Is Houston For Me? (important life decision -- please help!) (Dallas: apartment complex, renting)

[bamba_boy]

I'm also an Ohio transplant, lived in both Cleveland and Cinti areas. Houston has WAY more vibrant economy and way more cultural activities. The Astros right now are in a lovable looser phase well-known in Reds- and Tribe-land.

Most of comments above are correct so I won't repeat. I will add...

1)Houston gets a lot of rain but unlike OH where you have clouds and drizzle for months at a time to hit 60"/yr in Houston it's 60" in maybe a dozen hour-long mega-thunderstorms puctuated by a tropical storm every couple of years which bring 95% of the rainfall and then months of glorious warm sunshine - with Golf/Tennis weather even in January and February between Blue-Norther storms.

2) Galveston has a silty-beach as mentioned but it is warm for swimming (much better than polar-bearing in Lake Erie) and has great fishing and crabbing. Also, it was rocked by a Hurricane in 1900, killing 6-8000 people and the population growth shifted 45 miles inland up the Bay to Houston. The effect was creating a "time capsule" containing the countries largest preserved neighborhoods of 1800's-vintage Victorian homes and downtown business buildings, including an opera house with tremendous acoustics designed by the architect who also designed several famous European houses in the mid and late 19th century. It's used for all sorts of events, even rock, jazz, mo-town, bluegrass events.

3) Mid-town and Montrose have a great young-people's club scene with also a lot of nice neighborhood Cheers'type bars or the Texas equivalent indoor-outdoor "ice-houses". Much like Clifton in Cinti or The Flats in Cleveland except bigger and friendlier. (people are great here. so many transplants, both international and US, that us yankees are treated much better than many places in the South. Also, Harris County even went for Barrack, believe it or not, when the state went Republican strongly).

4) This IS a repeat but an important one: make sure you have a job lined up or at least 6-7 months living expenses saved up. Where not in a bad recession here but that largely because of the energy industry keeping the unemployment rate reasonable (still has gone up from 4 to 6-7%). Housing-related jobs are falling, however, tourism down (although not a big part of the economy). If you're able to translate your PR skills to Energy or Medical (largest Med Center in the world with 40-50 institutions in a 1-2 sq mile area) you'll probably do fine but the competition is probably very tough with local Rice and University of Houston plugged-in/connected graduates.

4) On bigotry/racial: Not perfect, esp in outlying small towns but inner Houston is full of mixed couples, fully integrated neighborhoods, even a large minority of Montrose is gay and transgendered (known throughout TX as a "sanctuary"). I've lived here in a mixed black/white marriage and haven't every had an unkind word uttered. Had a few, actually by black dudes (I'm the white one) in small towns outside Houston, for having such a fine sister on my arm. It's usually compliments on how lucky I am by the brotha's in Houston. Houston was one of the few large cities in the south in the 60's and 70's that didn't have major riots causing inner city neighborhoods to be torched and major full-scale white flight. For instance, the most expensive/exclusive neighborhood in Houston is River Oaks, only 3-4 miles from the Central Business District (downtown) and immediately adjacent the Fourth Ward/Freedman's Town, which is the oldest predominantly historically black neighborhood. Now, even Freedman's Town is probably half or more white and middle-class hispanic as it yuppifies with new and rehabbed housing.

If you're a liberal, well-educated person you can do worse than Houston. Austin is also might be a great city for you. Differences are much better scenery, not quite as good cultural scene unless you're into just CW and Rock music (opera, ballet, classical, big arena rock shows, etc). Not nearly as many jobs than Houston and huge competition from Longhorn grads (50000+ enrollment University of TX).

[move4ward]

I don't think Houston is your city.

1) It's very humid and hot for most of the year. You will be using your AC almost every night from May-November. Unlike other cities, Houston doesn't cool down much at night. It's still 76-80 degrees at night and it's very humid. You will never have to wake up 20 minutes early to shovel show out of your driveway, though.

2) I am unfamiliar with your market.

3) As for cultural and artisitic activities, it would not compare to the other cities. It does have many museums here though.

4) I can't answer this.

5) The rent in the other cities would be 30-70% more than Houston. This doesn't really matter though, if your job pay would be 30-70% more in those cities. Your electric bills will be 20-50% higher, due to the longer summer in Houston and slightly higher rates. If you are living inside the loop, expect to pay about $900-1300/month for a 1/1 at a complex built in the last 10 years. If your budget is on the low side, you can live for $600-800 in a duplex or garage apartment in Montrose. They will use window units and the houses are very old, but some can be very charming with beautiful wooden floor. Your electric bills will be higher here, because they won't be as insulated as a new complex.

6) The gulf is nasty, you don't want to see the ocean here. I have never been to the lakes.

7) Racism is the same here as any big city. Most neighborhoods tend to be segrated by preference and not by discrimination.

[N. Buck]

One more thing. I don't think anyone has said this yet, but you might actually want to stay out of downtown. I live in Philly, so I know what people mean when they say they want to live downtown (it's where community happens). Houston is much different. You want to look towards Midtown or Montrose as the places to find community.
Having said that, I think you might like it in Houston. Visit for a week or two and see.

[cebu077]

Thanks for all of your input and comments, everyone, I appreciate it! I'm on the fence; Houston sounds absolutely perfect for me in some respects, and completely WRONG for me in others. Having ocean access is a huge deal to me; it's very, very important, I need the water to be happy and peaceful. So that's a major drawback for me when considering Houston. However, it does sound like Houston has some very attractive positives for me as well.

OK, here is the underlying dilemna: For years, my dream has been to live in San Diego. I am literally IN LOVE with that city, and I've researched it extensively. I'd be willing to sacrifice ANYTHING to live there, and I've been saving up for the move while I've been job hunting there via the phone and Internet. Don't worry, I'd never move ANYWHERE without having a job lined up first.

Recently, due to MASSIVE and INTENSE disapproval of my dream from my family (they love me, but they have never taken a risk like this or stepped outside the box, so I think they view moving out of Ohio as a foolish decision), I've been questioning my ability to survive financially in super pricey San Diego. I guess I'm panicking a bit; hence the desire to learn about a few other cosmopolitan cities. But I haven't found another city that meets all of my personal criteria the way San Diego does. It's just that, with my family throwing all kinds of horrifying scenarios at me regarding San Diego (the high cost of living there, but also the distance from Ohio), I'm getting scared. I'm NOT the type to get homesick, so it's not that at all. I'm not even particularly close to my family, because I'm so DIFFERENT from them in so many ways. It's all money-related; they are making me nervous about what would happen if I moved to such an expensive city, then lost my job after I was already settled there.

But I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY love San Diego...The thought of living there brings me real joy. Yes, I'm well aware that no place is a utopia...But for me, San Diego would come close.

I hope I didn't sound like I was in a therapy session just now, HA HA! I just wanted you to be aware of where this curiousity about Houston was coming from.

[jfre81]

I think what you need to do is visit and not leave "important life decisions" to people on the Internet.

[cebu077]

Unfortunately, I don't have the disposable income to visit a place unless I'm extremely serious about it. For example, San Diego. I'm just starting to research other cities. And, soliciting people's opinions online is only part of the process -- not the entire process.

[EEstudent]

If living near a beach is so important why dont you look at Chicago... its not too far from Ohio and its really a gorgeous city...

Although it might cost you a bit.. it shouldnt be nearly as expensive as San Diego

[cebu077]

Thanks for the suggestion, EEstudent! While Chicago is a great option, I'm through with winter; when I move, it has to be to a region of the country that experiences little or no snowfall throughout the year. Chicago's winters are even more brutal than Ohio's. I'm also looking to get away from the Midwest personality (sorry if I'm stereotyping), which is family-oriented over career-oriented and tends to be rather narrow-minded in regard to the arts and culture, not to mention politics and race.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by cebu077

And, soliciting people's opinions online is only part of the process -- not the entire process.

Good to hear.

I just wanted to get the point across that I wouldn't trust a lot of this bunch on here with something that was going to alter the course of my life that much.

That said, here are some of my thoughts:

Humidity - currently it is 100 degrees here with 32 percent humidity. In Cleveland it is 77 degrees with 74 percent humidity. The Midwest is having an unusually cool summer while we are having a spell of unusually dry heat. The humidity here tends to be lower during the hottest parts of the day and it spikes overnight. Tonight it's going to feel a little like what it does in Cleveland this afternoon. In any case, humidity is something you deal with on and near the coast or another large body of water like Lake Erie. Even San Diego gets humid. Looking at the bigger weather picture, I'll take summer here over winter in Cleveland.

Jobs - Houston is home to a lot of major corporations and they all have PR needs. Openings in anything aren't that hard to come by but I'd like your chances better here than in Ohio or in California which has been hit much harder by the recession. Just a guess really.

Culture - all the performing arts are here, museums, art collections, you name it. Nothing exists in this city without a market for it, so you should be able to find others like you.

Dogs - better a small one than a large one but it is going to limit your apartment choices somewhat and you will have to pay a deposit in most cases.

Cost of living - more expensive than Cleveland but less than the cities you named.

Ocean - The Gulf is closer to being a proper ocean than Lake Erie but it really isn't. But for everyone who complains about the beaches and the water here, there are legions of landlocked Midwesterners who'd find Galveston an interesting change of pace.

Racism/(blank)-ism/segregation/ignorance - these people are everywhere, and Houston is no different. It doesn't permeate every aspect of society like it can elsewhere in the South.

If you want San Diego, then by all means go to San Diego. Don't come here expecting San Diego, because you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Of course, the availability of work might trump everything in the end. To hear some people say it, it's the only reason why they're here in Houston.

[EEstudent]

Originally Posted by jfre81

To hear some people say it, it's the only reason why they're here in Houston.

Most definitely agreed