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Old 02-11-2021, 09:11 AM
 
83 posts, read 128,421 times
Reputation: 206

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I've now lived in the Midwest my whole life (IL, MN) and my wife and I are thinking of moving to the Houston area. I work as a software developer, our company is virtual so I can work anywhere, and my wife (originally from China) has many friends in the Houston area. I have very little family in the US (in Chicago) and we're not moving to that financial dumpster fire while everyone is fleeing. We are thinking of leaving for the following reasons:
  • The godawful weather. I'd much rather take 95F and humid over -20F, dangerously icy, and so dry that my skin is cracking.
  • We'd like a newer house in the 300-400k range, and it seems like there are lots of new construction in that price range. Anything in that range here will get you a 1960s dump and you're competing with 30 other offers. We're fine paying a premium for a new-construction home (ideally 3BR, 1 story) and staying there for many years.
  • The PC/hyper-liberal culture here. We're middle of the road (though lean conservative) and it's become absolutely suffocating to live in most areas of the midwest, doubly so after all the events of 2020.
  • Good job market for software development if I ever need to change jobs in the future. Years ago I had a job offer there but I turned it down.

We're going to take a quick trip down in March to explore the area and see the neighborhoods. Right now my wife is leaning towards the Katy/Fulshear area. We just want a solid school district, safe neighborhood, and no snow. Ideally a trail where I could run as well. We don't need to be walking distance of "culture", museums, whatever.

Thank you all for your time.
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:25 AM
 
Location: Houston, TX
8,219 posts, read 5,377,394 times
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Hello and Welcome to Houston. I moved here from LA via Dallas myself.

Based on what youre looking for it actually sounds like the Houston area (though maybe not the city itself) would be a perfect fit. Though it is going to snow here Monday! Thats a fluke though, its just a one off through the polar vortex. The average winter day here is in the mid 60s for highs and mid 40s for lows. You might see flurries every 5-10 years so I just want to prepare you for that. Most of the time the winter is actually really nice here though.

Katy and Fulshear are nice, you may also want to check out Manvel, Hockley, and Magnolia. Lots of new builds out that way. If youre wife is Chinese though, Katy may be the best fit. My wife is Thai Chinese (though shes culturally Thai, her grandparents were from Guangzhou) and we live in the city of Houston itself. Being close to Chinatown with all its culinary offerings was a must. I dont know if your wife will feel the same way, but if so definitely Katy would be the best option.

I hope that helps some!
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:39 AM
 
1,940 posts, read 3,549,266 times
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I know you can work anywhere, but will you need to fly often? Katy/Fulshear area is the farthest part of the Houston metro from the airports.

We moved last summer from SoCal and being close to an airport was a consideration. If you look at North areas (Montgomery County has the conservative-ish vibe you hint towards wanting), you will find some fantastic neighborhoods in high growth areas not too far from the main airport.

South there is the Pearland/Manvel area which is filling in quite rapidly and has a lot of people who work in the medical center (my parents built down there in 2010 and love it). That is close to Hobby airport.

Southeast has Clear Lake area with all the NASA stuff and is close to Hobby while also not too far from Galveston.

Southwest has more of an Asian community your wife may want (not sure if that is important to her) though most parts of Houston suburbs are highly integrated and welcoming.

As far as politics are concerned, Houston area folks are much less in-your-face about their political opinions than other areas of the country. We came from Orange County/Los Angeles where you find out someone's political leanings within a few hours of meeting them. Here it's just not as central of an issue (in my experience, others may have different thoughts on this). Other than seeing your neighbor's yard signs in November, you're not likely to be hit in the face with it. People here do care about those things, but it's not a huge thing.
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:52 AM
 
62 posts, read 62,132 times
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Welcome!

You're pretty much flexible to anywhere in Houston then, which is both a blessing and a curse given how large the sprawl is.

On top of Katy & Fulshear, you may want to check out Sugar Land (large Asian population), Cypress (e.g. Bridgeland, Towne Lake), and Spring & Woodlands.
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Old 02-11-2021, 10:24 AM
 
83 posts, read 128,421 times
Reputation: 206
Quote:
Originally Posted by As Above So Below... View Post
Hello and Welcome to Houston. I moved here from LA via Dallas myself.

Based on what youre looking for it actually sounds like the Houston area (though maybe not the city itself) would be a perfect fit. Though it is going to snow here Monday! Thats a fluke though, its just a one off through the polar vortex. The average winter day here is in the mid 60s for highs and mid 40s for lows. You might see flurries every 5-10 years so I just want to prepare you for that. Most of the time the winter is actually really nice here though.

Katy and Fulshear are nice, you may also want to check out Manvel, Hockley, and Magnolia. Lots of new builds out that way. If youre wife is Chinese though, Katy may be the best fit. My wife is Thai Chinese (though shes culturally Thai, her grandparents were from Guangzhou) and we live in the city of Houston itself. Being close to Chinatown with all its culinary offerings was a must. I dont know if your wife will feel the same way, but if so definitely Katy would be the best option.

I hope that helps some!
Thanks for the suggestions! Being close to ChinaTown would be a huge plus!

Quote:
Originally Posted by timtemtym View Post
I know you can work anywhere, but will you need to fly often? Katy/Fulshear area is the farthest part of the Houston metro from the airports.

...

As far as politics are concerned, Houston area folks are much less in-your-face about their political opinions than other areas of the country. We came from Orange County/Los Angeles where you find out someone's political leanings within a few hours of meeting them. Here it's just not as central of an issue (in my experience, others may have different thoughts on this). Other than seeing your neighbor's yard signs in November, you're not likely to be hit in the face with it. People here do care about those things, but it's not a huge thing.
As of now proximity to the airport isn't a huge deal. I see that without traffic it's about 45 minutes, which is perfectly fine for the amount we would normally fly in a non-Covid year.

Yeah, I just hate how in-your-face politics is over here. We're a couple that is not super political and hates talking about politics outside of the house. We'd never put up a political sign, as an example. I'm totally tolerant of others but I just find it exhausting to constantly be bombarded with this stuff. Worst of all is that it's ruining the schools here IMO - rather than trying to improve every school, the new strategy is to "even out" schools so they are all mediocre. It's all political BS (over-catering to the bottom 10% at the expense of 90% of the students) that will only hurt the kids at the end. Several of my wife's friends have told her that the situation is still much better out in the Houston suburbs.
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Old 02-11-2021, 11:41 AM
 
Location: League City
3,842 posts, read 8,241,045 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UMN2BE View Post
Good job market for software development if I ever need to change jobs in the future. Years ago I had a job offer there but I turned it down.
If you are ok with the bulk of the software jobs being in support roles (i.e doing enterprise software for companies like Home Depot, Chase Bank, and just about any major oil/gas company imaginable as opposed to startups making AI software for self driving cars) then yes lots of opportunity in this area. Even during the last recession companies were still hiring. Aerospace has a big presence, too but that is often up and down.

I mean oil/gas and healthcare do hire scientific programmers and there are startups here, but 99% of opportunities will be working for commercial companies.
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Old 02-11-2021, 12:46 PM
 
83 posts, read 128,421 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielWayne View Post
If you are ok with the bulk of the software jobs being in support roles (i.e doing enterprise software for companies like Home Depot, Chase Bank, and just about any major oil/gas company imaginable as opposed to startups making AI software for self driving cars) then yes lots of opportunity in this area. Even during the last recession companies were still hiring. Aerospace has a big presence, too but that is often up and down.

I mean oil/gas and healthcare do hire scientific programmers and there are startups here, but 99% of opportunities will be working for commercial companies.
That's what I figured - I know someone at Shell and another person at Baker Hughes. The software dev market is definitely not silicon valley (nor is it here where we live currently) and that's fine
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Old 02-11-2021, 12:57 PM
 
Location: Houston/Austin, TX
9,783 posts, read 6,455,771 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UMN2BE View Post
That's what I figured - I know someone at Shell and another person at Baker Hughes. The software dev market is definitely not silicon valley (nor is it here where we live currently) and that's fine
Yeah I agree. The other thing that works to your benefit is that the software development scene here is growing. Even if it were huge but shrinking, it would be better in my opinion to be somewhere small but growing. It’s definitely open a lot more opportunities in the long run
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Old 02-25-2021, 10:02 PM
 
53 posts, read 44,060 times
Reputation: 85
Quote:
Originally Posted by UMN2BE View Post
[*] The PC/hyper-liberal culture here. We're middle of the road (though lean conservative) and it's become absolutely suffocating to live in most areas of the midwest, doubly so after all the events of 2020.
Lol...you're going to be disappointed per this point! While Texas is red, like most big cities, Houston is a liberal city.

Katy/Fulshear is mixed - my guess is 50/50 or 60/40 liberal but it's a great place to live AND people are not in your face with politics. I saw maybe 3-4 Trump flags during the election period and may a couple Trump lawn signs but, aside from that, nothing else.
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Old 02-27-2021, 08:37 AM
 
310 posts, read 279,014 times
Reputation: 268
Where do your wife’s friends live? Do you want to be near them? Katy/Fulshear is a very nice suburban area- good schools, family-friendly, convenient amenities but a long commute to downtown/TMC/museums/zoo/airport/‘happening’ parts of town. It’s a diverse population but a homogeneous family-mode lifestyle.
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