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Didn't know you made the move from Colorado Springs.
Well technically, i officially moved in July after graduating from College. I had been coming here on and off since last november staying with my grandma and visiting my girlfriend trying to figure out what part of town i'd be living.
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,781,335 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by jplotz
Maybe if you had moved closer to the park you would have been able to enjoy it more.
I did say that there were some nice areas. I have traveled through much of Houston for work. Many of the places you mentioned are not ugly (though the Heights are actually pretty ugly). But, have you looked at the cost of housing in the areas you mention? (If I'm not mistaken, the average home price in Piney Point is around $1million.) This was one of my main points: if you want to live in the nice parts of Houston, it isn't cheap, in fact it is quite expensive. The whole myth of "cheap" Houston is only true if you live somewhere ugly or somewhere far away. If you have the money to live in those nice places, you still have to deal with air quality, traffic, and ugliness whenever you leave the little nice area where you live.
We used to live less than a mile from Piney Point and it was great. The house was small because price per square foot is more over there, but it was still affordable.
I'm also no native, but I don't see trash, pot holes, or smell weird smells everywhere. Kind of strange you would say such things about the whole of Houston. I'm not too familiar with Katy though.
jplotz ... it's pretty easily understood that you do not like Houston (or the Katy area). That's fine and everyone is entitled to their opinion. But I see that you came here for a specific reason ... MONEY. Is it really the Houston area or is it that you really don't like your job...? Or is it that you cannot deliver on what you stated on your resume ..? And now you feel that bashing the city is an outlet for you. I really hope you have made this same post at forums in the North, and maybe that will deter them from coming to this city. If so, that will help at least with the future traffic problem in the city. Have a safe trip back home...
To those considering a move to Houston: jplotz, the original poster, is correct. His criticisms are all valid. Houston has some good things going for it, but overall the place is lousy. Do not be dissuaded by the Houston boosters and apologists. There are better places in Texas and much better places in other states.
I lived in Big Spring, TX, way out west by Midland, for one year. I hated it. The main reasons? The terrible schools (most people in my 7th grade class didn't know the date of U.S. independence!), and all of the illegals. The daily crime report sounded like that of a big city, even though the town had only 20,000 people. Almost all of the last names reported were hispanic. In school, it was usually the poor Mexicans starting fights and getting in trouble. To be fair, there was a lot of "white trash" too.
That was back in the early 90's. I can't imagine what the place is like now, millions of illegals later.
Lest anyone think I'm racist, I really don't believe that race biologically determines people to behave in a certain way. But value systems DO matter, and because value systems pass from parent to child, there is a very strong correllation (not causation) between race and behavior/attitudes.
I live in PA now, and the economy up here is terrible. I'm actually considering moving to Houston or Dallas since the job market is so much better there. But I can't help but remember living in west Texas and how dumpy the town of Big Spring was. I'm hoping that Houston is nicer, more like Midland. I've learned through the years that all culture and politics is LOCAL. In other words, Nice Suburb, TX isn't much different than Nice Suburb, PA. Inner City, TX isn't much different than Inner City, PA.
The more I learn about Houston, the more perplexed I become. In some ways, it seems like an awesome city with an excellent economy, competent government (something we don't have in PA), and pro-business, pro-development attitude (something we DEFINITELY don't have in PA. The property taxes, although high, kept the real-estate speculators and "flippers" away, and thus kept the housing bubble away. The weather, other than 3 months of extreme heat, seems very nice.
Unfortunately, I also hear the city is overrun with illegals, Katrina refugees, and other dirtbags. I hear there is a lot of related crime. It reminds me a lot of that year in Big Spring. If I were to move to Houston, it would be right out of school, so obviously I'd be renting for awhile. I've read that many apartment complexes have extremely high crime and are filled with thugs and gangs, e.g. the "Gulfton Ghetto."
Does one have to live in a luxury apartment with high rents to avoid living with scumbags and high crime? If so, than Houston is definitely not as affordable as it first seems, as the original poster indicated. Can someone give me some more information?
My wife and I moved here (to Katy, specifically) 7 months ago from Minneapolis for my work. We were excited to try living in a new city and gamely gave it a go.
However, we have had it with this place and need to get out. As a service to others considering Houston, I will offer my reasons here. I am not trying to be overly harsh or insulting; this is my opinion having lived here for less than a year.
1. COST OF LIVING.
Living here is not as cheap as people say. For example, while it is true that housing in SOME areas is "cheaper" (meaning lower listing price) than many parts of the country (such as Minneapolis), those areas are usually very far out in the suburbs, or in extremely undesireable inner city areas. The "nice" areas in Houston are as expensive or more expensive than many other cities in the US.
On top of that, property taxes, homeowners insurance, and car insurance are all about double what they were in Minneapolis, and sales taxes are higher as well. Yes, there is no state income tax, these other items more than make up the difference.
Because of having to drive a lot, we spend 3 or 4 times as much on gas as we did before. The regular freeways are really bad here traffic-wise, but if you take the tollways you are paying even more. We spend about $300-$500 a month on gas and tolls, versus less than $80 a month on gas and no tolls in MN. (More on traffic later).
So, all in all the cost of living is much higher than you might think from looking at the price of houses out in the way-out suburbs like Katy or the Woodlands.
2. TRAFFIC/ROADS
If you move to the Houston area, be prepared to spend a lot of time in your car to do ANYTHING, not just going to work. Pedestrians and bicyclists are a rare sight, probably because the weather and air quality preclude being outside very much anyway (more on the weather later).
The streets of Houston will do major damage to your car. I thought Minneapolis had potholes, but it seems nearly every block in Houston has at least one giant pothole, as well us numerous cracks, bumps, etc, that make it feel like you are driving on an off-road course.
The freeways during rush hour are parking lots. I have learned to leave for work by 6:15am to avoid the worst of it, but if for some reason I leave too late it takes me double or more of my usual commute time.
Houston drivers don't seem better or worse than elsewhere. I don't see as much aggressive driving as I've seen elsewhere, but I do see a total lack of turn signal usage, which is annoying (though not enough of a reason to move away by itself ) The number of F150/Dodge Ram/other giant pickup trucks driven by one person as a commuter vehicle is astounding. What will they do when gas is $8/gallon?
3. WEATHER AND AIR QUALITY
Houston is hot and humid - no surprise there. At least the winters are mild, right? I wouldn't know, because it is still basically summer as far as I can tell (81 and humid right now, the day before Thanksgiving). In the middle of summer, even at 5 am on many days it was 80 and humid. When it wasn't super-hot it was raining.
The humidity and lack of real cold make for a very rich environment for mold, bacteria, etc. On humid days (which is most of the time) there is often a bad smell in the air; it smells like armpits, like dog poop, like mold, etc., depending on where you are. Natives have probably tuned this out, but I am bombarded with it constantly. Not only that, but my wife and I are having health issues (skin and respiratory) that we've never had before living here. My wife's allergist (a native Houstonian) told her that that is just what Houston is like.
4. HOUSTON CULTURE and COMMUNITY, etc.
Native Texans are very friendly and outgoing. I do like that about Houston.
The symphony, museums, restaurants, etc. in Houston are nice, though as I said before be prepared to drive a lot to go to them. We have given up on doing anything during the week other than watch movies at home because of the traffic.
Generally, people here don't seem to care about much outside their own circle of existence. At the grocery store, for example, most people just leave their shopping cart in the parking spot where they parked after they are done with it. So the parking lot is full of abandoned carts blocking access for other people trying to park. Another example: the streets of Houston are full of trash. Everywhere you look there are discarded fast food cups, cigarette butts, and misc. garbage and debris. Natives probably just overlook it, but if you actually look outside you see it everywhere.
The urban design of Houston is atrocious. Outside of a few nice areas, it is one of the ugliest cities I have ever seen. It seems like every block has a strip mall with an adult bookstore, a nail shop, and an abandoned storefront. Then the next block is an empty lot filled with weeds. It goes on and on.
There are a few nice parks in Houston but because of the weather they aren't particularly useful. I have always meant to check out Memorial Park but again, traffic turns it into a major excursion when all I want to do is have a relaxing time at the park.
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I could write more, but those are the main reasons for wanting to leave. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
For the last time Houston is Houston--not Katy, not Spring, not Kingwood, not Tomball. Geeze. By the way I love my adult bookstores and empty lots filled with weeds make for the best adventures. Moderator cut: personal
Last edited by Hoosier; 11-23-2007 at 10:14 AM..
Reason: personal comments
We moved from Florida to Katy (Cinco Ranch) in January. I made it 6 months before I moved back to Florida. As it turns out my husband couldn't get a transfer back to Florida, so we decided we'd have to move back but this time chose to go way north of Houston, near Tomball. My husband isn't thrilled with the traffic, but the people here are so much nicer. Our experience in Katy wasn't pleasant. Most of our neighbors didn't speak, the teenagers we encountered in my daughter's schools were disrespectful and several bragged about which probation officer they had - keep in mind these were kids from very wealthy families. One particular incident, a group of these kids stole a car and were arrested. One child had the harsh punishment of no cell phone for 5 days! There was another girl whose parents traveled on business for weeks at a time leaving her home alone in her big, fancy house.
Our other daughter went to one of those exemplary (sp?) elementary schools. Keep in mind she was nervous, and we were told the day we signed up that she'd better adjust to "the Katy way" or get left behind. When we inquired about the bus, we were told she'd have to figure out where her bus was on her own. That was when we discovered that home schooling was an okay option.
What can I say, Cinco Ranch looks lovely. The homes are all kept up, but it was not as family-friendly as advertised. Overall I am not a big fan of Houston, probably because I don't like big cities. We do enjoy the Museums and the zoo. We also feel that the air quality is horrible, although if you check the rankings on such things, many other cities top us in that. My husband has employment opportunities here that far exceed anything going on in Florida right now.
I think a lot of my problem with Houston, is that is just isn't home. I'm hoping we'll adjust to it.
We moved from Florida to Katy (Cinco Ranch) in January. I made it 6 months before I moved back to Florida. As it turns out my husband couldn't get a transfer back to Florida, so we decided we'd have to move back but this time chose to go way north of Houston, near Tomball. My husband isn't thrilled with the traffic, but the people here are so much nicer. Our experience in Katy wasn't pleasant. Most of our neighbors didn't speak, the teenagers we encountered in my daughter's schools were disrespectful and several bragged about which probation officer they had - keep in mind these were kids from very wealthy families. One particular incident, a group of these kids stole a car and were arrested. One child had the harsh punishment of no cell phone for 5 days! There was another girl whose parents traveled on business for weeks at a time leaving her home alone in her big, fancy house.
Our other daughter went to one of those exemplary (sp?) elementary schools. Keep in mind she was nervous, and we were told the day we signed up that she'd better adjust to "the Katy way" or get left behind. When we inquired about the bus, we were told she'd have to figure out where her bus was on her own. That was when we discovered that home schooling was an okay option.
What can I say, Cinco Ranch looks lovely. The homes are all kept up, but it was not as family-friendly as advertised. Overall I am not a big fan of Houston, probably because I don't like big cities. We do enjoy the Museums and the zoo. We also feel that the air quality is horrible, although if you check the rankings on such things, many other cities top us in that. My husband has employment opportunities here that far exceed anything going on in Florida right now.
I think a lot of my problem with Houston, is that is just isn't home. I'm hoping we'll adjust to it.
Tomball is still not Houston, but I do hope you adjust. Good luck!
For the last time Houston is Houston--not Katy, not Spring, not Kingwood, not Tomball. Geeze. By the way I love my adult bookstores and empty lots filled with weeds make for the best adventures. It's also your fault you live far from everything (in Katy), not Houston. Just wanted to point that out.
uhm...Kingwood IS Houston...just affordable, lower crime, better schools, higher income, lushly wooded, and convenient. Also not an adult bookstore, nor an empty weeded lot to be found.
Last edited by BearBranch; 11-21-2007 at 11:40 PM..
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How expensive are safe areas?
If I were to move to Houston, it would be right out of school, so obviously I'd be renting for awhile. I've read that many apartment complexes have extremely high crime and are filled with thugs and gangs, e.g. the "Gulfton Ghetto."
) The number of F150/Dodge Ram/other giant pickup trucks driven by one person as a commuter vehicle is astounding. What will they do when gas is $8/gallon? 
