Does anyone here choose to live in Houston? (Dallas, San Antonio: employment, living in)

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by AddieJane

I lived there for almost 13 years (because of jobs) and hated it. I have lived all over the world (Australia, Europe, Asia) and see absolutely no appeal to Houston other than that it is super cheap to live there. Sure the Mexican food is great, but there really is nothing else that compares to what other major cities have to offer. The city is ugly, concrete and there are no hills. The ocean is gross, dirty and far away. The lakes are man made, dirty and swamp-like. There is absolutely no scenery. It's not walkable. It's dangerous. Huge. Sprawl. Humid. Hurricanes. Flooding. Roaches.

So, I guess I'm just curious if anyone actually chooses to live there and why? Everyone I know/knew had to live there because of their jobs. I have moved on (first to NYC, currently in San Diego and now moving to Seattle). If I was moving to TX and could choose where to live, I'd pick Austin, San Antonio or the hill country. Austin is beautiful!!

Oh, I will admit that people in Houston are very friendly and nice. That is not the norm in other cities.

I, too, have lived all over the US (Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, LA, NYC, Nashville, Little Rock, Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul) and Houston is my favorite.

Austin has "Austintude", for which I do not care. I don't like the people in Austin (sorry), think they are snotty and full of themselves, and overly proud of their inadequate little town. I detested living in San Antonio; they've got great mexican food (better than Houston's), but it's overall a big small town.

Nashville, like Austin, is overly proud of---what? I never could figure it out. Percentage of rednecks per square inch? The hills are pretty but the winters there are long and gray; overall, I found it depressing.

Atlanta and Dallas being the closest to Houston, I can say nice things about. They're more expensive and still feature sprawl and crime. At least they're big cities, not glorified small towns.

Minneapolis/St. Paul: one word: snow.

Seattle---I need sunshine, not dank, gray, and rainy most of the time. Also, I guess you must like that "Attitude", because I note that you love Austin, San Diego, and Seattle---all of which exude same.

San Diego---yeah, San Diego is almost the perfect city, I'll admit, BUT: can you afford to live there? Or do you have to live as my friends do, in a condo 30 miles inland that cost twice as much as my house here? They see the water when they drive there, because they sure can't see it from their "inland empire" (read: desert) home. It's nice, but unless you're very well off....

Houston is the friendliest big city I've ever visited, much less lived in. It's big enough to have all the services (I don't miss NYC as much now that I'm back here); Major League Baseball, NFL, Symphony, Opera, art museums, the works. Every culture of the world is represented here, so ethnic food is as prevalent here as in NYC, Chicago, LA---but without the expense.

A word about "pedestrian cities"---this is overrated, sorry. I lived in NYC when I was young (I'm middle aged now). I walked all over that place. The first year, it was GREAT; the second, I was a "New Yorker"; the third, I was ready to have a car again. I grew weary of slogging through crappy weather because I had no choice but to walk. Yes, the subway is cool---but not at rush hour, and not when it's slush/rain/sneet outside and everything smells like wet dirty underwear, and not when you're crammed in so tightly that you have to pass your stop because you can't freaking shove your way out---and the guy next to you is sneezing on you.

In the other "pedestrian-friendly" cities you mention, including San Diego and San Francisco (that you didn't mention but I'll throw in), my friends there still have their cars, and still use them. They just pay exorbitant amounts to park them, and can't drive them downtown as there IS no place to park--necessitating, again, walking/public transportation---which is fine as long as you don't have a bum peeing on your feet (happened to me in NYC).

Screw that. Give me my air-conditioned car and a nice, wide freeway to drive it on, and acres of FREE or LOW COST parking to park it in when I reach my destination. Give me my HEB Plus store which carries food from around the globe. Give me wacky, wonderful Westheimer with its amazing mix of restaurants and stores (and yes, the porn places, even though I don't frequent them).

Give me no-zoning, so there are 3 grocery stores, 3 drug stores, umpteen cleaners, restaurants, Spec's, and all kinds of other goods and services within a quick 5 minute drive from my house, rather than driving 15 minutes to get to a major intersection.

Give me summer 9 months out of the year and "fall-like" which turns to "spring-like", with no "winter-like" (I haven't seen a snow shovel in years).

Give me a house here that I paid $200,000 for that my friend from San Jose gasped and said, "How much money DO you make? That's a $3,000,000 house in San Jose!!!" Give me a beach to which I can go when I want, with water warm enough to swim in (as opposed to the Pacific, which is cold in the middle of the summer). Give me a nice warm night with the top down on my convertible, wherein I don't have to wear a leather jacket because it's freezing in July.

I'm glad you enjoy all your attitudinous places. I'll take good ol down to earth Houston, thanks.

Houston---first word spoken from the moon.

[EM1956]

We chose to move back to Houston (Katy) after 3.5 years in London. Happy to be back. We drive into the city for the ballet and theatre; enjoy driving to San Antonio in 2 hours; Corpus is not far and has better beaches (but the beaches at Galveston aren't "dirty" it river silt). We have a nice house in a nice area that is very affordable (hard to do in other cities)

Most important: We have jobs

[ElkHunter]

My uncle used to live in Houston. He was born and raised and schooled in South Dakota. After a short stint in the Army he got out and moved to Houston. He loved it. But he started a construction company and Houston was where the work was. When he retired, he stayed in Houston but got a house a little further out where it was quiet. He retired when he was 75. But the company found it too easy to call him for consulting. Hey, can you come down and check this out and give us your opinion?

So, although he really loved Houston, he finally decided to move up by Jefferson in the North East corner of Texas. He bought about 50 acres and built a house up there. He's now in his late 80's and the company still calls him. But he answers on the phone, he doesn't travel back to Houston. If he can't answer it on the phone, it's a no go.

But he always said that he'd rather be in Houston, but while there, he just can't retire. Too much heart to say no.

[Grunn]

Originally Posted by AddieJane

I lived there for almost 13 years (because of jobs) and hated it. I have lived all over the world (Australia, Europe, Asia) and see absolutely no appeal to Houston other than that it is super cheap to live there.

Oh, I will admit that people in Houston are very friendly and nice. That is not the norm in other cities.

It's not that cheap assuming you don't want to live like a redneck.

The people are however as you say, for the most part, extremely nice and friendly which counts for quite a lot.

[meet4]

Originally Posted by AddieJane

I lived there for almost 13 years (because of jobs) and hated it. I have lived all over the world (Australia, Europe, Asia) and see absolutely no appeal to Houston other than that it is super cheap to live there. Sure the Mexican food is great, but there really is nothing else that compares to what other major cities have to offer. The city is ugly, concrete and there are no hills. The ocean is gross, dirty and far away. The lakes are man made, dirty and swamp-like. There is absolutely no scenery. It's not walkable. It's dangerous. Huge. Sprawl. Humid. Hurricanes. Flooding. Roaches.

So, I guess I'm just curious if anyone actually chooses to live there and why? Everyone I know/knew had to live there because of their jobs. I have moved on (first to NYC, currently in San Diego and now moving to Seattle). If I was moving to TX and could choose where to live, I'd pick Austin, San Antonio or the hill country. Austin is beautiful!!

Oh, I will admit that people in Houston are very friendly and nice. That is not the norm in other cities.

I am here just 2 years but fully agree. People are very friendly and nice but the city and weather is disgusting. It's not bad... just if you compare it to any similar city in first world it won't stand a chance.

[ShelbyGirl1]

I too have lived all over the country being transferred with my DH's company. And like mentioned above, there are worse places we could be.I found a long time ago, your home is what you make it. You can chose to be miserable or enjoy what a city has to offer. Sorry you didn't enjoy our fair City and hopefully your happy elsewhere....I love living in Houston. And we may actually decide to retire in the area someday.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by Grunn

It's not that cheap assuming you don't want to live like a redneck.

The people are however as you say, for the most part, extremely nice and friendly which counts for quite a lot.

Plenty of affordable places that are just outside the loop where the neighbors don't park on the lawn or marry their first cousins. From my place it's 20 minutes to the Medical Center and 25-30 minutes to downtown during the morning commute.

Or maybe I'm a redneck and just don't know it. Hmmm....

[cjester]

Originally Posted by AddieJane

I lived there for almost 13 years (because of jobs) and hated it. I have lived all over the world (Australia, Europe, Asia) and see absolutely no appeal to Houston other than that it is super cheap to live there. The city is ugly, concrete and there are no hills. The ocean is gross, dirty and far away. The lakes are man made, dirty and swamp-like. There is absolutely no scenery. It's not walkable. It's dangerous. Huge. Sprawl. Humid. Hurricanes. Flooding. Roaches.
I have moved on (first to NYC, currently in San Diego and now moving to Seattle).

If I hated a city (as much as you supposedly hate Houston) and I finally had a chance to move; I would just move on and not look back. Why would anyone even care discussing a bad situation that has been overcome, unless you actually really love Houston and don't know how to say it.

[jflores]

If I had some serious money I would move back home to live in NYC but I do not mind living here in Houston. The only thing I can seriously say I hate about Houston is the summer other than its a great place to raise a family and make some dough.

[zdg]

Originally Posted by jflores

If I had some serious money I would move back home to live in NYC but I do not mind living here in Houston. The only thing I can seriously say I hate about Houston is the summer other than its a great place to raise a family and make some dough.

I agree 100% with this post.