Our recent Houston visit and first impressions!! (Austin, Sugar Land: appointed, crime)

[rm7717]

We were in Houston a few weeks ago to explore the area for a potential move from the mid-west. I have to admit, I was disappointed. As someone who used live in Texas about 15 years ago, I had high hopes but unfortunately, Houston burbs were way different than we expected.

Housing : We were targeting Sugarland and Katy areas and homes in those desired sub-divisions are ridiculously expensive! Looks houses are way cheaper in the Chicagoland area.
Property Taxes : Currently higher than what we have in Chi-town ( DuPage and LaSalle counties)
Crime rate : What’s up with all these skyrocketing crime/robberies in those so called affluent neighborhoods ? Most of the families that we visited had more than one break ins in the last few years
Job Market: pretty grey right now especially in Technology areas.

Wondering if anyone feels the same way or I am making an unfair assessment here!!

[Tassy001]

Originally Posted by rm7717

We were in Houston a few weeks ago to explore the area for a potential move from the mid-west. I have to admit, I was disappointed. As someone who used live in Texas about 15 years ago, I had high hopes but unfortunately, Houston burbs were way different than we expected.

Housing : We were targeting Sugarland and Katy areas and homes in those desired sub-divisions are ridiculously expensive! Looks houses are way cheaper in the Chicagoland area.
Property Taxes : Currently higher than what we have in Chi-town ( DuPage and LaSalle counties)
Crime rate : What’s up with all these skyrocketing crime/robberies in those so called affluent neighborhoods ? Most of the families that we visited had more than one break ins in the last few years
Job Market: pretty grey right now especially in Technology areas.

Wondering if anyone feels the same way or I am making an unfair assessment here!!

With your impressions above - it sounds like you need to stay where you are.

[PDXNative2Houston]

Originally Posted by rm7717

We were in Houston a few weeks ago to explore the area for a potential move from the mid-west. I have to admit, I was disappointed. As someone who used live in Texas about 15 years ago, I had high hopes but unfortunately, Houston burbs were way different than we expected.

Housing : We were targeting Sugarland and Katy areas and homes in those desired sub-divisions are ridiculously expensive! Looks houses are way cheaper in the Chicagoland area.
Property Taxes : Currently higher than what we have in Chi-town ( DuPage and LaSalle counties)
Crime rate : What’s up with all these skyrocketing crime/robberies in those so called affluent neighborhoods ? Most of the families that we visited had more than one break ins in the last few years
Job Market: pretty grey right now especially in Technology areas.

Wondering if anyone feels the same way or I am making an unfair assessment here!!

I visited Chicago just a month ago and toured several neighborhoods. The one's that were comparable to Sugar Land (Glenview, Winnetka) were *very* expensive and not on par for what you can get for your dollar in Sugar Land, The Woodlands or Kingwood.

Property taxes are high but one must also factor in state income taxes in to that equation. Income taxes can get quite expensive the more you make.

Crime? What Crime? We have two constables that patrol our neighborhood 24/7 whom we have personal cell phone numbers to. Perhaps in the more open neighborhoods closer to First Colony Mall there may be more but Sugar Land, The Woodlands and most of Katy are hardly hubs of crime.

Job Market - This isn't the place for Tech...you should have looked northwest towards Austin, or further West to San Francisco/Seattle/Portland. Houston has very high paying (and I mean exceptional in some cases, $500K - $1M+ is not uncommon) in Oil & Gas E&P/Services/Trading, Healthcare and Manufacturing. We do however have a massive HP complex in NW Houston which serves a lot of "techies" in the area.

[LocalPlanner]

I have to ask why just Sugar Land and Katy? There's Cypress, Klein, Tomball, Pearland, League City...all respectable suburbs with considerably cheaper housing (and strong school reputations, for what it's worth). And what about North Katy? Very affordable. You should look into those if you haven't already.

This is another OP who acts as if suburbs in the Midwest and Northeast have little or no crime. Yes, our suburbs, even the nicer ones, have crime. I find it hard to believe that isn't the case in the rest of the country.

[Meyerland]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I have to ask why just Sugar Land and Katy? There's Cypress, Klein, Tomball, Pearland, League City...all respectable suburbs with considerably cheaper housing (and strong school reputations, for what it's worth). And what about North Katy? Very affordable. You should look into those if you haven't already.

This is another OP who acts as if suburbs in the Midwest and Northeast have little or no crime. Yes, our suburbs, even the nicer ones, have crime. I find it hard to believe that isn't the case in the rest of the country.

Oh, but Chi town is soooo safe.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed Chicago
it has a 1 in 111 chance of becoming a victim of crime.

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed Housto
It has a 1 in 95 chance of becoming a victim of crime.

There is crime everywhere in the world.

I've lived in Houston off and on for twenty years and I have never been a victim of a crime here. I've lived in Katy south, Alief, the Galleria, memorial west, and Meyerland.

[UKWildcat1981]

These OP sounds like a troll to be honest. I have spoken to friends I am seem to be the only person that actually likes Houston better than Chicago as a city for quality of life, Chicago is a great city but too expensive relative to what it offers. If I wanted to live in a high cost area I would move to NYC or San Diego not Chicago. I think Houston offers you a huge city experience with less of the hassles of a Chicago or NYC.

[blkgiraffe]

Looks like you fell for the okie doke and thought you were coming to the land of milk and honey. Don't believe the hype.

We struggle here just like everyone else in this nation. Please stay where you are. Our highways are clogged up enough.

And we already have one too many miserable people polluting the Houston section with their whining and crying.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by UKWildcat1981

These OP sounds like a troll to be honest. I have spoken to friends I am seem to be the only person that actually likes Houston better than Chicago as a city for quality of life, Chicago is a great city but too expensive relative to what it offers. If I wanted to live in a high cost area I would move to NYC or San Diego not Chicago. I think Houston offers you a huge city experience with less of the hassles of a Chicago or NYC.

Possibly a troll, but you have to admit that Texas has been billed as a low COL high job "paradise" for a number of years.

Now, with the COL creeping up over the last few years and jobs slowing down with the oil slump, it could be that people are coming here to visit expecting the hype of a couple years back only to find they missed the window.

I know I'm talking about an "odd" market, but you used to be able to actually get a lakefront home on the east side of Lake Houston for $175k about 6 or 7 years ago. It wouldn't be a palace or anything, but it wouldn't be a dump either. Now, I haven't seen anything decent for under $275k.

There are plenty of other pockets of Houston that have seen prices nearly double in the past 6 or so years as well. Wherever the housing is in limited supply, the prices have jumped dramatically.

Additionally, even if someone is leaving a income tax state, they will still probably be shocked with our property taxes. It's one of those things many people don't realize and then when they are confronted with it, it's quite the issue.

Well, that's my $.02.

[OscarLevant]

Originally Posted by rm7717

Job Market: pretty grey right now especially in Technology areas.

Wondering if anyone feels the same way or I am making an unfair assessment here!!

I think it depends on what Tech areas you are looking for. On a whim I applied for some positions at UTHSCH and was contacted in less than a full week. They were seeking ( and probably still are) DB folks.

If you have the skills you should have no problem landing work in tech here; every industry has an IT department these days.

[OscarLevant]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

There are plenty of other pockets of Houston that have seen prices nearly double in the past 6 or so years as well. Wherever the housing is in limited supply, the prices have jumped dramatically.

I will second that, I am in Spring Branch and it is ridiculous. It seems every empty lot they find is being turned into a cramped group of overpriced 3 story town homes.

Please spread the word; Houston is no longer cheap.