Moving to Houston, where to live and what to do? (Austin: restaurant, bars)

[taii1234]

Originally Posted by theone33

You cant walk in Uptown, I guess you could but you'll be drenched in sweat to get from place to place. Lots of cool stuff around the Southwest though. Midtown is terrible unless your a yuppie.

Apprecaite it. Yes, I am a yuppie so it should be my type of scene.

I'm thinking either Midtown or Downtown. Downtown because I am near midtown, but far enough that I can get away from the weekend crowd if needed. Midtown because everything is walking distance. I've even narrowed it down to two different lofts/appartments:

The Hogg Palace in Downtown or Camden Midtown Apartments

[theone33]

Yes midtown caters to transplants, especially white ones. Crappy overpriced food, racist door policies at bars and clubs, overpriced rent for closets. Whatever floats your boat.

[taii1234]

Originally Posted by theone33

Yes midtown caters to transplants, especially white ones. Crappy overpriced food, racist door policies at bars and clubs, overpriced rent for closets. Whatever floats your boat.

Is this true? I am African American and this is alarming. Can anyone confirm this about Midtown?

[jj2015]

Nickole makes a lot of great suggestions.

"weekend warrior with a touch of culture and sophistication" love it!

To live, I would recommend the Museum District for you, or Montrose. The Museum District is walking distance to well, the museums, Hermann Park and Rice U/Rice Village for your culture and sophistication. It's next to 288 and close to 59 making anywhere an easy commute. It's also walking distance to the rail to get into town. $1500 is a good price point for an apartment there. Montrose is a little hipper and a bit grittier. My hubby and I llivedthere before moving to the burbs. our friends visiting from out of town were always surprised by the walkability, and loved the Menil, Rothko Chapel and St Thomas University campus which are in Montrose. Prices range more in Montrose and you get what you pay for. You can get an $800 roach infested apartment or a $1000 tiny new bachelor pad. Montrose is centrally located and near the best restaurants and bars the city has to offer.

Things to do, everything Nickole said. Frankly there are not that many outdoorsy things to do. and if there are, natives don't do them in the summer. Fall and winter is when the Houston outdoors really perk up. Running in Memorial Park and Rice are popular spots which to me is sort of the extent of outdoor activities. A lot of people bike, but there are a lot of ignorant drivers so be careful! There is a trail that goes along Buffalo Bayou that's nice. Check out Yelp for places to eat. Best shopping is the Galleria. NASA in Clear Lake is worth visiting. Museums, symphony, theatre, opera, ballet. We have all the big city type amenities.

Anywhere inside the 610 loop is very diverse. Check out meetup.com for events. Join a young professional group like the one at the Natural Science Museum for regular events and happy hours.

[detachable arm]

Originally Posted by taii1234

Is this true? I am African American and this is alarming. Can anyone confirm this about Midtown?

Yes it is true in some establishments. Has been for a long time. But it isnt like black and Mexican clubs welcome whites with open arms.

That whole strip from just west of downtown to Memorial is the whitest part of town. They keep prices high there to keep certain people out FYI. All natives know this but they won't say it unless they are in private. But again it isn't like 3rd ward blacks want whites anywhere near their neighborhoods.

And whenever they say that part of the inner loop is diverse, they mean commuters. And after sundown the residents are vast majority white BUT they have brown, blonde and red hair, brown, blue and green eyes, and are all different shapes and sizes and come from many different places. Everyone knows the gentrification project was successful. I mean, upper Kirby just got a 2015 model Olive Garden. But compared to where a lot of those residents are from, where marriages among whites with different eye and hair colors = interracial, that population is still pretty diverse.

[theone33]

Everywhere inside 610 definetly is not diverse. That depends on where you are in the loop.

[Sunderpig2]

Did someone forget to point out that Houston is in the south? It might be a huge urban city, and in a state on the fringes of the south, but it still has many remnants of the confederate / older way of thinking.

[detachable arm]

Originally Posted by Sunderpig2

Did someone forget to point out that Houston is in the south? It might be a huge urban city, and in a state on the fringes of the south, but it still has many remnants of the confederate / older way of thinking.

If northern cities like Detroit and Baltimore are bastions of the new way of thinking, I will stay right here.

[bamba_boy]

Originally Posted by taii1234

Is this true? I am African American and this is alarming. Can anyone confirm this about Midtown?

I'm white but my wife is African American. Lived in MidTown for 4 months recently. Didn't observe this at all in restaurants or clubs, including karaoke-clubs - the most Asian/White activity possible :-) - in MidTown and inner Memorial area. She's a stylish dresser. I suspect if a AA person went into an upscale club in MidTown in sagging jeans with boxers exposed they'd be given a hard time at an upscale club. But so would an Eminem-type white boy. Also, note that MidTown is between the originally nearly all-black 3rd and 4rth Wards. While now more mixed, if you move east into 3rd-Ward, while somewhat gentrified, you'll still find a great scene of R&B and Zydeco clubs, soul food restaurants (This Is IT, chitterlins to die for on Sundays) and no problem with redneck bouncers. But like I said, I really don't think this would be a problem anyway unless you are really looking out of place for the establishment - more on how you are dressed than because of your race.

[theone33]

Its been confirmed at multiple Midtown places. See Yelp reviews for Red Door.