Houston, TX
- Thread starter ameslurker
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Niece and her family live south of Houston in League City and not too bad to drive around. Freeway is 6 lanes at 60+ m.p.h. during rush hour. Hot ,humid, and all kinds of bugs and animals to contend with. ISU grads and that's where the jobs were, but the love the weather and beaches. There is good and bad in all places.
I have lived there for four years, and I have to visit several times a year for work. It's not my cup of tea. Weather, geography, traffic, southerners.
Couple of Quick Google foo...
[h=3]Houston Car Accident Statistics[/h]According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TDOT), there were 47,585 traffic accidents in Houston in 2012:
- 176 were fatal accidents, claiming 193 lives;
- 5,387 were serious injury accidents, leaving 7,307 people seriously injured;
- 12,014 were classified as injury accidents, leaving 19,703 people injured;
- 28,050 were non-injury accidents; and
- 1,958 were classified as "unknown severity.
I totally agree with getting flex work hours can help big cities. I know in DC there are a lot of work at home people a few days a week.
Traffic isn't as bad as Chicago, LA, or NY/NJ but it's pretty bad. The worst thing about TX is the Texans (no, not the football team, the people). If you like the whole "don't mess with Texas" and can tolerate dealing with people who live and breathe Fox News and the Baptist church you will be fine. Weather is awful in the summer and don't let anyone tell you it's like Iowa because that's a lie. It's like IA's worst summer day for 3 months straight. You can go outside at midnight and it's 90+ degrees and humid and it doesn't stop for months. You will pay less for some things and more for some things.
If you value short commutes, nice people, changing weather, a less judgmental population and good schools Iowa is a better place.
If you prefer warm winters and don't mind long commutes, having over the top right wing nut jobs as neighbors, and pretty much everyone carrying a gun then Houston may be the place for you.
Warm winters is a trade off but at what cost. That's really the only good thing so it better be worth dealing with all the other crap. If you are just looking to get out of IA there are many better places to live in my opinion.
If you value short commutes, nice people, changing weather, a less judgmental population and good schools Iowa is a better place.
If you prefer warm winters and don't mind long commutes, having over the top right wing nut jobs as neighbors, and pretty much everyone carrying a gun then Houston may be the place for you.
Warm winters is a trade off but at what cost. That's really the only good thing so it better be worth dealing with all the other crap. If you are just looking to get out of IA there are many better places to live in my opinion.
Oddly, there's really no southerners in Houston. Big melting pot, and great food. In fact, most people complain about the foreigners in Houston (Middle East, Far East) more than they do about southerners. The southerners mentalities is much more difficult in a Western, or rural tx.
I lived in Houston for 2 years and hated it. It is more Louisiana then Texas. I actually would like to live in Texas. Basically anywhere in the state except the Houston area. Austin or San Antonio would be pretty good.
The good: The traffic isn't as bad as people are making it out to be. The highway and freeway system I thought was well designed just over burdened but not by big trucks as people have previously posted. Your average neighborhood street is pot hole city because of the crazy downpours that mess up the roads. Rice university and some surrounding neighborhoods are very nice. The nearby neighborhoods is where the movie Rushmore was filmed. If your Catholic, it is a good diocese with some great church communities. Cost of living is cheap.
The bad: Don't let anybody tell you that the Montrose District is the hip spot to be. The crime is terrible and LGBT is on full display. Houston residents are overweight, mainly because there is no green space and the weather is humid and oppressive. The crime is terrible. Four of my friends in three different incidents were mugged. One was beaten, one beat the mugger up, and last two were held up at gun point by Hispanics. For me the worst part was that there was very little culture or history in Houston. The town only popped up when air conditioning did. Secondly it takes forever to get out of the city and get away, even in no traffic.
If you are going to live somewhere I would live in the burbs as far north as I could get. There are a lot of lakes and nice looking green sub divisions up there.
The good: The traffic isn't as bad as people are making it out to be. The highway and freeway system I thought was well designed just over burdened but not by big trucks as people have previously posted. Your average neighborhood street is pot hole city because of the crazy downpours that mess up the roads. Rice university and some surrounding neighborhoods are very nice. The nearby neighborhoods is where the movie Rushmore was filmed. If your Catholic, it is a good diocese with some great church communities. Cost of living is cheap.
The bad: Don't let anybody tell you that the Montrose District is the hip spot to be. The crime is terrible and LGBT is on full display. Houston residents are overweight, mainly because there is no green space and the weather is humid and oppressive. The crime is terrible. Four of my friends in three different incidents were mugged. One was beaten, one beat the mugger up, and last two were held up at gun point by Hispanics. For me the worst part was that there was very little culture or history in Houston. The town only popped up when air conditioning did. Secondly it takes forever to get out of the city and get away, even in no traffic.
If you are going to live somewhere I would live in the burbs as far north as I could get. There are a lot of lakes and nice looking green sub divisions up there.
We lived in Tx many years during our working careers, split between Houston and Dallas. Dallas is a little more showy/glitzy, while Houston is more 'industrial' with the chemical and oil and gas business focus.
Some random observations from our Hou years:
Yes traffic is bad, but as with any city you learn to develop work around strategies with timing and roads.
Crime is higher in the city proper, but much less out in the burbs, as with most cities I imagine.
Cost of living, especially housing, is low. No income taxes, but they make up for it in property tax.
One of the best medical complexes in the country around Rice University.
Many nice golf courses, if you're a golf nut. And yes, you can golf year-round.
Lots of bike trails if you're a biker.
Lot of good festivals and live music events, if you're a fan.
San Antonio/Austin and the Tex hill country are just a few hrs west. We spent many enjoyable weekends exploring.
Galveston is fun for a visit, but Kemah is closer. We'd go down to the boardwalk on a weekend afternoon, drink a beer in the shade and watch the boats and people go by.
I see comments about it being a red-neck, right wing dominated area. I would say I'm sure there are more white, conservative areas, as with any town, but Houston is a very global/diverse population. There are large groups of Asian, Indian, and Hispanic folks...lots of good ethnic restaurants by the way.
I'm sorry to agree with above posters, but yes there are more of the annoying, disgusting religious types in the South, but in Hou you will run into Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and Muslim very frequently. If that's a show stopper, you can always just shoot them.....
The city by the way is very democratic party leaning with a female, gay mayor. If you want a more liberal neighborhood, inside the 'loop' are the Heights, the Museum and Medical areas, Montrose, and others are available. We always felt Hou had more of a gulf/New Orleans feel to it than the rest of Tex.
Bottom line. If the job opportunity is down your goal path, Houston wouldn't stop me. Lots of nice places to live and people to meet. Very good industrial/professional environment to broaden your working network and contacts. You can step from there to even global opportunities, maybe more easily than anywhere in US.
Enjoy it. Learn from it, like any stop in your journey.
Some random observations from our Hou years:
Yes traffic is bad, but as with any city you learn to develop work around strategies with timing and roads.
Crime is higher in the city proper, but much less out in the burbs, as with most cities I imagine.
Cost of living, especially housing, is low. No income taxes, but they make up for it in property tax.
One of the best medical complexes in the country around Rice University.
Many nice golf courses, if you're a golf nut. And yes, you can golf year-round.
Lots of bike trails if you're a biker.
Lot of good festivals and live music events, if you're a fan.
San Antonio/Austin and the Tex hill country are just a few hrs west. We spent many enjoyable weekends exploring.
Galveston is fun for a visit, but Kemah is closer. We'd go down to the boardwalk on a weekend afternoon, drink a beer in the shade and watch the boats and people go by.
I see comments about it being a red-neck, right wing dominated area. I would say I'm sure there are more white, conservative areas, as with any town, but Houston is a very global/diverse population. There are large groups of Asian, Indian, and Hispanic folks...lots of good ethnic restaurants by the way.
I'm sorry to agree with above posters, but yes there are more of the annoying, disgusting religious types in the South, but in Hou you will run into Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and Muslim very frequently. If that's a show stopper, you can always just shoot them.....
The city by the way is very democratic party leaning with a female, gay mayor. If you want a more liberal neighborhood, inside the 'loop' are the Heights, the Museum and Medical areas, Montrose, and others are available. We always felt Hou had more of a gulf/New Orleans feel to it than the rest of Tex.
Bottom line. If the job opportunity is down your goal path, Houston wouldn't stop me. Lots of nice places to live and people to meet. Very good industrial/professional environment to broaden your working network and contacts. You can step from there to even global opportunities, maybe more easily than anywhere in US.
Enjoy it. Learn from it, like any stop in your journey.
Have a possible job opportunity in Houston if a few things fall into place. I was curious if any of you fanatics live in, or know of the Houston area and could provide with a few pros/cons. I know about the heat and long summers, so no need to go into that
Any information would be appreciated.
I have lived in Cypress (NW Suburbs) for 4 years now. We moved down here from Ames. I love it down here. It is hot in the summer and contrary to what some have said it is hotter than Iowa in the summer. Iowa peaks out at about the average hot day here, plus it does not cool off in the evening the way Iowa does. The cool evenings is the part I really miss.
Traffic is bad, no way around that but if you know where you are going to work and can plan ahead living wise it is manageable. There are a lot of people who don't/can't do that, but if you avoid peak times it can be OK. Besides, traffic in Chicago is way, way worse.
There is great culture down here (museums, shows, concerts, etc.), there are also the major pro sports (except baseball but they seem to be working on it). It is very, very spread out so plan on driving a bunch if you need to go from one side to the other very often. To give you an idea, the outside loop being built (Grand Parkway) will be 180+ miles when done! Less than 3 times around and you have the Indy 500!
The economy in Houston is on a tear right now, housing while still reasonable has gone up substantially in the last 2 or 3 years but your dollar will still go a long way.
If you have specific questions let me know and I will try to check back and answer them.
Fatal accidents + serious injury accidents - 5563 per year. 365 days per year, you've got 15 fatal/serious accidents per day. Slightly less than 300.
I forgot about the fire ants. They're not your friend. Make sure to have fire ant control on your yard and you should be OK. Funny story, we got married in Houston and whilest taking post-wedding pictures in front of the church, much of the (non-Texan) bridal party found out about fire ants.
I never appreciated this. But I do now, every time we have an "ice storm."
