Work in Sealy or Baytown? (Houston, Austin: transfer to, construction, school)

[artandfilms]

Hi,

After much consideration of all the cities that I could transfer to in the country I've decided on Houston. The culture, weather, nightlife, size, friendly people, and proximity to Austin (huge music fan) and Galveston beach helped me in my decision. I appreciate the ones who put up valuable information on these forums for people like me who are lost or curious about a certain city. Thanks to all of you!!!

I'm a single 30-something male who wants to transform his life. I work at a Walmart distribution center in Florida. I have two choices of distribution centers to choose from. One is in Sealy and the other is in Baytown. My desire was to live inside the loop ( never lived actually in a large city...always suburbs) and still work at Walmart. I'm going to attend the University of Houston for a degree in social work and wanted to do volunteer work in the Houston area.

Sealy has a better position available for me (not as physically demanding), but it's far. I started considering living east of Katy or west of the loop and just driving into downtown for school and culture. I read that Houston is so spread out, so I figured...well, maybe it's not necessary for me to live inside the loop as long as I'm somewhat close to activities.

Baytown has a worse position, but it's closer. I keep rolling it over in my head and thought I'd just ask others what they thought of my dilemma. My work commute will only be for a 3 or 4 day work week.

I'm leaning towards Baytown and living inside the loop or very close. I'm guessing I'd be crazy to work in Sealy and still live near the loop even with that I-10 expansion. Which would you choose? Are there more things to do and see west downtown as opposed to east downtown? Does it even matter? Does living in the loop ,as opposed to east of Katy, bring on more problems with traffic or perhaps missing out on something near that area?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Take it easy,
Chad

[ZeroTX]

Well, if Austin is something you want to visit often, then Sealy is obviously much closer.

In terms of commuting into town, well, both are rough and long commutes into Houston, But, you'd be doing a reverse commute (against traffic), so I don't really think it would be that bad. Just mileage...

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Sealy is much better for you than Baytown. I'd recommend Sealy; the I10 freeway was recently built, and will be complete within a month, so the traffic is not as bad as in years past. Also, UofH has a campus in Katy, off Mason road, but not sure it offers what you need, you'll have to check it out.

[texas7]

I would go with the Sealy position if it is a better position and I would bet that the Katy campus offers social work degrees. However the campus in town would probably be more interesting from a social standpoint. I would say living just west of the loop or just east of Katy and commuting into Sealy might work for you. Yes Baytown would be the shorter commute for you (and you certainly wouldn't want to live in Baytown) but I would say take the better job.

[CherryMagic]

Baytown STINKS! (literally) And it's there is nothing nice about the town. I would NEVER live in Baytown...even if housing was free!!!

Go with Sealy. Take metro in from Katy - I-10 is a freaking nightmare.

Gas prices are going down too. I've seen it as low as 2.89 now.

Good luck!

[texas7]

Single - I wouldn't live in Katy - it is a family oriented suburb - I would commute into Sealy from closer into town so that you are closer to Houston and it's nightlife and it's young, singles.

[artandfilms]

It looks like it's unanimous for Sealy. I didn't expect that. I thought everyone would be saying to just take the shorter commute and live inside the loop. Mapquest could be off, but from my job in Sealy to the campus it would be about 55 mins. From Baytown I believe it was about 35 mins.

I'm concerned about working a 10 hour day and then commuting into Houston for night classes all the way from Sealy. I'll have to check out the Katy branch of U of H as was suggested, but really wanted to attend the downtown campus.

I definitely don't want to live in Sealy or Katy or Baytown, but as close to downtown as possible and still not have to endure a nightmare commute to work and school.

Thanks for taking the time to respond and share your opinions. You all made some great points. I'm teetering back and forth, but Sealy appears to be a workable option.

If I live east of Katy and west of the loop does anyone have suggestions on where? Spring Valley? Hedwig Village? Others?

Thanks again!

[westhou]

I would go with Baytown. The traffic on I-10 is awful. I don't think the recent expansion will help much. There are just too many people who live in the Katy area and the freeways will never keep up. If you live in Baytown you could attend U of H downtown, U of H main campus, or U of H Clear Lake and it wouldn't be too far away from you.

Good luck with your decision.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by artandfilms

It looks like it's unanimous for Sealy. I didn't expect that. I thought everyone would be saying to just take the shorter commute and live inside the loop. Mapquest could be off, but from my job in Sealy to the campus it would be about 55 mins. From Baytown I believe it was about 35 mins.

I'm concerned about working a 10 hour day and then commuting into Houston for night classes all the way from Sealy. I'll have to check out the Katy branch of U of H as was suggested, but really wanted to attend the downtown campus.

I definitely don't want to live in Sealy or Katy or Baytown, but as close to downtown as possible and still not have to endure a nightmare commute to work and school.

Thanks for taking the time to respond and share your opinions. You all made some great points. I'm teetering back and forth, but Sealy appears to be a workable option.

If I live east of Katy and west of the loop does anyone have suggestions on where? Spring Valley? Hedwig Village? Others?

Thanks again!

Thats a very expensive area. I think the Memorial area is the second most expensive area of Houston after River Oaks. If you can afford to live in the Memorial area (Spring Valley, Hedwig Village) then you could probably afford to live inside the loop.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by westhou

I would go with Baytown. The traffic on I-10 is awful. I don't think the recent expansion will help much. There are just too many people who live in the Katy area and the freeways will never keep up. If you live in Baytown you could attend U of H downtown, U of H main campus, or U of H Clear Lake and it wouldn't be too far away from you.

Good luck with your decision.

I commute from Clear Lake to Port Arthur every day and can say this:

Traffic on I-10 around Baytown is bad. About 1 mile east of Spur 330 through 1 mile west of the San Jacinto River they they have it down to 2 inbound lanes now with no pullovers. (Outbound is still normal though.) I understand Spur 330 is pretty torn up, and I-10 from E610N to Beltway 8 is also. Sometimes they completely shut down these sections at night and divert traffic to 225. It'll be this way for awhile. This section of I-10 is in a bad state of disrepair... the worst in Texas. My guess is that it's due to all the 18 wheeler transit.

For about 7 miles from FM 3180 to about 14 miles west of Winnie, same construction story if you ever head that way.