looking at moveing to Houston TX anyone like it there??

[GBGN1]

Girlfriend just got a promotion and She wants me to go with.Anyone live there,visit and like it?? -goods,bads- and not Never been there and it would be a huge move to me from greenbay WI ,thanks
Brian

 

[kh440]

In an unrelated post I had mentioned looking at either Houston or even Dallas/Fort Worth, this is one of the responses I got (from "BlackPower")

"DFW is pretty nice, I would stay away from Dallas unless you like bullet holes in your body though.

I would also not live in Houston, the crime rate there has skyrocketed since many of the Katrina "give me free crap" evacuees moved there.

Definitely a lot of jobs around both areas though."

Probably the same as any other major metropolitan area: good and bad spots in it. I like the part about a good job market and less restrictive gun laws though!

 

[sixgun86gn]

Houston is MAJOR traffic.

I believe it is the 4th largest city in the US.

I live in Dallas and it isn't that bad compared to Houston.Houston has traffic jams on sundays even.

 

[NEVER ENOUGH]

I've been there a few times. IMO- It really depends on if you are talking downtown, or a suburb.
One more point- IT'S BRUTALLY HOT. I think it would take you a few years to adapt....IMO of course.

 

[JDEstill]

I live on the outskirts of Houston. As with everywhere, good and bad things to report about this place. It's easier to come up with bad than good, of course

Good things that come to mind:
- lots of pro sports, if you're into that. I go see lots of Astros games myslf
- good museums, art, music, etc if you're into that
- good food (pretty sure Houston is one of the tops in per capita eating out, I think we average something like 4+ nights a week. So plenty o places serve good food to take advantage of that)
- good nightlife, no matter what your tastes in nightlife are
- easy access to flights going most anywhere - Intercontinental is a major airport, and Continental's home, so you can get a direct flight from here to most anywhere. If you travel for work, it's a very nice thing.
- beach (Galveston) is close by. Not a great beach, but still a beach.
- great medical care, the Med Center is a top notch place for all kinds of stuff. Lot of people come here for cancer treatment for example. My wife's had some problems, and the Drs she got are at the top of their field.
- access to lots of stuff that big cities have that smaller places don't
- cheap housing. You'll be surprised at what a nice house sells for here compared to other places around the country.
- lots of employment possibilities

Bad things that come to mind:
- weather often sucks. Up there in WI, you probably try to stay outside all summer. We try to stay inside all summer. The heat and humidity can be awful. And summer pretty much runs from early May to late Sept.
- bugs - lots of mosquitos and roaches!
- traffic can be brutal - if at all possible, live close to where you work!
- it's a big big big place. To get to my in-laws across town is about 50 miles, almost all of it freeway, and I can get there in about an hour, and it is all city between here and there. When I lived in a smaller town I would think twice about driving somewhere that was 15 mins away. Now, 30 mins is "close", and I'll do that at the drop of a hat.
- it ain't pretty around here. Flat, not much in the way of trees, lots of billboards. Exceptions are the NE and NW sides of town, that have tall pine trees, and some outlying areas like the Woodlands and Kingwood. But when I go somewhere, when I'm driving back from the airport I'm thinking "what an ugly a$$ town I live in"
- air quality ain't the greatest - usually we run 1-2 with LA on bad air. Hope you don't have bad allergies!
- the occasional hurricane

All told, I'd move away if I could. But if I did, I'd sure miss a lot of the big city things that I've gotten used to.

John

 

[1987BuickGN]

And I think Tomball (city outside of Houston)has a pretty good machine shop dont they John. Whats it called? G&G Performance?

What does Houston have for emission testing? Same stuff as Dallas I would assume. Ive been to Houston several times. Hot, Humid and traffic was what I noticed the most.

 

[notacarlo]

They're like any other large city. I like both Houston and Dallas.

Houston - hot and humid
Dallas - hot and dry

Lots of lakes, the Gulf can be beautiful, Access to everything....period.

IF you can deal with the heat during the summer months and you HATE snow but like the cold....they are both wonderful places.

 

[notacarlo]

Oh yeah.... thunderstorms are always a fairly big deal, especially up in North Texas. I think they're awesome, my wife pees a little every time she hears thunder.

 

[JDEstill]

Yeah, G&G is in Tomball. Haven't used them, I've gone into town for my machine work, but there's some Houston guys that swear by them.

Snow, what's that? Been here since '91, I think I've seen snow... 3 times? Maybe 4? And it has only stuck once, and then it was gone within 2 days.

If you like golf, you can pretty much play year round.

John

 

[hrhoward]

I have made numerous business trips down there. Biggest thing I notice is the traffic!! Holy Crap!! It started at 4:30 am!!! Not the biggest fan of the weather, too humid for me. Thunderstorms are neat though!! There was plenty to do in the evenings. I generally go to the industrial parts of town so what I see is not pretty.

Now, I will tell you that I currently live/work in North central Alabama. Traffic is non-existent in my opinion. Weather still sucks in the summer, hot and humid. I moved here 10 years ago from the northern suburbs of Detroit. No real complaints on the weather but man, the traffic was really starting to PI** ME OFF.

So there, my opinion and what I base it on.

 

[notacarlo]

You get used to the traffic once you integrate yourself into the city. If you drive all over the place, yep traffic sucks. If you have a route, to work/back home, eating-drinking spots/back home...it's not bad at all. If you come from a less populated area, then into Houston or Dallas - you will be shell-shocked a little. It will piss you off, but you will get a schedule and all will work itself out. So you can pretty much insert any big city into the title of this thread and my advice would be the same.

 

[Black Power]

Bring a gun for you and a gun for her and you should be fine.

 

[GBGN1]

geez starting to wonder if i wanna go! polution isnt bad here-no emissions.gets hot here but not as bad and was cold for like ever this year so shoot.i dont know................thanks guys

 

[Black Power]

geez starting to wonder if i wanna go! polution isnt bad here-no emissions.gets hot here but not as bad and was cold for like ever this year so shoot.i dont know................thanks guys

Pros:

Job opportunities
LOTS of stuff to do
Pro Football/Bball/Baseball
Awesome drag racing
It's in TEXAS!

Cons:

HOTTTTT
Horrible traffic
Crime

I know most of this has already been mentioned, but here is a short list. Just get your conceal carry handgun license and strap up when you leave the house.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I moved from a small town in Indiana to south Florida. I live 4 miles from work, so traffic isn't an issue for me. You get used to it, but if you're driving 10 miles to work and it takes over an hour each day, that can get frustrating. The heat... I loved the snow, but hated the cold. I would much rather deal with a hot day then a freezing cold day. Down here, you hop in your car, turn on the AC and in a minute its cool. Up there you dig your car out of the snow, hope it starts, and after 10 minutes it starts blowing warm air, but by then your hair is frozen and all the snot in your nose from the nasty cold you have is also frozen. I've had 1 cold in 18 years of living here. Got sick all the time when I lived up there.

This isn't houston, but I thought I'd give you an idea of what its like moving from the cold to a nice warm place. Good thing about south florida is that sometimes during the summer its actually cooler than the midwest in the middle of the day. Problem is it is a constant 90 something* during the summer and only cools off to 85* at night. We don't get that 105* stuff that has people dropping like flies. If it does get up that high, which is rare, we're used to it, and our AC is up for the abuse.

 

[TexasT]

I lived and worked in the D/FW metroplex from the I graduated HS unit about 5-6 years ago. Loved it there. Would go back in a heartbeat if the right opportunity presented itself.

I thought a good op had presented and we picked up and moved to WI. Burlington down south near GLD. Great place but seemed expensive to me. State income tax. Job didn't pan out so after a year we packed it in and moved to Houston.

Actually a suburb up 59 past Humble. You might have heard of a guy and his wife(And son) that had a shop there(Conley's). Loved it there. Very humid but it was pretty humid coming off the lake in Wi, just a 'few' degrees hotter in Htown. Stayed until the hurricanes came and the job didn't seem to be going too well(The owner informed me that he had sold out about three weeks after I left. Got out just in time).

The oil field and associated work is booming so we came to Midland and have been here about two years now. Just as hot but much less humid. I'm making more money than I ever have before and have ridiculous benefits.

As with any of the large cities(DFW, Htown, Chitown, Milwaukee) the shopping is great there. Lots, and I mean, lots of things to do there.
Nothing to compare to titletown but let's be honest what would but that's just good for fball season(Big Packers fan here).

You don't shovel heat. Racing is just about year round and there are sevral tracks in the vicinity. We do have a Texas Nationals and some pretty strong Buick clubs around the state. Houston of course has one of them.

To me the biggest thing would be the state income tax comparo.
WI=has one
TX=does not

Oil and gas are going strong right now so jobs in Htown are plentiful.
I'd go for it but as you can see I'm not afraid to make a change if thiongs aren't going as I think they should.

Good luck with your decision

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Pretty much boils down to whether you want to stay with the GF or not.:smile:

 

[JDSfastGN]

I lived in Houston for most of my life(Galveston is only 1 hour away), it has bad traffic, but so do most big cities I have been to. Its really not that bad if you know where to stay away from at certain times. We have a large houston buick club that is pretty active and 3 tracks with in one hour of downtown. There is great eating and lots of things to do. It is HOT, but its only a 3 months or so and the rest are typically very nice. I don't mind the thunderstorms and rain, so that is a + to me other than having to wash the car often. The job market is still pretty good here as well. Coming from WI might be a culture shock, but my mom came down from Montana and has done just fine haha.

 

[GBGN1]

thanks for the posts guys!

 

[gunslinger]

I moved from the little town of Omro, WI (just outside Oshkosh) to Friendswood, TX (30 mi South of Houston) in 1984. Trust me when I say that you're in for major culture shock. You'll realize pretty quickly how funny your WI accent is. :biggrin:

That said....of all the places I've lived, it's still my favorite, and I'd move back in a second. The culture and the scale of everything is mindblowing....remember, Houston is almost 100 miles across. Yeah, traffic can suck, but at least the highway system is built for the volume (unlike Boston), and Houston is pretty easy navigate. And like any other big city, don't go into the wrong neighborhood unarmed.

Good luck