Hows the economy in Houston? (Sugar Land, Katy: health insurance, credit, buying a home) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

LRobbins · 03-20-2010, 03:03 PM

I moved away back to California a year ago and want to leave and go back to Houston. California economy is terrible and I realized it is not the same as it use to be 10 years ago! How is the economy holding up in Houston?

sbhubbell · 03-20-2010, 03:08 PM

From my experience? The economy here is awesome. We had slight softness in the housing market and *some* layoffs a year ago, but all that has reversed now. We have much lower unemployment than the rest of the country and companies are moving to TX and hiring because of tax incentives and a stronger economy here. Houses where I live in Katy are selling much more quickly than a year ago.

vertigo5110 · 03-20-2010, 03:12 PM

I agree. As a semi-recent (May '09) college graduate (from a Texas public school), a lot of my friends who graduated w/ me moved to Houston after finding jobs. In addition, many of the friends I have who are still in school and graduating THIS year are interviewing in Houston. Some have already found work here. Houston was by no means immune to the recession but we were (thankfully) spared the worst of it. If I had to sum up Houston's economy in a few words it'd be stable and dynamic.

Alphalogica · 03-20-2010, 03:20 PM

It's a lot better than many other parts of the US. The streets aren't paved with gold, but everything is holding up fine. There are still some signs of the recession in Houston. I was once at a Quizno's in Sugar Land where I was told I was their first customer in at least 2 days.

hulksmashpunyhumans · 03-20-2010, 03:54 PM

it depends on what you do. most consumer-end businesses are getting hit pretty hard. the taxes arent as much of a picnic here as it may seem either. where they dont have a tax, they require a permit, or a fee ... they always find some way to stick it to us in the end. houston is just the last vestige of this country's manufacturing and production sector, so that is what is keeping it from collapse like the rest of the country. our port being the major entry for almost everything that gets shipped to the USA is also helpful ...

NYer75 · 03-20-2010, 05:07 PM

Way better than ANY city in CA.

NYer75 · 03-20-2010, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alphalogica

It's a lot better than many other parts of the US. The streets aren't paved with gold, but everything is holding up fine. There are still some signs of the recession in Houston. I was once at a Quizno's in Sugar Land where I was told I was their first customer in at least 2 days.

That's funny...because up here by 529 and Hwy 6...all the restaurants are jammed packed every weekend. There was even a line outside of Willie's the other day...I was like, "recession...what recession".

Metro Matt · 03-20-2010, 05:33 PM

I'm just wondering how this whole health care debacle will affect Houston's enormous medical field. Many doctors will quit their practices & companies will lay off workers left & right because they simply can not afford to offer them health insurance anymore.

Obama has been nothing more than a royal **** up.

vertigo5110 · 03-20-2010, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

I'm just wondering how this whole health care debacle will affect Houston's enormous medical field. Many doctors will quit their practices & companies will lay off workers left & right because they simply can not afford to offer them health insurance anymore.

Obama has been nothing more than a royal **** up.

That's true. I'm so on the fence about healthcare. Don't get me wrong, it's something that would be really nice to have but given that our economy is so engrained in competition and what not, I worry about what it would do to medical research (one of Houston's foundational industries). In all honesty, if we were any other country I would feel differently. Most European countries who have nationalized healthcare run just fine but their citizens aren't among the most unhealthy in the world (probably b/c of the healthcare they receive...in part at least). I'm afraid that nationalizing healthcare NOW would be too hard of a hit to our wallets as far as taxes b/c SO many Americans are out of shape and overweight (really one of the main roots to our health problems) that it'd be like paying one GIANT medical bill. If it was going to have happened, it should've happened a long time ago...I think now it would be too late.

desertsun41 · 03-20-2010, 10:33 PM

Wow....all you very positive minds out there sure are not even remotely related to the construction industry which has been decimated and almost rendered dead. Just wait till the end of the month when the govt discontinues all tax credits for buying a home and see what happens to the already deteriorating value in our homes.....what little there is left.

I am not speaking for my self but just look in the Sunday paper in the jobs section. All you will find in the 4 measly pages of jobs are medical and Engineering jobs. Just 2 years ago the Sunday jobs section was 25 pages long now it's down to 4 last I looked.

True the restaurants are all still packed. No matter how bad things are in any economy, people will not give up eating out. There are still a lot of people working but there are also a lot of people not. I feel most of us still love to eat out but go less expensive choices these days.

Overall Texas is not as bad off as the rest of the country but jobs are not growing on trees so come prepared with some savings till you find something.