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Old 02-05-2008, 10:54 AM
 
Location: Utopia
1,999 posts, read 10,570,003 times
Reputation: 1532

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Yes, Houston has gotten some retirees moving there; but, with the wonderful and huge medical center with world reknown hospitals for both cancer and heart, and Houston being the #6 restaurant city (meaning great restaurants), and lots of cheap housing...well, I am wondering why Houston doesn't have retirees just flocking there.
Do you think it is the godawful humidity and heat that turns them off? Florida, after all, is pretty much the same thing. Or is it the high crime? Florida is pretty much the same.
What do you guess is Houston's problem here?
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Old 02-05-2008, 10:56 AM
 
Location: Charleston Sc and Western NC
9,273 posts, read 26,501,448 times
Reputation: 4741
Houston is a city to WORK in so you can make lots of money and get a nice place in Florida or North Carolina.
I'll always live here, but I plan to have a summer place somewhere in the Georgia mountains where I can stay cool.
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Old 02-05-2008, 11:34 AM
 
Location: where nothin ever grows. no rain or rivers flow, TX
2,028 posts, read 8,123,018 times
Reputation: 451
simple: because thats the worst time of your life NOT to be visited by your love ones. who would want to come and visit you IN HOUSTON? people that retire in houston moved with their grown kids (or just crazy)
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Old 02-05-2008, 11:42 AM
 
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)
4,084 posts, read 12,687,192 times
Reputation: 1974
I'll take a stab at this. Retirees seem to seek out smaller, quieter, more scenic places to retire to. Houston doesn't fit that bill on any count. Florida --since you're comparing an entire state to a city -- has great beaches. That's the only advantage it's got, if you ask me, but it's a big one for many. I think Houston's lack of zoning is a turn-off as well.
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Old 02-05-2008, 11:44 AM
 
Location: Clear Lake, Houston TX
8,376 posts, read 30,707,657 times
Reputation: 4720
^ ^ I also think a good part of FL doesn't see our ''cold'' temperatures either. I remember watching the news one day, showing people bundled up walking the streets there when it was 55! I think our ''cold'' upper 30s can be painful to some with health problems.
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Old 02-05-2008, 11:59 AM
 
257 posts, read 986,878 times
Reputation: 113
Default Retirees

There are many old people mving to Galveston.
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Old 02-05-2008, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Houston
407 posts, read 1,736,621 times
Reputation: 294
IMHO as a Florida native... Houston is a large city with a very fast-paced, more formal life style compared to Florida. The summer weather in parts of Florida is very similar to Houston but the winters are more mild. Florida is a traditional destination for retired folks so there are a lot of retirement communities that attract even more retirees. The politics of the state are very friendly to older folks. I've also heard that the property tax laws in Texas are less favorable to retired folks compared to other places so many chose not to retire here in Texas because of that.
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Old 02-05-2008, 02:12 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
1,611 posts, read 4,854,806 times
Reputation: 1486
As someone on the verge of retirement (2 - 3 years) let me give you my perspective. I have lived in Houston for decades and seen unbelieveable growth - and therein lies the problem. I have come to an accomodation with the weather (except for those hurricanes...) but what I have not learned to love is the hideous traffic and Houston's lack of public transportation. I still work and live on the west side of town. If I were to retire in place I would eventually have to give up my car (it might be a couple of decades more but it would happen eventually). Unless I were to give up my home and move into a creepy "retirement" facility, I would be isolated from all the things that give meaning to my life: theater, dining out, shopping, visiting friends, taking my cats to the vet and eventually, getting out to visit my doctors. Most of what we like to do is nowhere near where we live (except for the cat thing) so having a fabulous Med Center 25 miles away would do me no good unless I used a cab or car service. I want nothing to do with living exclusively among my "peers" and I require reasonable accessability to all those things we like to do. That said, I see no way to have the lifestyle we seek if we were to stay in Houston. I also don't think my reasoning is exclusive to Houston; I know few if any people who would want to retire in New York City or LA or any other mega-city. And given Houston's relentless growth rate, I can't even imagine trying to navigate its traffic in another 20 years to get to anything I need to get to. So, that's my take on why Houston isn't a mecca for retirees.
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Old 02-05-2008, 02:29 PM
 
Location: #
9,598 posts, read 16,571,410 times
Reputation: 6324
It's the weather. Houston's winters are too cold. I think a great testament to this fact would be the amount of retirees who live part time in the Rio Grande Valley.
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Old 02-05-2008, 03:18 PM
 
7,542 posts, read 11,579,521 times
Reputation: 4079
Houstons Mass Transit sucks & walking down some of the busier streets here is just a bad idea
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