Questions About Houston and It's Nearby Areas (Sugar Land, The Woodlands: appointed, crime)

[viridianforest]

Originally Posted by mojo101

There are buses run by Metro ,largest employer in Houston,also subways ,limos,shuttle bus to take you to airport and of course lyft,uber drivers.
Fiesta is a popular Latino supermarket,long ago once a week they will take you to their store ,I dont know if it is still true.
We also have the largest Vietnamese population in the country,a few hundred thousand strong.

That's definitely more transportation options than we have here. Basically here it's one bus route right now, but it's not a 24/7 thing or anything. Lyft and Uber are flaky here because we don't have the population to support it so sometimes you'll request a ride and driver's will say they'll pick you up and then never show...glad to know it's an option there. Lyft and Uber generally do better in the bigger cities and areas.

[viridianforest]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

1. Good Suburbs 10-30 minutes from Houston - that’s a huge range. 10 minutes, no. 30 minutes yes.

2. Job market - yes great job opportunities here right now. People are saying “it depends on what you do” which is true to a degree. But overall, there should be a healthy market for most career choices.

3. Good areas to raise a family - this basically lines up with your first question. 10, minutes and 30 minutes is a huge difference

4. Weather - “tolerate heat but don’t want to” - well this is for you to decide, not us. Yes, summers are very hot in the area. Seeing you lived in Florida, expect something similar.

5. Public transport- walkable areas - nope. Welcome to Texas where freeways are a way of life. There’s walkable communities where you can do all your every day activities. But walkable city/metro area is a hard no

6. Crime rate - Not the safest city. However in reference to your post, notice that about 95% of those “violence” posts are made by the same user and think of what that tells you. The answer is that there are bad parts you’ll probably want to avoid.

7. Good hospitals? - Yes

8. Food cost - low food costs. This may be the biggest check mark of them all

Edit: Before some **** mentions “Bidenflation”, I suppose OP is asking about Houston in respect to other parts of the US, which yes will be low

9. Illegal immigration - its abundant. How does that affect the job market depends on your job. Are you a construction worker? You’ll be affected. Are you a marketer, lawyer, engineer, software developer? Not so much

10. Natural disasters - well get a hurricane time to time. Tornado watches aren’t a big problem here. Flooding can be. You can avoid it being a problem by avoiding buying in places that are affected and if it’s pouring too hard staying at home

11. Mold issues in homes? - this I have no clue on

I'm not sure how 10-30 minutes is a huge range, but I'm okay with either. Generally nearby towns in this area are 20-40 minutes away so it seems like a good distance, especially if there's a big city nearby - beats driving 2 hours to the big city. I guess it's something I've been used to.

Glad to hear that there's a lot of opportunities there as far as jobs. I'll be keeping an eye on patterns on Indeed here and there to see what type of jobs are most common.

Ha ha, I can do heat - I just don't want Phoenix, AZ heat. That's all I'm sayin' xD ha ha. I know it wasn't too specific. Some heat I can deal with, but I don't want to step on my porch and it be 120 degrees and not cooling down much at night. If that's not the case, we're good! =P Similar to Florida I could do!

Glad to know more on walkability and how there's basically none in the bigger city areas. If there was good walkability in a nearby suburb at least, I would see that as fairly doable. It's something I'll definitely be keeping in mind, though, and considering if it's something we could do for the long-term.

I've heard about more crime in the Texas cities as time goes on, but of course - the good and bad spots of the city. That's everywhere you go. As long as it isn't as high crime as Phoenix/Mesa/Tucson, AZ - I think I can deal.

Still glad that there's good hospitals and medical.

Definitely glad to hear about low food costs. That's something that's eating us alive here...(Lol, I figured the Bidenflation thing would come up in some way or other, but thankful for lower costs than here. That's for sure)!

Thinking if we end up somewhere else, we'll be avoiding the easy to weasel your way into labor jobs as that seems to be the case here, too.

Hurricanes seem a bit more predictable and manageable than some other types of natural disasters. Glad to know tornado watches aren't a huge issue. Been to Texas many times for long periods at a time, but more up north from Houston and never saw a tornado =P I know they can happen in parts, though, so I won't ignore that.

Thank you for your input. I appreciate it

[viridianforest]

Originally Posted by mojo101

1. Good Suburbs 10-30 minutes from Houston - that’s a huge range. 10 minutes, no. 30 minutes yes.
----
I live in a subdivision in Richmond,right off 1093 which turns into Westheimer rd,I run all my errands in Houston,it takes me 10 minutes to get into Houston,we do have a shopping center anchored by KR off the corner and a Walgreen.
as for mold,not as bad as other cities,may be some older houses in flood zones.
If you do not fix the problem after flooding,it is your problem.
My problem is we dont have good restaurants,they are in Houston.
Some older neighborhoods you can walk around,houston Heights? Galleria?
The problem is the summer heat and sun,you just dont want to turn into a turkey

Good to know!

I think people here ignore water damage or something because we're in the desert and that stuff should die off...right? xD We had a friend that got married and their parents had a home build from them. Brand new home, built. They moved in and eventually started their family and by the end of the first year, they came to learn that the entire home was ravaged with black mold in the walls. They ended up suing the company for all the damage. Like...brand new home...how does that happen? Something wasn't build correctly or replaced as it should've been. It was an awful situation for them...it has been quite a few years, but they're getting back on their feet.

I've also been in a home here that was moldy throughout. In the walls, ceilings, carpets, everything...lost a lot of stuff and peace of mind...don't want a repeat of that...ever!

Many home insurances here don't cover mold problems, either, which stinks so I think a lot of that goes unfixed in houses here.

The older houses would probably be the riskier ones, I can imagine that.

For sure, if there's water damage - that must get fixed. Not playing around with water damage.

[viridianforest]

Originally Posted by mojo101

There is also Dallas/Fortworth,San Anthonio,Austin to consider

We've considered the DFW area. It is overall a great area and I can see myself happy in that area. Brings back a lot of great memories, too. So much stuff to do there as well. It's been an awfully long time since I've been there, but I do know it's further from the ocean than we'd like.

Not sure if we'd want to be in San Antonio or Austin.

[mojo101]

Originally Posted by hbcu

10 minutes? what part or Houston city limits proper such as Highway 6?

I live in a subdivision,right off 1093 which leads into Houston and turn into Westheimer Blvd,Best buy is the first store in sight on the left ,It takes about 5 minutes,then I turned right on Richmond ,right on Highway 6 and left on Bellaire.
You can find pretty much everything you need on Westheimer,WMT,LOWE,HEB,Fed Exp,Whole Food are all there .
also there is a bus you can take on Westheimer if you dont feel like driving.
OP did not mention about housing,does she plan to buy or rent??

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by viridianforest

We've considered the DFW area. It is overall a great area and I can see myself happy in that area. Brings back a lot of great memories, too. So much stuff to do there as well. It's been an awfully long time since I've been there, but I do know it's further from the ocean than we'd like.

Not sure if we'd want to be in San Antonio or Austin.

DFW would be my second choice in Texas

[mojo101]

I would think there are better jobs in Austin and San Anthonio

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by mojo101

I would think there are better jobs in Austin and San Anthonio

At this particular moment, definitely not Austin. The job market there has been quite saturated over the last few years and the so called “layoffs in tech” have placed their impact. I imagine the future of Samsung and Tesla‘s will add a nice manufacturing industry when it comes around.

[mojo101]

mold is not covered in a homeowner insurance policy,if they find out you have a miold problem,they could even cancel your policy

[hendersj31]

OP posted 11 points they were seeking more information on. The way I see it there really only 4 that matter.

1. Close to the ocean for the husbands health issue. This should be paramount. Health needs to be the priority.
2. Employment opportunities. Yes there are opportunities in Houston
3. Healthcare. We have an excellent medical center.
4. Is there a safe enough family neighborhood in your budget? You haven't posted anything about budget so its impossible to say.


Put the things that matter the most on the top of your list and leave things like walkability near the bottom. Are you really asking about weather, natural disasters and illegal immigration? Its Houston for the love of God.


Determine how important the above three items are and see how much the other things matter based on that.