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I live in the Energy Corridor. It's definitely safe but there aren't a ton of young people who live here, at least in my neighborhood - it's more family-oriented. If I was in my late 20s, I would probably live inside the loop, perhaps in the Heights or Montrose. Of course ultimately I would want to live close to my work location. Long commutes in Houston are tiring and dangerous in cases - best to avoid them if possible.
I agree with either metro being a possible good fit for you, and your employment should be the deciding factor. That said, in Houston, if you're looking for a more suburban-type location yet with good access to social scene and young people, I don't know that Katy, Sugar Land, or Pearland are going to be satisfactory. The west side around Memorial City / CityCentre and Westchase would probably be better options. This is assuming you're looking for rental apartments or townhomes, though there may be attainable single family rentals nearby as well.
I am a 27 year old, single woman looking to move to Houston or Dallas before the summer of 2021. I've visited both cities before and I can see myself living in either location however I need advice on which might be a better fit.
Likes: Art galleries, open mic nights, paint and sips, stand up paddle boarding, swimming, trying new restaurants, going to bars, bowling, playing pool, concerts (pre COVID-19) plus more. I don't care for materialistic things so I don't care about shopping.
I currently live and work in the Northern VA area so traffic doesn't bother me. I'm looking into the Katy, Sugar Land or Pearland area and plan to rent at first.
Questions: I do plan on being social so I would like to know how is the dating scene, is it easy to make new friends, which side of the city I should stay away from, how is the job market post COVID-19 (I work in IT), are utilities high, and was it hard finding a church home?
Recreationally, you should bounce around between Montrose and EaDo and areas in between. Of different places I’ve lived, the dating scene in Houston is as good as it gets, the rest depends on you personally. If you can’t find a good partner in Houston, you probably won’t have much success elsewhere.
Art Galleries: there’s many, but the notable ones are Menil Collection, Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University, the Asia Society, and the Contemporary Arts Museum. I also recommend the Houston Museum of African culture. Houston edges out Dallas on this one but not by a lot.
Open Mic Nights: Plenty to choose from, check out places concentrated in Montrose, the Heights, and EaDo. Every venue will have their own style, so find what fits you best. From comedy to different genres there’s too much too choose from. This one is a tie for both cities.
Paint and sips: Fun fact: Pinot’s Palette started in Houston and is still headquartered here. There’s plenty more of those to choose from but since it’s not my forte, I won’t recommend on something that I’m not too familiar with.
Water sports: Kemah and Galveston. Have everything you’re looking for. Or even Lake Conroe but I recommend the first two. But you mentioned paddling, so. Houston wins this one for obvious reasons.
Trying new restaurants: The good thing about Houston is different neighborhoods have completely different culinary experiences. Chinatown, Third Ward, Viet Town, Koreatown for example but even beyond just ethnic areas. I’ll **** off Houstonians as I always do on this one. But Dallas has made enough recent strides to not make a difference here. You can get most cuisines in both cities.
Bar scene and nightlife: This is very close between the two. Me and my friend group go out in both cities very frequently and you’ll likely enjoy both. The thing that makes me us enjoy Houston a slight bit more is that there are more nightlife events in Houston. Festivals, theme nights, etc. Also there’s more to do after 2AM in Houston. But you’ll enjoy both and wherever you end up, I recommend taking a trip to the other sometime.
Bowling and playing pool: Tie. Any major city has this and then some.
Concerts: All major concert tours stop in Houston. Even though Austin gets dubbed as the live Music Capital of the world, this is cap to me since they can’t support the major tours. However, Austin does exceed in smaller more niche concerts which is where they get their nickname from. This one is a tie between HOU and DFW, however I’m a Latin trap fan and Houston gets much more Latin trap/reggaeton concerts then any other Texas city. That’s where my preference comes in. But overall it should be a tie.
Shopping: Depends on your niche. Houston gets more stand alone high end stores than Dallas, but Dallas’ middle class shopping is spread out everywhere so people enjoy the shopping there for that reason. I don’t mind Houston’s shopping being centralized, though. I enjoy it more that way actually. But for families, I can see why they’d prefer the suburban shopping type.
Based on your info, I’d mainly state away from Southeast Houston when deciding where to live. I absolutely love Katy and it’s only getting better. The malls, the water park, the new boardwalk. There’s even many job opportunities that continue to come in. Fun fact: Katy has its own Chinatown. And if visiting Katy, I recommend trying the Venezuelan food!
Recreationally, you should bounce around between Montrose and EaDo and areas in between. Of different places I’ve lived, the dating scene in Houston is as good as it gets, the rest depends on you personally. If you can’t find a good partner in Houston, you probably won’t have much success elsewhere.
Art Galleries: there’s many, but the notable ones are Menil Collection, Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University, the Asia Society, and the Contemporary Arts Museum. I also recommend the Houston Museum of African culture. Houston edges out Dallas on this one but not by a lot.
Open Mic Nights: Plenty to choose from, check out places concentrated in Montrose, the Heights, and EaDo. Every venue will have their own style, so find what fits you best. From comedy to different genres there’s too much too choose from. This one is a tie for both cities.
Paint and sips: Fun fact: Pinot’s Palette started in Houston and is still headquartered here. There’s plenty more of those to choose from but since it’s not my forte, I won’t recommend on something that I’m not too familiar with.
Water sports: Kemah and Galveston. Have everything you’re looking for. Or even Lake Conroe but I recommend the first two. But you mentioned paddling, so. Houston wins this one for obvious reasons.
Trying new restaurants: The good thing about Houston is different neighborhoods have completely different culinary experiences. Chinatown, Third Ward, Viet Town, Koreatown for example but even beyond just ethnic areas. I’ll **** off Houstonians as I always do on this one. But Dallas has made enough recent strides to not make a difference here. You can get most cuisines in both cities.
Bar scene and nightlife: This is very close between the two. Me and my friend group go out in both cities very frequently and you’ll likely enjoy both. The thing that makes me us enjoy Houston a slight bit more is that there are more nightlife events in Houston. Festivals, theme nights, etc. Also there’s more to do after 2AM in Houston. But you’ll enjoy both and wherever you end up, I recommend taking a trip to the other sometime.
Bowling and playing pool: Tie. Any major city has this and then some.
Concerts: All major concert tours stop in Houston. Even though Austin gets dubbed as the live Music Capital of the world, this is cap to me since they can’t support the major tours. However, Austin does exceed in smaller more niche concerts which is where they get their nickname from. This one is a tie between HOU and DFW, however I’m a Latin trap fan and Houston gets much more Latin trap/reggaeton concerts then any other Texas city. That’s where my preference comes in. But overall it should be a tie.
Shopping: Depends on your niche. Houston gets more stand alone high end stores than Dallas, but Dallas’ middle class shopping is spread out everywhere so people enjoy the shopping there for that reason. I don’t mind Houston’s shopping being centralized, though. I enjoy it more that way actually. But for families, I can see why they’d prefer the suburban shopping type.
Based on your info, I’d mainly state away from Southeast Houston when deciding where to live. I absolutely love Katy and it’s only getting better. The malls, the water park, the new boardwalk. There’s even many job opportunities that continue to come in. Fun fact: Katy has its own Chinatown. And if visiting Katy, I recommend trying the Venezuelan food!
Thank you soo much for the detailed advice. Both of the cities seem so similar in ways that I'm starting to feel I can't go wrong with either.
From a safety aspect, Houston's bad areas are spread out over the city, meaning there's no single bad side of Houston. Generally, the bad areas of Houston are inside loop 610, although some hoods are located outside the loop. ParaguaneroSwag is spot on with everything else.
Not to be a debbie downer, but neither Houston or Dallas are interesting/charming/fun enough places to be to relocate to without a job. They're both huge, anonymous metropolises that don't really care about you. They're both great places to be rich, and terrible places to be poor (with Houston at the greater extreme on both ends). Without a personal fortune, a marketable degree/skills or I suppose really good looks you'll have a hard time earning enough to live in the comfortable, fun parts of either city.
Not to be a debbie downer, but neither Houston or Dallas are interesting/charming/fun enough places to be to relocate to without a job. They're both huge, anonymous metropolises that don't really care about you. They're both great places to be rich, and terrible places to be poor (with Houston at the greater extreme on both ends). Without a personal fortune, a marketable degree/skills or I suppose really good looks you'll have a hard time earning enough to live in the comfortable, fun parts of either city.
This is true with the caveat that Houston and Dallas have among the lowest COL for major metros in the US. OP is moving from DC, where wages are typically pretty high - maybe her savings can go further here? That said, I would not move to either of these cities without a job in hand.
-Both cities are more religious than your average city (Dallas ever so slightly moreso), but I never once in either city had anyone ask me about my beliefs, where I went to church, or anything else on topic. I never understood the need to paint either place as overly religious. Agnostics like myself can exist either place and never have to be caught up in religious culture.
Was watching local Dallas TV about the plastic factory fire this morning. Heard during a newscast that the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth were holding A Day of Prayer against Coronavirus today.
I'm expecting the Eucharistic Procession down Dallas and Fort Worth's main arteries today, similarly during the black plague a few centuries ago. Oh wait, this is the Evangelical Protestant Bible Belt--never mind!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag
Art Galleries: there’s many, but the notable ones are Menil Collection, Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University, the Asia Society, and the Contemporary Arts Museum. I also recommend the Houston Museum of African culture. Houston edges out Dallas on this one but not by a lot.
You completely left out the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH). It's on the same level as the Art Institute of Chicago or the main Getty (L.A.) campus and unmatched in Texas.
Was watching local Dallas TV about the plastic factory fire this morning. Heard during a newscast that the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth were holding A Day of Prayer against Coronavirus today.
I'm expecting the Eucharistic Procession down Dallas and Fort Worth's main arteries today, similarly during the black plague a few centuries ago. Oh wait, this is the Evangelical Protestant Bible Belt--never mind!
You completely left out the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH). It's on the same level as the Art Institute of Chicago or the main Getty (L.A.) campus and unmatched in Texas.
I left it out on purpose. not because it’s bad, clearly it’s a great museum. But OP seems to be more into themed, more flavorful galleries. As great as the Museum of Fine Arts is, it definitely has a museum vibe and not the art gallery vibe from the Menil Collection. It’s more... we’ll artsy
I retired in San Antonio. A city that cares about me.
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