bettyk

Gosh, after listening to all the negative stuff, it's a wonder so many millions of people can even stand to live in the Houston area!

Well, I was born and raised in Houston and now I live in Missouri City, a suburb. I work off the Beltway near Westheimer and it takes me about 20+ minutes to get to and from work every day. It helps if you have flexible hours -- mine are 6:30 AM to 4:30 PM for 4 days/week then 7 - 11 AM on Fridays. I miss a lot of the traffic that way.

Yes, we have heat and humidity and big bugs, but I've lived in Idaho, New Orleans, Vienna, Austria and London, England; and no place is perfect. What I love here is the diversity of the entertainment, the fabulous and inexpensive restaurants and reasonable housing costs. Our next door neighbors are moving to Colorado and their new house costs more than TWICE what their current house cost. Even when you figure in our higher property taxes and insurance, I think we're doing oK.

We also have some of the best doctors and medical centers in the world.

I know it's not everybody "cup of tea" but, like I said, several million people must think it's OK.

Statia

Bellairegirl and Bettyk, I've been wondering if you two were going to chime in here. Nice posts. Others herein have also nailed Houston on the head IMO...namely Hiroshi, LDLee, Beachdreams, Travellyn, Tasza, and Millie.

Being a Houston native myself, I would love to have commented, but felt that I couldn't comment objectively since I've only visited yearly for the past ten years. However, for the most part I agree with those whose names I mentioned.

Good luck in your decision, Blondie. I agree that how you ultimately feel about Houston will largely depend upon where you are locating from.

Blondie

Wow everybody! I am overwhelmed by such a great response to this question. I really appreciate the time and effort you all (or should I say yall) put into your replies.

I am probably going to be making the final decision in the next few weeks and this info is such a help!

Thanks again!

bellairegirl

Blondie,

If you need any assistance in making your decision, feel free to e-mail me directly at [email protected]

Susan

pspercy

I was there for a year, lived out west at I-10 and SH6 area. I liked it a lot, lots of good reasonably priced restaurants, excellent grocery stores. With Beltway 8 in operation Galveston is only about 45 min away. $110K/yr will allow a great lifestyle, I made far less but we never wanted for anything at all.

gluvscats

Hi Blondie.

I'm a native Texan (born and raised in San Antonio). I have lived in Houston 20 years. The good things are:

1. Warm and hot sunny days. When it is cool and rains, it warms up quickly.
2. A variety of good resturants.
If you do want to go out, there is alot of entertainment.
3. Cost of living is good and alot of nice areas to live.

Yes it does get hot/humid especially in the summer but I'll take that anyday over the cold damp wet weather we get here in Olympia, WA.

Where do you live now? Why are ya'll considering Houston? Have more questions? Feel free to e-mail me.

Gee [email protected]

IOPCarol

Blondie,

It's been awhile since my husband, 2 kids, and I lived in Kingwood, TX (Houston NE suburb) - but I LOVED it there! Housing is still very reasonable, compared to other parts of the country. So, you have a few tough months in the summer with the humidity - but the other seasons are generally quite good. Great restaurants, best health facilities in the US (MD Anderson, Hermann, etc.). It was one of the best places (have moved a LOT!) we've lived in the US.

Best of luck with your decision..

jor

Houston waw recently rated the hotest, most humid city in America.

clairelong

Katy is a great place to live, (west side), Sugar Land (southwest side) two great places!!! Sure it's hot in the summer and humid too but we that live here are use to it......I would have to say Vegas is the worst heat i have ever felt in the summer...you can't breathe practically! To live inside Houston, probably not, but the outlying towns..Katy, Sugar Land are great!

rainysundays

I live in Houston (actually, The Woodlands) very comfortably on less than 110K. I own my own home, have a nice car, and have plenty of spending money. Housing costs are VERY inexpensive unless you want one of the new lofts downtown. I noticed that most of the people who posted negatively don't seem to have spent much time here in a while (one guy lived here in 1980?!) The downtown and midtown areas are revitalizing and hey, we finally have a football team again!

I have to plug my neighborhood a bit. It's beautiful! It takes about 45 minutes to get to downtown from The Woodlands, but there is a mass transit (not public) system call Woodlands Express that uses Greyhound-style buses to take you to various areas in Houston during the work week. The air quality here in The Woodlands is excellent because of all the trees (we're on the edge of the Great Piney Woods of East Texas.) The Woodlands is a master-planned community that also contains the outdoor ampitheater for the Houston area, so there are tons of concerts of all kinds of music (from James Taylor to Tim McGraw to the Houston Symphony) to choose from throughout the year. There's a strong community spirit here as well- citizens are very protective of the area and their lifestyles. The area is booming and we have so many shopping and dining options now that I haven't been into "the city" for two months. Check out www.thewoodlands.com, www.thewoodlandsonline.com, or http://people.txucom.net/window/ for more information. I would estimate median housing price is $200K - lots for more, some for less.

If you want to be closer to the city do try West U, Bellaire, or the Heights, but expect to pay much more for comparable houses.

The thing I like best about Houston (after living here for 19 years) is the friendly people. It always surprises me when I go to another city and see the lack of friendliness now that I've gotten used to Houston. I also find it very affordable and the food is terrific everywhere.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!!

Catmomma

I don't know if you've made your decision yet, but really it depends more on who you are as a person.

I grew up in the Houston area and got out of there as fast as I could. Now, I live in Austin.

Houston does have its pluses:

1. Awesome shopping---great designer discount places
2. Decent nightlife
3. Wide range of restaurants
4. Good symphony & theatre
5. Good museums
6. Close to coast (but icky coast)
7. Not too far from Austin
8. $110k goes pretty far for a big city
9. Great hospitals

Minuses

1. Cookie cutter culture (You may like this---I prefer Austin's uniqueness)
2. Ultra conservative-think Tom Delay (may be a plus to you)
3. Smog---it is the most polluted city in the U.S.---and a lot of it = car emissions
4. Humidity
5. Heat
6. Mosquitos
7. traffic

As for areas, yes River Oaks, Memorial, and West U are great but expensive.

Montrose is great, and you might like it if you are liberal.

Sugarland & Katy are nice & affordable. I'm from there.

My husband's from the Woodlands, and it's nicer. My cousin lives in Kingwood, and it's nice too.

Crime---yes there's crime in the burbs too, but it's not as bad. If you are a generally careful person, you should be fine.

roosterlady

If you will be working downtown and decide to move to the far west (Katy) southwest (Sugarland), or south (Clear Lake) you can do the park and ride on the Metro bus. It's around $100 a month and you will avoid driving in. I commute 80 miles roundtrip daily live near Clear Lake and work near Katy. The 1 hour commute is not bad since I can take the Beltway although I have to pay $6.00 in tolls. You may want to consider your commuting expenses when you decide on a place to live. Parking in Downtown can also be expensive unless your company is going to pay for it.

Yeah the weather is hot and humid but I'd rather be wearing my shorts in December than shoveling snow. I've visited many other places outside Texas and I wouldn't trade Houston for another place.

Your most safest places to live would be outside the city in the suburbs. Within the city you could have a nice area such as WEst University than one block over will be a crack head living area and both of you would be shopping at the same grocery store. I always feel very unsafe while in the city and especially downtown during off business hours.

Melnq8

I lived in Houston from 1988-1993. I thought it was huge at the time, but I'm told by friends still living there that I wouldn't recognize it anymore.

In the five years we were there, our home was broken into and our car was stolen from a "secure" parking lot at work - no arrests, no recoveries.

Gangs were a problem at the time - I distinctly remember bold Asian gangs kicking in the doors of homes while people were home, tying up the occupants and robbing them.

I worked for an insurance company at the time and therefore I was acutely aware of the crime, flooding and mold problems.

I disliked Houston. Too big, ungodly humid, too many freaking bugs, too much crime, shoddy home construction, and too flat! Don't believe what you might hear about the nearby "hill country" - too this Colorado girl, it's flat!

The only good thing I remember about Houston was the food. The food there is pretty awesome.

Catmomma

Although I'm no Houston fan, Melnq8's post does not match with my experience.

We lived in the burbs for 16 years and never had any problems with crime. My parents have lived there another 16 years with no problems. My husband's parents have lived in the Woodlands for over 20 years and never had a problem with crime. I could go on about different people I know.

The point is that if you live in a safe part of town and avoid the unsafe parts---and don't generally throw caution to the wind, i.e. don't leave cash lying around visible in your car at the mall, you should be fine.

I've spent plenty of time in Colorado, the California Coast, the U.S. Virgin Islands, etc., and no our Hill Country in Texas is not the same. However, it is still incredibly beautiful, and I love it. It is a few hours from Houston.

sail10

Lets see houston might be doing something right Harris county ( Houston is located in ) has more people living there than 22 of our states. Houston is a better place to live than most large citys, especially better than , Los Angeles.( fruits and nuts there) , Atlanta ( just as humid and hot) Maimi ( just as humid and hot) Chicago ( cold winter, did i say windy,and humid hot summer), New York ( great town, but expensive).

Now to answer your questions, (1. air can be bad for the most part south end so go north or n/w. (2. There are many areas to live that are safe, Champions area, kingwood area , woodlands area, 290 area- north west- cypress school district. (3. commuting is 1 hour on most freeways , and you can drive it all or drive to a park and ride, or car pool on hov lane ( restricted car must have 2 or more to use ). (4. Shopping, houston has the best malls in the united states located everywhere and then there is the galleria area for your saks, neimans, specialty up scale retailers. ( 5. crime is not as bad as Los angelis, new york , atlanta ,chicago or miami. The worst area is the ward and you will not have to even go near there. (6. Food is Houstons speciality , there are real Mexican restaurants- ( not ketsup type most citys ) the steak restaurants are the best , Sea food when we say blackened its not pale in butter, bolied like most citys, you will see the difference, And up scale all i got to say is Brennans, Tonys , confederate house, next to new york houston is it. ( 7. Movies we lead the nation in stadium seating theathers. And as far as live theather we boast more theathers than all citys other than New York. (8. As far as living on $110,000 a year , you will live 2 to 4 times better than any city in the U.S low taxes.

As far as areas most people who have just visited know very little about Houston its 650 square miles ,bigger than a lot of states. And the traffic is heavy but better than, LA., NY., Atlanta , chicago , and maimi. There are many nice safe areas inner city, like- West university, River oaks , heights area,tangle wood, bellaire and many others.

Just to add to the City. We have the best hospitals in the world #1 , the best fire department( EMS )rated #1 in the united states by its peers, AND WE SAY HI TO YOU, we dont ignore you. Like a great sage once said, WELCOME TO - HEAVENLY HOUSTON. NICK

rjw_lgb_ca

I won't address Houston as a livable city, but I must protest anyone calling people in California "fruits and nuts".

I'm frankly tired of hearing that wheezy old "insult". There are lots of good people here, who care a lot about their fellow people. We get up, go to work, and happily bear uninformed slams from out-of-state people who feel they have to boost their own area's image by calling Californians names.

If we have a lot of "fruits and nuts" (and by that, do you mean liberals and gays/lesbians? Better them than bigots, I'd say), it's because such people know they can come here and not be harshly judged. Unlike in other areas.

rjw_lgb_ca

And no, sail10, I'm not calling you a bigot-- but I would suggest that you're misinformed about Californians. That's all. Don't paint us with that same broad brush, trying to bring us down.

On a sunny day, looking out of my office window at the Santa Monica Pier and (on a particularly clear day) Catalina Island, my workday is made perfect. On a weekend afternoon, bicycling on the beach and looking over at the Queen Mary and the Carnival Ecstasy (now docking at the Sprucedome!), and enjoying the kite flyers and model plane enthusiasts and windsurfers and sun worshipers (yeah!!) on the sands, I know I'm home. I'm not gloating or anything-- it's still a damn expensive area I live in-- but I've made my choice and it's wonderful for me. Houston works for a lot of people, I'm sure; it's a surprisingly diverse cultural oasis in central Texas. Just don't think you have to tear me down to make yourself feel better-- you've got enough good in your area.

Catmomma

That hill country comment is still bothering me. Does Melnq8 not know the difference between mountains and hills?

Obviously, if they are hills, they are not going to be as big as mountains, which is what Colorado has. Actually, I think the mountains in CO are the biggest in the US.

But our hills here in the Hill Country where I live are very big hills. They are close to mountain size-hardly flat like Houston. They are green year round too.