Help me decide between two neighborhoods (Houston: apartment complexes, lease, how much)

[alex1532]

Hey all, I just moved here to Houston for a job in the Energy Corridor. I am a 22 year old male who just graduated college and I would like to live in a place that has a lot of young people, is walking distance to bars, restaurants, and shopping.

I have found two locations that I really like. I will either live at City Centre or one of the apartment complexes in Midtown. My budget is around 1600 per month and my main concern is location. I am leaning towards the apartments in City Centre because they are very nice but I have no idea if there is a younger crowd there. The midtown crowd definitely seems younger but it is a bit further from work and might not be as safe.

So what do you guys think? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

[westhou]

Midtown would be more fun to live but there is nothing better than having a short commute to work.

I have a 15 minute commute to work and wouldn't give that up for anything.

Give CityCentre a chance and if you hate it you can always move to Midtown once your lease is up and then at least you'd know the long commute would be worth it.

[LeavingDetroit]

I'm in a Midtown apartment and there is a lot of action here, especially on the weekends. Work is work, you have to go there everyday whether you want to or not. Live where you want to play. It is not like you have to get home to kids at this point.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by alex1532

Hey all, I just moved here to Houston for a job in the Energy Corridor. I am a 22 year old male who just graduated college and I would like to live in a place that has a lot of young people, is walking distance to bars, restaurants, and shopping.

I have found two locations that I really like. I will either live at City Centre or one of the apartment complexes in Midtown. My budget is around 1600 per month and my main concern is location. I am leaning towards the apartments in City Centre because they are very nice but I have no idea if there is a younger crowd there. The midtown crowd definitely seems younger but it is a bit further from work and might not be as safe.

So what do you guys think? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

City Centre would be good because it's close to your job, but I believe there are more young professionals in Midtown. The bad thing about Midtown is its further away from your job, the good thing is you would be going against the traffic. No matter where you live, you're going to need a car.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

City Centre would be good because it's close to your job, but I believe there are more young professionals in Midtown. The bad thing about Midtown is its further away from your job, the good thing is you would be going against the traffic. No matter where you live, you're going to need a car.

The evening commute will be bad. I-10, 59, and 610 are awful inside the loop in every direction.

[jerbear30]

I live near the city centre and work in midtown. I'd much rather live in midtown but I have one son and another on the way and the public schools zoned to midtown are not good. Plus, I can't afford it. Still, every day as I drive to work I remark to myself how much cooler midtown is than where I live; it has a much more "real city" feel than most places in Houston. City centre, on the other hand, feels to me a bit bizarre. When a suburban area begins to mimic an urban area, it begs the question--why not just go back to the urban area? Since it's not really a city center at all, but an edge development, I get freaked. It's like when you go see a band who gets paid to sound and look like another band. Very weird.

As for the commute: I work in midtown and live about a mile west of the city centre. I usually take the 59 which is slightly east of midtown north to the 10, and then the 10 home. If I get on the 59 by 4:10 my commute is usually between 20-30 minutes. Occasionally it is longer. You'd be driving the other way both morning and night, but that should give you some idea of what your commute would be like, should you live in midtown.

[crono_clone]

Since you're 22 and wanting to be where the action is, just live in Midtown and do the commute. Yeah, commuting sucks but it's much more worth it to live where you want to party.

CityCentre is nice but it tends to have a lot of families from the suburbs flock to it on the weekends. Midtown wins that contest easily.

[alex1532]

Thanks all, this has definitely helped me make my decision. I'll be moving to Midtown pretty soon if everything goes as planned. I took another trip down there earlier and it has the kind of vibe I've been looking for even on a Thursday. I think it's the perfect area. Thanks for the help all!

[westhou]

Originally Posted by alex1532

Thanks all, this has definitely helped me make my decision. I'll be moving to Midtown pretty soon if everything goes as planned. I took another trip down there earlier and it has the kind of vibe I've been looking for even on a Thursday. I think it's the perfect area. Thanks for the help all!

I hope you enjoy it

[Schumacher713]

Midtown and it is not even a discussion. There are a few good complexes in Montrose also.