SF Bay Area to Houston (Dallas, Austin: transplants, how much, houses)

[JSS]

Currently live in the SF Bay Area and am looking for the next great place to live/work and hopefully establish some roots. Have some general questions and would appreciate it if someone from the Bay Area (or anywhere in CA for that matter) could fill me in on the following:

1) Weather: I'm not necessarily that concerned about weather usually, but have never lived in a humid area. Spent 5 years in Portland, OR on a job assignment. Family/friends intial reaction...OMG how could you stand to live there when it rains year round!!!! Reality is that it doesn't rain that much, is just gray for 6+ months and that you just get used to it and appreciate the summer that much more. Also spent a year in Phoenix, AZ on a job assignment. Family/friends initial reaction....OMG how could you stand to live there when its blistering hot year round!!!! Reality is that its hot 5 months out of the year, beautiful the remaining 7 and that again you just get used to it and enjoy the winter/spring. So...all I keep hearing about is how miserable the humidity is in Houston. Is this yet another thing that transplants just get used to? Is it "bad" for 5-6 months out of the year and "nice" the other 6-7?

2) Jobs/Pay: Currently work in the Technology sector / Legal services (eDiscovery). Salary.com appears to show a 15-20% reduction in pay, but am not sure how accurate this is. Realize this can vary widely, but if anyone can comment on how much of a pay cut (%) you took I'd appreciate it.

3) Dallas/Houston/Austin: Have been to Dallas several times and don't really like it. Heard rave reviews about Austin, but also didn't care for it too much -- think it was just too small for me personally. Spent a few days in Houston earlier this year and had a good time. Seems like a pretty good all-around city (Sports, Culture, Diversity, etc). Are you happy that you chose Houston vs the other Texas big cities?

4) Housing: Have been looking at this Forum and think Kingwood sounds like a great area (if the commute to a future employer isn't too bad). Lots of trees, nice houses in the 175-200k range, near Lake Houston. Are there other nice areas near Kingwood or similar to in a different part of the metro area?

Think thats about it for now. Thanks.

[rick.grau]

Just to address # 4 - you are in great shape with Kingwood (far Northeast of downtown), The Woodlands (far North), and Cypress (far Northwest). All are very desirable areas to live in here especially if you don't have to commute into downtown. The Cypress area is served by the worst freeway (290) for traffic of the three so a commute to downtown from there would be awful. Some other parts of Houston are fine, I have just always enjoyed the northern areas the most.

[Kofi713]

Kingwood would be a great area. Commute is short into town. What area will your job be located in?

[chris_ut]

Can't go wrong with Kingwood.