Moving from Los Angeles (Houston, San Antonio: apartment, rental, crime)

[rabii]

We live in Los Angeles and we love this place. But my Husband wants to move to Houston as he says that's the cost of living is way lower than LA. Housing Is very cheap there. We can never afford a house in LA until I start a job and has to send my son to daycare which is costly too. I don't know because I heard the weather is horrible there. It's very humid. What are the good places if I want to look for house prices with really good school district.We are asian by race if that matters.
I have a preschooler and an elementary student.
I heard a lot about sugar land or Cypress ?Which one is better? What are the rental price range for 3 bedroom apartment or a house?

[JamaicanSprinter]

LoL Houston will soon turn into California. I used to never meet people from California now its about one or two a day lol

[AK123]

Lots of Asians from California in Fort Bend County (Sugar Land and surrounding cities.)

Yes, it's humid. No, the weather is not "horrible." But remember, probably nowhere in the US has as great weather as southern CA.

The job situation would be first and foremost though. Where is it? Because like L.A., Houston is quite spread out, and you don't want to live too far from your job or you'll spend too much time in your car.

[Chicken_of_Bristol]

In many ways Houston and LA are very similar. Both are developed around the automobile. Both have problems with sprawl, poor public transit and some crime issues. Both have a very diverse population.

The climate here in the summer is really bad. No way around it. It sucks. Very hot, very humid and it seems to last for months. LA (well at least the west-side of LA), certainly has Houston beat in that category.

LA also has much better outdoor activities available within a short distance. Houston really lacks in that department. There are no national parks within easy access and the municipal parks, while nice, tend to be focused on a few rather large parks. Many neighborhoods have very poor access to such activities.

That being said, I feel that people in Houston are much more grounded and easy going. The culture of LA and the pretentiousness simply doesn't happen in Houston to the same degree. Certainly you will find the odd stuck-up person and some areas are worse than others in terms of such an attitude, but I think that generally you will find that people are very nice and welcoming. Houston also has the reputation of being a great place to raise children (I can't comment specifically because I don't have children). One big concern for me on that point though are the schools but they are probably generally on par with the schools in LA and California (which isn't something to brag about of course).

The places you mentioned are both suburbs and are fine. They have decent suburban middle class to upper middle class schools. They are not Ivy League feeder schools but they will provide as good of an education as you make of them. Both neighborhoods will seem much cheaper than the housing stock you can get in LA. Both areas are generally very safe.

As mentioned, the most important concern when choosing a place to live though is where you or your husband's work will be located. Commutes can be brutal and the area is so sprawling, you would not want to choose to live in Sugar Land if your job is located in The Woodlands (and vice versa).

Good luck. Houston gets a bad rap sometimes but it's not the worst place in the world. There are places that are better but there are plenty of places that are worse. For me personally, I would choose Houston over LA any day but then again I have always been partial to San Francisco myself as I am more of a city person.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by rabii

We live in Los Angeles and we love this place. But my Husband wants to move to Houston as he says that's the cost of living is way lower than LA. Housing Is very cheap there. We can never afford a house in LA until I start a job and has to send my son to daycare which is costly too. I don't know because I heard the weather is horrible there. It's very humid. What are the good places if I want to look for house prices with really good school district.We are asian by race if that matters.
I have a preschooler and an elementary student.
I heard a lot about sugar land or Cypress ?Which one is better? What are the rental price range for 3 bedroom apartment or a house?

Where is your husband's job located? I will echo that living near work is very important. If he works from home and can live anywhere, then I'd go with Sugar Land.

[radiolibre99]

I am in Los Angeles now but am originally from Houston. I can tell you that LA is my favorite city as far as the amenities, aesthetics, scenery and overall quality of life. I would never leave here except that the COL is too high, the job market stinks and the people/atmosphere (especially on the West Side) take some extra getting used to.

The only other city I would consider moving to at this point is Houston. I am also debating San Antonio for the scenery.

I gotta warn ya though, as much as I love Houston and it is my second favorite city, Texas overall is a bit of a poor man's California. It mirrors it in a lot ways that will remind you of places like LA, San Diego, San Jose, etc. The Hill Country between San Antonio and Austin is beautiful and some of the lake towns rival the beach towns in CA as far as natural landscape.

Houston itself is a lot like LA in that it has a downtown center and then just sprawls out for miles on end. It is much less urban than LA as it does reflect the moniker of a city made of suburbs more so.

Houston is a lot greener than LA that's for sure with many lush parks albeit flat and rather under kept.

The suburbs are kind of a 'keeping up with the Jonses' type of pit to the tenth degree if you ask me but I understand that you have a family and these things are important. I would recommend Sugar Land or Woodlands. They're the only major burbs I can stand outside of the loop. In the loop I really like West University and the Upper Kirby area. Memorial too. I lived nearby and its a pretty nicely wooded area.

The quality of life will not be the same as in LA though. Houston has a habit of being a very practical town and the City doesn't necessarily focus on creating a sort of quality of life for the residents as much as it cares more about being a pure administrative arm for the major companies. You will find that most of the development, the activities, the concerts, the events, the arts, the social things to do will be put on by the major corporations in the area not the City in partnership with local businesses like in LA. So big city events will be more spaced out and pricey. I know in LA we are used to a lot of free events sponsored by the City but you usually have to dish out some ticket fare to enter a lot of places in Houston.

Overall the positives of living in Houston far outweigh the negatives. Trudging it in LA just to have the quality of life becomes tiresome and soon you want to build some lasting foundation for yourself and your kids so I would recommend Houston as a cheaper alternative or any of the Texas cities/towns in the Hill Country.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by rabii

We live in Los Angeles and we love this place. But my Husband wants to move to Houston as he says that's the cost of living is way lower than LA. Housing Is very cheap there. We can never afford a house in LA until I start a job and has to send my son to daycare which is costly too. I don't know because I heard the weather is horrible there. It's very humid. What are the good places if I want to look for house prices with really good school district.We are asian by race if that matters.
I have a preschooler and an elementary student.
I heard a lot about sugar land or Cypress ?Which one is better? What are the rental price range for 3 bedroom apartment or a house?

More Asians in sugar land, plus I think sugar land is nicer.

[bayoubengal1982]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

The quality of life will not be the same as in LA though. Houston has a habit of being a very practical town and the City doesn't necessarily focus on creating a sort of quality of life for the residents as much as it cares more about being a pure administrative arm for the major companies. You will find that most of the development, the activities, the concerts, the events, the arts, the social things to do will be put on by the major corporations in the area not the City in partnership with local businesses like in LA. So big city events will be more spaced out and pricey. I know in LA we are used to a lot of free events sponsored by the City but you usually have to dish out some ticket fare to enter a lot of places in Houston.

.

Here we go again....

[rabii]

My husbands office is in Downtown. He still drive for a good 45mins to 1 hr from home to office so he is used to of driving and with LA traffic , you are usually on road for most of the time in a day . We are talking about buying vs renting in Houston. I would prefer to go and live there for sometime before buying the house. As buying house needs a lot of stuff and we need to look which areas are really good for us. I like areas like Santa Monica here in Los Angeles. Is there any area like that?

[usc619]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

I am in Los Angeles now but am originally from Houston. I can tell you that LA is my favorite city as far as the amenities, aesthetics, scenery and overall quality of life. I would never leave here except that the COL is too high, the job market stinks and the people/atmosphere (especially on the West Side) take some extra getting used to.

The only other city I would consider moving to at this point is Houston. I am also debating San Antonio for the scenery.

I gotta warn ya though, as much as I love Houston and it is my second favorite city, Texas overall is a bit of a poor man's California. It mirrors it in a lot ways that will remind you of places like LA, San Diego, San Jose, etc. The Hill Country between San Antonio and Austin is beautiful and some of the lake towns rival the beach towns in CA as far as natural landscape.

Houston itself is a lot like LA in that it has a downtown center and then just sprawls out for miles on end. It is much less urban than LA as it does reflect the moniker of a city made of suburbs more so.

Houston is a lot greener than LA that's for sure with many lush parks albeit flat and rather under kept.

The suburbs are kind of a 'keeping up with the Jonses' type of pit to the tenth degree if you ask me but I understand that you have a family and these things are important. I would recommend Sugar Land or Woodlands. They're the only major burbs I can stand outside of the loop. In the loop I really like West University and the Upper Kirby area. Memorial too. I lived nearby and its a pretty nicely wooded area.

The quality of life will not be the same as in LA though. Houston has a habit of being a very practical town and the City doesn't necessarily focus on creating a sort of quality of life for the residents as much as it cares more about being a pure administrative arm for the major companies. You will find that most of the development, the activities, the concerts, the events, the arts, the social things to do will be put on by the major corporations in the area not the City in partnership with local businesses like in LA. So big city events will be more spaced out and pricey. I know in LA we are used to a lot of free events sponsored by the City but you usually have to dish out some ticket fare to enter a lot of places in Houston.

Overall the positives of living in Houston far outweigh the negatives. Trudging it in LA just to have the quality of life becomes tiresome and soon you want to build some lasting foundation for yourself and your kids so I would recommend Houston as a cheaper alternative or any of the Texas cities/towns in the Hill Country.

good post