Moving from Orlando to Houston (San Antonio, Austin: cul-de-sac, apartment complex, rental)

[heidig16]

Hi I'm in my 30s married and have two young girls and we are thinking of moving from Orlando to Houston. My brother lives in Houston and we are so confused as to where to move to. We like Kingwood and have looked into Spring and Conroe. I just need some advice and recommendations. Schools are important for us. The school my girls are in now are rated a 10. Anything will help! As for budget wise a rental no more than $1300 for now. Not picky with it being Suburban or Urban.

[Failed Engineer]

Where would your work locations be and what is your budget? Need that at a minimum to offer recommendations.

[Clever nickname here]

Originally Posted by heidig16

Hi I'm in my 30s married and have two young girls and we are thinking of moving from Orlando to Houston. My brother lives in Houston and we are so confused as to where to move to. We like Kingwood and have looked into Spring and Conroe. I just need some advice and recommendations. Schools are important for us. The school my girls are in now are rated a 10. Anything will help! As for budget wise a rental no more than $1300 for now. Not picky with it being Suburban or Urban.

Outside of Spring Branch ISD, HISD magnet schools, and a few select schools in the surrounding suburbs the Houston area public schools are pretty lacking. Houston spends less per student than even Florida.

[Lbjen]

You're probably going to struggle to find a $1300 rental with a 10 school, it just doesn't work like that here.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by Clever nickname here

Outside of Spring Branch ISD, HISD magnet schools, and a few select schools in the surrounding suburbs the Houston area public schools are pretty lacking. Houston spends less per student than even Florida.

Where may I find per-student spending per school district? AFAIK it may vary across Florida counties too (school districts in Florida are organized by county).

There are non-magnet schools at HISD which have good reputations, but it's easier to find good schools at the elementary level. Remember that many good HISD schools that used to have magnet programs abolished them because they have too many neighborhood students to deal with. West U Elementary is one well-known example.

[KerrTown]

BTW OP: Good news, your groceries are cheaper and fresher! Don't get me started with the bananas I bought at the SuperTarget near Disney World. I don't know how people could stand the high-priced Publix monopoly there (Winn-Dixie is not a worthy competitor--it's dated and dirty!), like H-E-B in San Antonio.

(Just wanted to leave you a little sticky note on the subject! ~~KT)

[OneBeachBum]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

BTW OP: Good news, your groceries are cheaper and fresher! Don't get me started with the bananas I bought at the SuperTarget near Disney World. I don't know how people could stand the high-priced Publix monopoly there (Winn-Dixie is not a worthy competitor--it's dated and dirty!), like H-E-B in San Antonio.

(Just wanted to leave you a little sticky note on the subject! ~~KT)

This is the absolute truth!

After having a horrible time finding a job in Houston, I convinced my wife to relocate to Orlando (my hometown) where I have some relatives that wanted to help us out.

We've been here now for three weeks and have already decided to run back to Houston asap. Groceries here in Florida are absolutely ridiculous. Milk is almost $4/gallon and virtually every item in the grocery stores runs at least $.50-1.00 or more higher than those in Houston.

When we left Houston, we filled up at $1.90/gallon the average here in the Orlando area right now is about $2.30/gallon. Most of the non-professional (doctor, lawyer, nurse, ect, ect) and non-trade (plumber, electrician, ect, ect) pays below $10/hr.

You can hardly find an apartment complex with 2BR or more for under $1,000/mo. that you either A. want to rent, B. are in a decent area, or C. that doesn't have a minimum 6 month waiting list to get into.

You never really know what you've got until it's gone, I miss Houston and will be back soon.

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by heidig16

Hi I'm in my 30s married and have two young girls and we are thinking of moving from Orlando to Houston. My brother lives in Houston and we are so confused as to where to move to. We like Kingwood and have looked into Spring and Conroe. I just need some advice and recommendations. Schools are important for us. The school my girls are in now are rated a 10. Anything will help! As for budget wise a rental no more than $1300 for now. Not picky with it being Suburban or Urban.

Conroe is growing due to the proximity to The Woodlands and the appeal of Lake Conroe. But it's a little far from other job centers, especially the Inner Loop areas of Downtown, Greenway Plaza, and Uptown (The Galleria mall area). The Woodlands Express is the main commuter bus line but it does not reach Conroe, so you would have to drive about 20-30 minutes to the bus stop in The Woodlands.

You have been concentrating your search in the North suburbs, but have you considered the West/Southwest suburbs like Cinco Ranch/Katy or Sugar Land?

If you're a medical professional, the Texas Medical Center might be more applicable to you. If you don't get a job in a neighborhood hospital, Pearland is the most popular suburb for nurses and doctors in the Medical Center if they can't (or don't) want to live in the Rice University area, adjacent to the Medical Center.

Originally Posted by OneBeachBum

This is the absolute truth!

After having a horrible time finding a job in Houston, I convinced my wife to relocate to Orlando (my hometown) where I have some relatives that wanted to help us out.

We've been here now for three weeks and have already decided to run back to Houston asap. Groceries here in Florida are absolutely ridiculous. Milk is almost $4/gallon and virtually every item in the grocery stores runs at least $.50-1.00 or more higher than those in Houston.

When we left Houston, we filled up at $1.90/gallon the average here in the Orlando area right now is about $2.30/gallon. Most of the non-professional (doctor, lawyer, nurse, ect, ect) and non-trade (plumber, electrician, ect, ect) pays below $10/hr.

You can hardly find an apartment complex with 2BR or more for under $1,000/mo. that you either A. want to rent, B. are in a decent area, or C. that doesn't have a minimum 6 month waiting list to get into.

You never really know what you've got until it's gone, I miss Houston and will be back soon.

Being halfway from either coast is a big plus especially with California produce, which accounts for most of the produce in the U.S. Also not having to drive down a long cul-de-sac helps keep prices low and freshness high.

I had thought that Florida would have cheap and fresh produce because of the state's orange campaign. But I quickly found out after a quick Google search that, like Hawaii, land is being turned into housing and commercial developments. The only places Florida produce were being sold was at roadside stands and tourist shops around Orlando to be shipped home.

From all my travels around the U.S., there are only four places that I miss having a Kroger--Florida, Chicagoland, San Antonio and Austin. Don't like Publix's marketing campaign "Where shopping is a pleasure" when they bragged that their high-end steak was $10.99/lb on that same television commercial.

Some of my uncle's friends say that rent in Orlando is cheap compared to Houston. One of them lives down the street from the Mall of Millennia in a modern apartment complex for $600/month.

[HTownNearNative]

You're going to struggle finding a $1,300 2-Bedroom apartment in the Houston area zoned to good schools. Plus Houston is so huge that depending on your job location, your commute would be as if you were driving to another city for a job. Painful commutes.

[OneBeachBum]

Originally Posted by HTownNearNative

You're going to struggle finding a $1,300 2-Bedroom apartment in the Houston area zoned to good schools. Plus Houston is so huge that depending on your job location, your commute would be as if you were driving to another city for a job. Painful commutes.

That's not true. My wife and I were looking at several apartment complexes in Katy and The Woodlands before we left that had 2 bedrooms for $1000. However, I think after Harvey, that's not going to be the case any longer, and I guess you could theoretically say that Katy and The Woodlands aren't exactly "Houston."

We've adjusted to the increased cost of everything and we're currently on a waiting list for a 2BR apartment here in the Orlando suburbs for $1000/mo. Generally everything under $1,400/mo. has a lengthy waiting list here. The biggest difference between Orlando and Houston (for us) to date is the difference in jobs and pay. The types of jobs that are available in Houston are available in Orlando, the difference is that those jobs in Houston pay $13/hr or more and in Orlando they pay $8.50/hr.