Moving to Houston from Atlanta (Dallas, Austin: apartments, condos, houses)

[fedup2008]

I am moving from Atlanta to DC for work and will be working in the heart of downtown. However I don't know a thing about Houston and would like to know what area would be considered "trendy", "hip", close to shopping, and the easy to get to downtown. I noticed "Uptown", which is sort of like Buckhead in Atlanta, but not really interested in it and it seem pretty far from downtown. If there are any former Atlanta residents on this board, I am looking for a neighborhood similiar to either Midtown, Virginia Highlands or Little Five Points in Atlanta.

Thanks!!!

[westres1]

I dont know anything about Atlanta but the areas you describe would be Montrose,Midtown,Rice village,Upper Kirby and the Heights

I have to laugh at your comment of uptown being far from DT.....people here live 30 plus miles further out and work DT.

[daisybear]

I used to live in Atlanta and unfortunately, I don't think any part of Houston lines up exactly with those places. Midtown Houston will be your best bet. It's as similar to Midtown/Buckhead as you'll get. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and nightlife with easy access to freeways. Montrose is somewhat like the Little5/Highlands in that it's a very eclectic area. However, I think that the people who live there align more with Decatur - it's interesting and I think you'll leither ove it or hate it. The Rice area is very nice - lots of shopping and restaurants that you could walk to but not walking distance to downtown. Upper Kirby is nice but more Brookhaven-ish in it's distance to downtown. Do some research on The Heights and Rice Military too.

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by fedup2008

I am moving from Atlanta to DC for work and will be working in the heart of downtown. However I don't know a thing about Houston and would like to know what area would be considered "trendy", "hip", close to shopping, and the easy to get to downtown. I noticed "Uptown", which is sort of like Buckhead in Atlanta, but not really interested in it and it seem pretty far from downtown. If there are any former Atlanta residents on this board, I am looking for a neighborhood similiar to either Midtown, Virginia Highlands or Little Five Points in Atlanta.

Thanks!!!

Rice Village, Upper Kirby, and River Oaks area would most fullfill your upscale shopping needs. BTW, Uptown is bigger than any employment center in ATL and is 5 miles west of downtown.

[CanTex]

Originally Posted by fedup2008

I am moving from Atlanta to DC for work and will be working in the heart of downtown. However I don't know a thing about Houston and would like to know what area would be considered "trendy", "hip", close to shopping, and the easy to get to downtown. I noticed "Uptown", which is sort of like Buckhead in Atlanta, but not really interested in it and it seem pretty far from downtown. If there are any former Atlanta residents on this board, I am looking for a neighborhood similiar to either Midtown, Virginia Highlands or Little Five Points in Atlanta.

Thanks!!!

No one here would consider the distance between downtown and the Uptown/Galleria area to be that far. There's a continuum of some of the best residential and retail areas in between them, with a spattering of office and residential highrises along the way (enough so that you often read here how people expect these two skylines to merge into one massive area in the decades ahead). The Uptown/Galleria skyline itself is as impressive as other major cities' downtowns/CBDs.

[fedup2008]

Well Westres, there is no way I would communte 30 miles from home to work for a false sense of security.

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by fedup2008

I am moving from Atlanta to DC for work and will be working in the heart of downtown. However I don't know a thing about Houston and would like to know what area would be considered "trendy", "hip", close to shopping, and the easy to get to downtown. I noticed "Uptown", which is sort of like Buckhead in Atlanta, but not really interested in it and it seem pretty far from downtown. If there are any former Atlanta residents on this board, I am looking for a neighborhood similiar to either Midtown, Virginia Highlands or Little Five Points in Atlanta.

Thanks!!!

Uptown = Buckhead. Montrose/Upper Kirby = Midtown/Va Highlands.

That said, those really aren't very comparable. There's nothing here comparable to Midtown/Va Highlands. On the other hand, there's nothing in Atlanta that compares with Montrose or the Galleria area, either.

Best suggestion: don't try to replicate your lifestyle when you move to a new city. Try to embrace that city for what it has to offer. I got a nibble on a job (very good one) in Seattle. I've never even been there, but I wouldn't even try to replicate my Houston lifestyle there; I would think the cities are just radically different. I'd have to get used to an entirely different type of living space, lifestyle, etc.

You'll find many similarities between Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas---but many differences, too. It's an adjustment.

[bamba_boy]

My uncle used to live in Atlanta and I've partied during the night and shopped during the day enough times to get a feel for Buckhead. There is really no exact equivalent as people said. I'll give you rundown on characteristics on the two closest bets - MidTown and Montrose. They are both wonderful neighborhoods, in my opinion, in that they are both adjacent each other and within the shadows of the scrapers of the downtown business district. It's rare in the US to be able to live in relatively (not perfectly) safe neighborhoods with long-term appreciating home values in such an inner city location. Hopefully this will help you pick depending on what floats your boat:

Montrose = some real old interestingly funky 20s and 30s single family 2-story homes. Mix in 21st century condos (usually small complexes maybe stacked 4-stories like brownstones back east). Totally eclectic mixture of old hippies, artsy-leaning professionals, very liberal, a few old derelict apartments with various street characters and a strong component alt-lifestyle/gay folk escaping small towns from all over Texas. If you're a liberal empty-nester couple or gay, it might be heaven, if your a fundamentalist Christian or Mormon trying to raise children attending the local public schools it might be h. e. double-hockey-sticks.

Midtown - much newer - basically a sketchy skid-rowish area magically being reborn (80% of the way there). More young professionals, lots and lots of new housing, clubs, and restaurants, the only train in Houston connects you up to downtown, the museum district, the NFL stadium, giant Texas Medical Center - you could be a doctor and never use your car. Doesn't have the counter-culture feel, probably a better fit for conservative or middle-of-the-roaders. Lots of nice Cheers type and Austin 6th Street type of neighborhood hangout bars mixed with live rock band places for straights.


Uptown is cool - wonderful shopping at the enormous Galleria, got to be the largest mall in the south - but it's really a separate "downtown", read somewhere there was more office spaces in its high rises than downtown Denver! It's 8-10 miles from the real central business district and not a trivial commute in prime rush hours (no problem if you don't mind leaving for work downtown a bit early). More upscale semi-suburban - kind of place hip, wealthy 50 year olds would like that works at Schlumberger in SugarLand - but not very edgey or close to the downtown cultural scene (ballet, symphony, sports, etc more accessable from Montrose or Midtown).

[West Side Houston]

Atlanta and Houston are two very different cities and cultures. I think you need to visit and hang out in Houston. Check out all the neighborhoods mentioned here including River Oaks, West University, Bellaire. Uptown is NOT far from downtown. If you want to WALK to work, that's another story. Embrace Houston for the city that it is. Do your research. Houston is very diverse in it's workforce with Texas Medical Center (largest in the world), the Oil industry (Energy Corridor) and Nasa. It's diverse in it's population. Our zoning laws are diverse and weird too! Don't try make Houston feel like Atlanta. Let let it feel just as it is...Houston.

[MommiePreMed]

Originally Posted by fedup2008

If there are any former Atlanta residents on this board, I am looking for a neighborhood similiar to either Midtown, Virginia Highlands or Little Five Points in Atlanta.

Thanks!!!

There aren't any, so do yourself a favor and leave Atlanta in Georgia.

There, IMO, is nothing in Houston that comes close to satisfying my love for Atlanta. I found two or three tings here to embrace and I make the most of them.

The architecture or homes and buildings are different, even the roads are made from a different material. I miss the winding 2 lane hilly roads found in the city.

If and when we decide to settle in Houston, we would prefer to live in the Rice University area. The foliage is lush and green, and the houses are similar to what one would find in Peachtree Hills, Morningside, VA Highlands or Inman Park. That, though is only in terms of housing.

I can think of so many areas that almost remind me of Atlanta, but the lack of zoning here causes a almost wonderful area end all to quickly.