Houston vs. San Antonio/New Braunfels, recent grad (Austin, La Grange: employment, new construction)

[UKUKUK]

I like Mexican food, I speak Spanish and German, I love the heat, hate the cold, I don't mind 100+ as long as I've got a bottle of water at hand. I'm moderately conservative and like my guns. I see that the two areas I'm looking at are both growing rapidly (I'm an urban and regional planning major) and have low unemployment.

So I ask you, City-data.com, New Braunfels-San Antonio, or Houston, TX?

I plan to visit soon, but just a preemptive question, which city is better to settle down with the misses in? Why?

Any other recommendations?

[chris_ut]

SA has more of a Mexican feel to it than Houston, it also has more touristy type attractions. Houston has a lot of big companies and big suburbs. Houston has a lot more trees and the bay/coast, SA has the river. Both are hot.Up to you as to what attracts you more. Have you visited both? That would be my first suggestion.

[UKUKUK]

I plan to when things warm up, I want to experience Texas during the summer, when temperatures are closer to what they are for a greater time of the year, and more people are traveling to understand the traffic situation among other seasonal factors.

Are there many German speakers/ethnic Germans in Houston? I know the consulate general is there which is good as I am a legal resident of America, citizen of Germany.

Also, which has the best roads? I am a huge fan of driving, it's one thing I truly enjoy doing, so a good freeway system with a small amount of traffic is great

[chris_ut]

Well Germans are the largest ethnic group in the US so anywhere you go will be people of German descent but if you mean German type areas where the culture is still evident there is a band of towns with heavy German influence between Austin and SA from Fredricksburg to La Grange. Not sure about German expat communities. Both Houston and SA have lots of big highways and lots of bad traffic.

[XodoX]

I thought it was Irish/Bristish?

Well, wou won't find many Germans here. I've never met one. However, I know of some "German meetings" that take place every Friday ( I believe it was Friday). But you're here to meet Americans and learn about the american culture.
The Highways are nice, but it's not gonna be Autobahn speed, obviously. So the traffic dosen't really matter lol. The average speed limit is 60-65 Mph.

Sounds like you're glad to be out of Germany if you're " moderately conservative". Not really sure how to take that though, since Nancy would be center-right over there. Anyway, that wouldn't be an issue.
The gun laws here are extremely lax compared to Germany. I know that virtually nobody is allowed to have a gun. Unless you're in a gun club. That's not the case here. You won't haver any troubles if you want to own a gun.

I personally don't like San Antonio, and New Braunfels is a very small town.

Btw, it does get cold here too. It's supposed to be -6 C Thursday night Oh, and what kind of degree do you have? The title says "recent grad".

Welcome to the United States.

[rigas]

LMAO @ houston has more trees then SA/NB! good call on that one, try again.

new braunfels is a VERY german town, although you will not find to many german speakers there. (and for the record, fredricksburg and la grange neither are anywhere near "between" SA and austin but both are short drives from either.

sounds to me like new braunfels/san anotnio/austin area are more your thing though. if not for the work in my particular field i would not be in houston. houston to me is one of the ugliest cities, the traffic is TERRIBLE (SA traffic is not that bad but austin is bad on IH-35). houston has some of the rudest and mot "stuck up" people of any city in texas short of dallas. employment and entertainment are the only things going for houston IMO. i have lived here on and off for nearly 15 yrs and i grew up half way between SA and NB (garden ridge/shertz area) and would be back there in a heart beat if the chance came up. i have lived in dallas/fw, corpus and el paso as well and by far the SA/NB area is the nicest most laid back place to be. plenty of entertainment, good people, small town feel even though SA is the 2nd largest populated city in texas. the only trafice you will find is in a couple of construction areas (the airport/northstar mall area is almost complete, and 410-I10 area is also nearly complete.)

as for trees, houston likes to go in and rip them all up with any new construction and then tries to replaces them, SA is going to that in some areas but generally they will work around them as much as possible. i drive houston daily, from the woodlands/spring to katy, southside/manville to downtown to near baytown and humble i am all over this town daily and i see the mess. stay off 45 period, and 290 too, the beltway gets bad some days, but i-10 is not to bad now that construction is down. 610 is ridiculous from 45n to post oak 75% of the time, and 59/288 is also ridiculous. i also drive in SA every week on my way to the ranch (at least during deer season) and you can drive i-10 from one side to the other in less then 20 minutes at any time on any day without dropping below 45 mph ever.

[UKUKUK]

Originally Posted by XodoX

I thought it was Irish/Bristish?

Well, wou won't find many Germans here. I've never met one. However, I know of some "German meetings" that take place every Friday ( I believe it was Friday). But you're here to meet Americans and learn about the american culture.
The Highways are nice, but it's not gonna be Autobahn speed, obviously. So the traffic dosen't really matter lol. The average speed limit is 60-65 Mph.

Sounds like you're glad to be out of Germany if you're " moderately conservative". Not really sure how to take that though, since Nancy would be center-right over there. Anyway, that wouldn't be an issue.
The gun laws here are extremely lax compared to Germany. I know that virtually nobody is allowed to have a gun. Unless you're in a gun club. That's not the case here. You won't haver any troubles if you want to own a gun.

I personally don't like San Antonio, and New Braunfels is a very small town.

Btw, it does get cold here too. It's supposed to be -6 C Thursday night Oh, and what kind of degree do you have? The title says "recent grad".

Welcome to the United States.

I've been in the US for close to 20 years

I love Germany and I'm not fresh off the boat, and it's not some communist nanny state like it's made out to be :P the lax laws for EVERYTHING in Texas are part of what attract me to it. I don't intend to shoot anyone and depending on where I end up living may not end up even owning a gun, but I like the ABILITY to if I choose to

I'm going to have my bachelors but I may pursue a masters after moving, I lose my scholarship after completion of my bachelors so it doesn't matter where I go really :P Texas has more universities than Kentucky or Michigan, both of which make -6C look like a joke when it comes to cold.

[UKUKUK]

Originally Posted by rigas

LMAO @ houston has more trees then SA/NB! good call on that one, try again.

new braunfels is a VERY german town, although you will not find to many german speakers there. (and for the record, fredricksburg and la grange neither are anywhere near "between" SA and austin but both are short drives from either.

sounds to me like new braunfels/san anotnio/austin area are more your thing though. if not for the work in my particular field i would not be in houston. houston to me is one of the ugliest cities, the traffic is TERRIBLE (SA traffic is not that bad but austin is bad on IH-35). houston has some of the rudest and mot "stuck up" people of any city in texas short of dallas. employment and entertainment are the only things going for houston IMO. i have lived here on and off for nearly 15 yrs and i grew up half way between SA and NB (garden ridge/shertz area) and would be back there in a heart beat if the chance came up. i have lived in dallas/fw, corpus and el paso as well and by far the SA/NB area is the nicest most laid back place to be. plenty of entertainment, good people, small town feel even though SA is the 2nd largest populated city in texas. the only trafice you will find is in a couple of construction areas (the airport/northstar mall area is almost complete, and 410-I10 area is also nearly complete.)

as for trees, houston likes to go in and rip them all up with any new construction and then tries to replaces them, SA is going to that in some areas but generally they will work around them as much as possible. i drive houston daily, from the woodlands/spring to katy, southside/manville to downtown to near baytown and humble i am all over this town daily and i see the mess. stay off 45 period, and 290 too, the beltway gets bad some days, but i-10 is not to bad now that construction is down. 610 is ridiculous from 45n to post oak 75% of the time, and 59/288 is also ridiculous. i also drive in SA every week on my way to the ranch (at least during deer season) and you can drive i-10 from one side to the other in less then 20 minutes at any time on any day without dropping below 45 mph ever.

Deer hunting sounds amazing, I like the sound of Texas already :P

How is the traffic in either compared to Detroit? Chicago?

Through seeing pictures and hearing what people have to say about it it just seems that Texas is a beautiful, unique, and great place to live. What do you think of the state and people in general?

[rigas]

I for one would not live in any other state except maybe Colorado. I have been to about 40 or so states and Texas is not called the friendly state for nothing

[UKUKUK]

That's one reason I'm trying to head south :P I was always raised to be polite, courteous, and go out of my way to help others if it won't be of a huge detriment to myself. People in cities on the east coast seem to give off this vibe of coldness and indifference to others, especially as you head north... and the smugness of those from the west is beaten by few.