Can Houston really be considered a cheap city anymore? (Howe: mortgages, unemployment)

[Kiovo]

Originally Posted by bhammaster

I just checked the gas prices for Houston. You guys have to have the cheapest in the nation because even here in Atlanta it is in 3.00s and has been for at least 3 years.

Yup! I don't ever complain about gas prices because I know it's always higher in other parts of the country. Costco had the cheapest premium gas prices I've seen in awhile at just a little above $3

[swopoe]

I got regular gas today for $2.83.

[radiolibre99]

Wow! That's cheap!

[kfbolger]

good lord some of you people are sheltered!!

is Houston still a cheap city?! really?!

the ratio between incomes and cost of living in other major cities, e.g., Philly, NY, DC..., do. not. come. close. anywhere. close. to Houston.

i pay ~$1200/yr for my car insurance here. it's full coverage, comprehensive, ridiculous bells and whistles, very high liability limits, one of the major established companies...for my old 2001 Civic.
now, i'm making the number up- but only because i haven't had to pay insurance in the northeast for nearly ten years- but i'd bet you a Primo's hoagie that same coverage for me on my same car would be upwards of $5000 by now.
when i moved (again, nearly 10 yrs ago) i was paying somewhere around $3000/yr for non-comprehensive, least that is legally allowed for my car that i owned outright. and i did (and do) have a clean driving record.

that is one bill as an example.
*everything* is more expensive.
i laugh when people complain about the price of this or that down here. your sandwich was $5?!! one entire Abe?! gimme a break...i'm *pumped* when i get my bill at a restaurant down here. a place like Hugo's in DC?...your check for dinner for two with a drink or two each is NOT going to come to $80. i promise you that.

we don't even pay income tax down here!!!
a Philadelphian pays PA state income tax (3%) and an income tax to the city of 6%. in fact, anyone who *works* in the city pays a 6% income tax. just *works* there.
and i can't tell you the numbers off the top of my head, but almost anywhere in NJ is even more expensive than that. and that's an entire state.

groceries are more, gas is more, heating costs, car maintenance...getting *any* kind of work done on your house down here is literally- and i do mean the actual, literal meaning of literally- a fraction of what you'll see anywhere in the Mid-Atlantic to Northeast megalopolis. and i'm a sucker for fixer uppers, and i have owned homes up there and down here. and i'm not talking about hiring people off the street corner.

but do keep in mind that all of our luxurious (yep, that's right) costs of living here are DIRECTLY due to those dudes waiting on corners for work. we happily close our eyes to the fact that we keep an entire class of people in poverty and indentured servitude because s*** is CHEAP down here.
and people dare question if Houston is cheap?!
ha.

[donblackie]

Originally Posted by GTRdad

I really doubt the village PD can respond any faster than our HPD. HPD has a major substation on Dairy Ashford. Not sure if youre familiar with area, what neighbors are you referring to? Why don't you drop by at HEB/starbucks maybe after work get a feel. There's also a lot of 55+ active living apartment here, that seems to be in demand recently

I guarantee you village PD will get to my house faster than HPD will get no matter the location. You do know that there are multiple PDs in the villages right? Not just one covering all 5?

Proximity is also not the problem. Its how many calls they get vs how much staff there is. I have lived in the loop, grew up in Alief, lived outside of Texas and now in one of the villages. I guarantee you village PD gets to me faster 9 times out of 10 than HPD.

Have you ever lived in one of the villages and had to call on village PD?
I am not saying the area is not up and i even agreed it is convenient. My point was if i was in the market for a home $2-3M, I wouldnt be looking in any part of Alief.
Dont even get me started on the schools.

This is why you will not see appreciation in that area. I bought my house in one of the villages for $170 a foot 3 years ago when I moved back from San Francisco. My sister in law just puchased a house .5 mile up the road (just outside a village but zoned to SBISD) for $279 a foot. Appreciation over here is through the roof

[jek74]

Originally Posted by kfbolger

good lord some of you people are sheltered!!

is Houston still a cheap city?! really?!

the ratio between incomes and cost of living in other major cities, e.g., Philly, NY, DC..., do. not. come. close. anywhere. close. to Houston.

i pay ~$1200/yr for my car insurance here. it's full coverage, comprehensive, ridiculous bells and whistles, very high liability limits, one of the major established companies...for my old 2001 Civic.
now, i'm making the number up- but only because i haven't had to pay insurance in the northeast for nearly ten years- but i'd bet you a Primo's hoagie that same coverage for me on my same car would be upwards of $5000 by now.
when i moved (again, nearly 10 yrs ago) i was paying somewhere around $3000/yr for non-comprehensive, least that is legally allowed for my car that i owned outright. and i did (and do) have a clean driving record.

that is one bill as an example.
*everything* is more expensive.
i laugh when people complain about the price of this or that down here. your sandwich was $5?!! one entire Abe?! gimme a break...i'm *pumped* when i get my bill at a restaurant down here. a place like Hugo's in DC?...your check for dinner for two with a drink or two each is NOT going to come to $80. i promise you that.

we don't even pay income tax down here!!!
a Philadelphian pays PA state income tax (3%) and an income tax to the city of 6%. in fact, anyone who *works* in the city pays a 6% income tax. just *works* there.
and i can't tell you the numbers off the top of my head, but almost anywhere in NJ is even more expensive than that. and that's an entire state.

groceries are more, gas is more, heating costs, car maintenance...getting *any* kind of work done on your house down here is literally- and i do mean the actual, literal meaning of literally- a fraction of what you'll see anywhere in the Mid-Atlantic to Northeast megalopolis. and i'm a sucker for fixer uppers, and i have owned homes up there and down here. and i'm not talking about hiring people off the street corner.

but do keep in mind that all of our luxurious (yep, that's right) costs of living here are DIRECTLY due to those dudes waiting on corners for work. we happily close our eyes to the fact that we keep an entire class of people in poverty and indentured servitude because s*** is CHEAP down here.
and people dare question if Houston is cheap?!
ha.

It's called "right to work". The unions have killed the northeast. No one is holding anyone into poverty down here. If anything, it's the fact that we are so generous to allow the poor in to take these jobs. We are NOT holding them down though. In fact, most of them who work here for little to nothing are actually making multiples of what they made back home and that is part of the problem. It's this weird paradox where we are getting cheap labor by a group of people who are experiencing an "increase" in wages.

The difference between here and the northeast is, instead of putting the poor on the welfare rolls, we put them into cheap jobs. The result is a more productive society. Welfare creates a deadweight loss for society as a whole. And sir, if you really want to know what indentured servitude is, it's taking away a man's dream and replacing it with a welfare check along with the promise of co-dependency for life. Truly an act of cruelty.

[radiolibre99]

What? C'mon man wages are pretty stagnant everywhere and outside of the professional and highly skilled labor, service sector, retail and food jobs are pretty low paying. Social bad city assistant sucks and there are a lot of people scratching by. The low cost of living helps but it's also spurred a lot of suburban poverty too.

Houston is not a paradise. But I do stand in the middle that beats places like Philly, NYC and even LA as far as work and a chance to build yourself up.

Houston is a place where if you have the drive and the know how you can accomplish the dream of being a 70-100k millionaire. Live that nice life in a gated community as a professional with the nice car. It's built for that.

Places like NYC LA and SF are for those go getters who not only want the life in Houston but much more. They want a chance to strike it big and hobnob with those in high end fields. Otherwise I agree there is NO reason to actually live in any of those cities unless you're comfortable with a lower standard of living.

[testmo]

Originally Posted by jek74

It's called "right to work". The unions have killed the northeast. No one is holding anyone into poverty down here. If anything, it's the fact that we are so generous to allow the poor in to take these jobs. We are NOT holding them down though. In fact, most of them who work here for little to nothing are actually making multiples of what they made back home and that is part of the problem. It's this weird paradox where we are getting cheap labor by a group of people who are experiencing an "increase" in wages.

The difference between here and the northeast is, instead of putting the poor on the welfare rolls, we put them into cheap jobs. The result is a more productive society. Welfare creates a deadweight loss for society as a whole. And sir, if you really want to know what indentured servitude is, it's taking away a man's dream and replacing it with a welfare check along with the promise of co-dependency for life. Truly an act of cruelty.

Cant tell if using sarcasm or drugs

[philopower]

Originally Posted by testmo

Cant tell if using sarcasm or drugs

LOL. Agreed.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by philopower

LOL. Agreed.

Yeah, I agree as well. I'm going with the former.