2019 14:28:56 GMT -5 bullygirl979 said:

Jan 11, 2019 14:21:27 GMT -5 redheadk said:

We didn’t pick based on our jobs exactly but do keep in mind how big houston is geographically. There are major companies on the far outskirts on every side. My BIL took a job with a major international company that is almost in SugarLand. If they lived in the woodlands, his commute would be insane. So, just keep that in mind if you are looking at the far out suburbs.

Oh yes. I wouldn't apply if it's an insane commute. I can't do it.

When my DH first moved there ahead of me, he was staying with our friends in a north suburb and commuting to a south suburb, which was practically like driving from London to Scotland every day. It was non rush hours, so traffic was only slightly terrible.

[mrsjuleshs]

I have been in Houston (Katy) for over 26 years. We moved from SoCal when I was a teenager. My commute to the Galleria is a bit insane but the running joke is that it takes you 45 minutes min. to get anywhere in Houston. I am looking to move closer into town in the next few years. The property taxes in my county keep going up.

But I love it here. The others have given great advice.

[stillswimming]

We’ve lived in houston most of our adult lives, moved away to the Midwest for a few years for a job, and we couldn’t get back fast enough. We love it here and live in Katy, although we’ve lived in other suburbs before and like them too.

It’s a truly massive city. It’s important to pick a suburb the closest to where your jobs will be to reduce a long trafficky commute. Public transit is pretty much nonexistent and a long commute can be soul sucking here. We picked our house this time specifically to keep a 20 min in the morning, 30 min in the evening commute.

The summers are brutal, but people just treat it like winter elsewhere, scuttling from building to building with the notable exception of swimming!

The food is freaking amazing. If you want the best pho, fish taco, pizza, bbq, steak, burger, Korean bbq, fried chicken, sushi, Indian, Vietnamese, tapas, Greek, menudo, Brazilian, African, ANYTHING, there is somewhere in Houston you can go.

The shopping is also incredible, with a brick and mortar store for virtually any company that exists as such.

Plus, HEB grocery stores. Omg. I missed HEB.

The diversity is incredible, probably very much like NYC, even in the suburbs.

Houston isn’t without its challenges, but I love it here.