Ok. Please be patient with me because this is a LOOOOONG post. I have a new baby girl (6 mos) and I think about her future alot. My girlfriend and I will one day get married and we have already started talking about where to live the rest of our lives. Basically, in what city. Now, presently, I am in corporate finance and to be honest, I hate it. I majored in Econ and started to get my masters in it, but one day, I woke up and decided that I hated that crap and the only reason I am in it is basically because I get paid pretty good. But money is not even on my top 5 when it comes to what makes me happy. Anyway, a couple of summers ago, I took my girlfriend to Houston for vacation for the first time and she absolutely fell in love with the city. Ever since then, I kiddingly joke that I am moving us back so that I can buy a house with a big yard, some trees and lots of room for my baby girl to run through, just like I had when I was growing up. Recently, my girlfriend has gotten rather serious about the fact of moving and to be honest, I can't believe how much she wants to leave this area. She is Bronx born and bred 100 percent and I can't even imagine her being away from NYC. But she is rather willing to follow me to Japan if I wanted. Anyway, now that I see her enthusiasm for leaving, I think about it alot. We think about California, Arizona, Texas or Florida. But in reality, I think she wants Houston. The problem I have is that I have so many contacts, so many friends and family in this area that I hesitate to come back home to Houston. Also, I love the restaurants. I love the culture. I love the electricity and excitement that NYC brings. Lets be honest. There NYC and there everybody else when it comes museums, theatre and restaurants. The diversity is intoxicating. But I know that I am not 20 anymore and that I would love to find a place to balance warm weather, quality of life and all that NYC has to offer. Out of all the cities in all the states I mentioned, Houston is the biggest besides LA. Not that size is everything, right? I need your advice on this: Like I said, I am switching careers. I really love computers. I presently attend a tech school and have earned my A+ Certification, Network + Certification and presently study for CCNA(Cisco) and afterwards will go for MCSE2k. In the future, I plan on going all the way to CCIE, God willing and maybe UNIX. What I want to know for everyone that lives in Houston or has had alot of time in Houston and not just going for vacation is how good is Houston to live in right now? I mean total living like employment for what I am presently studying, housing...quality of life in general considering art and culture and how is the cost of living. Is the economy good? How is the crime? When I go on vacation there, I basically go back to my run down neighborhood, play dominoes and cards, visit my old friends, and basically do the same Astroworld/Waterworld/Astrodome, Padre Island, NASA thing. So, I never paid attention to all that. Even though money is not the most important thing in my life, I would like to get paid well for what I know and enough to continue to invest in my daughter and our future. I have seen alot of great homes around Kirby Drive, the Galleria, River Oaks, Sugarland and the like. I drove through Missouri City during my last vacation and I loved alot of the area. I also saw the Financial Center around the Galleria(I believe) and it would be really cool to get a Network position in a financial company. That would combine both my strengths! The apartments are the bomb in alot of areas in the city. I just worry about the economic situation and culture. Also, the crime. So, I need your advice. For those in other states, you can chime in also. I basically have decided that I won't be around here much longer. I just need a place to call home. I plan on deciding in no more than 1 year. I want my baby and future kids (God willing) to have a good place to grow up with lots of open space. I can get that here, but that type of housing and comfort would easily cost me 300 grand or more. Car insurance is the most expensive in the US and lets not go into property tax. The more you make here, the more you spend and that really, really sucks. So...HELP!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for the long post.
C'mon home son! Here are a few facts... Houston was #2 in job growth in America last year and leads the rest of the country by thousands of jobs this year. Houston has more theater seats per capita than any city in the country except NYC. Houston has more restaurants per capita than any city in the country, period. It is known for that. No state income tax. Downtown is becoming THE place to be. It is quickly becoming loaded with cool places to go (cough...arena...cough) and will soon even have a grocery store. Out of the 25 most populated cities in America, Houston is ranked 23rd in property values. San Francisco, New York and LA are one, two and three respectively. Houston was ranked #1 as a place to live for African Americans. I don't know if you are black or not, but it is worth noting. Houston is EXTREMELY diverse in terms of culture - considered by many to be one of the top 2 or 3 most diverse cities in the world, let alone country. Houston has more millionaires per capita than any city in the world. Wierd, huh? Beyond those facts, there are lots of great places to live either close to town or out in the suburbs. I, personally, encourage the inner loop area, but I live in the Heights so, of course I would. It really is getting better here. The pollution will be under control by 2007 when the TNRCC and EPA regulations go into effect. The city, county, local business community and environmental concerns have pleged to plant over 1 million trees in the next 3 years. There is a bond referendum that will likely pass this fall that includes $750 million for parks, libraries and street improvements. If you want more, drop me an email.
sounds like you want to live in Sugarland! but are you sure y'all want to deal with 100 degree summers, traffic, mosquitos, etc... etc...? Housing: here's a site that can help you see what housing is like here in Houston http://www.har.com I will say this... Housing prices are pretty high if you want to live 'in the loop' new construction easily starts at $200,000 you can find homes for $150,000 and less but you'll need to do some work on them. Then there's always the suburbs.. you can get a 3/2 starting at like 120+.... Crime: it's bad where ever you go, in this city or another... http://www.abc13.com has a link to local crime stats Job Market: I got one. Don't know what it's like for other fields. I know none of my friends are hurting, out of job or anything. Art & Culture: we got tons of it. The Menil, MFA, CAM, Houston Symphony, The Opera, etc. I would do a search for Houston and see what comes up...also http://www.chron.com (our only local paper) has a good info and you can keep up with news... good luck... rH
Mosquitos? Ok, that's fair. 100 degree summers? Well, it's either that or snow-laden winters. We just have the reverse of most northern cities. We have a/c for 3 months. They shovel snow and need heat. We pay high electric bills. They pay high heating oil bills. It's a tradeoff. Traffic? You remember that he lives in NYC, right? We are ranked 23 out of 25 big cities in housing costs. NYC is number 2. We still have some of the lowest housing costs in the nation, so it isn't nearly as bad as it could be. You nailed it. It is bad pretty much all over. Although, violent crimes are at their lowest point in 30 years. Every city has its problems. We are not immune. If I wanted to be unbiased and mention them... smog (hopefully that will change with the new TNRCC rules in 2007), traffic, mosquitos and heat. If you can live with those, you'll be fine. Personally, I avoid the traffic by living close to town. Also, more mass transit options are in the works for down the road. The heat? Air conditioning!
