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I'm looking for a bit of assistance in my job hunt / relocation process. I currently live in Colorado Springs, CO and have some opportunities to move to either Phoenix or Houston to open restaurants. I know some may say "why leave Colorado" but there isn't a whole lot of opportunity in my line of work in Colorado Springs and Denver is getting ridiculously expensive. Most of my friends that lived in Denver have relocated out of state because the cost of living has gone up severely in the past 5 years in Denver. Rent/home prices have doubled, yes doubled in recent years. Most have profited on home sales and got out of dodge. Another reason is my wife has a medical condition in which high altitude isn't great for her. WE currently live at 6200 feet above sea level. She has also lived in Colorado for most of her life (since she was 6) and wants to try somewhere new.
Some questions that I have:
1. What city has the best schools in neighborhoods that range in the 250-300k houses? I'm aware of Texas's higher property taxes so maybe I should say P&I+Tax payments around $2,000mo.
2. What city do you think is best overall for raising a family? Culture, access to education, not to far leaning left or right.
3. If you live in either city, what do you love about it, what would you change?
4. What parts of each city would you avoid?
5. Economy, Do you feel it is growing or retracting. I run restaurants so this matters to me greatly!
Some considerations:
~We have friends in each town that both love where they live. I need an outside opinion as they are both lobbying for us to move to their respective cities.
~My kids are 8 & 11 and their schooling is extremely important to me.
~We are literally the typical middle class family even though I open and operate super trendy restaurants. At home I want to feel like I'm not on show and can relax.
~We love water and Vegas equally (Vegas to the point I don't want to live there and ruin my party place!)
~We may consider Nashville or coastal Florida, but the opportunities are not as lucrative as Houston or Phoenix so if you have an opinion on those please let me know!
Both are great cities. houston has better food imo. I like Phoenix's locale, next to California and Vegas. JMO, I think Phoenix landscape is prettier, I think Houston has the brighter economic future.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BKMark58
2. What city do you think is best overall for raising a family? Culture, access to education, not to far leaning left or right.!
Houston is a lot more diverse than Phoenix, so in the city and metro area itself I can imagine there is a broad enough spectrum for it to not feel too left or right leaning in many ways. In terms of state politics both states lean right, but Arizona has more libertarian sensibilities where as Texas can have more of a tendency to lean more bible belt'sh.
I'm looking for a bit of assistance in my job hunt / relocation process. I currently live in Colorado Springs, CO and have some opportunities to move to either Phoenix or Houston to open restaurants. I know some may say "why leave Colorado" but there isn't a whole lot of opportunity in my line of work in Colorado Springs and Denver is getting ridiculously expensive. Most of my friends that lived in Denver have relocated out of state because the cost of living has gone up severely in the past 5 years in Denver. Rent/home prices have doubled, yes doubled in recent years. Most have profited on home sales and got out of dodge. Another reason is my wife has a medical condition in which high altitude isn't great for her. WE currently live at 6200 feet above sea level. She has also lived in Colorado for most of her life (since she was 6) and wants to try somewhere new.
Some questions that I have:
1. What city has the best schools in neighborhoods that range in the 250-300k houses? I'm aware of Texas's higher property taxes so maybe I should say P&I+Tax payments around $2,000mo.
2. What city do you think is best overall for raising a family? Culture, access to education, not to far leaning left or right.
3. If you live in either city, what do you love about it, what would you change?
4. What parts of each city would you avoid?
5. Economy, Do you feel it is growing or retracting. I run restaurants so this matters to me greatly!
Some considerations:
~We have friends in each town that both love where they live. I need an outside opinion as they are both lobbying for us to move to their respective cities.
~My kids are 8 & 11 and their schooling is extremely important to me.
~We are literally the typical middle class family even though I open and operate super trendy restaurants. At home I want to feel like I'm not on show and can relax. ~We love water and Vegas equally (Vegas to the point I don't want to live there and ruin my party place!)
~We may consider Nashville or coastal Florida, but the opportunities are not as lucrative as Houston or Phoenix so if you have an opinion on those please let me know!
I appreciate any feedback on this!
Phoenix and Vegas are nearly identical cities, except one has a Strip and one doesn't. If I moved to Vegas I doubt I will feel a cultural difference, if anything would be some minor in-between-the-lines details. Vegas is a very easy 4 hour drive from here, or ~1 hr flight, close enough for a nice weekend.
Most of Phoenix is moderate politically despite the media's opinion. It's just that Arizonans never vote (less than half of the citizens vote, only Hawaii is worse on this).
As someone who works with restaurants on a daily basis here in Phoenix, there are restaurants springing up like weeds around here in certain areas of town. Downtown, Midtown, Uptown, Scottsdale (all of Scottsdale yes), Tempe. Of course the new exurbs are getting restaurants but they aren't the "trendy" ones, still mostly chains out there.
What I would change about Phoenix is more interest in densifying the urban cores and less on suburban sprawl, work on desert landscapes here in town and developing a more unique cultural identity independent from other nearby cities. I like most things about Phoenix despite that.
Sort of grasping at straws without knowing what the dollar amount of the offers are. TX has no state income tax and pay tends to be high so it tends to make more financial sense than Phoenix. But if you are going to be making more in Arizona then it might balance out. Keep in mind the higher property taxes in Texas though.
Neither would be an option for me due to the harsh weather, but if I had to choose, in my line of work, Texas would be the no brainer.
Yes, there are no state income taxes in Texas, but the property tax in Texas is very high, higher than Arizona, Colorado, etc.
However, the school districts, universities (Texas A&M, Rice, SMU, UT Austin), etc. in Texas are far better than what you'll find in Arizona. Far more Asians in Houston--you've got Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indian food that will rival anything you can find in California. Houston's got all the Chinese chain supermarkets, bakeries, etc. you see in California, and In-n-Out will be coming to Houston soon (they're already in Austin and Dallas). Asian food is very limited in Phoenix. Admittedly, Phoenix does have Waffle Houses. Houston's airport actually has direct flights to China; not so for Phoenix.
Phoenix heat is far worse than Houston heat. Yes, Houston has Florida-levels of humidity, but at least it's close to the Gulf, so temps above 100 are rare. Phoenix, though, averages 106 in July/August, and regularly exceeds 115. You may have heard that with the humidity, a 95 degrees in Houston feels like 110-115 or so on most days, while a 110 day in Phoenix feels 110 or even slightly cooler due to the dry air, but that's deceptive, because these "heat indexes" never take into account the fact that the sun is MUCH more intense in Phoenix than in Houston, where you'll also get relief from afternoon thunderstorms blowing in from the Gulf. Yes, Phoenix has monsoonal rains, but nothing like Houston's thunderstorms in terms of heat relief. Many days in Phoenix go by without a single cloud in the sky--at that point "it's a dry heat" argument doesn't work when the sun is that intense. Not to mention that Houston is extremely well forested and therefore has lots of shade vs. the sparse desert vegetation of Phoenix. Not that I don't find Phoenix's desert to be scenic, but it's got nothing on the pine forests (yes, pine, NOT palm forests), of Houston. Also found in Houston: bayous, cypress swamps, live oaks with spanish moss, and palmettos. It's a classic, Deep South landscape that looks like it's straight out of Forest Gump's hometown.
Plus, Houston is much closer to the ocean than Phoenix is.
I currently live in Colorado Springs, CO and have some opportunities to move to either Phoenix or Houston to open restaurants. I know some may say "why leave Colorado" but there isn't a whole lot of opportunity in my line of work in Colorado Springs and Denver is getting ridiculously expensive.
Hi! I grew up in Colorado Springs (I went to Rampart High school) and then right after high school, my dad got a good job in Houston and moved us down there. We only lived in Houston for 5 years but I really enjoyed it.
I'm married now and living in my husband's hometown here in San Diego, but my parents retired and now live in Phoenix.
Even though I have never personally lived in AZ myself, I go there a lot for visits. And before moving to San Diego, I lived in Palm Springs, CA for a short time so I am familiar with desert living and I just don't know if I can do it again. The intense heat and sun pretty much on a daily basis were just too much for me. And not enough greenery...too brown and too much sand. I came to really hate desert landscape.
IMO I feel both Phoenix and Houston are good family oriented cities. My younger brother and sister did VERY well in the Texas school system...I felt they received a better education there than what I got in Colorado.
Yes, both Houston and Phoenix get very hot in the summers...but for me personally, I prefer the greenery and all the trees of Houston more. I like the rain and being closer to the coast.
Both are big cities that offer a lot of fun activities ~ of course, I love the Houston pro sports teams and was thrilled when the Astros won the World Series! I also loved the restaurants in Houston, I thought it was a huge improvement from Colorado Springs.
I recommend living in The Woodlands area of Houston. It is far north of downtown and uptown/Galleria area but its just so beautiful there and those homes are big and gorgeous! Very family orientated, good schools, shopping, entertainment there too. It feels more private as well because of all the forest trees...whereas Phoenix being a desert, the neighborhoods felt less private (at least the neighborhoods that I've seen).
I wish my parents had retired in Houston not Phoenix but AZ was the last place of employment for my dad before retiring so they just stayed put.
Before leaving Colorado Springs, everyone thought we were crazy to leave the beautiful mountains of Colorado for humid Houston...everyone warned me that I'd hate it but the complete opposite happened, we all ended up loving it. I really didn't miss the mountains as I much as I thought I would - maybe because of all the forest trees in Houston that I felt like I was in the mountains, lol. The people in Texas were SO nice and so welcoming that I had no problem whatsoever meeting friends. I miss that southern hospitality too...its certainly not here in SoCal. I would go back to Houston if I could.
Personally, I would never move to either of these. But given the choice, I would pick Houston as it's at least a city.
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I also loved the restaurants in Houston, I thought it was a huge improvement from Colorado Springs. 
