Ex California residents, is Houston a easy city to adapt to (Galveston: new home, neighborhood)

[jm2060]

I am a California resident that is considering a move to Houston. I have notice a lot of Californians moving to Texas and Im just trying to get feedback on how they like it and if they have adapted well to Texas.

Also I am considering Spring Texas so any information on Spring would be greatly appreciated. If anybody familar with Northern California could compare citys surrounding Houston to city's of the Bay Area it would also be appreciated.

[person]

Biggest thing to adapt, weather.
Northern Cali's weather is aaaaaahhhhhhh....
No roadtrips up and down the the beautiful pacific coast and their little beach towns.
No wine valley scenery.
No mountains and beautiful beaches.
No redwood forests.
No comparable kind of nature.

But ....... it doesn't cost an arm and leg here in Houston.
People here have more manners, IMO.
Houston suburbs here are more beautiful, cleaner, and nicer, IMO.
Woodlands here feels like Walnut Creek to me, except Woodlands here is prettier.


Another thing to get used to is density, if you are used to taking the Bart and walking everywhere in the SF bay area, Houston area is nothing like that, you have to drive and take buses, everything is very spread out, nothing like taking the Bart, where you can go from Daly City to SF airport to SF downtown to Oakland to Berkeley, on the same system easily.

One great thing from lack of density though is parking is so easily available everywhere. And the freeways here are freaking awesome. Many parts are still under construction, but when done, will be even more freaking awesome.
Another good thing with lack of density is homeless seem more spread out too.


You might have to get used to the flatness here, compared to all the hills in northern CA.
I think the city itself is ugly, too spread out, rust and grittiness everywhere, empty overgrown lots, run down shacks and buildings, traffic lights hanging on cable, telephone/electric poles that slant in all directions. The beach here is sad compare to the pacific coast, but its at least warm enough to hop into. Hopefully they will do something to it.
Foodwise, its not as great as SF, but it holds its own. There is a growing chinatown that has lots of parking compared to the one in SF. Great Tex-Mex. I love the food here. Seafood, not as great as SF, but you can still find good ones. Food part should be easy to adapt to, but you have to drive all over to get to find them.


Overall, I wouldn't say its easy, but it isn't definitely isn't hard either. I mean, I can actually afford house and other stuff here. Its pretty much the only affordable big city left. Its growing, with new projects all over, certainly up and coming. Also, 6 months of the year, it actually has pretty good weather. In winter, I thought it feels like SF.


One thing I still couldn't get used to is this is not a tourist town. I play host when living in SF. Now Houston is not as impressive to my well traveled friends and relatives. I really struggled where to bring them. The attractions are not as great or much when compared to SF. Its a bummer to hear my out of town folks and friends snicker at the attractions here, but the good thing is less ppl will be visiting and I won't have to play host that much anymore.

[Wysiwyg]

you also might need to adjust to rural louisiana folks as neighbors, co-workers and daily commute characters. no offense people, we just weren't ready for this

[person]

LOL, Rural folks can be nice too, I did see some not so cool characters, but you have those everywhere. Most folks I met are nice.

One other thing I forget to add which I really have to adjust to is bugs. All sorts of bugs. From mosquitoes to spiders and other bugs I haven't seen. You don't really see huge bugs or even in SF. But the heat and humidity seem to be the perfect breeding ground for them.

And another thing, people here seem really into stamping their college logos everywhere, I see ATM and UT logos everywhere. Like literally everywhere.

In Northern California, you don't see ppl doing it so over the top. Stanford, UC Berkeley, USCF are all really high ranking colleges but they don't show that much pride as folks here do.

[jm2060]

Thank you "Person", you really have been a great help. I grew up in the Concord/Walnut Creek area and I was hoping to find a area similar to what I was use to. Now if The Woodlands is like Walnut Creek what Bay Area city would you compare Spring TX to.

[person]

Originally Posted by jm2060

Thank you "Person", you really have been a great help. I grew up in the Concord/Walnut Creek area and I was hoping to find a area similar to what I was use to. Now if The Woodlands is like Walnut Creek what Bay Area city would you compare Spring TX to.

Its somewhat feels like rather than look like woodlands, its CA mountain hills backdrop vs tall trees here, and the shopping areas here are newer, therefore looks nicer to me, but walnut creek has more variety of shopping and I like their center for the arts; seems walnut creek promote the arts a lot more. I would say the demographics are somewhat same, middle to upper middle class and up. Wait, maybe not really the same, with CA prices, its like upper upper class in Walnut creek.

I can't really say spring would be like which part of Bay Area though. Its looks somewhat generic to me. Probably like the rest of east to south east bay but with trees. Hard to match that one.

[Greens!]

I used to live in Concord. The Bay Area in Houston (AKA Clear Lake City) reminds me of California sometimes. There are plenty of palm trees, tons of those old ranch style homes that are so popular on the west coast. (They run ~$160k-175k) There are lots of well educated Asian and Indian families and plenty of good places to eat.

The Clear Lake Area in Harris county is home to NASA and is very well established. If you are looking for a new home try League City. There are some nice waterfront communities too along Galveston Bay. Also, the beach is about 25 minutes away.

[movingaroundok]

Its not as bad as what people assume Texas to be. We moved from San Jose. Housing is great. Suburbs are much nicer. Although its true about the ugly cables and things like that. It is NOT the same as California. Cali has the tourist attractions that Houston doesnt have. BUt Houston is growing and things are gettign built everywhere.We purchased a house that we cannot afford in Cali in a fantastic neighborhood you will NOT find in the bay area. There is a great mix of culture pockets of ugly parts and pockets of gorgeous parts just like any other city. Overall the sight can be initially ugly however once you get into nice parts it really is nice! The schools are much much better even if its a public school! In comparison to the bay area the schools here are FABULOUS! they have PE,ART,MUSIC taught by different teachers. There are so many things that are up and coming here its a great time to get in while you can.

[Vicman]

By the way, if you have kids and you are moving to the Spring area, people are preferring Klein ISD over Spring ISD (those are school districts).

[janIam2be]

The great thing about Spring and the suburbs are the home prices...you'll think you died and went to heaven. Square footage from &65 to $100 for really nice homes in pine treed and woodsy subdivisions with neighborhood tennis, pools, parks, etc. As for natural beauty....there is none...nothing to compare to the fresh air and gorgeous California weather...love, California.