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Yes, I "made stuff up" because I said Houston is hot and humid. I am part of a secret society that is out to destroy Houston's reputation of having great weather. You got me! lol
No dude, you just lie a lot. It's a character flaw. Probably too late in life to do anything about it.
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.
These comparisons are all very naive. You start out talking about income relative to expenditure, but then you go on to talk about only expenditure without comparing incomes.
Houston salaries are generally lower than in higher COL cities. As someone in the technology industry, I myself could easily get a 30%-50% raise if I moved to, say, the Bay Area (and possibly even more). Granted, all the extra money would go to taxes and higher rent/mortgage payments, but my quality of life would not be diminished.
Rice University in Houston has verified that in the inner loop, housing expenditure relative to income in Houston is actually WORSE than in supposedly more expensive cities: Houston not so affordable after all - Prime Property
Houston came in 26th place out of the largest 50 cities, not even the 50th percentile. Keep in mind that, of course, this is only referring to the city of Houston, not the surrounding metropolitan area.
These comparisons are all very naive. You start out talking about income relative to expenditure, but then you go on to talk about only expenditure without comparing incomes.
Houston salaries are generally lower than in higher COL cities. As someone in the technology industry, I myself could easily get a 30%-50% raise if I moved to, say, the Bay Area (and possibly even more). Granted, all the extra money would go to taxes and higher rent/mortgage payments, but my quality of life would not be diminished.
Rice University in Houston has verified that in the inner loop, housing expenditure relative to income in Houston is actually WORSE than in supposedly more expensive cities: Houston not so affordable after all - Prime Property
Houston came in 26th place out of the largest 50 cities, not even the 50th percentile. Keep in mind that, of course, this is only referring to the city of Houston, not the surrounding metropolitan area.
The flaw in citing this study, and thus the corresponding ranking, is that it includes transportation and focuses on relative income. I don't know if people realize but transportation is VERY expensive in Houston, especially when considering all 600 sq. miles. The article says that the average Houstonian spends 16 percent of their income on transportation. Granted, you may not have to drive long distances all the time, but having access to a motor vehicle gives more impetus to do so. If you factor in the upkeep along with fuel and initial cost of purchase, that's when things start to get really 'spensive. It's pretty staggering what people spend to get around here; however, most people have turned a blind eye, since a car is seen as a necessity. Not to mention, many people have to make more trips here because they have more kids than the average big city, so that means soccer games, PTO meetings, etc. The article also says 5 percent of Houstonians use public transportation. I'm always amazed too at the throngs of people who drive in to go to UH from areas as far as Spring nearly every day -- personally, it boggles me. To each their own though. I guess you could say Houston is cheap if you don't live like a Houstonian: house, car, and 2.5 kids.
But consider, even if someone is making minimum wage in NYC, for example, they'd still be spending less than 10% of their income on transportation to buy a monthly local subway and bus pass ($112) each month.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/busi...on-4837796.php
"Philadelphia was the most affordable city based on those criteria, with 33 percent of household incomes going to housing and transit. New York ranked 4th with 37 percent and Chicago was 14th with 42 percent." Relative affordability may not be the best guide. Of course a person who's making 250K in Manhattan is not going to have a problem affording a studio thats $3,000 a month --add to that the programs for affordable housing.
Last edited by theSUBlime; 11-12-2013 at 08:23 PM..
I checked out some of these "cheap" pedestrian friendly areas that are within 10-15 miles of downtown Houston and they were generally ghettos and usually not pedestrian friendly. The affordable areas north and east were especially awful. Sharps town was suggested on this board and I was severely disappointed.
I was also amazed at how much driving one has to do to get around the city. Everything is based on the interstates and instead of improving surface streets it looks like all the focus goes to widening interstates instead. Kind of weird and reminded me a little of Los Angeles. LA has the excuse of having limited options due to a very rugged terrain. Lots of frustrated drivers out there.. and lots of gas, car upkeep, and tolls.
What Houston does have is a ton of Asian and Middle Eastern places to eat. I enjoyed that.
I checked out some of these "cheap" pedestrian friendly areas that are within 10-15 miles of downtown Houston and they were generally ghettos and usually not pedestrian friendly. The affordable areas north and east were especially awful. Sharps town was suggested on this board and I was severely disappointed.
I was also amazed at how much driving one has to do to get around the city. Everything is based on the interstates and instead of improving surface streets it looks like all the focus goes to widening interstates instead. Kind of weird and reminded me a little of Los Angeles. LA has the excuse of having limited options due to a very rugged terrain. Lots of frustrated drivers out there.. and lots of gas, car upkeep, and tolls.
What Houston does have is a ton of Asian and Middle Eastern places to eat. I enjoyed that.
I wasn't aware of any areas suggested as "pedestrian friendly" - heck there's hardly any areas within the core of the city that qualify for that moniker. If that's a criterion, Houston is definitely bound to disappoint. Many folks here even view pedestrians as a negative - a sign of ghetto-ness. (I personally don't agree with this, but I may be in the minority.)
That said, the places suggested are primarily 1960s-1980s (or even newer) suburban subdivision areas. Yes they cater to moderate-income households (now, they didn't when they were built) and the nearby commercial/retail reflects that, and there may be low-end apartments nearby. But what specifically did you find disappointing? These are single family homes with yards that for which people would pay dearly on the east or west coasts.
Glad to hear you enjoyed our food. Definitely a perk of being a Houstonian!
Many folks here even view pedestrians as a negative - a sign of ghetto-ness. (I personally don't agree with this, but I may be in the minority.)
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Lol. Yeah I've noticed this too. A lot of Houstonians conflate pedestrian areas with a place being ghetto. I think it conjures up images of urbanity and usually urban = ghetto, I honestly don't know.
Can't tell you how many times co-workers said to me in jest how they didn't like to walk to the cafe a few blocks down for fear people would think they didn't own a car. It was in jest but I sense a bit if truth in the joke. Riding your bike places or just walking in areas that are not parks seems "ghetto" to some.
I was also amazed at how much driving one has to do to get around the city. Everything is based on the interstates and instead of improving surface streets it looks like all the focus goes to widening interstates instead. Kind of weird and reminded me a little of Los Angeles. LA has the excuse of having limited options due to a very rugged terrain. Lots of frustrated drivers out there.. and lots of gas, car upkeep, and tolls.
My main gripe with Houston is that you have drive far to go anywhere. I live in LA now and whole you gave to drive, the saying that everything is 20 mins away is pretty true. It doesnt take that long to get places. It's the traffic that eats up your time.
But in Houston it always felt like it took forever to get most places. I lived in west chase and to get to the Galleria seemed to take a while if we didn't take the beltway to 610. Too long to downtown. But a lot of people really don't mind it because they're used to long as hell commutes. Sometimes they prefer it.
That said, the places suggested are primarily 1960s-1980s (or even newer) suburban subdivision areas. Yes they cater to moderate-income households (now, they didn't when they were built) and the nearby commercial/retail reflects that, and there may be low-end apartments nearby. But what specifically did you find disappointing? These are single family homes with yards that for which people would pay dearly on the east or west coasts.
That's just it. People in Texas seem to equate 1960's to 1980's construction to being poor. I do not have a problem with older homes. Actually, I prefer older homes. Most of the nicest areas in other parts of the country are older homes and they are pedestrian friendly in that you could feasibly ride your bike around without angering people or putting your life at extreme risk. The problem (as I see it) with Houston is that many of these residential and commercial developments are not connected by anything other than highways and major thoroughfares. Many of which have no shoulders and are stocked full of angry drivers. I personally witnessed 3 wrecks last week in Houston which is equal to the amount of wrecks I witnessed in 10 years of living around Seattle. Louisiana drivers aren't all that great either, so I won't go there.
So back to the cheap neighborhoods with older homes that are close to the city.. I have no problem with the actual homes themselves although many look unkept. I really like brick homes from the 70's and 80's. The problem I have is that there seemed to be a lot of trashy people occupying the homes and riff raff walking around. I'm under 100 lbs and wouldn't feel safe.
That's just it. People in Texas seem to equate 1960's to 1980's construction to being poor. I do not have a problem with older homes. Actually, I prefer older homes. Most of the nicest areas in other parts of the country are older homes and they are pedestrian friendly in that you could feasibly ride your bike around without angering people or putting your life at extreme risk. The problem (as I see it) with Houston is that many of these residential and commercial developments are not connected by anything other than highways and major thoroughfares. Many of which have no shoulders and are stocked full of angry drivers. I personally witnessed 3 wrecks last week in Houston which is equal to the amount of wrecks I witnessed in 10 years of living around Seattle. Louisiana drivers aren't all that great either, so I won't go there.
So back to the cheap neighborhoods with older homes that are close to the city.. I have no problem with the actual homes themselves although many look unkept. I really like brick homes from the 70's and 80's. The problem I have is that there seemed to be a lot of trashy people occupying the homes and riff raff walking around. I'm under 100 lbs and wouldn't feel safe.
Funny thing about Houston is that it's not a city that has a ton of safe, nice lower middle or working class areas. If it's lower income it's going to look a bit rustic and unsafe. I don't think all of these areas are unsafe but the perception is that they are. So that why older is usually associated with "ghetto" and not the Heights really.
Houston life is really an entirely different bird. People like new stuff, the newer the better. Older stuff is looked on as ghetto so people will always steer you toward the newer areas. It's a young town that doesn't quite get that older stuff is OK.
It's strange how things work out because coming back from LA last December I started noticing nice older townhomes in areas I would've never thought twice to live in when I was living in Houston. Your perception changes when you live in other cities with a higher COL and have to adjust to getting older stuff in nice but safe working-middle areas. Living in Houston (among the middle to higher income earners) you wouldn't think to be caught dead in older areas in the city. To do so was to give the impression that you either don't care or aren't doing well enough to afford a nice home in the burbs (or a hipster who won't just grow the heck up already LOL).
Since my area is already the cheapside I think their making it more convenient for the lowend workers of the medical district. We were actually very surprised to have to learned that the doctor who looked over my kid at Texas Childrens (who happened to be a pretty white chick) lives in the Alief neighborhood. She said she just needed that bus ride to catch up on her reading
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