Single, 35 Male Relocating To Houston Help (Converse, Tomball: rental, transfer to, place to live)

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by Hudlander

So where exactly would you suggest that

1) Is nearby by my safety blanket but a reasonable commute?
Or
2) Reasonable commute & good fit for a newbie in my shoes?

Pretty much everyone is advising you to live near your job. You don't have to take our advise, but you asked.

If you are willing to drive an hour each way 5 times a week, I don't see why you would have an issue living a hour from your buddy who you most likely will not be visiting 5 times a week?

No offence, but are you moving for the job or to be close to your friend? It kinda sounds like the latter.

[Hudlander]

Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92

Pretty much everyone is advising you to live near your job. You don't have to take our advise, but you asked.

If you are willing to drive an hour each way 5 times a week, I don't see why you would have an issue living a hour from your buddy who you most likely will not be visiting 5 times a week?

No offence, but are you moving for the job or to be close to your friend? It kinda sounds like the latter.

Both...I lost my job in Manhattan, could not find another one that fit for over a year.
I decided to broaden my search and looked in other areas where I knew people, Houston being one of them.

So...I'm moving because I got a job...but I never would have looked for a job if my friend wasn't there...so a bit of both.

If it's an hour drive each way, pardon my ignorance, but what's the big difference between 40 mins and 1 hour so long as its not stop/go.

[Hudlander]

Basically, anyway I can get the job commute to 30-45 min of relative smoothness like my friend has from Tomball to Bush or wife from Tomball to 610 exit 15, and be 15 min from my friend?
Is there such a 'goldilocks' spot (Kohrville, closer on 249), or am I screwed if North/outside 610?

[westsidewolf1989]

Originally Posted by Hudlander

Basically, anyway I can get the job commute to 30-45 min of relative smoothness like my friend has from Tomball to Bush or wife from Tomball to 610 exit 15, and be 15 min from my friend?
Is there such a 'goldilocks' spot (Kohrville, closer on 249), or am I screwed if North/outside 610?

A big problem with your commute to NRG Stadium area is that it will require you to go on the west portion of the 610 Loop, which goes right by the Galleria / Post Oak area, which has the largest collection of workers outside of downtown / Med Center (may be more/less than those two, but those are the Big 3 in Houston). This West Loop is usually a nightmare because you have a confluence of the 610 loop traffic with 290 traffic coming from Cypress/Tomball area. I know because I drive a good portion of the length of the west portion on a daily basis...it's a good 15 plus minutes to go like 4 or 5 miles.

Your friend's commute from Tomball to Bush Airport is not comparable at all to your potential commute - easily half the time, even though his commute is 25-30 miles and yours is 40 miles. This is because he doesn't have to deal with 1) Transitioning from 249 Highway to the Sam Houston Tollway, which is usually backed up and 2) the aforementioned west portion of the 610 Loop. His wife will presumably have to deal with #1 like you, but she will barely be on the 610 loop, as she is likely going 249 to Sam Houston to 290 to a few miles on the north portion of the 610 loop. You are going 249 to Sam Houston to 290 to basically the entirety of the west portion of the 610 loop to a few miles on the south portion of the 610 loop.

A helpful exercise is doing a comparison via Google maps and looking at the time it takes to get to work if you all leave Tomball at the same time (say 7 AM). The below is what I saw for a random Monday.

1) Your friend's commute varies from 28 to 55 minutes.
2) Your friend's wife's commute varies from 35 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
3) Your commute varies from 55 minutes to 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Any commute from Tomball area to NRG is going to suck, period. You could live in Willowbrook area (southeast of Kohrville/Louetta) and your commute would be shaved down to 35 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes (still leaving at 7 AM), which matches your friend's wife's commute. To see your friend, a Willowbrook to Tomball drive at 6:30 PM on a weekday would probably be 20 to 30 minutes (12 miles away, but you're obviously going with all the commuters heading back north after the workday, so you won't be cruising on the highway the entire time). So there is probably a goldilocks spot in Willowbrook area, but it just depends how well you can tolerate a commute that will probably be closer to an hour than it is to 30 minutes. If you want a smaller travel time range (like your friend has), you'll need to live close to the 610 loop, not close to Tomball. If you live in Willowbrook, plan on leaving around 6:30ish to ensure you get to work on time (no later than 6:45 AM).

Either way, you are going to have to deal with stop and go traffic. Your friend will have to deal with it, albeit not to the same extent you do. You'll have times you are going 60+ MPH and other times that you are crawling along and stop/go (hence the fact that it may take well over an hour to travel 40 miles from Tomball to NRG).

[Hudlander]

Gotcha, so it's that 610 loop from North to south that ****s me.
Ok then.

So
1) Willowbrook might be an area where
a) My commute to NRG is comparable in terms of time & stress to his wife's
b) Would be 15 minutes to my friend; close enough so spur of the moment we could meet, we could go to the same gym, be in his neck of the woods....right?

2) My friend is going to the 24 hour Fitness just south off Kohrville and Sping Cypress Plaza.
-Any location which makes it convenient for me to go to that gym (especially in the AM before work), with a manageable commute would be great.

I have a map below, circled is where my friend lives and the gym.

[cp102]

Okay you want to be near your friend and I understand that, my grandson is autistic. You can make the commute work by leaving earlier go to the gym then go to work. Drive the route so you will know if you leave an hour earlier how much time it will take to get there. Then vary times leaving from work, maybe go to the gym again until traffic dies down. I do understand why you want to live near your friend.


If you are not autistic or know someone who is, you will not understand why he needs to live near his friend until he feels settled.



I wish you alot of luck. Eventually after you feel settled you can move closer in.

[detachable arm]

Originally Posted by Hudlander

Both...I lost my job in Manhattan, could not find another one that fit for over a year.
I decided to broaden my search and looked in other areas where I knew people, Houston being one of them.

So...I'm moving because I got a job...but I never would have looked for a job if my friend wasn't there...so a bit of both.

If it's an hour drive each way, pardon my ignorance, but what's the big difference between 40 mins and 1 hour so long as its not stop/go.

Coming from Manhattan you aren’t going to think commuting here is bad at all, especially considering the distances you can travel here.

A lot of folks here are transplants from the smaller, crappy parts of the South and Midwest and think Houston has the worst of everything- confirmed by many posts in this thread, however that isn’t the case at all. Some others are shills for the inner loop, but many parts have almost zero advantage in afternoon commutes because of its lack of infrastructure improvements esp public transit.

I would take the advice of renting before settling to see how it works for you.

BTW- lose the Jeep and get something more comfortable to commute in.

[Hudlander]

Originally Posted by cp102

Okay you want to be near your friend and I understand that, my grandson is autistic. You can make the commute work by leaving earlier go to the gym then go to work. Drive the route so you will know if you leave an hour earlier how much time it will take to get there. Then vary times leaving from work, maybe go to the gym again until traffic dies down. I do understand why you want to live near your friend.


If you are not autistic or know someone who is, you will not understand why he needs to live near his friend until he feels settled.



I wish you alot of luck. Eventually after you feel settled you can move closer in.

Thank you so sooo much for understanding!

1) So what area do you think will be the best relative balance between being in my safety net with a manageable commute? (See attached map in previous post).


2) Assume my job is 8-5.
-what am I looking at as far as these scenarios go?
A. When I got to get up & leave direct from home to job
B. When I got to leave gym (24 hour fitness Kohrville) to get to work?
C. Leaving work at 5, when I get home?
D. Leaving work at 5, when I get to same gym?

[Hudlander]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

Coming from Manhattan you aren’t going to think commuting here is bad at all, especially considering the distances you can travel here.

A lot of folks here are transplants from the smaller, crappy parts of the South and Midwest and think Houston has the worst of everything- confirmed by many posts in this thread, however that isn’t the case at all. Some others are shills for the inner loop, but many parts have almost zero advantage in afternoon commutes because of its lack of infrastructure improvements esp public transit.

I would take the advice of renting before settling to see how it works for you.

BTW- lose the Jeep and get something more comfortable to commute in.

Lol.
My commute in Manhattan is fine. I take the subway, no transfers, read on my phone.
45 door to door.

What did bother me were Northern VA commutes where to go from Centreville/West Fairfax to Tyson’s via 66/495 it took 45 min for 17 miles...or to Reston 35 minutes 12 miles...or DC 30 miles 1.5 hours.
THAT was stressful and something I’d want to avoid either where I live or the hours I work.

FYI I’ll be working for Harris County so I don’t know how flexible they are hour wise or tele commuting?

[westsidewolf1989]

Originally Posted by Hudlander

Thank you so sooo much for understanding!

1) So what area do you think will be the best relative balance between being in my safety net with a manageable commute? (See attached map in previous post).


2) Assume my job is 8-5.
-what am I looking at as far as these scenarios go?
A. When I got to get up & leave direct from home to job
B. When I got to leave gym (24 hour fitness Kohrville) to get to work?
C. Leaving work at 5, when I get home?
D. Leaving work at 5, when I get to same gym?

If it’s 8 to 5, I would leave at 6:30 or a shade after from Willowbrook (probably 6:15 from Kohrville) - these will ensure you are on time to work even if traffic is especially gnarly. I would not plan on working out before work unless you prefer to work out in the 5 o clock hour of the morning.

You’ll probably get home anywhere from 6:15 to close to 7 in the evening. Add 15 minutes to get to the gym.

I think you really need to understand that this is more like your commute in DC/NoVa than a smooth subway ride in Manhattan. Maybe not as bad as 30 miles in 1.5 hours (at least on average), but no commute from Tomball into Houston is going to be all smooth driving on the freeway.