Houston compared to Raleigh (Durham, Cary: property taxes, houses, rent)

[Claire_F]

Originally Posted by jfre81

To each their own indeed. That was how I was wanting to keep this all to start with, but people had to get offended.

If I want to see snow I am not a very long flight from the real mountains - the Rockies.

Whatever, dude.

I'm not offended because you don't like Raleigh. I couldn't care less what you think of Raleigh. However, I do care when someone asks for factual comparisons between two cities, and is given a LOT of false information. There's nothing wrong with preferring Houston to Raleigh - there's a lot I love about Houston as well. Just don't misrepresent the facts to people not familiar with either place. It's not fair to them, and you're not allowing them to make an honest, educated decision.

[jfre81]

My posts are opinions and firsthand observations unless I specifically state otherwise.

[CitrusFruit]

Originally Posted by Claire_F

Don't let your preference cloud the facts.

Now there's some sense...mayhaps you should follow your own words more. The facts point out that Houston and Raleigh have VERY similar weather in the summer and that is HAS been cooler in Houston for stretches of time. Overall, though, it really ISN'T that different here than it is there on the heart of summer, not the way some of you all claim it is. As for the crime and traffic, well...go ahead and keep the rose-colored glasses on. They seem to suit you.

Waterboy, true, Houston may be more humid, but at least there is the breeze to help make the temps and humidity more manageable here. My main point is that summer in Houston is NOT much different from summer in Raleigh. And true, you can't compare them on a couple of weeks, but you can compare them by living them.

[Claire_F]

Originally Posted by Waterboy526

Houston will always be hotter than Raleigh on average and it will always be more humid on average.

And for a lot longer. I'll take two months of hot temperatures over six months any day of the week.

I remember a morning just a few weeks ago, in mid-July, where I woke to a temperature of 58 degrees outside. That's something I never experienced in Houston! The daytime temperatures can indeed rival Houston's during the hottest months, but the nighttime temperatures are usually very pleasant. (Present heatwave - which is being experienced by most of the country - excluded, of course.)

[jfre81]

I'm gonna trot myself out in the heat to the Fiesta Mart (Fiesta beats Food Lion and Lowe's and Harris-Teeter to a pulp) and get some $3.99/lb ribeyes to throw on the grill, and fill up the tank for $2.60/gallon regular.

...did I mention gas and groceries are higher than I'd would've expected in NC?

There are plenty of things about Houston that suck, but it's one of the easiest places in the world to barely get by.

[wanderintonc]

Dude, Houston is nasty hot and has gigantic bugs. Ugh. I lived there for a few years as a child, when my dad's job located us there for a few years. This was the late 70's and it was like the Wild West to us. We never went back again.

No comparison to Raleigh-they are two different animals. As a person moving to Raleigh, I never considered Houston in making a choice of where to locate to.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by wanderintonc

Dude, Houston is nasty hot and has gigantic bugs.

*points at the junebugs on your porch in NC*

Like those?

NC has as much bugs as we do. That's a push.

[wanderintonc]

I have Junebugs in CT too. They are not like those monster bug things in Houston. Raleigh has bugs but they are more like the bugs up in CT, rather than Texas ones.

[jfre81]

So what are these giant bugs? The roaches? Those are in every large city.

Not trying to be confrontational - just about everyone I've gotten to know from CT is very, very cool on a personal level.

However, Houston is as changed from the late 70s as Raleigh is.....30 years ago Raleigh was a more blue-collar city of about 120,000 - I guess about the size of Hartford today. I know NC natives who hardly recognize their childhood home as such.

I could take anyone interested to the same run-down neighborhood of southeast Texas City, TX I grew up in. It looks the same as it did 20 years ago. I had to go to Benson to get any indication of what my wife grew up around (the Cleveland/Exit 312 area in Johnston County was not much different from Benson in the not too distant past). She went to South Johnston HS which is near there.

BTW, and FWIW - my wife, despite being in Houston now, is still a part-owner in a home near the Johnston/Wake line where we once lived. Her mother (and part-owner) still lives there. We stand to benefit from appreciation, even if the house is not in the best of shape (the >1 acre lot is still worth something like $100K on its own) it is likely to be sold down the line to our benefit. So this idea that I am on here solely to shoot everything down is ridiculous.

[observer]

WOW! Mcmansions in Raleigh compared to Houston, I don't think so. Yes, there are some large homes in Raleigh or Mcmansions like some people will like to call it. But overall, homes are generally larger in the Houston area.

In fact, that was one of my observation when I visited both areas. I have been in both areas for extended period of time the few times that I've gone to both Houston and Raleigh. I was in Houston for about 2 weeks last summer, and most recently spent 3 weeks in the Raleigh area this summer, so I definitely did alot of driving and lots of sight seeing throughout many different neighborhoods and different parts of both metro areas. In Houston what may be considered an average neighborhood(not the best school district, but not the slums either) you will still find some impressive homes.

I found people in general in both metro areas friendly. I was especially impressed with Houston being the size that it is and the amount of people in the metro area rather friendly compared to many other large metro areas.
From my impressions visiting both metro areas, Raleigh I think has a much higher percentage of educated people (EG:college grads, professional) than Houston does. Fortunately, I don't have to make a decision as far as where I will move anytime soon. Therefore, I plan to make at least 1 more visit to each area within the next year and a half or so. If possible, I may go to Houston this winter sometime in late Dec./early Jan; I have never been there in the winter.

I do appreciate the various responds and different point of views.