Can Houston really be considered a cheap city anymore? (apartment complex, neighborhoods)

[OducksFTW!]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

Houston is still way cheaper. I just don't think people in Houston have any idea how much it costs to live in cities like Boston, DC, LA, San Francisco, and the like. (I think it's really because people in those cities more often rent than buy.) ASK people about $200K houses in these cities and they will stare at you like you just smacked them in the face...and don't even get started on taxes.

I have friends in Manhattan and Brooklyn who could be paying a mortgage on a house here for what they pay for a ROOM in an apartment with roommates there. I'm currently working on my move there and hoping to find a room in an apartment for <$800/month, and it's not so easy. That's more than what I pay in Montrose for a decent 1BR apartment. While Houston lacks in city services and infrastructure, it makes up with cost of living, and the almighty job. It's more affordable than cheap now, as people are catching on, but it's easily still one of the best bargains in America.

This is what I was talking about, comparing Manhattan and Brooklyn to Montrose and Midtown Houston. There is no comparison! Your comparing NYC, THE NYC, to Houston. Houston is good, but NYC is a destination for people all over the world. Houston is a solution, a way to live a very reasonable and practical life. NYC is a destination, a place where if your friend cant afford it, someone that can will move in soon enough.

The conscience of Houstonians on NYC reminds me of the Yogi Berra saying,

"Nobody goes there, its too crowded"

[hendersj31]

You are right. But how does that change the fact that Houston is still cheaper?

Originally Posted by OducksFTW!

This is what I was talking about, comparing Manhattan and Brooklyn to Montrose and Midtown Houston. There is no comparison! Your comparing NYC, THE NYC, to Houston. Houston is good, but NYC is a destination for people all over the world. Houston is a solution, a way to live a very reasonable and practical life. NYC is a destination, a place where if your friend cant afford it, someone that can will move in soon enough.

The conscience of Houstonians on NYC reminds me of the Yogi Berra saying,

"Nobody goes there, its too crowded"

[diggity101]

saying you're an accountant for Ernst and Young in midtown is like saying you're a creative developer for one of the studios in LA. It commands a certain degree of respect

yeah, the girls really get all lathered up when you tell them you're a bean counter!

the idea that Houston is somehow more pretentious than LA is just silliness. We have a lot of wealthy foreign nationals descend on the city because of the proximity to Latin America, great shopping and international airport. The vast majority of super luxuries are driven by this demographic. It's the same sort of thing you would see in Miami, but to a lesser extent here. In the end it's all just an over generalization anyway.

It seems like a lot of people from outside of Houston feel the need to somehow justify why they ended up here and let everyone know that it's not their first choice. That's up to you, but don't be surprised when people find you obnoxious for constantly referencing how much better things were in XYZ.

[GTRdad]

load of BS here. just for reference when I worked in manhattan and lived in the NYC metro, I rented a 1bd apartment @$710 back in 2007 (before the meltdown) and it 10mins from manhattan. of course people think I was crazy to live there with the non whites and common folks. That changed a bit when the cherry blossom festival comes around and everyone goes there. That apartment was right on the biggest bunch of cherry blossoms tree thingers 2nd only to washington DC. $710/mo! and i lived there for 10years (started @$525)
Houston and every realestate pricing is based on 'location, location, location' to everyone literally pressured by their peers/media/housing industry. My house in houston bought new, 20min from the galleria during rushhour is now fully paid. So yeah, houston is cheap

[diggity101]

so you lived in the slums....awesome. Maybe we can plant some cherry blossoms in Gulfton and move you over there

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by diggity101

yeah, the girls really get all lathered up when you tell them you're a bean counter!

the idea that Houston is somehow more pretentious than LA is just silliness. We have a lot of wealthy foreign nationals descend on the city because of the proximity to Latin America, great shopping and international airport. The vast majority of super luxuries are driven by this demographic. It's the same sort of thing you would see in Miami, but to a lesser extent here. In the end it's all just an over generalization anyway.

It seems like a lot of people from outside of Houston feel the need to somehow justify why they ended up here and let everyone know that it's not their first choice. That's up to you, but don't be surprised when people find you obnoxious for constantly referencing how much better things were in XYZ.

I never said Houston is pretentious at all or said that LA is better. I said that a lot of Houstonians keep up with the joneses, there's emphasis on what you do and what it has gotten you. Its to a lesser extent like you said like Miami, and I would include Dallas in there too. This isn't all of Houston of course.

I wasn't even talking about the super wealthy. Most of the ambition in Houston I've noticed is less set on making it big time millionaire like you would see in NYC and LA but trying to get into that upper middle class; gated community, McMansion, white Tahoe, shopping at the Town Centre. Something like that. It's more easily accessible and people shoot for that. That's what I'm talking about. Most jobs in Houston aren't creative, they're a means to an end so the emphasis is what has your job gotten you, not what did you create at your job. Its a very practical business professional oriented town. That's what I was trying to say.

[radiolibre99]

yeah, the girls really get all lathered up when you tell them you're a bean counter!

Apparently you've never went out to the bars in town. It's very different to say you're in a creative field in Houston because there's no major industry there. Saying you're in one of the top industries in Houston is like saying you're in the entertainment industry in LA, Wall Street in NYC or in government in DC. The top industries on said city tend to dominate a big piece if the culture in each city because they also capitalize on cultural capital.

[diggity101]

I lived in Midtown for 6 years so I was out there plenty.

Like anywhere, there are plenty of girls that will respond to a guy driving a nice car, wearing nice clothing, with a nice watch and buying drinks for her an her friends. None of that has anything to do with whether he is in a "creative" business, an accountant or an oil tycoon. It has everything to do with them being interested in your money.

If you walk into a bar wearing Lee jeans and a grimy t-shirt, I promise they won't give a crap that you're an accountant for one of the Big Four. Maybe in LA, you could convince the ladies you're the next James Franco and are just waiting on someone to look at your script.

You keep harping on the difference between "creative" jobs in CA and "means to an end" jobs in TX as if somehow everyone in LA is only in the business for arts sake or something. That stereotype is laughable to me as most people in the country view the west coast film/tv industry as a vapid, pretentious wasteland. I'm not one to judge.

Pretty much everything you described above about "keeping up with the Jonses" can be applied to any mid-size to large city in the country. It's more of a societal thing than a geographic anomaly. Trying to take your anecdotal experiences in a city of 4 million and compare them with your anecdotal experiences in a a city of 2 million is a little silly.

[radiolibre99]

Good god so there's absolutely no difference culturally between LA and Houston? Look I understand generalizing two major cities but c'mon to say that the top industries don't influence the culture a bit is silly too. It's not even about creative job vs means to an end, it's just that your access to the top industries in each city looks better. I'm specifically talking about the culture around young professionals. Of course there is keeping up with the joneses everywhere but Houston is a new city with new development and it reminds me more if professional culture of Miami and Dallas than NYC and LA.

[diggity101]

That's funny. My friends from Miami always complain about how different Houston is. I guess we can't please anybody!

And I never said there was no cultural difference. I'm not really even trying to defend Houston as I don't think we have much night life culture as it seems to change areas every 5 years. I just thought it was funny that you acted like women's skivies would drop in Houston if you told them you worked for Deloitte.

I'm also simply pointing out that you are looking at the two cities through your own lens and are trying to extrapolate from there. If I came from Houston to LA with my own biases and stereotypes, you would likely be saying the same thing to me.