Moving from Los Angeles to Houston in 2016 (San Antonio, Austin: 2014, amusement parks)

[ep2016]

I am LA born and raised. A total city girl. I love CA so so much but it is getting ridiculously expensive. I have family in Houston and am planning to move there in the fall.

Does Houston have a lot of the activities that LA has? Bachata dancing, paint and wine? I know they have museums.

What are the restaurants like? Nightlife?

Are the summers really that terrible?

What is Galveston like?

What about healthcare? Is Obamacare similar as in CA?

Any other insight is greatly appreciated!

[Korynnn]

I moved here in 2014 from Riverside. Houston has pretty much everything every other major city has.
The food culture here is intense, as is the beer culture. (You'll be guzzling down Karbach in no time)

You'll want to be in the loop though, I made this mistake at first, and thought "Oh, god, what have I done?!" and then I moved into town proper. Burbs are pretty bland. There are tons of really great bars and restaurants in the loop though. (:

The summers ARE that terrible. It's a different kind of heat, than you're used to in SoCal. Riverside, was dry but blazing hot. Houston's got like 85-95 degree days, but it's so hot that it feels like the 110 degree days I was used to back home. Once you get used to the humidity though, it's not too bad. If you were from the north, I'd fear for you, but you've had Cali summers, so you'll live. You CAN'T do the no AC + windows open + Fans blasting thing you can do in the desert though. It's too sticky.

Obamacare has been fine for me so far. (:

And Galveston is not a CA beach. But I've never been a beach goer... It seems kind of mucky compared, though.

[DRob4JC]

Summers...

My kid is in college at Tucson.

That heat is like opening up a hot oven.

Here... think sauna. Then you have the nights on occasion where it's 88 degrees and humid at 11:00 pm.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

I'll start with your "what's Galveston like". First I'll talk about just the beach. Galveston beaches aren't as good as some close to LA (Santa Monica, etc). But the ones in Cali are far from too notch beaches as well. If you take a drive from Houston to South Padre Island, or even Corpus Christi, beaches over there look better than any California beach. Atleast from my experience. Only "truly amazing beaches" you'd see are on the southern East Coast when you get down to Florida or even South Carolina.

Now Galveston beaches sometimes vary. I've been there where the water is super grey and a lot of seaweed. But I've went before when the water was crystal clear and no seaweed. It's usually around late August-September.

And Galveston has a lot more to offer than beaches as well. Of course there is Pleasure Pier, which to me is better than Santa Monica pier. But Galveston is still more expensive. There's schlitterbahn water park. There's Moddy Gardens. Really a lot to do for such a small suburb in Houston

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Now a lot of activities, oh yeah. It has a lot of the stuff most other major cities have Shopping, Sports, parks, etc. Also one of the best food scenes out there. Whatever you want to eat you can find it in Houston.

There's proximity to Austin for a hipster-live music scene. San Antonio for crazy amusement parks. South Padre Island for nicer beaches than Galveston. Lake Charles for casino gambling.

You'll probably enjoy the nightlife and different neighborhoods have different night life feels so definitely experiment.

Summer's can be bad if you're not used to heat. Houston has a mix of humidity and high rise building everywhere that trap the heat. To me it's not bad. But if you are the type of person that hates heat, then for you it would be. If you're not, though, then you shouldn't have to worry too much about it.

Don't even ask me about the health care lol

[gwarnecke]

Houston has much of what LA has except for the hills and mild summers. Plenty of festivals, culture, museums, great food, etc.

Galveston is okay, but it's at least a full-day trip. Not like LA where you can hop on I-10 and be at the beach in 30 minutes.

Although we don't have the awesome hills and hiking trails of LA, we do have scenic parks that are great for running and being active (Memorial Park, Terry Hershey Park).

As a sometimes-tourist to LA, I imagine you locals get sick of the tourist crowds clogging up the streets, sidewalks and parks. That definitely isn't an issue in Houston.

Traffic isn't as bad in Houston as in LA, but this is somewhat counteracted by the fact that everything's further apart here!

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

I grew up in LA and live here now. They have some similarities and just as many differences. There are plenty of activities to keep yourself busy so I wouldn't worry about that. Its a very cultural city with great museums and theatrical institutions. We have an amazing food scene. Not quite on the level of LA, but still very good. Its a very multicultural city as well. Again, not quite on the level of LA, but still top 5-7 in the US in both those categories. Traffic is a breeze compared to LA here.


Now for the differences:


1) Houston is quite a bit more conservative than LA. Its pretty libertarian in nature.


2) The beaches here are terrible compared to the ones in LA. But South Padre is 4.5 hours away if you need a good beach.


3) This is a Southern City. Its more slower paced than LA.


4) The nightlife here is just ok on the whole. I like the bars and theres some great patio restaurants/bars here. The city is not nearly as nightlife centric as LA. Its not a boring city whatsoever, but I haven't really seen anything Id call special about the nightlife here.


5) Personally I actually like the summers here. I like the humidity and I like the heat. It is pretty oppressive though.


6) Houston is flat and compared to LA, geographically subpar. There are some nice pine forests with great trails though.


Honestly the biggest difference is that LA is surrounded by great beaches, mountains, and desert. LA has a mild climate as well. We don't have that here. However, if you can get past those two things, Houston is a great city. I really don't think there is a better bang for your buck city.

[shortel]

Just don't come here looking to change things into californias way of doing things. Texans do things a certain way and we like it that way.

[TheMoreYouKnow]

It's quite funny to read the difference of opinions between the people who are from Houston and the other people who have moved here (from California) specifically.

LA and Houston are very similar in many many ways.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by TheMoreYouKnow

It's quite funny to read the difference of opinions between the people who are from Houston and the other people who have moved here (from California) specifically.

LA and Houston are very similar in many many ways.

The people who lived in both cities will give you a more balanced perspective.