My wife may have a great job opportunity in Houston. We've thought about Austin, but never Houston. We've both been there a couple times for very short visits, but all I can remember is it was flat. :-\ I've always lived on the west coast, so flat is really weird to me but i guess I could get used to it. More sun than here in Seattle would be fantastic...I think I'm slowly losing all skin pigment and fear I may be clear within the next decade. [laugh]
Anyway, pros and cons from those with experience? Good food in the area, mountain biking, local club level motorcycle racing? Anything else?
well....either way, Texas is closer than Seattle from DC/MD for when I come to take my KTM from you!
Quote from: zooom on October 13, 2011, 10:32:20 AM
well....either way, Texas is closer than Seattle from DC/MD for when I come to take my KTM from you!
[laugh] [thumbsup]
The place is so bad no one wants to talk about it? ;D :o
I've never heard that many good things about Houston. I've been to Dallas and Austin. I prefer Austin 11tybillion times more than Dallas.
Quote from: Triple J on October 13, 2011, 02:40:29 PM
The place is so bad no one wants to talk about it? ;D :o
We're all too busy being employed and not having to pay income taxes to post.
It's actually a really awesome, booming city once you get to know it. It can be a little daunting if you don't.
I'll post more later.
Cool, thanks. [thumbsup]
Quote from: duccarlos on October 13, 2011, 02:57:03 PM
I've never heard that many good things about Houston. I've been to Dallas and Austin. I prefer Austin 11tybillion times more than Dallas.
Yes, and I prefer Dallas 11tybillion times more than Houston.
Houston? Think of the worst parts of Los Angeles, non of the benefits, combined with rednecks, and then copiously slather on infinite humidity.
Other than that, Houston is great!
I hate Austin, prefer Dallas where I live and San Antonio second but Houston does have it's good points. There is beautiful scenery just North of you in the Piney woods region of East Texas, Hill Country is three hours away (Bandera rocks for riding) and Port Arnasas is really nice. Traffic simply SUCKS but Houston is very green with lots of trees and plenty of fancy bits. The first thing you'll realize is that there are no zoning laws so it's a little weird at first but it adds to the charm after a while. If you are looking for "nicer" areas anything around the Galleria is nice, Katy, The Woodlands and anywhere out 290 past Beltway 8. Yes, Houston itself is flat but just outside the City there are nice roads, heavily wooded, with good curves to boot. There is no State income tax and job markets are booming here so from a financial perspective you'll find a lot of house and toys for the money can be had compared to the "left" coast (lived there for a year and a half and returned). Plus at least once a year we do a Hill Country ride for three days you'll certainly enjoy. Let me know if you need any help, my home office is there so I frequent Houston almost monthly when not in MI, WI and IL. [thumbsup]
Quote from: muskrat on October 13, 2011, 08:02:37 PM
I hate Austin, prefer Dallas where I live and San Antonio second but Houston does have it's good points. There is beautiful scenery just North of you in the Piney woods region of East Texas, Hill Country is three hours away (Bandera rocks for riding) and Port Arnasas is really nice. Traffic simply SUCKS but Houston is very green with lots of trees and plenty of fancy bits. The first thing you'll realize is that there are no zoning laws so it's a little weird at first but it adds to the charm after a while. If you are looking for "nicer" areas anything around the Galleria is nice, Katy, The Woodlands and anywhere out 290 past Beltway 8. Yes, Houston itself is flat but just outside the City there are nice roads, heavily wooded, with good curves to boot. There is no State income tax and job markets are booming here so from a financial perspective you'll find a lot of house and toys for the money can be had compared to the "left" coast (lived there for a year and a half and returned). Plus at least once a year we do a Hill Country ride for three days you'll certainly enjoy. Let me know if you need any help, my home office is there so I frequent Houston almost monthly when not in MI, WI and IL. [thumbsup]
Hill country was some good riding. Not as good as the Rockies... and a little unnerving, but pretty damn good still.
If you do end up in Port A... belt sander races at The Gaff, and lots of good times at Bernie's
I miss the h*ll out of Austin. The Hill Country is good riding but nothing compared to the PNW J!! The s/o used to work for UT. She would go to UT-Houston often. She never had good things to say about it but I'm sure it's just because the area she was in. I've been there once and all I remember it the humidity. I thought it was bad in Michigan. Houston, as well as, Dallas are crazy though!! Austin isn't so bad. The good thing about Houston is it'll be close to Austin and the MotoGP/F1! [thumbsup] San Antonio and the riverwalk are pretty cool for a daytrip too..especially at Christmas when it's all lit up. You and M should do it. I'm sure your lil' one will love seeing what a sunny day looks like! ;)
humidity in Dallas is more often than not much less than Austin. Houston on the other hand sucks in August. Shit, hot is hot no matter what anyone says.
Houston is a good place to eat food. We have a couple Beard award nominees running restaurants here, along with some regional chains that make really good food. The Papa's franchise seems to do everything well. We have every type of Mexican food restaurant in the spectrum from taqueria to foodie. We are close to the Gulf, so there is plenty of fresh seafood to be had. And Houston is diverse - we have a big population of Vietnamese (bilingual street signs in some areas), as well as lots of folks from other Asian countries. They brought recipes.
Memorial park (West-central part of of the city) has several mountain bike trails - as mentioned above, we're driving distance to hillier spots.
Pros: There is lots of industry here, and Houston has fared a little better than the rest of country following the Great Depression II. Houston was hit bad in the early 80s and I think they learned their lesson. Oil and gas, and medical are the heavy-hitters, but there is aerospace (although that may be going away), transport (port of Houston-Galveston), and others. Several big companies with HQs here.
Real estate is cheap. I think this will work in Houston's favor in the long run in that it would be cheap to relocate businesses and people here. Houston is beating the national average for population growth, and we're expected to jump up a notch or two in the metropolitan area size rankings in coming years.
Cons: Houston is big, and it is spread out. The Chicago metropolitan area has about four million more people packed in to about the same amount of square miles as Houston. The result of this, and a lack of any extensive public transport is that you have to drive everywhere. And park. And walk in the heat to your next air-conditioned bubble. Which brings us to the next con...
The weather is not great. It is what you would probably consider coming from Seattle Summer hot about five or six months out of the year. Historically, it is humid all the time, but we are in the middle of a drought. There were over 30 days this year that we hit 100+ temps.
As a result there is not a whole lot for the outdoorsman to do in Houston proper for most of the year. That, and a lack of mountains or nearby body of water keeps a lot of people indoors or heading out of town to do stuff. (Galveston is nearby if you like to fish or boat). The North and East parts of Houston are piney woods - it does look nice, but walking around in the woods in the perma-Summer has limited entertainment value, to me at least.
I am going to digress into what is more about my personal relationship with the city for a second. Take this with a grain of salt.
There is stuff to do here, but I am not sure it all adds up to something I would call a culture or identity. Houston does have a ballet company, a symphony, and hosts big traveling shows. Our art museums are good - we have some old money endowing the higher arts. The Menils have a private collection unlike any I have seen in the US or Europe. Me and the fam' enjoy the natural history museum, and we have a great zoo. UH is recognized as a top MBA program, and Rice is a fine private college. Memorial park is nice, especially if you can afford to live nearby, and our downtown area went through a bit of a revival several years ago. We have pro soccer, football, basketball, hockey, and baseball teams. We have the yearly livestock show and rodeo.
All that said, I can't ever say I feel personally enriched by living here. And I am not just talking about taking in living in a cool city - I don't feel exactly lucky to take advantage of what Houston has to offer balanced out by the cost of doing it. For every good thing there is about living here, or any large city that can accommodate world-class entertainment or culture, there is a bad thing or some impediment to enjoying it - think 5.9 million people competing for the same scarce entertainment resources. Millions of people getting in their cars, driving to the same places, in the same traffic, navigating the same neverending construction, to get to the same parking lot... etc.
Wow, this is long, but I hope it helps. PM on the way too - glad to answer any questions you may have.
Quote from: IZ on October 13, 2011, 10:23:50 PM
The Hill Country is good riding but nothing compared to the PNW J!!
The good thing about Houston is it'll be close to Austin and the MotoGP/F1! [thumbsup]
I'm sure your lil' one will love seeing what a sunny day looks like! ;)
Riding around Seattle sucks IMO. Congestion, crap roads, even worse cage drivers, and cops that hate motorcycles. Nevermind the wet conditions 75% of the time. No thanks. Oregon on the other hand has fantastic roads, which helps to make up for their drivers and weather. [laugh] Central OR is even better. Too bad it's all too far for a day ride.
More sun would defintely be nice. Close to the Austin track would also be cool, but it's not exactly a reason to move.
Quote from: il d00d on October 13, 2011, 10:48:40 PM
Wow, this is long, but I hope it helps. PM on the way too - glad to answer any questions you may have.
PM returned...thanks, very good info. [thumbsup]
look at it this way. make some money, enough to retire earlier and then you can move wherever you like.
Quote from: muskrat on October 14, 2011, 09:27:32 AM
look at it this way. make some money, enough to retire earlier and then you can move wherever you like.
That's the plan in general. [thumbsup] Thanks for your input as well..I missed it earlier. interesting you say you hate Austin...my wife's dad hates Austin as well, but really liked living in Houston.
Your local motorcycle racing club, CMRA, seems pretty active as well with races at 5 or 6 tracks. That's very cool! [thumbsup] We only race a 2 tracks here, and mainly at 1.
Houston is the suck! I worked with my brother in the family trucking business years ago. We had a satellite office in Houston. We'd make them come to Dallas rather than going to Houston for business meetings. I am a Dallas native and I don't like Dallas so how bad does that make Houston? [laugh] IZ and I just had a PM swap about Dallas so he knows what I'm talking about. [thumbsup]
CMRA is a good racing outfit. I used to belong to them when they were CRRC in the late 80s-early 90s. You wouldn't believe the famous racers that came out of that gene pool! Start with Ben Spies and go up from there!! [popcorn]
I live about 60 miles southeast of Houston, along the Coast. I try to spend as little time as I can in Houston. My impression is that it is hot, congested, and angry. The heat has been mentioned before but it is worth repeating. You will find it uncomfortable to ride in the summer. Riding in town is dangerous. Temps run about 5 degrees hotter than where I live. I think that the buildings and pavement just suck up the heat. Here in rural Texas there seems to be a brain drain. I've become so jaded that when I meet someone new I wait for them to prove to me that they are not a moron. Until they show some intelligence, I assume the worst. The education system is weak and underfunded. It is the bible belt (I won't say more on that). One thing that hasn't been mentioned are the wildlife refuges along the coast. I work for them. They are world class. If you are a bird watcher or hunter this is heaven for 3 to 6 months of the year. People come from all over the world to see them. Funny, that many locals don't even know they exist.
Quote from: akmnstr on October 14, 2011, 11:09:54 AM
Here in rural Texas there seems to be a brain drain. I've become so jaded that when I meet someone new I wait for them to prove to me that they are not a moron. Until they show some intelligence, I assume the worst.
[laugh] [laugh]
Is the education system underfunded just where you are, or do you see it as a statewide problem?
Quote from: Triple J on October 14, 2011, 09:43:13 AM
That's the plan in general. [thumbsup] Thanks for your input as well..I missed it earlier. interesting you say you hate Austin...my wife's dad hates Austin as well, but really liked living in Houston.
Your local motorcycle racing club, CMRA, seems pretty active as well with races at 5 or 6 tracks. That's very cool! [thumbsup] We only race a 2 tracks here, and mainly at 1.
I like to live where people don't meddle in your business and Austin is the KING of meddling IMO. The traffic there sucks just as bad as Houston since they "don't" build any roads. :-\
Quote from: Triple J on October 14, 2011, 11:46:21 AM
[laugh] [laugh]
Is the education system underfunded just where you are, or do you see it as a statewide problem?
The education system in TX has been taking budget hits and the state is currently being sued by many school districts over the way the state handles funding. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/texas-schools-sue-state-s_n_1006353.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/texas-schools-sue-state-s_n_1006353.html)
It seems to me the quality of education varies. My Nephew just moved to a suburb of Austin and thinks his kids school is great. The local schools in my area rate low on HS Graduation rates. If you have kids it is something to investigate before you settle into a community.
pretty much any surrounding "affluent" suburb has very good schools. There is a slew of Montessori schools as well that are substantially cheaper than where you are. Inner City schools have been the hardest hit.
There are only three places I would live in Houston.
The heights, where I currently live, Montrose, and downtown. If you live here, you can walk places and be close to everything you could ever need, with awesome food, schools and nightlife within a stones throw. Anything else, you will turn into a seething, hate machine stuck in a car for 3 hours a day.
Hmmm...Houston traffic ranked 4th worst...the 2 places I've lived also on the list: SF (5th) and Seattle (9th). Not good, as traffic pisses me off.
determine your job situation and pick accordingly. plenty here to help or move to Dallas where the Autobaan is a minimum 90 mph. ;D
I grew up there, and my Dad still lives there. I happen to enjoy hot weather, so Houston doesn't bother me. I mainly lived on the outskirts (Sugar Land), and there was always plenty to do. The traffic sucks, but traffic sucks in a lot of places. Moving around in the Army, I've come to realize that your outlook, and what you put into a place, usually has more impact on whether you enjoy living some where or not.
A few years ago, don't remember when, Houston was ranked for having the worst air in the nation. Seems it is a little better now, but still ranks near the bottom. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30476335/ns/us_news-environment/t/report-lists-worst-best-cities-air-quality/#.TpwhguxuK7s (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30476335/ns/us_news-environment/t/report-lists-worst-best-cities-air-quality/#.TpwhguxuK7s)
A few months ago I had to go to Texas City (an industrial suburb) and the sky was brown. I felt the bad air in my chest and I drove as fast as I could to get out of town.
Driving fast to get out of any big city is always a good thing. [thumbsup] I'm getting the hell out of town this Wednesday for my farm in east TX. Good fall cold front is coming our way and I don't want to be in the city when it gets here. Looking forward to my last mowing of the year, good cigars and cold adult beverages, peace and quiet, deer at the feeders, cows mooing in the distance and oh, did I mention I wouldn't be in the city? [laugh]
PS don't move to Houston!
Quote from: fastwin on October 17, 2011, 09:00:08 AM
PS don't move to Houston!
[laugh]
Thanks for all the input everyone. [thumbsup] I think we've decided it has to be one sweet ass job offer for us to move, so we'll see. The hot weather actually sounds kinda nice, but maybe that's because I know I have about 9 months of cold, wet, and gray to look forward to. [laugh] From my time in Vegas, I know it would get old after a few months (as would the AC bills). The houses sure look nice compared to here (for what we can afford), but that alone is no reason to move. We've been in Seattle for 9 years come March, so I think we both have a mild case of 'grass is greener' going on. [roll]
Quote from: akmnstr on October 14, 2011, 01:16:10 PM
The education system in TX has been taking budget hits and the state is currently being sued by many school districts over the way the state handles funding. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/texas-schools-sue-state-s_n_1006353.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/texas-schools-sue-state-s_n_1006353.html)
It seems to me the quality of education varies. My Nephew just moved to a suburb of Austin and thinks his kids school is great. The local schools in my area rate low on HS Graduation rates. If you have kids it is something to investigate before you settle into a community.
Not so much the spending as the data shows:
(http://wac.0873.edgecastcdn.net/800873/blog/wp-content/uploads/Fed-Spend-Ach-Pct-Chg-Cato-Andrew-Coulson.jpg)
but on what the money is being spent on. i.e. several districts have blown multi millions on football/basketball/concert hall facilities. Then there is the nationwide problem of interjecting polytiks about what to teach instead of using a sane brain and teaching what actually needs to be taught. i.e. the three R's versus ensuring the curiculum is polytikedly correct.