I've heard Houston is a driving city, but can you park your car?

[gwarnecke]

Outside of downtown, the med center and maybe parts of Midtown and Montrose, free off-street parking is provided by all employers, restaurants, and shopping centers. Downtown Street parking is free after 6 pm. I believe meters are active until midnight along the Washington Corridor, but even there most restaurants provide free parking.

Overall Houston has easier parking than 99% of other similarly-large cities. The only annoyance regarding parking here is a kind of silly/petty one: there are parts of town where it is almost impossible to legally park your car somewhere and spend a few hours walking among different businesses. Parking may be free at one business, but if you leave your car and walk offsite you may return to find your car towed. Street parking your car may be impossible, because of no-parking or resident permit zones (which are completely unnecessary in a city where 99% of homes have driveways and garages). So you may literally need to move your car 2 or 3 times within a quarter-mile to avoid getting ticketed or towed.

I cannot imagine spending $1000/month on taxis - if your city and/or lifestyle require this, you seriously need to get comfortable using public transportation.