Compare suburbs of Chicago and Houston in terms of raising a family (Dallas: crime rate, home)

[dreadful]

I read a lot of threads comparing Chicago and Houston, but most of them are comparing the population, skyline, sports, etc of the cities. I do not really care about these a lot.

What I care more about is raising a family in the suburb area in both cities. So I want to get a comparison of both cities in terms of raising a family in their suburbs.

The criteria in the order of priorities are:
1. safety: data show that the violence rate in Houston suburb is high (i.e. in Katy, the rate is 6, in NW suburb of Chicago, it is only 1, when national average is 4).
2. Education: heard that Houston's education is good, a good news.
3. Environments: air pollution is severe in Houston (i.e. ozone pollution in Houston ranked 5th nation wide). Not sure how it is in suburb.
4. Weather: it is hot and humid in the summer. although Chicago is harsh in the winter, but seems Houston's Summer is longer than Chicago's Winter.
5. Affability: this should be Houston's advantage.
6. Fun.

Although I have some data about the above criteria, I do not have direct sense of these, especially I am not sure if these data can apply to the suburb areas.

I feel economically tight in Chicago, and may get 50% increase in household income (because my may get a job in Houston suburb; otherwise I won't consider a move). With this in mind, considering the advantage and disadvantage of Houston's west suburb over Chicago's NW suburb, I want your opinion if this move is worthy or not.

Thanks

[crbcrbrgv]

Safety: Crime is higher in Sugar Land and Katy than NW suburbs of Chicago. Sugar Land, which is often compared to Naperville has much more crime. With that said, it is not as though either of these towns are close to crime ridden.

Education: Schools are good, but I'd give the edge to Prospect High, Hersey etc. The top notch schools are Clements and Memorial. New Trier and the Glenbrooks are quite a bit better overall in my opinion.

Environments: I have found the suburbs of Chicago to be more polluted than Houston's.

Weather: I'll take the long summers over the Chicago winters any day. To me, it was always depressing when late October came around and you knew you wouldn't see any temps above 45 for possibly months.

Affability: Things are much more casual in Houston. The "Keep up with the Jones's" mentality is much stronger in the Chicago area. People here are generally very nice.

Fun: Chicago is one of the most fun cities on earth. Do yourself a favor and don't compare it to Houston. There is plenty to do here, the museums are great, there are beautiful parks and all major sports teams minus hockey. Also, there are a lot of family friendly things to do all over the city and suburbs.

[dreadful]

When you say " People here are generally very nice.", do you mean Chicago's suburb or Houston's?

At least, I did not feel that people in Chicago area that I meet on the road are very nice (of course, the neighbors are always nice).

[300zxtwinturbo]

Actually houstons summers are not longer than chicago's winter, as in you guys get sum freezing temperatures longer than we get hot temps. And suuburbs in houston are nice but too far out and spread out. While the suburbs in chicago are right next to the city, our's are another 10 miles out. Our inner city actually would have more in common with the suburbs of chicago in many ways. And put simply a suburb is a suburb from one end of the country of the other. Main difference is the price.

[blkgiraffe]

Aren't Houston's suburbs generally more integrated and diverse than Chicago's though??? That could be a reason for the higher crime rate in Houston suburbs.

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

Aren't Houston's suburbs generally more integrated and diverse than Chicago's though??? That could be a reason for the higher crime rate in Houston suburbs.

More likely that the lack of zoning in Houston leads to wealthy a poor areas being adjacent unlike most cities where the poor are concentrated in one area far from the rich.

[dreadful]

Does anyone know a district in west suburb or south Houston where I can find a safe town with a combination of all great elementary, middle and high school?

Looks like Katy High is not that great based on ranking in News Week.

[kmalone4]

Do yourself a favour... don't compare the two.

They're truly apples and oranges.

I love Chicago, and Houston is good too. The cost of living in Houston is lower, which means that I can put in a regular work week, pay bills, save for retirement and college funds and still have a little left over to have fun with. In order to do the same in Chicago, I'd have to work OT which would take me away from my boys.

Otherwise, as my Dad always says, it's six in one hand and half a dozen in the other.

[texas7]

South of Houston - I would pick Friendswood, Clear Lake (actually an area of Houston), League City. Friendswood ISD and Clear Creek ISD (Clear Lake, League City) are very highly rated and both great areas to live in.

[hsw]

Best public schools in suburban Chic (New Trier) may not be much better than best public schools in suburban Hou...?Spr Branch or whatever Villages use: not clear QOL in suburban Chic is any better than suburban Hou, equalizing for socio-economics (and realize that Eastern Winnetka is most comparable to RiverOaks...and Katy is similar to Naperville, but far closer to relevant jobs in energy industry than Naperville is to Loop)

U-IL is perhaps one of world's three top engineering schools, relevant if have kids hoping to pursue lucrative careers in tech or finance in SiliconValley....TX colleges are fairly underwhelming (as are TX industries outside of Hou's oil&gas and related hedge funds)

Chic is a dying region with tax issues which will likely cause more major companies to move HQs and jobs out of suburban Chic to suburban Dallas over next 5-10yrs

Hou, like Dallas, has advantage of TX's pro-business, low-tax/reg climate...but will always be at risk of dependence on price of oil/nat gas, as it is world's energy industry capital...just as SiliconValley is driven by BigTech and Manhattan is driven by about 6 big hedge funds and GoldmanSachs, Houston depends upon oil&gas industry and a few hedge funds like Centaurus to drive its wealth...it is what it is

And Chic is not home to any major, economically powerful industry: McDs or Abbott or Citadel can easily relocate to suburban Dallas if IL taxes become annoying enough...in many ways, Chic is just an upscale Detroit or Cleve w/a nicer waterfront and skyline and much better grub...