Houston Relocation Help
 

Never been to Houston...never been to Texas for that matter, but company might be relocating me in next few months.

In my mind, I picture Houston as a place where absolutely everyone lives in a big house way out in the suburbs and drives over an hour to get to the office.

I would be an Northeast U.S. city transplant - 30s, single, die-hard city renter (not suburban homeowner). What's the rental market like in downtown Houston? More specifically, what neighborhoods would I need to look in for rentals where I might find others like me (20s-40s, white collar renters who don't want to spend hours commuting to work every day from the suburbs and who thrive on city life - not suburban life).

Thanks.

No, not everyone in Houston lives way out in the suburbs. I don't. And I think you will like Houston much better if you look for something close in. Are you thinking about renting an apartment, a townhouse, or a house?

If you haven't done so already, look at www.har.com to get an idea of prices for buying and renting houses, townhouses, and/or high rise condos. There is also probably a website specifically for apartments, but I'm not familiar with one.

You should probably start with the Heights (77008), Midtown, Galleria(77057), and River Oaks-Kirby (77027) areas.

For apartments, Midtown is all new construction, but the most "city living" part of town.

There are some nice Gables apartments at 3720 West Alabama, and also the Inverness at 3133 Buffalo Speedway is nice (77027).

Another good location is Memorial Heights.

There are lots of townhouses for rent in the Rice Military/Washington Avenue/Memorial Park area (77007).

The Heights is old and cute and funky. You might find a house to rent there (77008).

Check these out and then check back in if you have questions. Hope this gives you something to start with.

get a cold air conditioner!

I agree with maryanntex....there are lots of place here for young singles. IF I didn't have school age kids (hence, we are in a big house in the 'burbs!) - I would want to be in either the Heights or the University/Medical Center area.

The www.har.com is a great site! We were living overseas and the house we ended up buying is one of the ones I had really liked on the site when I started looking in April.

There is a virtual explosion of in-fill development in Houston, by no means do you need to be in the burbs. True, public transit basically sucks unless you live and work very close to one of the few light rail lines, but there re lots of urban options. Montrose was once almost exclusively a gay enclave and retains some of that feel but has been taken over by gentrification. The museum district/ Rice U area are nice and close to town.

There are also a lot of lofts going up downtown; you don't have to be stuck in the burbs. www.har.com is a great site; we used it to find our house. You can put in all your parameters such as price range, number of rooms, etc. and all the appropriate places will come up for you, complete with pictures. I agree that the Rice area or the Heights or Midtown would be great for you too. The thing that sort of divides the city is called "the Loop" - you want to be inside the Loop, which is 610.

Thanks for the responses. I'm really only interested in renting an apartment, loft or a condo. No need for a house or townhome as it's just me.

In my current city, we have a couple free weekly newspapers that have extensive apartment rental listings. Does anyone know what the name of the equivalent weeklies are for Houston??

I'll look on Craigslist, too, but would like to start looking at the Houston weeklies online if possible as they might also have good info about the nightlife and culture in the city.

The best website I know of for nightlife and cultural listings is www.artshound.com

The previously listed website, www.har.com has an option for residential leases. Did you check that out?

www.houston.citysearch.com is another good site for finding things to do in and around Houston. When I looked for my first apartment here, I just picked up the guide that they have at all the local grocery stores; it's a free little bound book like a thick magazine that lists all the major apartment complexes and their amenities, and a map showing their locations. I think it was just called Apartment Guide or something along those lines. I don't know what the online equivalent is though. I used to see them at Randall's and Kroger all the time.

When my husband moved to Houston, his company set him up with a real estate agent to show him apartments and town homes - does your company offer that service?

Where will your office be?