DC or Houston? Cost of Living (Washington: neighborhoods, theater, contractors)

[AK123]

Originally Posted by mtneeratheart

I'm sure Houston has a lot to offer but there is no way it compares to the cultural amenities of places like DC or Philadelphia.

It's certainly not bad

Houston Pavilions

- Houston is ranked as the fourth best restaurant city in the United States by Wine Spectator and Esquire magazines
- Houston is one of only three cities in the United States with standing year-round symphony, opera and ballet. New York and San Francisco are the other two cities.
- Houston has the second largest volume of theatre and performance art space (in terms of square footage) in the United States ranking only behind New York
- Houston ranks third in the nation in terms of the volume of fine arts museum space
- The Houston Museum of Natural Science is the fourth most visited museum in the United States, ranking only behind the Smithsonian Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural Science

[NOVAmtneer82]

Hence why I said I'm sure it has a lot to offer.

[citydweller]

I have never been to Houston myself but also keep in mind the climate difference. Good luck with your decision.

[LIS123]

It seems as though people do it quite often, but I would not want to live here with an annual salary of $30K. It's essentially impossible to live in a nice building, nice neighborhood and have discretionary income at that level. While these things are not necessities, it's nice to be able to enjoy them. Having these sorts of things makes your experience much better than it would be, otherwise.

IMO, it would not be very enjoyable to live here in a less safe neighborhood, further from the Metro in a older/run down house or building. On top of this, you will not have much money for going out. Living alone becomes much more difficult as well. Again, not a necessity but it is nice.

I've found myself spending small (<$10, usually), yet unplanned, amounts of money on a fairly regular basis. Most individual expenditures are low, but it adds up quick!

[chiefdc]

Just 3 years ago, I was making 35k and making ends meet just fine. I was paying $900 per month for rent (incl util). Make sure you don't have car or debt payments and you'll be ok. Also, you WILL NOT be able to live an extravagant lifestyle. As someone said, you can live in a group house for $600 per month. You could be living with as many as 5 other people (girls and guys) and it'll probably be an old house.

Houston, if you wanna live high on the hog and don't mind extremely suburban living, would be a good choice. I believe the cost of living is very low there, though I can't say for sure. The job markets in both cities are among the best in the country.

[CaseyMac]

If I were in your shoes, I would go wherever I thought I could live easiest financially-speaking. Living in DC would be really not fun if every moment was spent worrying about money. I have only been to Houston once and had a very nice experience there. Toured the Johnson Space Center, went to Galveston, etc. Anyways, if someone said live alone in a nice, safe area of Houston or live with 6 people in an old, crowded house in DC and still be worried about just getting a drink with friends because of $$$, I'd say show me the way to Oil City!!!!

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by CaseyMac

If I were in your shoes, I would go wherever I thought I could live easiest financially-speaking. Living in DC would be really not fun if every moment was spent worrying about money. I have only been to Houston once and had a very nice experience there. Toured the Johnson Space Center, went to Galveston, etc. Anyways, if someone said live alone in a nice, safe area of Houston or live with 6 people in an old, crowded house in DC and still be worried about just getting a drink with friends because of $$$, I'd say show me the way to Oil City!!!!

Thank you, though you'd need more than $30K to live well in H-town!

[Frodo2008]

If you're only going to be making $30,000 a year I would say go for Houston since Houston is quite a bit cheaper. What Bluefly said is not true. Houston is not a cultural wasteland and has more culture than DC. Look at AK123's post above. Both cities have plenty of culture but Houston is a lot cheaper. $30,000 per year is not much these days so I would go for the cheaper place. In this case that's Houston. Moving to TX will not be much of a culture shock like you think. The only people that think moving to TX will be a big culture shock are the ones that have never been here and have these stereotypes in their head. Texas isn't a bunch of cowboys. It's not desert. Houston gets more rain than DC does. It's green here. There aren't any cowboys in Houston. It's a big city. Just forget about all the stereotypes from TV. None of those are true. Not everybody in California is a surfer and not everybody in Texas is a cowboy and rides a horse to work.

[Jezer]

I lived in Houston and I most certainly don't fit any Texan stereotypes!

The city and the region have so much to offer.

[Frodo2008]

Originally Posted by Jezer

I lived in Houston and I most certainly don't fit any Texan stereotypes!

The city and the region have so much to offer.

Yeah exactly. I couldn't agree more. Most of the people in Texas don't fit the Texas stereotypes especially in the big cities. The thing that gets on my nerves is when people from the east coast think that their city has more culture than Houston. That is definitely not true. An older city does not equal more culture. A lot of people from Boston and other east coast cities seem to think that since their city is older it has more culture. An older city has a longer and more exciting history but it doesn't mean it has more culture.