Houston or Sacramento? (Katy, Atlanta, Nevada: live, native, sound)

[jim1967]

I'd go with Sacramento. I've lived in Houston for about 3 years now, after living all my life on the west coast. Houston is alright, but doesn't have near the scenery of CA. Houston looks like a real bargain when looking at home prices, but be sure to check out your taxes, they are very high. Electric rates are crazy due to deregulation. A lot of people that are life long TX residents may not realize how high these are if that's all they've ever had.

[ykcyb4]

I have a job offer both in Houston and Sacramento. $75k in Sacramento and $60K in Houston. Being a Mechanical Engineer am attracted to Houston in terms of job oppurtunities.....but like to move to CA too. Bit confused. Can anybody tell me whether salaries mentioned will be enough for the respective cities or not?

Thanks

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by momma113026

We lived in the south area( elk grove). It was cheaper than living in Davis,
But the bottom line is the cost of living. The life afforded here is great. I still work as hard. But do not sweat bills as hard.

Elk Grove and Davis. I swear...if you were able to fade out the foothills way in the distance behind both of those, it's like you were thrown into the middle of Kansas...the only give away would be the stucco houses and the shake or tile roofs. Davis is so expensive and overrated for what you get...I have never liked it, though some departments at UC are reputed to be good.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by ykcyb4

I have a job offer both in Houston and Sacramento. $75k in Sacramento and $60K in Houston. Being a Mechanical Engineer am attracted to Houston in terms of job oppurtunities.....but like to move to CA too. Bit confused. Can anybody tell me whether salaries mentioned will be enough for the respective cities or not?

Sure, the 15K difference will more than pay your California State Income tax. Then you have to see how much of the rest is chewed up by housing. Prices for housing in Sac have plummeted, but they are still not cheap. (Check out Northern California local news and information from The Sacramento Bee - sacbee.com and look under the Homes tab to do a free MLS search). I have a feeling Houston may offer more in terms of big city amenities (in fact, I'm almost sure of it) and Sacramento won't, but you will be able to escape to San Francisco (87 mi) and Lake Tahoe (95 mi) as much as you want. I put on a lot of miles because I wanted to spend weekends in places other than Sacramento.

When I lived in Sacramento, I met a lot of nice people. In addition to nice people, which are easy to find, there are also a lot of dolts. Some of the people in the labor pool are...well...uninspiring. Depends on what you do and which town you do it in. Generally, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Roseville and Rocklin are the higher-end suburbs with nice office space and brighter people working there at the better companies. That's my take.

I've never lived in Houston, only visited. The problem with Sac, for me, is that it's such a mixed bag of good and ho-hum. You will have to do a weighing of variables on your own based on what is important.

[tstone]

Just to set things straight:

If you have good credit and are inclined to do a little research, electricity is cheaper now than it was before deregulation. Not stellar, but fixed 10.7 is the best rate as of now, 9.6 on variable. Sacramento is running about 11.1:

http://www.powertochoose.org/_content/_compare/compare/Comparison_Centerpoint.xls (broken link)
JEA - Quarterly Electric Rates

Temperatures look fairly close to Houston's, slightly cooler but more sunny:

Climate in Houston, Texas
Climate in Sacramento, California

So in similar homes you can expect to be paying the about same for electricity in both places. In Texas, you just have to analyze the number games these electric companies play and get into a plan that's good for your needs. The government isn't going to take care of you here.

Anyway, if being surrounded by some of the best scenery in the country on the weekends is high up on your list, you'll prefer Sacramento. If you have 3 day weekends you can regularly make it to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite in the summer. Wine country and SF (NorCal coast) are closeby as well.

Houston really has no natural scenery worth mentioning, other than a few mini pine forests to the immediate N and NE. But you can get more house for the money (save more). Probably more money to be made here, too. Perhaps use that extra money to go to cool places like Yosemite and Lake Tahoe twice a year? Or get caught up in the work work work sleep pattern too many of us are familiar with.

[momma113026]

Houston really has no natural scenery worth mentioning, other than a few mini pine forests to the immediate N and NE. But you can get more house for the money (save more). Probably more money to be made here, too. Perhaps use that extra money to go to cool places like Yosemite and Lake Tahoe twice a year? Or get caught up in the work work work sleep pattern too many of us are familiar with.

This is what I do, visit for three day weekends, several times a year.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by MovinOn36

I have a job opportunity that is going to give me the choice between Houston or Sacramento. I've heard Sacramento is one of the most boring cities in the US. Are there areas around Houston where you can go biking or is there too much (car) traffic, or is the heat and humidity too high that no one goes biking? I'm atheist/agnostic, but I don't wear a pin on my sleeve that says so. Are people in Houston going to ask me what church I'll be attending? Are there many good libraries in Houston? How easy is it to go to the beach on the weekend? Are there loads of people at the beach? Is there a mad rush every Friday? What is the air quality in Houston like? Is there a lot of culture in Houston? Too many questions?

I'm from California and I live in Houston. Houston is a MUCH better place than Sacramento but the one BIG thing Sac has going for it is it's near the Bay area. The Bay area(If you can afford it) is head and shoulders better than any place texas has to offer.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by usc619

The Bay area(If you can afford it) is head and shoulders better than any place texas has to offer.

And few people can or you just compromise your standard of living to where you would be depressed. Once, I was at a retreat in Danville, CA, the upscale East Bay suburb 30 miles from SF. I pulled a flyer on a 1 bed - 1 ba condo, for curiosity. It was 309,000. Even at 250,000 it's highway robbery. I'm sorry, but if you live in the greater SF area (30 miles out in Concord, or in Fremont, or wherever), you might as well live in Sac and just go to "the City" when you want to. It's not like you get the SF lifestyle/amenities in those far flung burbs.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

And few people can or you just compromise your standard of living to where you would be depressed. Once, I was at a retreat in Danville, CA, the upscale East Bay suburb 30 miles from SF. I pulled a flyer on a 1 bed - 1 ba condo, for curiosity. It was 309,000. Even at 250,000 it's highway robbery. I'm sorry, but if you live in the greater SF area (30 miles out in Concord, or in Fremont, or wherever), you might as well live in Sac and just go to "the City" when you want to. It's not like you get the SF lifestyle/amenities in those far flung burbs.

ha ha true, but my point was living NEAR the Bay area can be a big plus.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by usc619

ha ha true, but my point was living NEAR the Bay area can be a big plus.

What part of Houston do you call home? I'm a native Californian that has also lived in Atlanta, Nevada and the Northwest and am seriously considering IAH. So it sounds like you like it.