Houston vs. Denver (Austin, Corpus Christi, Sugar Land: fit in, apartment, home)

[Bily Lovec]

I have lived and worked in both.

I love to cycle, and for that reason wanted to live in Denver.
For every other reason, economy, cost of living, bang for your bucks.
Houston wins...

JVX72 pretty much nailed it. although my experiences were they hated californians more than Texans. I think my texas drawl warned them not to insult me though

[emr39]

Thanks everybody for your replies. I think we are leaning towards Houston simply because the work opportunities for me in particular will be much greater than in Denver. I get the impression (although I could be wrong) that Houston might have more to do in the way of nightlife, restaurants, theater etc and that Houston may be more diverse. When it is not in the dead of summer in Houston, are there parks to go bike riding, running, walk a dog etc?

And where are the beaches near Houston? Can you swim in them? Bear in mind I am from Australia so my standards of beaches is rather high!!

Thanks all!!

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by emr39

Thanks everybody for your replies. I think we are leaning towards Houston simply because the work opportunities for me in particular will be much greater than in Denver. I get the impression (although I could be wrong) that Houston might have more to do in the way of nightlife, restaurants, theater etc and that Houston may be more diverse. When it is not in the dead of summer in Houston, are there parks to go bike riding, running, walk a dog etc?

And where are the beaches near Houston? Can you swim in them? Bear in mind I am from Australia so my standards of beaches is rather high!!

Thanks all!!

Two of the best parks are Discovery Green and Hermann Park.

The question about beaches is tough to answer right now because Hurricane Ike made a mess of the Texas coast near Houston. Two of the nicer beaches that are a bit of a drive from Houston are Port Aransas (4 hours) and South Padre Island (6 hours). But please don't be set up to be disappointed by any beaches here...I haven't been to Australia but I'm fairly sure that Australia's beaches are about 100 times better than any Texas beach! The cost of living is low enough in Texas that you'll likely have sufficient money to visit any beach you want.

[bostoner]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Two of the best parks are Discovery Green and Hermann Park.

And Memorial Park. Hordes of people run there.

I lived in Denver briefly. I came back here because it's landlocked, not close to much of anything of interest to me, and because I got homesick; there weren't enough Texans. Coloradans are too subdued and reserved for me, I think. LOL And no, they aren't especially thrilled with Texans. I don't think Denver itself is prettier than Houston. Outside of Denver is pretty, up in the mountains, and some of the nearby towns. Golden is a cute little town, --nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there-- and Boulder is nice. Denver is certainly more compact, but it sprawls as well, and has strip centers and restaurants in the middle of parking lots, and all that, and I still had to drive everywhere. I hear they've got better rail service now, so take that with a grain of salt. I found Denver not unlike Inner Loop Houston with the Outer Loop cut away and some mountains thrown into the background. Since I'm not into mountains and the outdoors, I figured I may as well come back! If you're outdoorsy, you'd prefer Denver to Houston.

[sbhubbell]

I like George Bush Park, which is huge, and they have the Millie Bush dog park which is really nice! Even in the dead of summer you could be like me a just get up early to run or walk or cycle before it gets too hot! I live in Cinco Ranch, a master planned community, and every single street and neighborhood has sidewalks and greentrails running for MILES that everyone runs, walks, and bikes on all the time. I love that.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by emr39

Can anyone compare Houston to Denver in terms of the economy, the food, the entertainment and general vibe....??

Thanks

You are on track. IMO Houston is better on all of those. Houston is bigger, food/arts/culture/economy is better, more diverse, more to do for indoor activities.

The exception would be scenery and summer weather. BUT you do have beaches nearby, unlike in Denver.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by emr39

I get the impression (although I could be wrong) that Houston might have more to do in the way of nightlife, restaurants, theater etc and that Houston may be more diverse. When it is not in the dead of summer in Houston, are there parks to go bike riding, running, walk a dog etc?

And where are the beaches near Houston? Can you swim in them? Bear in mind I am from Australia so my standards of beaches is rather high!!

Thanks all!!

Yes, Houston's theatre district in downtown ranks #2 in the country in size (after NYC's Broadway district). Museum district ranks #3. The restaurant scene also ranks toward the top. Nightlife, hard to say which is better but probably Houston's.

There are lots of parks around town.

Most people drive to Galveston island for the beaches. They are not the most scenic or the best water. You have to go to the Florida gulf coast or Yucatan in Mexico for that. But, a beach is better than no beach IMO. Galveston the city, however, has lots of other attractions like historic Victorian buildings, a cute little downtown, and great seafood restaurants. It will take several months to come back after the storm though.

[rmilleta]

I lived in Denver for 13 years and moved to Houston (Magnolia) a year ago... We moved because I couldnt stand the winters any longer. If you are not into winter activities you are going to stay in doors for most of the winter...

I also appreciate the housing costs here in Houston compared to Denver (much better). Denver is beautiful if you like winter, snow, skiing, etc. The job market, stronger here in Houston.

[CanTex]

And if you want access to some truly excellent beaches, you can just hop on a cruise ship out of here for an extended weekend (4 or 5 days) or a week. Being a home port for several cruise lines is hard to beat!

[C2H (ComingtoHouston)]

To the OP, i also wanted to add that I think people think Denver is nicer primarily because its more compact and most of its growth happened in the 80s/early 90s. Houston 's first boom time was in the 70s/early 80s so Denver might give that impression of having that "newer" feel for the most part. Within the last few years, Houston's started to boom again and alot of what's going up inside 610 is new construction. Therefore, so you'll see newer buildings mixed in with the old. You don't really see the difference between Denver and Houston when it comes to the suburbs. Houston has some of the best suburbs in the nation. Sugarland was named #3 best city to live in the U.S. and The Woodlands was voted the #1 master planned community