San Francisco to Houston—what do you think? (San Diego, Redwood: cheap house, neighborhoods)

[AK123]

Originally Posted by getupandgogotupandwent

We were considering the West University area or thereabouts, which coming from San Francisco is incredibly spacious and very suburban-feeling. It would be work-friendly and would likely keep us off the highways for the most part.

We checked out Sugar Land, and while the homes were huge, cheaper, and there was tons of space, I am concerned that a commute into the city (near the medical center) would be rough. Also, while I want space, I almost got an agorophobic feeling in Sugar Land—it's almost *too much* space, if there can be such a thing.

Another common concern with moving to a new place is: crime. Obviously, any city has shady areas, and you make a point to avoid them. Is ambient crime an issue in areas that seem "nicer", like West University? I can accept the occasional broken-in car if I park downtown or something, but I obviously want to avoid having home break-ins and other random badness where I live.
Thoughts?

West U is awesome. Lovely area. If you can afford it, great.

Bellaire and Meyerland generally aren't quite as upscale as West U, but still very nice and great if you can afford them.

IMO, Sugar Land is mostly for those of us who need to be near the southwest/west side of town for work but can't afford places like West U or Bellaire. Many of us have 2+ children and don't have the time or cash to deal with upgrading an old home, or the cash to afford a bigger/newer home closer into town. The "cheap Houston" myth is just that, because a decent house in a nice area IN town is not going to be cheap at all by most peoples' standards.

That being said, the Sugar Land area is probably one of the best located outer 'burbs for those working in places like the Medical Center or Uptown; Hwy 59 has been upgraded, also there's Hwy 90, so the commute isn't that bad if you can't afford more than a $300k home. When I was working in the Medical Center, I was parking at the Fannin South lot and taking the Metro light rail to my stop at work, because Medical Center parking is difficult and expensive.

But if you can afford West U, by all means, go for it. Even Bellaire or Meyerland. From what you say, I think you'll enjoy Houston for the most part and should have no problems here.

[getupandgogotupandwent]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Honestly, if you have the money you need to buy in West U. (...) I don't think you will find a better place in Houston to live.

Originally Posted by AK123

West U is awesome. Lovely area.

Awesome! Greatly appreciate the neighborhood info and insight. That's huge.

Honestly, when we did our initial tour of neighborhoods my jaw was absolutely dropped in West U. Coming from San Francisco, these homes seem like absolute mansions, and (comparatively) very reasonably priced. So, yeah, when talking about real estate, leave your rationality at the city limits when entering San Francisco.

This has been incredibly informative, and my wife and I are very grateful for your feedback. If you guys want to volunteer anything else we should consider, we more than welcome it!

[TVC15]

You will certainly like living in Houston vs. San Francisco for the reasons you mentioned. I moved to the Bay Area from Houston this past Jan. My job is located in the city of San Francisco but I live in Redwood City. I did my research before moving there and I personally could not imagine living in the city of San Francisco for the reasons you mentioned. I chose to live in beautiful Redwood City with clear 75 degree and no fog weather everyday vs. SF.

I am in Houston right now visiting and having a blast! This is my home and I love this city!

I think you will really love living here based on what you are looking for. If you are taking a job in the Texas Medical Center (TMC is an awesome place!) West-U and the Rice area are very good options to consider. You also might consider Pearland. This city is also full of wonderful restaurants and culture. As a bonus Texans are so friendly it will blow you away!

Good luck on your move! It will be an adventure for sure!

[hsw]

Consider that Woodside area is cheaper than WestU/RiverOaks/Villages area of Houston per acre of land

Dpdg upon where one works in SV/SF, not much is more than a 30min blitz on 280 from Woodside; Hou traffic is fairly easy but SV's 280 is world's fastest and most efficient corridor btwn upscale housing and relevant offices

PaloAlto area weather is different from City of SF; PA weather is similar to that of LA's Westside, w/no smog and more leafiness

And many who despise communism of SF or PA live in Woodside/Atherton/PV to avoid commies

Ironically, aside from TX's lack of state income tax, Houston's elite areas are far more costly than SV's most elite suburbs (compare land costs)....and tend to have new houses on much smaller lots, closer to much more crime/ugliness (and similarly necessitating costly pvt schools)....and face TX's brutal weather/topography (requiring travel costs to periodically escape)

But many in CA greatly admire Hou/Dall's libertarian capitalist spirit, which CA needs to emulate...much as Houston/Dallas need to innovate more valuable new cos. to emulate SV

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by hsw

Consider that Woodside area is cheaper than WestU/RiverOaks/Villages area of Houston per acre of land

Dpdg upon where one works in SV/SF, not much is more than a 30min blitz on 280 from Woodside; Hou traffic is fairly easy but SV's 280 is world's fastest and most efficient corridor btwn upscale housing and relevant offices

PaloAlto area weather is different from City of SF; PA weather is similar to that of LA's Westside, w/no smog and more leafiness

And many who despise communism of SF or PA live in Woodside/Atherton/PV to avoid commies

Ironically, aside from TX's lack of state income tax, Houston's elite areas are far more costly than SV's most elite suburbs (compare land costs)....and tend to have new houses on much smaller lots, closer to much more crime/ugliness (and similarly necessitating costly pvt schools)....and face TX's brutal weather/topography (requiring travel costs to periodically escape)

But many in CA greatly admire Hou/Dall's libertarian capitalist spirit, which CA needs to emulate...much as Houston/Dallas need to innovate more valuable new cos. to emulate SV

Wow so beautifully said!

[Malvie]

getupandgogotupandwent (one of my favorite phrases, btw , as far as the sunshine, the summers here are wondrously sunny. Remember that summer starts around April 1 and goes to around Thanksgiving (roughly). Winters here tend to be a bit dreary on occasion, but mostly are moderate and nice.

One thing I particularly love and I'm not sure I can articulate well:

The sky here is particularly great. Many, many days, there will be a deep blue sky (see to Jupiter kind of sky) with many white, puffy clouds. A true "South Texas sky". This occurs throughout the entire year. It yields some spectacular sunsets, the reds and oranges in the west with the blue sky and the yellow reflections on the clouds.

A variant is the ever-fascinating afternoon shower pattern. A popup thunderstorm will be raining like crazy on a particular spot---and the rest of the city will be clear and dry. You can see the thunderstorm "over there", and you're completely dry. Funny to run into and out of those on the freeway, too; it'll be dry, then you run through a patch where it's raining like crazy, then dry again. The thunderheads at sunset are really impressive.

Trust me, you'll get enough sun. At the moment, we're all looking for shade, any shade.

No worries on the religion/politics thing. I'm politically liberal as well, and I have many well-known hangups about religion. No place on earth is as accepting of diverse religious views as San Francisco. Politically, it's funny: when I step off the plane at SFO, I am instantly the most conservative of my (admittedly lunatic-fringe lefty) friends. Here in Houston, I'm the most liberal The great thing is, though, Houston is very large and cosmopolitan (in many ways like Chicago on that); you can find the nutcase-variety Christians here, of course, but they are unlikely to come up and smack you in the face; you'll need to look for them.

Politically, I honestly think Houston is MORE tolerant than San Francisco. SF is actually as intolerant/liberal as Dallas is intolerant/conservative. Very few in Houston CARE. I find the majority of the population to be independent and open; further, they really don't seem to toe the line on EITHER political party, picking and choosing their own way. Obviously you'll have the uber-rich areas that tend Republican and the historically black areas that tend Democrat, but there's a whole lot of in-between.

Hope this jumble helps, and welcome to Houston!

[TVC15]

[quote=Malvie;15568044]
Trust me, you'll get enough sun. At the moment, we're all looking for shade, any shade.


Damn today is a scorcher!!! Yesterday was nice IMO but today is brutal! Back to the Bay Area tomorrow to get our heat wave of 84...LOL but to them that is a heat wave

[getupandgogotupandwent]

Originally Posted by hsw

Consider that Woodside area is cheaper than WestU/RiverOaks/Villages area of Houston per acre of land

Woodside? *whistles* Maybe there's some distinction per acre of land, but you'd be very, very hard pressed to find a home in Woodside at or under a million. Just do a quick comparison of both places on Zillow and see what I'm talking about:
Woodside: Woodside CA Homes for Sale & Woodside Real Estate - Zillow
West University: West University Houston TX Homes for Sale & West University Real Estate - Zillow

They're not in the same ball park. They're not even playing the same sport.

Woodside is great, though. I've been to Buck's many times for breakfast and see the Silicon Valley CEOs all out on their bikes. Very cool area.

[gboyce]

I made the move from the bay area to Houston three years ago. Texas is a whole different world from Northern California, and yes very religious and conservative. Too religious and conservative for my tastes. Some of the drawbacks of Houston for me were, brutally hot summers, mosquitos, $400 electric bills over the summer, tex-mex food (horrible), everything being closed on sundays, and people who are very intolerant of other races, they don't seem to think so but compared to the bay area it was quite noticeable to me. Also property taxes are pretty high out there so what you save in the cost of house you lose on property taxes and utilities.

I did like some things about Houston also, such as cheap houses, good schools for the kids, bbq, cajun food, and no state income tax. But being a native Californian, I found it to be to drastic of a change, I missed the diversity of California. Texas has no mountains, an ugly coast, and the cities are nothing like San Francisco, I only lasted 1 year and moved back.

[getupandgogotupandwent]

Originally Posted by TVC15

I moved to the Bay Area from Houston this past Jan. My job is located in the city of San Francisco but I live in Redwood City.

Welcome to the Bay Area! Redwood City is quite nice. Isn't the commute up to the city rough?

You don't have to go all that far out of San Francisco to get nice weather. As a matter of fact, the SOMA neighborhood tends to be warmer and sunnier than most other parts. But you're still packed next to people, and with SOMA you get the added value of homeless folks sleeping on your front stoop.

But the ocean, the narrowness of the city, the bay, and then the heat inland seem to conspire to pull all the cold wet ocean air over the city like a blanket. It's a marine layer thing, and it's just how the topography works here.