Houston vs Miami for quality of life? (San Antonio, Austin: low income, apartment)

[smo123]

Lately I've been on the Miami forum, as my wife and I had been planning on moving there from Russia with our three-year old daughter this spring or early summer. The negativity there is incredible. There's also so much negativity in other forums, including the Miami Herald.

While South Florida's overall economy looks strong, Houston is a city that might have more employment opportunities in my line of work (editorial, with lots of experience in oil and gas). I have a good chance of continuing my job in Moscow on a remote basis, but in the event that arrangement doesn't work out, Houston would probably have a lot more job opportunities, but I'm not sure it would have the quality of life that Miami has or supposedly has.

What my wife and I are looking for, among other things:

• interesting and cosmopolitan place to live and raise a child
• cultural diversity (including a place that has a large number of Russians-my wife is Russian, and I would like to have Russian friends in the U.S.)
• good schools
• relatively safe
• strong and diversified job market
• reasonable cost of living

Everything that I've been reading on this forum suggests that Houston is a lot more cosmopolitan than the stereotypes suggest (and people on the Miami forum say the opposite is the case for them).

My only big concern about living in Houston is the air pollution. Is it really that bad? To people who have spent lots of time in Moscow, how does it compare? To me Moscow is bad, by the way, but not to the point of being unbearable.

Where would be the best places to live in Houston that are still relatively urban but have lower levels of air pollution?

As for the heat, well, the cost of living savings would probably help offset the high electricity bills over the summer.

Any and all thoughts welcome!

[jjnnino]

Originally Posted by smo123

Lately I've been on the Miami forum, as my wife and I had been planning on moving there from Russia with our three-year old daughter this spring or early summer. The negativity there is incredible. There's also so much negativity in other forums, including the Miami Herald.

While South Florida's overall economy looks strong, Houston is a city that might have more employment opportunities in my line of work (editorial, with lots of experience in oil and gas). I have a good chance of continuing my job in Moscow on a remote basis, but in the event that arrangement doesn't work out, Houston would probably have a lot more job opportunities, but I'm not sure it would have the quality of life that Miami has or supposedly has.

What my wife and I are looking for, among other things:

• interesting and cosmopolitan place to live and raise a child
• cultural diversity (including a place that has a large number of Russians-my wife is Russian, and I would like to have Russian friends in the U.S.)
• good schools
• relatively safe
• strong and diversified job market
• reasonable cost of living

Everything that I've been reading on this forum suggests that Houston is a lot more cosmopolitan than the stereotypes suggest (and people on the Miami forum say the opposite is the case for them).

My only big concern about living in Houston is the air pollution. Is it really that bad? To people who have spent lots of time in Moscow, how does it compare? To me Moscow is bad, by the way, but not to the point of being unbearable.

Where would be the best places to live in Houston that are still relatively urban but have lower levels of air pollution?

As for the heat, well, the cost of living savings would probably help offset the high electricity bills over the summer.

Any and all thoughts welcome!

I will try and answer some of your questions as a native Miamian who will be moving to Houston in the summer . ( The Woodlands company relocation )

The negativity on the Miami forum is limited to three or four disgruntled persons who seem to have nothing to do but blast Miami , so you have to take what they post with a grain of salt . As well they seem to generalize about all of South Florida which is more than just Miami .

Now for Miami and I will be truthful as I was born and raised there , it has beautiful areas with absurd glamour , wealth and opulence , great beaches , restaurants , and nightlife . Now the negative it has changed much in the last few years and not for the better in many respects , too many illegal immigrants , poverty in certain areas , traffic , congestion and crime although it is not as bad as in many other cities . Miami it self and especially Miami Beach have become great places to party and vacation but not too live or raise a family unless you have a ton of money and can send your kids to private school . I must say being a second generation "hispanic " that many of the wealthly recent arrivals from South America can be arrogant and seem to have minimal interest in really assimilating , some of the recent Cuban arrivals having been raised in a Communist country have a crappy work ethic and have nowhere near the education levels of the original Cuban immigrants from the 60's and 70's who were a different breed and were very hard working and productive .

Cost of living here has gone through the roof mainly homeowners insurance and property taxes ,as well as utilities and the cost of food . Yes there are job opportunities but many are not in Miami , they are in Ft.Lauderdale , Palm Beach , Weston , Boca Raton and other surrounding areas . I would not suggest living in Miami but in the mentioned areas if possible ... again you party in Miami but you live 45 minutes away !!

Houston on the other hand sounds much better suited to your needs , I have been there many , many times and yes it is a diverse cosmopolitan city more so than Miami which is mostly Hispanic , while Houston has a large Asian , community as well as Hispanics and other nationalities . It does not have the beaches or glamour that Miami has but does have great restaurants , a good cultural scene with nice museums and theatres , decent night life , nice parks and shopping . Yes there is some air pollution especially east of the city and yes you do have a relatively high crime rate ... so does Miami and which major city does not ? Cost of housing is much lower and cost of living is lower than in Miami . You have Austin and San Antonio a few hours away for weekend getways . Weather is very similar to Miami , hot and humid for nearly eight months a year !!

Last traffic is worse than in Miami , but the people are much much friendlier !!

I would look in the following areas which are all nice places to live with good schools :

Sugarland

The Woodlands

Kingwood

Katy ( Cinco Ranch )

Spring / Cypress

Good luck

[HonieB]

Hi,

I, too, am moving from SoFL to the Houston area (Weston). I agree with everything JJnino has said above and would like to add a few things.

I was born and raised in NYC and know the true meaning of cosmopolitan. Miami is NOT cosmopolitan in my opinion. It's got a very heavy hispanic population, but not much else. If you want to live near a wide variety of cultures then Houston is your better bet. It's a larger city, being the 4th largest in the US and houses some amazing arts venues....it's own symphony, resident opera and ballet troupes, has great live theater, museums, etc.

I can hardly wait to move there and take advantage of all these wonderful things that Miami hasn't been able to offer me.

Pollution in Houston? Well, I guess it's there...but compared to NYC or Los Angeles (where I also lived for 3 years), I don't think it's that bad. Schools....MUCH better rated than any schools (public) in FL, period.

I have always loved the feel of urban living, but now that I have children there's an appeal in living in suburbia, but still close enough to a large urban place. We're moving to The Woodlands, which is north of Houston. It's beautiful, has affordable living to those coming from out of state, great schools, shopping, restaurants, parks, recreation facilities and on.

On the other hand, though Houston cannot come near the beaches of Miami, or any other part of FL for that matter, you are still a driveble distance away if you feel the urge to spend a long weekend or so in FL or take the kids to Disney, etc. Americans love road trips so to us those long drives are part of the vacation fun.

Now, as far as assimilating into an environment, Houston is probably also your better bet. You won't find many Russian speaking people in Miami, and although I'm not sure what the Russian population is in Houston, I do know that there are several Eastern Orthodox churches around, which would indicate some sort of Eastern European population. My husband is originally from Greece and I've had to research the orthodox churches for him, so this is how I know.

Hope this helps you in your decision!!!

[Vicman]

If you have a lot of money, you could move into the West University and Bellaire areas of Houston. If you have a TON of money, you could move into the River Oaks, Uptown, and Southampton areas. The River Oaks/Bellaire/West U/Memorial area is very opulent, majestic, and wealthy.

Also, the Houston ISD and Spring Branch ISD schools that serve the areas (i.e. Lamar HS and Bellaire HS in HISD and Memorial HS in SBISD) are seen as the best comprehensive schools in their districts.

If you want to live further out in the west, but do not want to be in the suburban school districts, SBISD has Stratford HS and HISD has Westside HS. The Westside HS is not considered to be as good as Stratford, but housing is more affordable in the Westside HS zone.

For the suburban districts... wow... there are a lot...
* Alvin ISD
* Fort Bend ISD (All Sugar Land proper schools, Elkins HS in Missouri City, Travis HS in unincorporated Fort Bend County)
* Clear Creek ISD
* Conroe ISD
* Most of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
* Humble ISD (Atascocita HS, Kingwood HS, Kingwood Park HS)
* Katy ISD
* Klein ISD (Everything EXCEPT Klein Forest HS)
* Pearland ISD
* Tomball ISD

Do not even consider North Forest ISD.

Spring ISD is declining due to new low income housing and squabbles between some voters and the school district.

Alief ISD and Aldine ISD are a lot like HISD - Except that there are no "rich" enclaves like West U/Bellaire/Meyerland. While Alief ISD has Royal Oaks Country Club (an expensive subdivision along Westheimer), not too many people there send their kids to Alief ISD schools.
Many of the areas of Houston ISD have mediocre or poor schools. If you really like an area zoned to some bad schools, look into magnet programs.

Pasadena ISD is inner city low income to the north (Pasadena HS, South Houston HS, Rayburn HS) and lower-middle class to the south (Dobie HS, Pasadena Memorial HS).

Galena Park ISD is more or less inner city low income, although I believe the North Shore HS zone is wealthier than the Galena Park HS zone. GPISD has more or less an industrial flavor, though.

Half of Spring Branch ISD is mostly wealthy and upper middle class (I.E. Stratford HS and Memorial HS), while the other half has mainly low income inner city apartment dwellers (Northbrook HS and Spring Woods HS).

[Bickie]

unless I was forced to ( job or family).
The laws in Texas are almost midevil, the wages are low and there is still a bit of racism in the air.

[swhoustongal]

Originally Posted by Bickie

unless I was forced to ( job or family).
The laws in Texas are almost midevil, the wages are low and there is still a bit of racism in the air.

Do you mind me asking which laws you are talking about?

And for racism - I must admit out in the TX 'boonies' there is (town population less than 5000 people) a 'bit of racism in the air' but in Houston, the city? I must disagree.

[TootsieWootsie]

The laws are not medieval in Houston. At least Texas is a right to carry State when it comes to guns. The lawmakers are not constantly being hauled off to prison like in Illinois (the crookedest State in the Union consistently). Texas laws are actually pretty liberal when you come down to it. I must disagree with you on this point, Bickie.
HOW can Houston be racist when the city is comprised of something close to 30% white, 28% black and 32% Hispanic.
Where are you getting your facts. Oh...you aren't. Well, then, that makes sense.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by swhoustongal

Do you mind me asking which laws you are talking about?

And for racism - I must admit out in the TX 'boonies' there is (town population less than 5000 people) a 'bit of racism in the air' but in Houston, the city? I must disagree.

It's just another example of how clueless some out-of-state people really are about the large cities in Texas.
Oh, and they can't even spell 'medieval' correctly, what does that tell you...

[AK123]

interesting and cosmopolitan place to live and raise a child -- Houston wins
cultural diversity (including a place that has a large number of Russians-my wife is Russian, and I would like to have Russian friends in the U.S.) -- Houston is more diverse as far as a larger number of cultures
good schools -- Houston
relatively safe -- Houston has crime but stats show it's safer than Miami
strong and diversified job market -- Houston. As PP said, in Miami you'll have to go to surrounding suburb towns for jobs
reasonable cost of living -- Houston wins.

[jjnnino]

Originally Posted by JJP

interesting and cosmopolitan place to live and raise a child -- Houston wins
cultural diversity (including a place that has a large number of Russians-my wife is Russian, and I would like to have Russian friends in the U.S.) -- Houston is more diverse as far as a larger number of cultures
good schools -- Houston
relatively safe -- Houston has crime but stats show it's safer than Miami
strong and diversified job market -- Houston. As PP said, in Miami you'll have to go to surrounding suburb towns for jobs
reasonable cost of living -- Houston wins.

As a native Miamian and soon to be Houstonian I will agree with all of your
bullet points except :

Houston is not safer than Miami , FBI statistics show there are more murders in Houston and more property crimes . The fact that it is a larger city with more people probably has omething to do with it . As in Miami you are generally safe in Houston just avoid the "bad " areas which you will get to know once there . I read the Houston Chronicle and The Miami Herald every morning and although a lot of weird "third world " crap goes on Miami there is not a murder reported every single day like in Houston.

Miami is smaller than Houston so commuting outside the city for work is not as bad as Houston and the job market in South Florida is booming as Florida has lead the nation in new job growth . You may have to commute one hour to Ft.lauderdale , Boca Raton or Coral Gables but there are plenty of jobs down here . Houston is also a solid job market , but these tend to lean towards the energy sector and to a much lesser degree banking and financial services . I will miss South Florida , but I love Houston and I am looking forward to moving there with my family .