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Old 12-26-2010, 01:35 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,216 posts, read 30,571,630 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by danieloneil01 View Post


They're also buying 20 feet of snow a year and being locked up inside for months. And most of those are a wash. I've been to Chicago, there's not great scenery unless you think cows are awesome to look at. Now if you said some place like the Florida Keys or San Diego then I could agree.
Maybe they like the snow and/or Chicago's skyline/lakefront (just for example) is good enough scenery for them.

Here's a thought - not everyone's after the same thing in life.
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Old 12-26-2010, 03:15 PM
 
17,183 posts, read 22,932,109 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by danieloneil01 View Post


They're also buying 20 feet of snow a year and being locked up inside for months. And most of those are a wash. I've been to Chicago, there's not great scenery unless you think cows are awesome to look at. Now if you said some place like the Florida Keys or San Diego then I could agree.
You've been to Chicago? Sounds like you have been to the rural areas outside Chicago. I never saw a cow in the city. Also, you have obviously not visited the forest preserves in Chicago. The country around Chicago is mostly flat, but it is here too. I have seen more cows driving around the suburbs here than I ever saw in Chicago, though if you go further out, you will see farms.

Note: Chicago has great architecture (much nicer than Houston's)

Note: The snow is quite variable. We did NOT have 20 feet every year. You must be thinking of Buffalo, NY or Minnesota. Chicago gets an average of 2 feet per year (stats from 1971-2000). You accidentally multiplied by 10? The greatest amount for that period was in 1978-79 when we had the blizzard that got Bilandic kicked out of office because he forgot to order enough salt to clear the streets). The amount of snowfall that year was a little over 3 feet.

Note: You don't have to stay inside when it snows, especially if it is not below zero. The average temperature rarely falls below 20 though we did get some temps that were pretty bad in a few years I lived there. The wind chill is another factor and that can get bad, but I walked all winter in Chicago even in the snow.

The summer months in Houston can be pretty brutal and I don't go outside and walk here nearly as much as I did in Chicago by the lake.

Dorothy
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Old 12-26-2010, 04:05 PM
 
Location: Where Else...?
739 posts, read 1,188,973 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLSuperfriend View Post
Supply and Demand. Chicago has better amenities and urban living then Houston or any Sunbelt city and it just has more then everything then Houston.
I disagree with this. I've been to Chicago. I looove Chi-town. But Houston is right up there with it. It's just that Houston is more spread out. The only thing that Chicago has better is it's mass transit system. The only thing worse is it's too cold.
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Old 12-26-2010, 04:49 PM
 
17,183 posts, read 22,932,109 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Queen Palm View Post
I disagree with this. I've been to Chicago. I looove Chi-town. But Houston is right up there with it. It's just that Houston is more spread out. The only thing that Chicago has better is it's mass transit system. The only thing worse is it's too cold.
Seriously, the housing stock here in Houston at least the newer housing is such crap. It's cheaper, but very poorly built. I had less damage from Katrina in Louisiana than I had in Ike here.

Chicago is spread out also, btw, just long and narrow rather than wide.
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Old 12-26-2010, 05:43 PM
 
1,329 posts, read 3,546,327 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by predatorprey View Post
I don't get why people say how our property tax is equal to other states income taxes.
I can at least control how much house I can buy.
That's because a lot of people sell a 500K house in other areas, where they lived among teachers and cops, and then buy a 500K house in Houston, where they live among high-net worth individuals, and then complain about the property taxes. In reality, median property taxes in Houston range from roughly the same to hundreds of dollars lower than in cities like Chicago, New York and LA. NYC's median property tax is about the same as Houston's, but it imposes a 3.7% city tax on incomes on top of the 7% state income tax. If your household makes NYC's median income of $50K and owns the median home, you are paying about $5k on top of the median property tax of $3K, giving you a take-home pay of $42K. In Houston, this prototypical median household makes $43K, and pays $3.1K in property taxes, leaving take-home-pay of $39K (before Social Security, etc).

From a tax standpoint, Houston's advantage is offset by lower incomes. That's where property prices come in to give the advantage back to Houston - the median NYC property price was $520K, compared to Houston's $128K. In many cases, that $520K home is literally a century old on a 2000 sq foot plot of land. At today's interest rates, that's $25K of mortgage payments per year for New York compared to Houston's $6.1K of mortgage payments.

NYC's $42K of take-home is reduced to $17K after mortgage payments, compared to Houston's $39K, which goes down to $33K after mortgage payments. The $16K difference in disposable income after mortgage payments is why on average, Houstonians drive much nicer cars than New Yorkers.
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Old 12-26-2010, 06:09 PM
 
86 posts, read 121,305 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Queen Palm View Post
I disagree with this. I've been to Chicago. I looove Chi-town. But Houston is right up there with it. It's just that Houston is more spread out. The only thing that Chicago has better is it's mass transit system. The only thing worse is it's too cold.
Are you kidding me? Would you mind making a Chicago vs Houston thread in the city vs city forum please.
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Old 12-26-2010, 09:51 PM
 
86 posts, read 121,305 times
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//www.city-data.com/forum/city-...enities-2.html

Go to this thread.
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Old 12-26-2010, 10:48 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,216 posts, read 30,571,630 times
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This was destined to become a Houston vs. (insert "expensive" city here) thread as soon as it went live. It's just the way it works around here.
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Old 12-27-2010, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Houston, Texas
1,668 posts, read 4,709,054 times
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Houston isn't cheap IMO.

Here's the REALITY for a Houston family (not the suburbs) living in the best public school zones.

The best Spring Branch ISD schools in zip code 77024 is going to get you a POS for half a million bucks.


-a single family home on a safe street for kids

-2000 square feet

-50 years old

-in origional condition (plan on at least 75-100k for low end renovations)

-the cheapest house you'll find with the above criteria runs in the 500-700 range

Houston cheap? Whatever!
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Old 12-27-2010, 11:00 AM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,216 posts, read 30,571,630 times
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^Remember these people who throw around the "cheap" description are coming from places where they might pay $2,000/month for a tiny apartment, or that "POS" in Spring Branch looks like a mansion in Beverly Hills compared to what the same money would get you in California - well, at least before the housing bust hit.

And of course, depending on one's perspective, Spring Branch may well be "the suburbs." Then again depending on the perspective, that describes all of Houston. Anyway. Onward I guess...
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