Can't decide whether to move to Atlanta or Houston (transplants, neighborhood)

[Sergio22]

Living in Houston and I hv to move to Atlanta, so I don't know about living there for sure I'm gonna miss big time Houston.
Weather is not that bad ( if you are coming from Miami ) , people super nice, housing CHEAPER, around Bush intercontinental (IAH) you can live in Kingwood and or Humble and still at 30 minutes from Downtown / Galleria area ( at night or weekends),nice restaurants nightlife a lot of real museum, theaters as I said I'm gonna miss Houston ......

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by Math Commando

As a native Houstonian I'd have to say that people in Atlanta are "really fake" in general but nowhere near as bad as Austin people.

I am not a native of Either but I didn't get the impression that ATLans were fake at all.

I found both to be very fun loving and Houston to be more friendly and ATL more community oriented.

[Move11]

Thanks so much for all your feedback! I do appreciate it. There is so much to think about as both have so much. Right now we are 50/50 and hope we can decide soon!!

[bchris02]

Houston has a better economy and is more diverse. Houston also has better nightlife, dining, shopping, and a much better skyline. There is really no other way to say it, but Houston wins in almost every category.

[ATL_II_DMV]

The only thing about the Houston metro is that you have to drive forever to get from point a to b.

The metro in Houston is so large.

Atlanta is that way if traveling from one end of the permiter to the other, but Houston is much worse.

An hour commute in Houston is very common just to go out on weekends

[AlGreen]

Originally Posted by Sergio22

Living in Houston and I hv to move to Atlanta, so I don't know about living there for sure I'm gonna miss big time Houston.
Weather is not that bad ( if you are coming from Miami ) , people super nice, housing CHEAPER, around Bush intercontinental (IAH) you can live in Kingwood and or Humble and still at 30 minutes from Downtown / Galleria area ( at night or weekends),nice restaurants nightlife a lot of real museum, theaters as I said I'm gonna miss Houston ......

I can understand someone missing home, but Atlanta isn't exactly backwoods. As it's been stated numerous times, both cities are generally more alike than different. Atlanta and Houston are pretty much on the same level of "big city". There's plenty to do in both.

Originally Posted by bchris02

Houston has a better economy and is more diverse. Houston also has better nightlife, dining, shopping, and a much better skyline. There is really no other way to say it, but Houston wins in almost every category.

I would not say that Houston has better shopping than Atlanta.

Originally Posted by ATL_II_DMV

An hour commute in Houston is very common just to go out on weekends

Uhh, if you live in the outskirts. Not if you live anywhere near the inner loop.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by ATL_II_DMV

The only thing about the Houston metro is that you have to drive forever to get from point a to b.

The metro in Houston is so large.

Atlanta is that way if traveling from one end of the permiter to the other, but Houston is much worse.

An hour commute in Houston is very common just to go out on weekends

That is very deceptive.
Although Houston Metro is large, you very rarely have to drive more than 5 miles for anything rarely.

Houston metro has 6M people in 8000 sq miles, but of that Harris County alone has 4.1M people in 1.5k sq miles

so acting like the population is even spread over the metro is very deceptive indeed.
the general population of the metro is concentrated around the city of Houston while the rest of the metro is rather sparse.

Apart from the people who live in the suburbs and drive in to town for work, most people have all the needs they could ever need within 0 to 5 miles from their house.

Because of slacker restrictions in Houston many business areas are spread out among the residential areas. I remember in ATL that going out to eat was always an even because we had to drive so far. Not so in Houston, food and shopping are always around the corner.

I don't know where you get the hr long commute on weekends thing. That part is totally made up.

[anadyr21]

I think it depends specifically on WHERE in each city you plan on living. I can't speak specifically about the areas you mentioned, but I've lived in both cities and enjoyed my time in each. In both cities, we lived in the northern suburbs, ie, Spring TX and Johns Creek GA.

In Houston, OMG, summers were hot and humid. Atlanta heat isn't nearly as bad as Houston. I never had to pull out my winter coats in Houston. I only pulled out my a few leather coats a handful of times. Atlanta can certainly get cold and occasionally, have ice and sleet.

Flooding in Houston was a PITA. I mean, every time it rained, I had to watch the news to make sure my place of work was going to be open or if the highway was blocked or flooded. We lived in Houston during Hurricane Katrina, then Rita, so hurricane season is another PITA.

Real estate in Houston is dirt cheap, even compared to Atlanta. I still miss our townhome and wish we could have transported it here.

Atlanta traffic overall is a nightmare compared to Houston, but the exchange between I610, I45, and I10 in downtown Houston is pretty nightmarish also. With all the sprawl, it will only get worse.

Depending on where exactly you will be living, demographics may be different. Where I live in ATL, there is a higher population of whites, Asians and Indians, a few African Americans and few Hispanics. In Houston where I lived, It was pretty much evenly distributed with Hispanic, white, and African American, with very few Asians or Indians.

Both have plenty to do for families including canoeing, camping, amusement parks, etc. Both have nearby cities that one can drive to, though, I miss driving to the beach in Galveston just "because."

There's a lot more I can say, but this is getting too long. In the end, as an African American, I give Atlanta and edge, but my family and I would have been just fine in either city.

[lookup138]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

That is very deceptive.
Although Houston Metro is large, you very rarely have to drive more than 5 miles for anything rarely.

Houston metro has 6M people in 8000 sq miles, but of that Harris County alone has 4.1M people in 1.5k sq miles

so acting like the population is even spread over the metro is very deceptive indeed.
the general population of the metro is concentrated around the city of Houston while the rest of the metro is rather sparse.

Apart from the people who live in the suburbs and drive in to town for work, most people have all the needs they could ever need within 0 to 5 miles from their house.

Because of slacker restrictions in Houston many business areas are spread out among the residential areas. I remember in ATL that going out to eat was always an even because we had to drive so far. Not so in Houston, food and shopping are always around the corner.

I don't know where you get the hr long commute on weekends thing. That part is totally made up.

This was the big discussion with family and friends over this past weekend. We wanted to go for ice cream at Bruster's and then walk around a park or shopping strip mall something along those lines and we ended up in Dahlonega which is more than 5 miles from the house. Everything is sparsely spread out when you live in the northern cities of ATL at least. In the city, you have more businesses closely situated in areas like Midtown, Buckhead, Brookhaven areas. These areas are more walkable than others too.

Anywhere in metro ATL or even in the city itself, if there is an accident, construction or a game on the weekends, you will easily end up with an hour long commute. On a weekday it's worse...

It looks like that's not the case in Houston?

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by lookup138

This was the big discussion with family and friends over this past weekend. We wanted to go for ice cream at Bruster's and then walk around a park or shopping strip mall something along those lines and we ended up in Dahlonega which is more than 5 miles from the house. Everything is sparsely spread out when you live in the northern cities of ATL at least. In the city, you have more businesses closely situated in areas like Midtown, Buckhead, Brookhaven areas. These areas are more walkable than others too.

Anywhere in metro ATL or even in the city itself, if there is an accident, construction or a game on the weekends, you will easily end up with an hour long commute. On a weekday it's worse...

It looks like that's not the case in Houston?

It certainly isn't. I think the major problem with Houston is that the drivers act like the surface roads don't exist. Houston has a super grid system that can alleviate highway traffic but they are not utilized to their full potential. An accident on the highways, will get you a serious back up, but their are alternatives (if people would just use them )

As for special events, the immediate area will be crazy, but half a mile over you probably would not know if something is going on.
Anyway, if you are searching for that one special restaurant or that one unique store then you most probably have to drive more than 5 miles,
But if you just need a shopping center, mall, restaurant, park etc, most people are 0 to 5 miles away from those.