Same sex couple moving to Houston. (Sugar Land, Katy: apartment, leasing agent, buying a home)

[Mador7476]

Thank you all for such great responses and points of view!!! We will check out the Gay Couples "Meet Up" group.
Keep bringing your ideas and points of view, we are taking them very seriously.

Thanks

[travelguy_73]

My partner and I live in Eastwood, near downtown, and have often thought about moving out to the suburbs. We know of a few couples who, because of work or kids, live out there (Cypress, Pearland, and Clear Lake). We plan to have kids, so schools are becoming more important.

However, the issue we/they can't get past is the sense of isolation. It isn't that you aren't going to find nice people in the suburbs, because in Houston you will find nice people all over. However, on average there are few gay couples in the suburbs, and if you don't have kids, you have even less in common with your neighbors.

My kid-less gay friends comment all the time about how they are the novelty of the block, the ones who throw the best parties, or have the best gardens. However, none have been able to find good quality friendships with their neighbors. We talk about the possible reasons why (bigotry isn't one of them), and usually it comes down to not having kids.

I suggest you rent for a year in the suburbs and see how you like it. This advice goes for ALL people new to the city, but even more so for your situation. You might find that you love it there. You might find that your jobs take you to the other side of the city, and you need to find something closer to work. Or you might find that you like what the city has to offer more than you thought, and you don't want to spend your weekends in the car. You should be able to find some good rental deals in the location you desire.

I would recommend attorney Mitchell Katine for your legal work. He did our wills/medical directives/etc.

Clubs/bars: We don't go out much anymore, but Meteor, Guava, JR's, and South Beach (club) are the best games in town. Not sure about anything Latin, though.

[modster]

I think Houston's gay community is more spread out than a lot of places. The day of the gayborhood is practically over. You will hear references to Montrose a lot, since for decades it was Houston's gayborhood and is still where the most clubs are. It is where the community goes to play, but more & more it is becoming less & less of the place where the gay community lives.

I don't think you would be happy in Spring or the Woodlands long term. People are often tempted by the large homes with small prices and other amenities. Eventually as you start making more friends and establishing yourselves here you find that many of the things you want to do and many of the people you have more in common with are all "in town." In addition, (and this is a broad generalization), homes tend to appreciate better in town.

I lived in Spring for 5 years in my first home. Certainly everyone was nice to me, there weren't any issues there, but I just really didn't like being that much of a novelty I guess.

Many of the close in places will be out of your price range, Montrose, Heights, Lindale Park, Idylwood, Timbergrove, Garden Oaks, etc.

There are some up & coming transitional neighborhoods that I would encourage you to consider.

Westbury has a strong gay presence and there are still some homes available for $130,000 range. Houston - Best Of Houston - Houston Best Hidden Neighborhood - Westbury (2007)

I live in Glenbrook Valley and you could get a nicer home for that amount of money over here,
The battle of Glenbrook | Lisa Gray | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

You might also look in Oak Forest, although the homes would be rather small. You can find them in Eastwood for that, but prices have risen there enough that $130,000 will get you something needing substantial work.

[vicket]

I agree that the suburbs will be friendly, but maybe not "best friend material" - pretty much because you don't have kids. We are a middle aged straight couple who's "kids" are grown. We love the suburb we live in, but haven't made any close friends here. We've made all our closest friends through work. The suburbs also have a large amount of families that attend church together. I think these chuches will be fairly welcoming to you, but I am not sure if that is where you'll make friends either.
I can't offer neighborhood advice, since we are fairly new here...but I will say that the people of Houston are the friendliest I've met anywhere, and I think you will love it here, once you find your niche.
Welcome to Houston!

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by Mador7476

Hello, everyone!! We are one of the 18,000 gay couples who married in California before it was stopped. We are two latino straight acting guys. We have decided to buy a house that we found for $130K in The Woodlands and there is another one in The Springs, Houston. One of us does Property Management and entry level accounting and the other one does marriages, divorces, help with immigration, BK, taxes etc.

How difficult will it be to find a job in these fields?

We understand that Houston is not as liberal as California... How difficult will our lives be as a gay couple in Houston? Or we should not worry that much?

How are the areas in Woodlands and Spring? Crime, robbery, etc? What areas are better in both cities?

Can anyone recomend an non-expensive attorney or notary to help us with legal documents since our marriage and domestic partnership will be not recognized by the state?

We are going to fly to Houston the second week of May. Any good recomendations of places to visit? Bars, dancing clubs, restaurants, latin dancing clubs? We do not know anyone, so meeting someone for friendship will be very awesome.

Thank you in advance for your advises.

Mador

So since you two latin guys aren't technically married here, would you both like to hang out sometime?

You can head to the Montrose for the gay bars. If you're not looking for just gay, you can go to Midtown and Downtown.

The Woodlands is cool, especially if you're looking to be away from the action. I'm not going to lie, most of the people I know from there vote Republican, but they are still friends with me and a lot of my other gay friends, so it can't be that bad. (I am from a younger generation though.)

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by vicket

I agree that the suburbs will be friendly, but maybe not "best friend material" - pretty much because you don't have kids. We are a middle aged straight couple who's "kids" are grown. We love the suburb we live in, but haven't made any close friends here. We've made all our closest friends through work. The suburbs also have a large amount of families that attend church together. I think these chuches will be fairly welcoming to you, but I am not sure if that is where you'll make friends either.
I can't offer neighborhood advice, since we are fairly new here...but I will say that the people of Houston are the friendliest I've met anywhere, and I think you will love it here, once you find your niche.
Welcome to Houston!

This makes a lot of sense... with kids, your "social life" tends to revolve around kids' birthday parties, school events, and playdates. So it doesn't always sync with people who don't have kids. That would probably be more of an issue for you in the Woodlands, in terms of making friends, than anything else. If you choose a neighborhood without good schools, you might find more gay and straight couples without kids, and singles.

[Kappinator]

Originally Posted by modster

I think Houston's gay community is more spread out than a lot of places. The day of the gayborhood is practically over. You will hear references to Montrose a lot, since for decades it was Houston's gayborhood and is still where the most clubs are. It is where the community goes to play, but more & more it is becoming less & less of the place where the gay community lives.

I don't think you would be happy in Spring or the Woodlands long term. People are often tempted by the large homes with small prices and other amenities. Eventually as you start making more friends and establishing yourselves here you find that many of the things you want to do and many of the people you have more in common with are all "in town." In addition, (and this is a broad generalization), homes tend to appreciate better in town.

I lived in Spring for 5 years in my first home. Certainly everyone was nice to me, there weren't any issues there, but I just really didn't like being that much of a novelty I guess.

Many of the close in places will be out of your price range, Montrose, Heights, Lindale Park, Idylwood, Timbergrove, Garden Oaks, etc.

There are some up & coming transitional neighborhoods that I would encourage you to consider.

Westbury has a strong gay presence and there are still some homes available for $130,000 range. Houston - Best Of Houston - Houston Best Hidden Neighborhood - Westbury (2007)

I live in Glenbrook Valley and you could get a nicer home for that amount of money over here,
The battle of Glenbrook | Lisa Gray | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

You might also look in Oak Forest, although the homes would be rather small. You can find them in Eastwood for that, but prices have risen there enough that $130,000 will get you something needing substantial work.

Another excellent post by modster. But I seem to remember reading something about an increase in crime in Oak Forest. I hope I'm wrong because I personally like Oak Forest.

[Mador7476]

Guys, thank you all for such great inputs. How about work? Is it being difficult to find jobs?

Thanks!!!

[Supermac34]

Originally Posted by N. Buck

Well Mador, it's gonna be tough in Spring and The Woodlands. These are very traditional family oriented neighborhoods. The crime is going to be low, but you will probably encounter neighbors who frown on your relationship. May I suggest the Montrose area of Houston. it is more of what you might be looking for.

We live in the Spring/Klein area right down the street froma gay couple. Everybody respects their rights and most people really like them.

[JOECARRIN]

I live in Eastwood and you can find homes in that area that will cost about 130k. And they are fixeruppers- most of them are in the style of the 1930, 40s It is an up and comeing barrio and my partner and I love it there especially because people keep to themselves. I have lived in the same home since 1967 and work downtown - with a commute time to my work being just 15 minutes. I am Mexican and my lover is Gringo.