Tips for moving to Houston

Axen

I'm moving to Houston, TX this spring. I plan on taking a trip down there before then to look at apartments and check out the neighborhoods. I could really use some advice from you good folks that live there. What neighborhoods to avoid, what suburbs are a good place to live, so on and so forth.

Any advice would be really appreciated and welcomed.

schattenjaeger

What part of Houston? Houston has unimaginable sprawl, and there is a vast swath of planet that can qualify as "Houston." I live around the Space Center, nearly 30 miles away from anything resembling downtown, and yet still have a Houston address (although that's really a function of me being near the space center, 100 feet in any direction and I'm in a different city...). I'm really only competent to talk about that area (the "Clear Lake" area).

Axen

Well that's what I am trying to figure out actually. I doubt I'd want to live in the city center so I want as much info on the surrounding suburbs and neighborhoods as I can get.

I plan on taking a trip down there myself in a few weeks to check things out, but it would be really nice to have a good idea of what to expect and what to look for.

I'm not willing to buy a house down there just yet so I will be renting. I would prefer not to spend more than $700 a month if possible. I've looked online at various apartments and found a few that look good, but I do not know what the area is like.

Plus, I may have a buddy join me down there. He is pursuing his Masters, so this may factor in to where we'd ultimately live.

Zombie Nirvana

Houston is a very large city - we need to know where you will be working to give you worthwhile information. I assume your buddy is going to U of H or Rice?

Zombie Nirvana

For instance, you can live near Spring and find nice areas in your price range. Katy is okay too if you pay attention to where you situate yourself, but those areas are very far apart and might not make sense from a commute standpoint.

oldsak

Houston is huge. Commuting from the suburbs seems like the worst thing ever. Also, there's really not a whole lot to do unless you live closer to the center of the city.

Axen

Well I've spent most of my life in small towns. As long as there is a bar nearby I'll be fine. Though I have spent my share of time in big cities where car dealerships offer bullet proofing as on option. :P However Houston would certainly be the largest I've lived in.

My average commute time is usually about a hour.

I've just returned from overseas and have been released from the army so I am currently unemployed. I've saved up more then enough money to, at my current budget, live pretty comfortably for a year. While I certainly wouldn't turn away any job offers, I'm also not in any particular hurry to get a job. I mainly wish to just take a break for awhile, sort out my VA claims, and get the next phase of my life in order.

So I am trying to learn about the various areas of Houston. What ones to stay away from, which ones are nice and quiet, fun and exciting, cheap, expensive, or whatever.

Zombie Nirvana

Split a place in the heights.

noir_blood

Why Houston?

It doesn't sound like there's any specific thing taking you there(other than your buddy).

I mean, if you have the budget for it Austin might be a better option in the things to do department. Or Dallas.

Sorry I'm not too much help, just never been a an of that city. they do have an awesome bookstore though-Murder By The Books

Zombie Nirvana

Maybe he doesn't like pretentious assholes? That would disqualify both of those cities.

cr0w

I live in Clear Lake, about a mile from NASA myself, and prices down here are fairly reasonable for the most part, unless you want the super-duper across the street from JSC apartments, in which case you're going to be paying a hell of a lot.

Clear Lake's a nice area, but it all really depends on where you'll be working and what you're looking for in the area you want to move into. Downtown has some really cool spots if you're into the urban environment, and the restaurants alone down there are reason to settle in.

Axen

Heh, I picked Houston for no particular reason actually. When I was young my family would go to Texas for the summer and I enjoyed it.

I had looked at Dallas/Fort Worth area. Specifically Denton or Flower Mound I think it was. Mainly because they had a National Guard armory near by that had my MOS in case I felt like joining up. For now, signs point to no.

I do appreciate the advice guys.

Zombie Nirvana

Fort Worth side of DFW is a great place to live.

Spawnbroker

I lived in the Katy area for a few years, it's a nice suburb, if a bit far from the center of the city. Like others said, we really need to know where you will be commuting to in order to give you a good estimate. That being said, Katy is about 45 mins to an hour from downtown, and it's a nice area.

cr0w

Also, if you hate traffic you're screwed in Houston either way, but coming in from the north on weekday mornings is fucking horrible, and generally coming up from the south is a little more tolerable. Assuming you'd be commuting into the city.

Djeet

My parents just moved to Houston, near the galleria (just west outside the inner loop), and it's a pretty nice place to live. Main pros are that it seems an easy walk to a pub/restaurant/shopping and you're relatively central; main con is there's not much green space. Don't know the rents there, but given what they paid to buy I'd think $700 would probably cover your half if you're splitting rent.

I love living in Austin, though not having a decent airport, not having much high cultural stuff (shows outside of live music, museums), everyone being white, and having to spend half my income on housing (combination of high rents and low pay) so as to stay central is definitely getting to me.

FafnerMorell

I live on the SW side of Houston, in Missouri City. Been here for 15+ years and enjoy it. Depending on what you want, there are a lot of options. Traffic-wise, toll roads like Westpark and Fort Bend are fast but pricey ways to get downtown. I avoid I-45, even on the weekends. 59 generally isn't bad, and I've heard I-10 isn't bad now that the construction is done. But despite all the complaints, I've never had longer than an average 25 minute commute - so it all depends on where you are and where you're going (profound, eh?).

There should be some pretty affordable areas inside the loop (I-610). The Heights seems to be real popular. If your friend is going to Rice, West U is great but pricey. The Medical Center area is good, but some isolated areas of it are a bit high in crime (20 years ago I had an apartment there, it got broken into, I moved into a more secure place down the road - no problems then). I don't know the area around U of H, but I hear it's a bit rough.

grungebox

I lived in Houston for 5 years while I went to grad school, and I moved away ~2 years ago. Feel free to PM me specific questions or if you have an apartment location in google maps and want to know if it's a stabby part of town.

Re: areas of Houston...Keep in mind Houston has no real zoning laws, so the areas tend to be heavily gentrified. It's possible to find cheap, very nice condos and apartments in just awful, awful areas. The south medical center (aka Condo-land) is one example and that's where I lived, as well as some of sketchier parts of midtown. For fun I used to go to Midtown (the non-sketchy part), Rice Village, Montrose area, the Heights, and Upper Kirby.

I'd recommend you look for places in either the Montrose area or the Heights. I'd recommend AGAINST the medical center even if rent is very cheap. If your buddy is going to Rice, you two might be able to split rent on a place in West University like some of my grad school friends did. If it's U of Houston, there are lots of cheap places out near there but I'd recommend moving away, it's a crummy part of town.

schuss

I wouldn't live in Texas if you paid me, but that's just me. This would be a good opportunity to see the country if you have money saved up, and it could give you a better idea of where to go and put some roots down.
For the record, no one I've ever talked to (including my Uncle who lived there for a while) has talked about Houston as a place they'd like to return to. Most GTFO once they don't need to work there anymore.

jimb213

Anecdote time!

After college (UT in Austin), a bunch of my friends moved to Houston for work. One other guy from our group and I stayed in Austin. At a wedding a year or two later, everybody was jealous of the two of us who stayed in Austin.

If you can go wherever, I'd seriously consider Austin. Most of the benefits of a big city (great arts, music, dining, nightlife, etc), but lots of great neighborhoods with a strong community & small town kind of feel, plus lots of great outdoorsy stuff.

Airious24

I'm originally from Houston and grew up there. So here is my two cents.

It may be too close to the city and less suburban but if I could pick anywhere to live it would be the Montrose area. It isn't in the middle of downtown, so you can actually do grocery shopping and such. It has some of the best bars and restaurants in the area and its pretty centrally located if you wanna drive outside of the city. It shouldn't be a big deal, but also this is the 'gay' area of Houston, just an FYI. Here is the wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montrose,_Houston

If you want a more suburb area, with a 45min to an hour commute, Katy is nice. They also have been building more toll roads, like the westpark tollroad to make it easier to get in and out of Katy.

If you want to be in what I like to refer to as super pleasantville suburbia, there is The Woodlands, where I specifically grew up. It is about 45 min. north of Houston. It is pretty much a white rich bubble. Most people have huge houses, although affordable apartments do still exist in some areas. I wouldn't recommend it unless you wanted to start a family there.

Heir

jimb213 wrote:

Anecdote time!

After college (UT in Austin), a bunch of my friends moved to Houston for work. One other guy from our group and I stayed in Austin. At a wedding a year or two later, everybody was jealous of the two of us who stayed in Austin.

If you can go wherever, I'd seriously consider Austin. Most of the benefits of a big city (great arts, music, dining, nightlife, etc), but lots of great neighborhoods with a strong community & small town kind of feel, plus lots of great outdoorsy stuff.

Seconded! Austin is just a great place. Cost of living is a tad higher than Houston area though.