Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Apologies if this has been discussed in depth, but the only meaningful thread I could find comparing the two cities in a search is multiple years old now. Perhaps the two cities aren't that comparable.
I live in Houston. I am trying to find out more about Raleigh.
How would you compare the two on a number of fronts?
I realize the above is broad and I could, can and have found a lot out about Raleigh relative to Houston by simple google research. But any first hand knowledge is much appreciated.
Somewhat simplified, I am a married, early 30's guy with young kids and potential solid employment opportunities in Raleigh. I know Houston and Texas well. I don't care for Houston all that much. If I had to live anywhere in Texas by choice, it would be Austin, then Austin, and then Austin. We lean a little more liberal than conservative. We like playing in the outdoors - hiking, kayaking, beach, etc. Prefer the mountains to the beach, but the beach to flat nothingness, and would love access to both. We try to be eco-friendly, though not obnoxiously so. We prefer quirky neighborhoods to suburban sprawl - while we love the feel of some of your NYC, SF neighborhoods, we'd never move to those cities due to cost of living and difficulty raising families there, imo. But if you know Houston, we prefer West U., Montrose, Heights to Katy, Sugarland, Woodlands. We are NOT religious.
Appreciate your thoughts comparing Raleigh to Houston, especially in light of some of our preferences.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,032,687 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayZ750
Apologies if this has been discussed in depth, but the only meaningful thread I could find comparing the two cities in a search is multiple years old now. Perhaps the two cities aren't that comparable.
I live in Houston. I am trying to find out more about Raleigh.
How would you compare the two on a number of fronts?
I realize the above is broad and I could, can and have found a lot out about Raleigh relative to Houston by simple google research. But any first hand knowledge is much appreciated.
Somewhat simplified, I am a married, early 30's guy with young kids and potential solid employment opportunities in Raleigh. I know Houston and Texas well. I don't care for Houston all that much. If I had to live anywhere in Texas by choice, it would be Austin, then Austin, and then Austin. We lean a little more liberal than conservative. We like playing in the outdoors - hiking, kayaking, beach, etc. Prefer the mountains to the beach, but the beach to flat nothingness, and would love access to both. We try to be eco-friendly, though not obnoxiously so. We prefer quirky neighborhoods to suburban sprawl - while we love the feel of some of your NYC, SF neighborhoods, we'd never move to those cities due to cost of living and difficulty raising families there, imo. But if you know Houston, we prefer West U., Montrose, Heights to Katy, Sugarland, Woodlands. We are NOT religious.
Appreciate your thoughts comparing Raleigh to Houston, especially in light of some of our preferences.
Normally I have no political background, I am literally when I say moderate, I mean moderate. I hate conservative right wingers just as much as I hate liberal lefties.
I believe politics is a corrupt field where ever you go.
But here goes;
- Demographically- Houston is more diverse
- Politically- Raleigh is a state capital, inner city Houston is blue, suburban areas are conservative.
- Climate- Raleigh has better climate
- Geography / Terrain- Raleigh is landlocked
- Politically- You had politically listed twice?
- Economically- Houston no doubt
- Culturally- Houston is more integrated and diverse.
- Nightlife- Houston is the bigger city, what can you expect Raleigh to have over it?
- Religiously- Don't know.
- Etc.
Thanks for the responses. Understanding that there is a tendency in this forum to compare which is "better", I would also appreciate just comparison's in general.
As an example, while my research has similarly shown Houston to have the larger and more diverse economy (obviously), what Raleigh's economy seems to have going for it is growth - large influx of people annually, a few solid economic base industries driving growth (tech, university, political), etc.
I say seems, because it's just what I've briefly researched. Maybe it's true...i don't know.
Normally I have no political background, I am literally when I say moderate, I mean moderate. I hate conservative right wingers just as much as I hate liberal lefties.
I believe politics is a corrupt field where ever you go.
But here goes;
- Demographically- Houston is more diverse
- Politically- Raleigh is a state capital, inner city Houston is blue, suburban areas are conservative.
- Climate- Raleigh has better climate
- Geography / Terrain- Raleigh is landlocked
- Politically- You had politically listed twice?
- Economically- Houston no doubt
- Culturally- Houston is more integrated and diverse.
- Nightlife- Houston is the bigger city, what can you expect Raleigh to have over it?
- Religiously- Don't know.
- Etc.
I agree, but I would guess Raleigh would be a bit more religious.
Also, I actually prefer Houston to Austin and think Austin is the most over-hyped city in the region (would be country if places like Portland didn't exist) and I spend the majority of the year living in Austin. I'm not religious and I'd rather live closer to downtown as well. I don't have kids, but I would much rather raise them in Sugar Land or The Woodlands than anywhere in the Austin metro.
Sort of hard to compare a mid-size metro such as Raleigh to a major metro such as Houston. But if you do prefer a city such as Austin, then Raleigh would be a better fit for you. However, there are lots of sprawling, cookie-cutter subdivisions surrounding Raleigh-Durham. Inside the Beltline (I-440) would probably have the neighborhoods you're looking for.
What sort of work do you do? RDU would have more jobs in Government, Pharmaceuticals, Education, etc., while Houston would have more jobs in Energy, Healthcare (although RDU is NO slouch in this), transportation, etc.
I did a google search comparing voting patterns between Raleigh & Houston. Unfortunately it was actually the counties that these 2 cities are in. In Wake county where Raleigh is located, Obama won over McCain 57% to 42%. In Harris county where Houston is Obama barely won: 50% to McCain: 48%. Also North Carolina as a state went Democratic. Ethnic breakdowns: Wake county\ Raleigh is 72% white including Hispanics which made up 8% of the white population & 20% Black. In Harris county\ Houston 73% are white of which 38% are Hispanic & 18% Black.
How these cities differed from their counties would be an interesting study but I'll leave that to others if anyone wants to find the info. I have an entirely different feeling about North Carolina after the 2008 election & get the idea that it is becoming more of a "northern" state [ie. more liberal\ diverse]. I've always know that Houston is quite different than much of Texas as is all the large cities in Texas by also being liberal & ethnically\racially diverse.
The population of Raleigh is approximately 3.4 million [much bigger than I had thought]. Houston metro is 5.7 million.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,032,687 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by openedskittles
I agree, but I would guess Raleigh would be a bit more religious.
Also, I actually prefer Houston to Austin and think Austin is the most over-hyped city in the region (would be country if places like Portland didn't exist) and I spend the majority of the year living in Austin. I'm not religious and I'd rather live closer to downtown as well. I don't have kids, but I would much rather raise them in Sugar Land or The Woodlands than anywhere in the Austin metro.
Yeah, I live in Sugar Land (suburb of Houston) when I'm not at school in Austin. I love Sugar Land, it's so diverse that I love it. It's not politically like one of those places that go like "get out here you liberal" it's so open minded. I love walking down the streets in town square and seeing so many people of different backgrounds, and all the hundreds of restaurants we've got for other cultures in Sugar Land, it reminds me of my home here in Naperville (suburb of Chicago).
I go to school at UT Austin, and although it's nice living here being near downtown, it's got it's moments when it can get annoying. The traffic is just terrible...
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayZ750
Whoops, sorry about listing politically twice.
Thanks for the responses. Understanding that there is a tendency in this forum to compare which is "better", I would also appreciate just comparison's in general.
As an example, while my research has similarly shown Houston to have the larger and more diverse economy (obviously), what Raleigh's economy seems to have going for it is growth - large influx of people annually, a few solid economic base industries driving growth (tech, university, political), etc.
I say seems, because it's just what I've briefly researched. Maybe it's true...i don't know.
Thanks, though!
Haha, it's perfectly cool.
Well the two seem to be quite different, it depends which one you want more.
They're both growing very fast, Houston for the large cities and Raleigh for the mid sized ones.
Houston's got a more diverse economy and it continues to grow at a very hard to compare rate for most big cities of it's size.
And both receive large influx of people, Houston metropolitan area added the second largest amount of residents since the last census, only after Dallas Metro. But the rate of Raleigh's growth is faster.
Honestly, if I never traced my roots back to Houston meaning that if I did not live there and share exceptionally great family memories and have great friends there, and if I were in your situation. I would probably pick Raleigh, not because it's better, but I love the feeling of a mid sized city way more than a large city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by californio sur
I did a google search comparing voting patterns between Raleigh & Houston. Unfortunately it was actually the counties that these 2 cities are in. In Wake county where Raleigh is located, Obama won over McCain 57% to 42%. In Harris county where Houston is Obama barely won: 50% to McCain: 48%. Also North Carolina as a state went Democratic. Ethnic breakdowns: Wake county\ Raleigh is 72% white including Hispanics which made up 8% of the white population & 20% Black. In Harris county\ Houston 73% are white of which 38% are Hispanic & 18% Black.
How these cities differed from their counties would be an interesting study but I'll leave that to others if anyone wants to find the info. I have an entirely different feeling about North Carolina after the 2008 election & get the idea that it is becoming more of a "northern" state [ie. more liberal\ diverse]. I've always know that Houston is quite different than much of Texas as is all the large cities in Texas by also being liberal & ethnically\racially diverse.
The population of Raleigh is approximately 3.4 million [much bigger than I had thought]. Houston metro is 5.7 million.
Yeah, for the first time in Houston for this election, the Houston Chronicle stated their support for a Democratic nominee for the win of the White House. That was astonishing, Houston's conservative days are largely behind them now.
You have to remember that these statistics vary because of the amount of people in both cities, areas in Houston that are liberal, get funky with their liberalism. But we all know that it's not going back into being a more conservative city now, those days are over and out for Houston.
no offense to raleigh ppl at all but you want to stay in houston. trust me.
No offense Houston people but you want to leave Houston for Raleigh. I have lived in both cities. Trust me.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
