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My wife's position is being transfered to Texas. The are two locations, Dallas or Houston and they are letting her choose. My profession is in law and I will be fine in either place. We recently visited both cities and I did not see a huge difference in the two. Houston was larger, but Dallas had more options in terms of suburbs as the area seemed larger. I do like Houston is near the gulf for sea fishing, but it didnt look to inviting to take a swim. Gulf looked rather dirty, but so is my Long Island Sound.
We are more cooler weather people, so I like that Dallas appears to have more of a winter than Houston. We are also like cool bars and coffee shops and pedestrian friendly cities. I am a huge football fan, so I need a good sports city. A good music scene is a must as well. We are looking to live in the city first and then move to a nice quiet suburb. I want a big yard. How are the two in terms of crime? Are there lots of bad areas in Houston?
Based on the desires I listed above can any of you help give some
authentic advice as to what city will be more to our liking?
I am not looking to start a Houston vs Dallas war, just trying to get some facts for each city to help with out decision.
I have also noticed a decent amount of posts on here about Houston are really negative. A much higher rate than other cities. Why is that?
P.S. Not to be a troll or repetitive, but I am going to post this in the Dallas forum as well to get some Dallas advice.
My wife's position is being transfered to Texas. The are two locations, Dallas or Houston and they are letting her choose. My profession is in law and I will be fine in either place. We recently visited both cities and I did not see a huge difference in the two. Houston was larger, but Dallas had more options in terms of suburbs as the area seemed larger. I do like Houston is near the gulf for sea fishing, but it didnt look to inviting to take a swim. Gulf looked rather dirty, but so is my Long Island Sound.
We are more cooler weather people, so I like that Dallas appears to have more of a winter than Houston. It does. Dallas gets cooler than Houston, and snows more often than in Houston.
We are also like cool bars and coffee shops and pedestrian friendly cities. You will find cool bars and coffee shops in both, but neither are pedestrian friendly
I am a huge football fan, so I need a good sports city. Both have great football teams. Hopefully the Houston Texans make it to the playoffs agin next Season. Go Texans!!!!!
A good music scene is a must as well. Again they would be about equal on this too, although the actual genres differ
We are looking to live in the city first and then move to a nice quiet suburb. I want a big yard. How are the two in terms of crime? Are there lots of bad areas in Houston? It will depend on where you live and how much you are going to spend. Both have really nice neighborhoods in the city and in the burbs. Conversely both have their bad areas. Note this though, both city's crime rates have been declining, and Houston's rate last year was the lowest it has ever been in the last 50 years
Based on the desires I listed above can any of you help give some
authentic advice as to what city will be more to our liking? we know very little about you, this is something you and your wife is going to sit and discuss in depth. Based on what you have given us though it seem you are going to have to choose between the Sea Fishing and colder weather
I have also noticed a decent amount of posts on here about Houston are really negative. A much higher rate than other cities. Why is that?It is the biggest City in the State and thus will have the most detractors. Focus on your needs and skip the extraneous hate posts
I have also noticed a decent amount of posts on here about Houston are really negative.A much higher rate than other cities. Why is that?
Apparently Forbes and Kiplinger disagree. Google Houston #1 Kiplinger or Forbes if you don't believe me. Haters gonna hate.
If you can deal with the humid summer heat, you will find everything you seek in Houston except pedestrian friendly. There are some areas that are, but the city as a whole is not. It's just a bit spread out.
I have also noticed a decent amount of posts on here about Houston are really negative. A much higher rate than other cities. Why is that?
Houston is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country and attracts transplants from all over the globe. For some people, it is an easy transition and an overall positive experience. For others, Houston is a very tough adjustment - and by focusing on the negative aspects it is easy to develop an unfavorable opinion of the area. Although there may not be an active thread right now, I see a lot of the same thing in the Dallas and Austin forums as well - these are also very popular relocation destinations and consequently there are lots of people moving to these places who end up regretting it.
Based on your criteria, it is hard to make a recommendation between Dallas and Houston. I personally think Dallas's suburbs are some of the best in the country, though Houston has some great burbs too. I think Houston is better for city living, but both have plenty of cool bars/restaurants while neither city is pedestrian friendly. You like colder weather, but also like having the ocean nearby. Seems like either one would suit you based on your post.
Houston is closer to Austin and San Antonio if that's a factor at all. While both cities are flat, I like the topography in Houston a lot more too (North Houston at least...).
I have family in the DFW area and I've been visiting my grandmother on Lake Dallas my entire life so I have a good perspective on both places although I've never actually lived in Dallas.
Weather-
Winters are more pronounced in DFW. I've seen snow and ice on many occasions in DFW and only 2 or 3 times in Houston despite being here off and on for 25 years. From June-September, however, both places are hell on earth. There might be minor humidity and actual surface temperature differences but, 105 is hot whether it's the heat index or the actual temperature!
Cool bars/coffee shops-
Both cities have plenty but not over a large area. Houston's would primarily be inside the loop (610) and Dallas would be concentrated in the park cities area.
Pedestrian friendly-
Besides the odd walkable neighborhood here and there you will need a vehicle to get to 98% of each city. Dallas has the edge on Houston as far as rail service goes (they have many more track miles in service already) but I've ridden on it many times and you still need a car to get you to the stations and most other places. People drive big cars in both cities and the driving can be quite aggressive...we quickly traded my wife's Civic in for an Explorer after moving back to Houston.
Someone above made the good point about Houston being much closer to Austin and San Antonio than Dallas. This is true and is something you will take advantage of more than you think. SA and Austin are great cities and are generally much more "tourist" and non-business visitor friendly than Dallas or Houston. Thus, they make great weekend destinations. I can be in Austin or San Antonio in less than 3 hours from Houston while SA is 6 hours from Dallas and Austin is about 4 (and you have to put up with the nightmare that is Interstate-35).
That's all I really feel like writing. On a completely subjective point, I've found the people in Houston to be much more friendly and welcoming (less snobby and pretentious too) on the whole than in Dallas. This is also a theme you will find in surveys and threads on this and other forums. In Dallas you will quickly become familiar with the term "$30,000 millionaire".
One last piece of advise regardless of where you choose...don't move from June-September if at all possible. Relocation during a Texas summer is truly hell...I've done it many times unfortunately and we always swear we will only move again during the "winter" (November - March) only to find ourselves moving in July!
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,840,335 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by KCROYALS
My wife's position is being transfered to Texas. The are two locations, Dallas or Houston and they are letting her choose. My profession is in law and I will be fine in either place. We recently visited both cities and I did not see a huge difference in the two. Houston was larger, but Dallas had more options in terms of suburbs as the area seemed larger. I do like Houston is near the gulf for sea fishing, but it didnt look to inviting to take a swim. Gulf looked rather dirty, but so is my Long Island Sound.
We are more cooler weather people, so I like that Dallas appears to have more of a winter than Houston. We are also like cool bars and coffee shops and pedestrian friendly cities. I am a huge football fan, so I need a good sports city. A good music scene is a must as well. We are looking to live in the city first and then move to a nice quiet suburb. I want a big yard. How are the two in terms of crime? Are there lots of bad areas in Houston?
Based on the desires I listed above can any of you help give some
authentic advice as to what city will be more to our liking?
I am not looking to start a Houston vs Dallas war, just trying to get some facts for each city to help with out decision.
The previous replies have been good. Both places are extremely similar, especially to someone coming from out of state. The differences are slight... Houston more lush/green, Dallas with cooler winters. The demographics are again extremely similar with each. Each has some very nice suburbs to choose from.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KCROYALS
I have also noticed a decent amount of posts on here about Houston are really negative. A much higher rate than other cities. Why is that?
Probably has a lot to do with a few troublemakers who have been allowed to run rampant in the Houston forum. If you see something that sounds ridiculous, that's because it is... just ignore them.
Thank you everyone for their replies. I have been doing some research on Houston and looking at property in areas we liked. The apartment review sites are great because some places we wrote down looked nice from the street, but received horrible reviews.
There are definitely some positives about Houston. We liked the Buffalo Speedway/Upper Kirby area and we liked most of the inner loop. Museum District was really nice. Also, the food there is really good. My uncle who is from Connecticut lived in Houston for his job in the 1990's and he said the best food he ever had was in Houston. I was told to avoid any apartments in southeast and northeast of the city as that is gangland. Basically, anything between 8 and 610 could be hit or miss. An officer I spoke to at the airport told me that although the Galleria area may look attractive, that area has a ton of burglaries so she advised to stay clear.
I am going to be honest and admit that Texas was not at the top of my choices to live. I am East Coast all the way and being the yankee I am, I sweat at 65 degrees. After June, I count down the days until September and that is up in Connecticut!!! Living in the Texas heat has me nervous.
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,840,335 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by KCROYALS
I am going to be honest and admit that Texas was not at the top of my choices to live. I am East Coast all the way and being the yankee I am, I sweat at 65 degrees. After June, I count down the days until September and that is up in Connecticut!!! Living in the Texas heat has me nervous.
You may have a hard time with the Texas summers, in the 90's daily. There is no real difference in that regard among the Texas cities... the others are hotter than Houston but Houston is more humid, so it evens out.
You may have a hard time with the Texas summers, in the 90's daily. There is no real difference in that regard among the Texas cities... the others are hotter than Houston but Houston is more humid, so it evens out.
Yes, it's going to be rough, but hopefully my time will be so occupied with work that before I know it, it will be cool again. I am kind of leaning towards Houston, but she is leaning towards Dallas.
A real estate agent told me that the last two winters have been literally non existent, but the 2009-10 winter was actually pretty cool. Houston actually had a winter that lasted pretty much the entire season, so it does happen.
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