Relocating to Houston from UK

[iceflow]

Originally Posted by ayannaaaliyah

Sorry to hear that IceFlow, I live in Katy and have not experienced that at all. I haven't even been invited to anyones' church and my child has great relationships with the other children in our community, and she doesn't even attend the KISD schools. We're also involved in cheerleading and gymnastics where she has forged relationships with other children from all over Katy. She visits their homes and vice versa. The parents are cordial and we talk at the games and gym however, I wouldn't consider them my "friends", our relationship is based on the children. Quite possibly something took place with your children and something was said, which caused the parents to cut off the friendship. I know that my child has run into a few children that I don't want her around, regardless of how that parent feels, it's my child and if I don't feel it's a healthy relationship, then that's the way it is.

You may well have hit the nail on the head with the ref: "Something was said". It's quite possible, knowing kids. However the point would be.........what impact would it have on what persons culture? And therein lies the problem. This , in my opinion, is a very different world to Europe, Canada or Aussie and what is considered normal and acceptable there can be very unacceptable here and vice versa. At the end of the day it is incumbent on the visitor to fit in or move on and forewarned is forearmed. It may well be that it was a one off, but if michb5 has young boys, they may find a narrower group of friends than they had elsewhere in the world for precisely the reason you mention.........something may be said. It may be innocuous by eg: Canadian standards but cause alarm bells with some folks here. On the other hand they may end up with a wider circle of friends.....who knows.

Finally....to michb5.............please take the time to fully understand the Houston housing market before your move. You are moving from a part of the world that has land and population pressure to a part of the world that has nothing like that found in Europe / UK. Understand the housing value appreciation here and compare that to the UK. Go back several years in your research, do not just go back two or three. Reason I say that is because Harris County homes have done well in the past couple of years on the aprreciation front. Harris County is the 2nd fastest growing county for population in the USA. Maricopa county is number1. But.....they still have plenty of land and as such you will probably find that homes do not appreciate anything like they will in parts of the world where there is land pressure. eg: Southern England, San Francisco, Hong Kong etc etc.

Good luck to you and enjoy your mansion!!
PS. You can get BBC America on cable t.v so sanity should be retainable.

[michb5]

Thanks for that guys, I was involved quite heavily in the church in my youth, not so much now as the UK is possibly a lot more secular, I have also worked in a number of other countries and cultures so am quite happy to respect the beliefs of others, as they should respect mine, my eldest girl also attends Sunday School but it is her choice. (We are Church of England/Scotland) but we were happy to send the kids to a Catholic school in Australia and no-one pressurised us to join, on the other hand as I was once told by a priest maybe we don't qualify!!

Don't know about Texas churches we are not too extreme in our views so I guess it would depend on the church...I would struggle with one that banned a beer or two, or motorcyclists and I was in the British Army and have to admit to the odd bit of cussin' when the spanner or hammer slips.

Apart from that live and let live I say...guess the best thing to do would be to try to speak to people in the area we want to live and try to get a feeling for the locals as it were.

[Historian/Traveler]

Originally Posted by michb5

Thanks for that guys, I was involved quite heavily in the church in my youth, not so much now as the UK is possibly a lot more secular, I have also worked in a number of other countries and cultures so am quite happy to respect the beliefs of others, as they should respect mine, my eldest girl also attends Sunday School but it is her choice. (We are Church of England/Scotland) but we were happy to send the kids to a Catholic school in Australia and no-one pressurised us to join, on the other hand as I was once told by a priest maybe we don't qualify!!

Don't know about Texas churches we are not too extreme in our views so I guess it would depend on the church...I would struggle with one that banned a beer or two, or motorcyclists and I was in the British Army and have to admit to the odd bit of cussin' when the spanner or hammer slips.

Apart from that live and let live I say...guess the best thing to do would be to try to speak to people in the area we want to live and try to get a feeling for the locals as it were.

You know what to do michb5, you should be alright finding folks and fitting in. You seem to be a veteran (and a veteran!). I feel of all the cities here in Texas Houston and Austin would be considered the most secular followed by San Antonio, then DFW, and so on. DFW would probably be considered the biggest Bible-thumper of the cities because they still have towns in its metro that are 'dry' (illegal to sell any alcohol) from Prohibition times even though alot of it is secular. I kind of consider New Orleans, Austin, and Houston to be slightly out of what we Americans call 'The Bible-Belt', which goes from Georgia/Carolinas all the way to New Mexico. But like iceflow basically says, beware of hypocrites, they are everywhere here in the South. Cheers!

[Willys]

michb5, pay no mind to that religious talk and if you do encounter some hypocracy just tell them you're Episcopalian (the US version of Church of England). That'll give you religious license to do as you please. In US terms, it's tantamount to being catholic, without the baggage. Houston's most famous Episcopalian is George H. W. Bush.

You're gonna love it in Cinco Ranch. I would imagine there's gonna be soccer mom's everywhere. And your kids are gonna do fine in public schools. I did a brief search on cincoranch.com and found a 4bed/3bath for between 2 and 300 g's, depending on garage size. Stay away from that inner city Memorial stuff.

The area you're looking at, just west of Hiway 6 is where elevation begins to trend up, from the Gulf. You'll notice, on a map, that at Hiway 6 are undeveloped areas. These are Barker and Addicks reservoirs. Nearly a hundred years ago Houston downtown flooded several feet deep. A part of that reason, other than extreme rain, is that water from the north and west heads directly for central Houston, by way of Buffalo Bayou, so they constructed these reservoirs to prevent further flooding. I don't think they've seen a rain like that since.

And speaking of rain, the thunderstorms are FANTASTIC ! ! !

Good luck, and welcome to Texas

[Historian/Traveler]

Originally Posted by Willys

michb5, pay no mind to that religious talk and if you do encounter some hypocracy just tell them you're Episcopalian (the US version of Church of England). That'll give you religious license to do as you please. In US terms, it's tantamount to being catholic, without the baggage. Houston's most famous Episcopalian is George H. W. Bush.

You're gonna love it in Cinco Ranch. I would imagine there's gonna be soccer mom's everywhere. And your kids are gonna do fine in public schools. I did a brief search on cincoranch.com and found a 4bed/3bath for between 2 and 300 g's, depending on garage size. Stay away from that inner city Memorial stuff.

The area you're looking at, just west of Hiway 6 is where elevation begins to trend up, from the Gulf. You'll notice, on a map, that at Hiway 6 are undeveloped areas. These are Barker and Addicks reservoirs. Nearly a hundred years ago Houston downtown flooded several feet deep. A part of that reason, other than extreme rain, is that water from the north and west heads directly for central Houston, by way of Buffalo Bayou, so they constructed these reservoirs to prevent further flooding. I don't think they've seen a rain like that since.

And speaking of rain, the thunderstorms are FANTASTIC ! ! !

Good luck, and welcome to Texas

Willys right though, michb5, don't let religion bother ya' at all. There are plenty of folks here that drink beer, cuss, ride motorcycles, and go to church all in the same week (that's what being in America is all about, right?!). You do what you do and people will like you for who you are. That house in Cinco Ranch sounds like a nice deal too. I would check that out. Memorial may or may not be for you, but it sure is pretty to visit and drive thru!

Willys also has the historical topography down as well. I just cannot imagine how bad things would've been without the reservoirs during Tropical Storm Allison, previous disturbances, and the current onslaught of tropical activity. The answer is no bueno. The rain and storms really are fantastic here though and should conjure memories of home for ya'. Cheers!