Potential Relocation: A Few Questions from a Native New Yorker (Houston: appointed, houses)

[ACM1987]

Hi Everyone,

I am Brooklyn born and raised, and have lived in Kansas City for the last four years. I have a few strong job prospects in Texas, and two of them are in Houston.

I am an Italian-American, have a 13 year old son, and I am in search of insights which will help me better understand the local communities.

(1) What can you tell me about the Italian American community in Houston? I have looked into and reached out to the Italian American Culture and Community Center, and this excites me. But I'm wondering more about the community itself; is it sizeable? Are Italian and Sicilian spoken frequently as languages? Are the restaurants authentic? Do any Catholic churches do Mass in Italian?

(2) I have heard good things about certain communities to what I think is generally to the west of Houston (The Woodlands, Katy, Sugar Land, etc) where the public schools are allegedly good, the communities are safe, and they are family oriented. Can anyone speak to these assertions? My budget for a home is 200K - 300K and, if possible, I'd like to find a community with an Italian-American presence, and I'm always concerned for safety as well. I'd like a really safe community.

(3) I'd be interested in learning about certain cultural interests of mine; museums, art and opera specifically. I don't drink alcohol, aside from the very occasional glass of wine, and therefore I'm always looking to understand what drives the social scenes in communities.

I'd really appreciate any insights that this community can provide. Thank you, ahead of time, so much!

[SugLandDAd]

There are masses in Italian once a month through the Italian Cultural Center.

Italian Mass and Pasta Lunch | Italian Cultural & Community Center

[Fight Red Light]

You can find these demographics of the places on your list:

Woodlands:88.4% White, 2.4% Black, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.9% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 2.1% Two or More Races;

Sugarland: 52.0% White, 7.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 35.3% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.3% other races, and 2.8% from two or more races;

Katy: 83.98% White, 4.24% African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 8.65% from other races, and 2.03% from two or more races.

So the chance you may find Italians could be the highest in the Woodlands.

But frankly speaking, in Texas, the chance Catholic church speak Spanish is probably much higher.

[Jack Lance]

Here is a link to a resource that will tell you the percentage of Italian Americans contained into each zip code. It seems the highest percentage in Houston is in zip code 77094 at 5.57%.

You can look up any zip code in the state or country. I hope this helps...

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

Also the Italian Consulate General is in Houston you may want to check out their website for events as well.

https://conshouston.esteri.it/consolato_houston/it

[ACM1987]

Thank you so much to each of you! This information will be invaluable.

Please feel free to add information or details should anything else come to mind!

[chris_ut]

You can use the har.com website or har app to search houses. Your budget wont go far outside the suburbs.

[Lbjen]

You could pick any of those suburbs and be fine. The issue is which one offers the best commute to your job. I am not really aware of an Italian American community as such in Houston but there’s so many people here from other places that there’s bound to be more than a few.

[Chrisrock]

You will be disappointed with the Pizza and the Italian food for the most part, but you will make up for it with everything else food wise. You will be happiest getting away from that fake Kansas City BBQ for some real Texas BBQ.

[westsidewolf1989]

IMO, Houston has better Italian food than Italian-American food. Sud Italia is run by an Italian-born chef, Giacomo's Cibo e Vino, Goltivare, Da Marco (good Tuscan food), Dolce Vita, Vinoteca Poscol are all good Italian restaurants. There are some good pizza places as well, but, as a frequent traveler to NYC, I know firsthand it's not the same caliber as NYC pizza.

There's not really a huge Italian culture here - Galveston had/has probably the highest concentration of Italians in the state. Houston does have the Festa Italiana every fall over three/four days for the last 40+ years with lots of different activities. But there's not really an "Italian neighborhood" like in so many cities in the Midwest, East Coast and San Diego/San Francisco, at least to my knowledge. The Mandola family is a big name in food here and they've built a local restaurant empire that goes beyond just Italian-American food - https://www.houstonpress.com/restaur...n-food-6600832.

Museums/art/opera are plentiful here - several art museums ranging from large to small; many of which are located in the Museum District (link below). The Houston Opera is the main opera company here, although there are a few smaller companies as well. As with any large city, Houston has a great art scene - nothing like NYC, of course, but certainly better than KC, I would think.

https://houmuse.org/

[NativeHouston]

Originally Posted by Lbjen

You could pick any of those suburbs and be fine. The issue is which one offers the best commute to your job. I am not really aware of an Italian American community as such in Houston but there’s so many people here from other places that there’s bound to be more than a few.

This. Unless you really love your car, I would figure out where you might be working and then research neighborhoods convenient to work.