Finally decided to move to Houston but where in Houston??? (Pasadena: crime rate, house)

[nidhi76]

Hi,

We have two kindergarten kids. I am a Scientist (Ph.D-Cancer Biology) and my husband is a Firmware Engineer. Due to very high cost of living and freezing temperatures in Boston, we finally decided to move to warm areas.California and Texas are two places we are seriously considering.After numerous suggestions and job search, we finally decided to choose Houston over other places due to biotech job opportunities. Few questions about Houston:

1. The best school district/s.
2. Places I need to avoid or beware of.
3. Are there any prominent biotech/pharmaceutical companies?
4. Crime rate?
5. Any thing more I need to know about Houston?

Your help is greatly appreciated as we do not have any friends/family in Houston who can guide us.

[likeeveryoneelse]

a quick search of this site will tell you to avoid the sharpstown/bellaire area, and the northside/greenspoint area.
you can check out [Mod edit - 10 posts to link off site]
on paper crime rate in general is double the national average for the city of houston. but then again, looking at bostons crime rate its pretty similar, so nothing you arent used to seeing already.

[Poltracker]

Free advise: find a job first, then and only then...decide where to live. Houston is huge, it could take Boston and swollow it whole a few times. Commute is a huge consideration.

[travelguy_73]

Any conversation about where to live and where to avoid should be sidelined until you have secured employment, or at least found out employers in your field are generally located. As you might expect, Houston is large and spread out. Talking about schools in Kingwood doesn't mean anything if you are working in the Energy Corridor.

Yes, there is crime, but no more than any other big city. And taking your careers into account, you shouldn't have a problem finding a nice, safe place to live with good schools.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by Poltracker

Free advise: find a job first, then and only then...decide where to live. Houston is huge, it could take Boston and swollow it whole a few times. Commute is a huge consideration.

This is good info....roughly about 10 x to be exact!

There are good schools in the city center (HISD), but you will have to pay a premium for your children to attend them (especially if you are buying).

Crime in Houston is generally property related, involves items left in the car, or the car itself. (Go figure.) While there are some areas that are rough per say, common sense will give you a head start.

[DrLizardo]

Until you come for a visit and see for yourself, believe everyone when they tell you that Houston is just B-I-G. 2.5 Million people inside a city ten times larger than Boston, with a collection of widely dispersed built up urban employment centers (Downtown, Medical Center, Energy Corridor, Galleria, etc.), and several large suburban to exurban cities such as Sugar Land, Pasadena, The Woodlands, Baytown, Pearland, and so on that all will each have 100,000 in population within the next few years (if they haven't already). They are all major employment centers in their own as well. There are so many places to live and work, and long distances between them, that it really is the best advice to first look at where your job opportunities are leading you before you pick a home.

Once you consider the whole metro area you are looking at a minimum of 2,000 square miles of urban/suburban territory. If you decide you want to live a more exurban, or even rural lifestyle, the SSA is 10,000 square miles. That's more than twice the size of Greater Boston, but with a lower population density.

There are places where crime is more prevalent than others, and then there are places where it's downright rare. I always call my suburb the Land of Oz, because the odds of becoming a victim of crime are about equal to those of having Dorothy's house land on you.

Anyway, find jobs and then come back again and you'll get tons of advice.

[JustCinco]

Need to check out the Katy area, it has excellent schools and and very affordable homes.

[DRob4JC]

If you have a PhD focused in cancer - there's a good chance at a job opportunity in the Medical Center. Closest suburb is Pearland or Missouri City. Or, if you are the big money type and want to be close - West University or Bellaire.

Biotech jobs

[Thaskateguy]

Just move to the Glorious Crime free Heights, and your worries will be over. Very stable Housing, close to everything, great view of Down town, good schools, and great established families. No better place to start a new life.