Job offer in Houston...ugh life drama (The Woodlands, Spring: apartments, rental)

[thisgrub4u]

New last-minute member. Through some networking I interviewed for a job in Houston and now suddenly my wife and I are contemplating the move. The offer is very good (but not a PACK YOUR BAGS WE ARE GONE type of offer), however we own a home in Wisconsin so toss in the drama of relocation and evaluating the opportunity and my head is spinning. I travel for work quite a bit so i've been all over, but never to Texas, so I just don't have a good reference.

The job would be located in NW Houston, around the 249/Sam Houston Parkway area, from what I've seen here "live near your work" is a must, so a place with an easy commute would be ideal. We will probably rent for the first year until we can figure out where we want to be, but we want to start a family, have a home similar to size as our current home (2200sq ft, 2.5 bath, 4 bedroom) so good schools and a place to become part of the community are extremely important. We are both in our 30's.

Timing of this is proving to be difficult, I'm in the middle of important projects at work and we have some trips we have to take so financially it will be really tight for a while, especially without my wife bringing in extra income until she finds a job. Plus the thought of selling our home in WI, and if it stalls for a bit...ugh.

We will probably fly back down in the next week or two to spend a weekend in Houston so my wife can learn about the company and it's people, and be part of the process. The people I have met so far have been wonderful, really have been given Texas hospitality.

While we've lived all over WI, picking up and moving is an exciting/scary proposition. We are still working out the job details, and are still trying to decide if it is the right move. Being from WI we'll be going from harsh winters (which we are growing tired of) to harsh summers which we'll probably feel like we are melting...and of course how the heck to you celebrate the holidays with no snow!

CLIFFs notes, heck any direction would be appreciated!!!

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by thisgrub4u

New last-minute member. Through some networking I interviewed for a job in Houston and now suddenly my wife and I are contemplating the move. The offer is very good (but not a PACK YOUR BAGS WE ARE GONE type of offer), however we own a home in Wisconsin so toss in the drama of relocation and evaluating the opportunity and my head is spinning. I travel for work quite a bit so i've been all over, but never to Texas, so I just don't have a good reference.

The job would be located in NW Houston, around the 249/Sam Houston Parkway area, from what I've seen here "live near your work" is a must, so a place with an easy commute would be ideal. We will probably rent for the first year until we can figure out where we want to be, but we want to start a family, have a home similar to size as our current home (2200sq ft, 2.5 bath, 4 bedroom) so good schools and a place to become part of the community are extremely important. We are both in our 30's.

Timing of this is proving to be difficult, I'm in the middle of important projects at work and we have some trips we have to take so financially it will be really tight for a while, especially without my wife bringing in extra income until she finds a job. Plus the thought of selling our home in WI, and if it stalls for a bit...ugh.

We will probably fly back down in the next week or two to spend a weekend in Houston so my wife can learn about the company and it's people, and be part of the process. The people I have met so far have been wonderful, really have been given Texas hospitality.

While we've lived all over WI, picking up and moving is an exciting/scary proposition. We are still working out the job details, and are still trying to decide if it is the right move. Being from WI we'll be going from harsh winters (which we are growing tired of) to harsh summers which we'll probably feel like we are melting...and of course how the heck to you celebrate the holidays with no snow!

CLIFFs notes, heck any direction would be appreciated!!!

Sounds like Tomball for you guys. Let us know what happened with your reconnoiter trip ...

[Tya1987]

I just relocated to NW Houston from Milwaukee last month, I also came down for a job with my wife (no kids) and we are doing exactly what you are thinking and we are currently renting until we get to know the area. I'm not sure what your budget is, and what your priorities are (i.e. Schools? Commute time? Night life? Etc...) but some things to keep in mind... When you come to TX you won't pay state income tax, im not sure if you factored that in, but it makes a difference. Also the housing market is drastically better here, you get way more for your $$$. I have found that overall the people are very friendly and helpful, similar to what I experienced in WI. With that said it looks physically different to Wisconsin, much more flat, less natural beauty in the city and surrounding areas, however when you get out towards hill country that changes.

I could go on about more, but I guess I'd have to know more about some specifics of what you are looking for.

[ipuck]

Depending on budget, there are some nice new development on Tomball. They are doing some major construction work on 249 so it is expanding rapidly.

If you going to rent, there are some nice apartments on cypresswood and 249 or louretta and 249. There is a nice area call vintage park on louretta and 249 where shopping and food is quite good.

Regarding Houston in general, instead of sub zero winter, you get 100 degree summer. I lived in NE for many years and frankly can't stand another year of digging snow so this is wonderful for me.

[Weatherguy]

The good thing about the Tomball/Spring/Woodlands area is that much of the area is pine forest, so a lot of the neighborhoods (not all) are built in the woods and are quite pretty. Once you go north about 40-50 miles, you get into a landscape similar to WI, with hills and woods combined. That would be too far to drive to work, though, but I think you could find some great areas in the Tomball/Spring/Woodlands area.

Although Houston and it's suburbs don't have hills, there's abundant greenery due to the copious annual rainfall amounts. Summer is indeed brutal and lasts from about mid May until early October. Sometimes summer comes earlier and lasts well into October. It varies. Temperatures during the rest of the year you will find pleasant, although there are typically some extended periods of gray and fairly cold (we just came out of 2 weeks of this). Ice and a little snow occur maybe once every 5 years or so, so it's very rarely an issue. If the skies are clear, nighttime temps in the winter are much cooler or colder in the burbs than in the city during the winter. Light freezes aren't that unusual, but extreme temperatures are rare in the winter. If you like thunderstoms, Houston is the place. Severe lightning and torrential downpours can occur any time during the year. Recently, there was lightning and thunder with temperatures in the upper 30s and 40s. Flooding can be a problem with damage to homes, so you really have to do your homework regarding flood plains. I'm not sure whether flooding has been a problem in the northwest suburbs. In the city proper and south side, it can be a big issue.

[DejaBlue]

I say Jersey Village. You'll be against the 249 traffic. Until Grand Parkway is done coming down 249 from Tomball is a nightmare for this side. That 99 stuff is nonsense and the traffic is nonsense. I'd look around Louetta, 77064-77065 close to Jersey Village. You don't want to come down 249 right now. We don't need any more cars right now.

Do you want a house like yours to rent or is that just to buy? What's your rental budget.

With the job location, you can't go wrong with Tomball, Klein or Cyfair ISD. If you live within 30-45mins of the job schools will be good in any of those ISDs.

[Weatherguy]

By the way, 249 at SH Parkway (tollway) isn't all that far from the Woodlands. The Woodlands is viewed nationally as one of the best, if not the best, master planned communities in the country. If you drive through, you will fall in love with it. It's that beautiful. And it has a thriving downtown with a canal and lots of restaurants and shopping. Even if it's too far, you need to experience the Woodlands.

[Dopo]

Stop the obsession with The Woodlands
it's great, but is also very expensive and everybody and their mom is moving over there
also traffic is horrible and is gonna get worse with the Exxon Mobil campus.

You don't have to go all the way to The Woodlands, there's a lot of great neighborhoods close to that area.
The Champion Forest area is nice.
I recommend you avoiding anything that will make you drive on 1960 in front of Willowbrook mall... there's always traffic in front of that mall.

As a rule of thumb, anything NW of 1960 should be good.
There's not many parks in that area, if you have kids try to find a place that has a park not too far from it.

[jfre81]

Keep in mind when they say The Woodlands has a "downtown" they refer to the Town Center, a prefab Disneyland Main Street USA-ish type of thing. It's a nice change of pace from another plain suburban retail center anchored by a Wal-Mart - nothing wrong with it in and of itself. It's not a historic downtown of any sort like Midwestern towns that are much older than The Woodlands, which was built from scratch in the 1970s. This is a tour of it, but from three years ago.

[texas7]

Christmas without snow? That's why some of us stay. In all seriousness, we did get a light dusting of snow actually on Christmas a few years ago. I love shorts and flip flops on Christmas but we don't get that every year. summer christmas