Moving to Houston... general info? (1 Viewer)

My wife and I are moving to Houston, TX in less than a week and a half. Northern Houston/Northwest Houston to be exact. Just wanted to hear from members who currently reside in the city... how you like it, cost of living, median home cost, name of the cable television company and to what extent they support HD... these are all important questions that demand answers. Haha.

Favorite place to eat...? Burgers/Malts? Seafood? Cost of gasoline? The cable company in that area as I mentioned earlier. Traffic? Must see things to do and check out as a newcomer to the city? Since I'm from Minnesota - I love to fish. Best lakes for largemouth? What about shore fishing on the ocean? Where to go? Beaches? Best ones? Where? Temperature? I know the temperature is nothing I am prepared for. My blood has thickened over the years due to the frigid Minnesota winters and now I am going to the opposite extreme.

Any info as always is appreciated.

Not sure I'd do that, unless you like your fish with extra petroleum.


I actually haven't been to Houston in about 6 years, but I did spend all together too much time there some years back.

Holy Traffic.

I don't see how it could be as bad as Minneapolis. :frowning: It sucks here, too.

Scott, if you really believe that, you are in for a very big (and unpleasant) surprise.

..

You obviously haven't been in the gridlock, bottle-neck, clusterf*ck that involves I-494 Eastbound and Hwy. 169 between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Why? Because it's dangerous? No sidewalks? You can't walk anywhere in North or Northeast Minneapolis either. Nor can you walk in certain parts of Bloomington or Richfield. Hell, there's a few streets in Hilo, Hawaii that I find really shady, too. Not trying to be argumentative... just that, I was hoping to find someone who currently lives there with an open mind. I've found equally as many websites and discussion forums from the few people who can't stand Houston or Texas (in general) along with several who say they recently moved there and really enjoy it. The beauty of discussions like this is there's two sides to every story.

Thanks again.

..

Just to warn you :
There are about as many people in the metropolitan area of Houston as in the whole state of Minnesota. You don't know traffic problems until you've been there.

Other Texans hate Houston ; in fact, most Houstonians hate Houston. The city recently passed Detroit as "fattest place in America" ; one of the biggest industries there is oil refining, which periodically generates toxic clouds, and generally leaves the city with a layer of oily scum ; there are no zoning ordinances, with the result that private deed covenants take on a whole new importance ; and most of the good art exhibitions are held in Fort Worth [my own city], six hours' drive away. If you're going to Rice University, or you have a serious medical condition which needs treatment in the superb hospitals there, or you're involved with professional sports or the shipping industry, it's a good deal, but otherwise…
I will say this, Houston has an excellent public transportation system in certain areas of the city. The one in Dallas is probably better in terms of the product of coverage and service, but the Houston city fathers seem to be making some effort to build theirs out.

Scott, I would do a search on the AHL about Houston. It has been discussed here before.



Being from Dallas, it is my official duty to hate Houston. I haven't been there in about 5 years, but their downtown sucked. Dallas' downtown sucks, and Houston made it look like Paris by comparison.

The city just gives off a bad vibe.

Smog, Big Oil, Humidity, Mosquitoes, Traffic, Crime, Enron, Rednecks - what's not to like?

No wonder their football team left for greener pastures.

As is typical of this board, a bunch of Houston bashing... oh well.. let's see...

Fattest city? oh???
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10737777/
So now what do you from Chicago and Dallas have to say???

Worst traffic? ohh???
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0855647.html
Hmm... you ahem, kind gents from seattle might want to think again and make better use of your own public transport system...

Houston's not in the top 10 hottest places in the world, but look where all the coldest ones are...
http://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/topten/coldest.html

I think when anyone says something as blanket as MR. L. Anton Dencklau does, it says more about the person than the topic they are speaking of. Perhaps Houstonians had a mighty fine reason to be an asshole to him?

ChristopherDAC makes some outlandish assertations as well. Most Houstonians don't hate Houston otherwise most would leave. Most of the oil industry is not in Houston in fact, but south, and does not generate toxic clouds unless there is an industrial accident. There are not oily layers of scum covering the city...please. Houston does not have a good public transportation system either..though in 20 years they might. It is true that we don't have zoning but we leave up to our neighborhoods to make deed restrictions and decide for themselves what is appropriate or not to build. Heaven forbid.

Houston is a cultural wasteland? OK, if you say so... we don't have log throwing contests, ice fishing tournaments or lumberjack folk concerts. But, we have every major art form, too many theaters to count, museums all over the place, shopping and whatever else you want...

Houston has a Theater District second only to New York City with its concentration of seats in one geographic area. Located downtown, the 17-block Theater District is home to eight performing arts organizations with more than 12,000 seats.

Houston has more than 500 cultural, visual and performing arts organizations, 90 of which are devoted to multicultural and minority arts.

Here's the 50 most fun cities in america..
http://channels.netscape.com/atplay/...ty/mostfuncity
We aren't near the top, but we beat every other Texas town..yes, including austin!

For three consecutive years, Houston has ranked first in the nation in new business growth, according to American Business Information. The most recent survey shows that more than 31,000 new local businesses were started in Houston. Los Angeles was a distant second with 16,780.

Houston has the most affordable housing of 10 most populated metropolitan areas; Houston housing costs are 39 percent below the average of 26 U.S. urban populations of more than 1.5 million.

Houston has the second lowest cost of living among major American cities.

OK, I'm tired of looking crap up now, but I'm just presenting the facts.
Chris

Chris:

Thanks for posting all of that... the positive spin on this thread is well deserved. I looked up the city of Houston in the wikipedia and indeed, it is a very diverse city... and indeed, very cultural and artsy, too. I am excited about the low cost of living, low housing cost and from what I can tell... The Woodlands seem to be an excellent area, awesome community, excellent shopping, bike and hiking trails, nature preserves and just an overall great place to live. I've never been there so I can only go by the information I've read thus far online.

Thanks again for your "support"... (not that I needed it) Haha.

Other than having lived in Dallas a couple of times, I have no particular axe to grind vis-à-vis Houston: except of course for the Astros, the Rockets and whatever NFL team they manage to keep from Nashville.

Since my son went to school south of Minneapolis, and I visited on occasion, I do have a bit of experience in the traffic in both cities, though certainly not any real familiarity.

Houston is a bad city for driving (especially commuting)—by any standards.

Houston does have some cultural—but no theater so advanced or exciting as the Tyrone Guthrie. They do have some of the best restaurants in Texas, though to be sure they are not cheap (I don’t know the city well enough to recommend any lower-priced ones).

I will most certaintly agree with Chris (DAC) on one point: the museums in Fort Worth are head and shoulders above any in Houston (or the rest of Texas, for that matter).

In any case, you should look forward to your move. I’m sure that it will be positive.

I’ve lived in many places in the States and around the world and enjoyed them all (and every place I lived I could give a list of negatives longer than your arm).

Scott,

Not a problem...
And now, my opinions...

Houston is a huge city not geographically constrained...and when I say Houston, I mean the metro area as opposed to just the city limits. Unlike many cities, we don't have to build up. We can build out. This makes Houston seem much smaller (say downtown wise) than it actually is. But, Houston as a city is 617 square miles and takes over an hour to drive across.

Now, I'm biased as I live inside the loop (610 loop) and wouldn't choose to live outside ever. In my opinion, the vibrancy of the city/culture/fun/tolerance drops the further you get away from downtown. The woodlands are nice for what they are, but they are SUBURBAN. If that floats your boat, so be it. It all depends on where you work, how you choose to relax and play etc....

Oh, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_Texas is a good site though a little bit "Tourist bureau" sounding. One of our biggest problems lately, which the article speaks of, is increased crime after the population was increased by New Orleans people displaced by Katrina. This is located in the SW area of the city though and is not noticable most places.

Chris

I'm definitely more of a "suburbanite"... as I've always been raised in the suburbs. My wife and I currently live in a small suburb outside of Minneapolis... however, when we go out on a "date night" we'll often drive into the city for dining, theater, etc, etc. I'm not keen on living in any major metropolis anywhere.... but I love the fact that it is a short drive away. It seems like Houston can do this for us just like we're living this way here in Minnesota.

..

Sorry ya have to move...I don't envy ya...

p.s. So are ya by chance one of the soon to be in Houston Citgo guys?

Yeah, I should have added a wink smiley to that. Nevertheless, While the air here in the MetroMess gets worse everyday [and Texas Electric wants to build eleven lignite-burning power plants upwind of us! I weep], and the traffic more congested, the time I have spent in Houston and environs makes me believe I'd not like to be there.

I still like the train system. As I said, the places it serves, it's a good service. I don't claim it includes anything like the whole city! Dallas is much better in that respect. Fort Worth's public transportation, by contrast, is a sick joke.

Scott,

Anton's response is definitely out of line. Your gut feeling about it is pretty much correct. As some have mentioned, Houston is an enormous, sprawling city. It is actually (at least used to be) the 4th largest in the country. I really just have 2 problems, which is, I don't like living in huge cities, and it does get extremely hot and humid. I mean, you won't believe how hot and humid.

I think the traffic has actually gotten better, particularly if you are willing to spend a couple $ on tolls. The worst I have personally experienced is Kansas City as well as parts of Dallas, and I have driven in several of the ones ranking in the top 20 of the list linked to. You'll find nice things if you look. That heat is tough to deal with though.