$50K In Houston Equals $123K in NYC (Pearland, Katy: transporting, subsidized)

[subtlesoul21]

I don't normally post.. actually this may be either #1 or #2, but i had to add a my few cents as well... I'm a born and raised New Yorker (lived there for 25 years) and after a few years of moving around the country (SF Bay Area, Chicago) I now find myself in Houston. I bring a few perspectives that I don't find many NYers or Texans have.. just yet. I relocated to Houston for work. To point out, the biggest difference between NYC and Houston has got to be price, price, price. Honestly, Houston has got to be one of the cheapest large population cities in the U.S. Housing has got to be the most obvious delta however I can tell you first-hand that price of food, haircuts, movies, parking, tolls, tickets, etc are also noticeable. After an extra $5 here and $10 there, it all adds up. The unfortunate thing is that as many jobs and industries as the NYC metro area supports, and it does a lot, it's not enough for the HUGE numbers of people living in there. That increases competition and mean that there's a polarization of people who have these $125K+ salaries and than those who make $35K in wages. I was one of those closer to $35K! ;-)

Houston has less jobs to go around than NYC, but the plus is it's not supporting a metro area of about 18M+ people! I'd like to see how many Texans (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin) have ever competed for a job with literally 2000 applicants other than yourself. That being said, it's calmer in Houston. I'm able to afford a whole lot more than I ever could in any of my previous residences. I bought my first house and live in a really decent neighborhood (albiet it's a serious commute towards the city center.) I came with the job, so issue on that front, however I am concerned with the economy if I ever got laid off, will the industry I'm in large enough in Houston that I can quickly get off of the unemployment rolls. Other than New York City, I will say Houston is one of the most integrated cities I've ever visited or lived in (within reason - poor neighborhoods still seem to be homogenous.) The folks are extremely friendly and seem to be sincere.

I do have a gripe though.. Houston is VERY affordable and you can get a lot more for the same dollar than in NYC, however, let's be serious, NYC has may more to offer. This is not personal opinion, this is now fact.. and it may be some preference mixed in there as well. Since being in Houston, it's lacks a since of culture that hits you the moment you step into any of the 5 boroughs. I'm not saying that Houston is without culture, however it's not something you live in Houston.. in New York City, you breathe it! Arts, galleries, music, world-class museums, excellent universities, immigrants from literally all over and all that they bring to the country. It's for all of these reasons that NY is so damn expensive! Everyday outside of your house and residence is like a day of learning... just walking the sidewalks! I can't hardly find a sidewalk to walk in Houston!

Point is.. NYC is terribly expensive, however I don't see that reversing anytime soon. Tourism, commercialism, fame, popularity has put an extreme price on what you should make to enjoy the amenities of the city. Just so you know, that's not most NYers. I know many NYers who have never attended a Broadway play or ever been to the top of the Empire State Building, or ever visited many of the wonderful museums or opera houses simply because they're paycheck doesn't stretch that far. I don't think Houston should try to mimick New York.. it's great at what is does for itself. There too different cities - Houston, as much as ppl would say otherwise, is not all that urban as people would think, where as you need to look outside of the U.S. to find another city as dense as NYC.

This post was terribly structured, but hey it happens when you're multitasking! ;-)

[iamanewcomer]

As a person who makes judgements based on info on the internet,the typical 2500sf house on 6000sf lot costs 250K new in a Hou suburb & a cool 1m in a NY suburb...

But salaries seem to be only 10% higher in NY & taxes are bigger...

It seems a steep price to pay for having ...Broadway & museums u may vist only 1 time in your life...

On ...screen,it seems that NY is good only for the born rich who will exercise the profession of ...inheritor.

[Wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by iamanewcomer

As a person who makes judgements based on info on the internet,the typical 2500sf house on 6000sf lot costs 250K new in a Hou suburb & a cool 1m in a NY suburb...

But salaries seem to be only 10% higher in NY & taxes are bigger...

It seems a steep price to pay for having ...Broadway & museums u may vist only 1 time in your life...

On ...screen,it seems that NY is good only for the born rich who will exercise the profession of ...inheritor.

it seems like it, from where youre standing. manhattan atleast.
poor people, regular people from all over the world wish to live there, get there eventually. its far from impossible, its just 'living richly' is defined differently. most people just want to be part of it as a regular newyorker anyway - thats cheap and easy. If you want to 'feel' like a king in a $250k castle on 1/4 acre land Houston is for you. If youre ok being the commoner in the worlds greatest empire of humanity(and fun)... NYC is king.

[Benning]

Originally Posted by subtlesoul21

I don't normally post.. actually this may be either #1 or #2, but i had to add a my few cents as well... I'm a born and raised New Yorker (lived there for 25 years) and after a few years of moving around the country (SF Bay Area, Chicago) I now find myself in Houston. I bring a few perspectives that I don't find many NYers or Texans have.. just yet. I relocated to Houston for work. To point out, the biggest difference between NYC and Houston has got to be price, price, price. Honestly, Houston has got to be one of the cheapest large population cities in the U.S. Housing has got to be the most obvious delta however I can tell you first-hand that price of food, haircuts, movies, parking, tolls, tickets, etc are also noticeable. After an extra $5 here and $10 there, it all adds up. The unfortunate thing is that as many jobs and industries as the NYC metro area supports, and it does a lot, it's not enough for the HUGE numbers of people living in there. That increases competition and mean that there's a polarization of people who have these $125K+ salaries and than those who make $35K in wages. I was one of those closer to $35K! ;-)

Houston has less jobs to go around than NYC, but the plus is it's not supporting a metro area of about 18M+ people! I'd like to see how many Texans (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin) have ever competed for a job with literally 2000 applicants other than yourself. That being said, it's calmer in Houston. I'm able to afford a whole lot more than I ever could in any of my previous residences. I bought my first house and live in a really decent neighborhood (albiet it's a serious commute towards the city center.) I came with the job, so issue on that front, however I am concerned with the economy if I ever got laid off, will the industry I'm in large enough in Houston that I can quickly get off of the unemployment rolls. Other than New York City, I will say Houston is one of the most integrated cities I've ever visited or lived in (within reason - poor neighborhoods still seem to be homogenous.) The folks are extremely friendly and seem to be sincere.

I do have a gripe though.. Houston is VERY affordable and you can get a lot more for the same dollar than in NYC, however, let's be serious, NYC has may more to offer. This is not personal opinion, this is now fact.. and it may be some preference mixed in there as well. Since being in Houston, it's lacks a since of culture that hits you the moment you step into any of the 5 boroughs. I'm not saying that Houston is without culture, however it's not something you live in Houston.. in New York City, you breathe it! Arts, galleries, music, world-class museums, excellent universities, immigrants from literally all over and all that they bring to the country. It's for all of these reasons that NY is so damn expensive! Everyday outside of your house and residence is like a day of learning... just walking the sidewalks! I can't hardly find a sidewalk to walk in Houston!

Point is.. NYC is terribly expensive, however I don't see that reversing anytime soon. Tourism, commercialism, fame, popularity has put an extreme price on what you should make to enjoy the amenities of the city. Just so you know, that's not most NYers. I know many NYers who have never attended a Broadway play or ever been to the top of the Empire State Building, or ever visited many of the wonderful museums or opera houses simply because they're paycheck doesn't stretch that far. I don't think Houston should try to mimick New York.. it's great at what is does for itself. There too different cities - Houston, as much as ppl would say otherwise, is not all that urban as people would think, where as you need to look outside of the U.S. to find another city as dense as NYC.

This post was terribly structured, but hey it happens when you're multitasking! ;-)

Thank you for this very thought-provoking post. I wonder, with the current dire economic situation as painted by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, do you think that the welfare rolls in NYC are ballooning to never before seen numbers and that may be why he's such a big proponent of the stimulus bill? Is it because his state has massive amounts of people who can no longer support themselves and therefore are going on welfare and NY is groaning under the weight of all the unemployed people there? I don't think we've experience that here, yet.

[iamanewcomer]

There is a clash about lifestyles in many threads,in the end it seems that people are so resilient that they can feel comfortable almost everywhere...

As long as you are in love with your spouse & family...wherever you lay your hat,that's your home...

[jd2008]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

And outside of NYC, Chicago, LA, Seattle, and perhaps Portland, you're not going to find very many cities with good mass transit.

And DC and Boston and Philly and San Francisco...shall I go on?

I get sick of people from Texas making excuses for how terrible the public transit is in Texas cities. Face it, the reason it is terrible is because people are cheap and don't want to make the investment.

Anyway, rant over...this comparison is pretty flawed. A fairer comparison would be Manhattan to River Oaks or Manhattan to West University. One can live in Queens or Brooklyn, for example, for much cheaper while still having the urban environment that puts anything that Houston has to shame.

My take is that yes, Houston is much cheaper. If you want to live in BFE, in a huge cookie-cutter style house and spend your Saturday nights eating at places like Chilis or TGI Fridays, then you can buy a house on the cheap. But, if you want to live in as close to an urban environment as Houston has available, you are going to have to pay a lot more.

Now granted, Houston is SEVERELY lacking in urban environments and most places, even within 610, would be considered suburban anywhere else. But, as someone who is starting to look into buying a home, I can tell you that houses in Rice Village or Montrose are not that cheap. I noticed a townhome in Midtown for around $600K. Now, that's not NYC prices but it is definitely within the range of prices in say, DC or Philly or Chicago. And in those cities you get the benefit of established urban nieghborhoods with public transit. Here in Houston you buy hoping that an urban environment will eventually sprout up.

[iamanewcomer]

Why this obsession with mass transport ?

It is an anachronism & a primitive way of commuting...

You can be infected by so many viruses,from treatable to deadly,like the Asian flu...

In fact,cities with good road infrastructure should be desirable & praised...

[KeyserSoze]

Originally Posted by iamanewcomer

Why this obsession with mass transport ?

It makes them feel more like the European cities they so desperately try to emulate, and they're also used to being pampered in every aspect of life.

[xmod]

Originally Posted by iamanewcomer

Why this obsession with mass transport ?

It is an anachronism & a primitive way of commuting...

You can be infected by so many viruses,from treatable to deadly,like the Asian flu...

In fact,cities with good road infrastructure should be desirable & praised...

umm....mass transport is a form of infrastructure. thus cities that have good mass transport have good infrastructure.

[xmod]

Originally Posted by iamanewcomer

Why this obsession with mass transport ?

Its called choice and flexibility.

If a person shares a car with someone else (for example a teenager that can't afford a car of their own), mass transport makes life sooooooo much easier.

Just use a little imagination.... it would be pretty awesome if it were possible to catch a train from Pearland or Katy to downtown for $3-$4 and having it be a 20minute commute instead of a 45min-hour long commute (morning rush hour or evening rush hour).

Just having the option would be great.

Also, Texas legislators are 'talking' about a mass transit system which connects the 4 major Texas cities (called the 'T bone' or something like that).....that would be pretty cool if it ever got built. But I have my doubts, I don't think Texas legislators have the will to do it.