What cities can you live in Texas without driving? (Houston: employment, living)

[TheGuyWithNoName]

I know it's not a car-free friendly state, and I do want to live in another state, but I'm asking this question for financial reasons. I've read that Texas has a low cost of living and good jobs, I imagine most of them are blue collar, there's gotta be some white collar jobs too though.

[TheOverdog]

You can't live in any Texas city in general without driving. However, there are small parts of Texas cities that you can be relatively comfortable with no driving or only occasional driving - downtown San Antonio, downtown Dallas, downtown Ft Worth, downtown Houston, and downtown Austin.

Naturally, in the downtown areas that are possible to live car-free, most of the jobs are white collar, not blue collar, though each city has some blue collar jobs accessible from downtown.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

You can't live in any Texas city in general without driving.

But there are plenty of small towns where it's possible to walk everywhere if that's the key consideration.

[curbur]

There's a lot of white collar jobs in the cities. Houston and Dallas rank #2 and #4 respectively for U.S. cities with the most fortune 500 companies. Depending on what line of work you do, certain cities would definitely favor one industry over others, but unfortunately you'll likely need a car to navigate any of the state's major employment centers. Of course if you moved to a small one road town then you could walk everywhere, but it would be more difficult to make a prosperous career.

[LeagleEagleDFW]

Also, walking when it's 105 out is pretty miserable.

[TheOverdog]

Also, walking when it's 105 out is pretty miserable

If you find Texas too hot, then you should probably move because it's going to be that way forever. Walking when it is hot outside is no big deal. Plenty of people are required to practice sports, work outdoors, engage in war zones, etc in hot weather.

[LeagleEagleDFW]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

If you find Texas too hot, then you should probably move because it's going to be that way forever. Walking when it is hot outside is no big deal. Plenty of people are required to practice sports, work outdoors, engage in war zones, etc in hot weather.

Slow your roll. It's pretty unpleasant to walk around outside when it's 105 degrees. That's one of the reasons why Texas is fairly car-centric. Someone moving here may not understand just how long the summer is and how unpleasant walking around in that weather can be.

To say "get out if you don't enjoy walking around in the 105 degree weather" is an absurd overreaction. It's possible to say something critical without the immediate response of "get out" being necessary.

[Westerntraveler]

you will need a car to get around pretty much anywhere in Texas.Midland has a okay bus system but the cost of living is prolly too high for you.Texas is not a job utopia because you will need some special skills to get a good office job. Texas has also lost lots of good blue collar jobs due to low crude prices.Also if even if it oil was booming, it still would not be a good fit for you cuz it requires driving.Do you have education?

[TheOverdog]

That's one of the reasons why Texas is fairly car-centric.

No it is not. If Texas was really designed around 'the heat', then it would be a lot more like Middle Eastern countries, which are also hot, have less cars, and to avoid the heat, are built much tighter in cities such that buildings and trees provide shade. It would have parking garages or dirt parking instead of giant asphalt lots, in short it would be designed for the heat the way people have been doing for thousands of years.

Texas is built out just like any other place in the US, with almost no provisions for any weather conditions.

[unknown00]

Having lived in the largest 3 major TX cities, my answer is none. You NEED a car