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Old 11-10-2013, 08:30 PM
 
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My husband has a relocation offer from his company from Woodbridge, NJ to Houston, TX. I love the idea, yet there are few things I am concerned about. Hope you guys can helo me out. 1. I hear often about notorious humidity of Houston. How bad it actually is? NYC metro is also very humid and hot in summer. Is Houston much worse? 2. Real estate prices are great in Houston (we are considering Sugar Land or Katy). Real estate tax is a joke as compare to 8-9k for a small dated house in jersey. But i heard that house maintenance in TX will be super high. Guys, please share how much you pay for utilities and maintenance of some 3br house? 3. I am a family/children fine art photographer. By any chance anyone knows how is the market for these services in Houston. Do people buy custom photography? is it popular? any insight will be greatly appreciated. 4. How is the situation with daycare? Here we pay 1600 for two and three year old girls.
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Old 11-11-2013, 12:00 AM
 
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I'm from the NYC metro area. It's cheap and easy over here in Houston. You have to drive to get to the city tho and traffic sucks from the suburbs. It's hot but unlike back there, you don't need to be outside walking to public transportation. Just hope you have covered parking wherever your going during the day
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Old 11-11-2013, 07:25 AM
 
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Originally Posted by PhotoBee View Post
My husband has a relocation offer from his company from Woodbridge, NJ to Houston, TX. I love the idea, yet there are few things I am concerned about. Hope you guys can helo me out. 1. I hear often about notorious humidity of Houston. How bad it actually is? NYC metro is also very humid and hot in summer. Is Houston much worse? 2. Real estate prices are great in Houston (we are considering Sugar Land or Katy). Real estate tax is a joke as compare to 8-9k for a small dated house in jersey. But i heard that house maintenance in TX will be super high. Guys, please share how much you pay for utilities and maintenance of some 3br house? 3. I am a family/children fine art photographer. By any chance anyone knows how is the market for these services in Houston. Do people buy custom photography? is it popular? any insight will be greatly appreciated. 4. How is the situation with daycare? Here we pay 1600 for two and three year old girls.
1. Since I haven't been in NYC in the summer, I don't know how bad it gets on the "worst" days; however, Houston has hot and very humid months. I don't want to bring any dread your way, but if hot and humid gets on your nerves, well, be prepared to be miserable. (Also, if you expect the worst...)

2. I don't think maintenance would be much different than most cities. You will have higher electric bills in the summer, but then your winter bills will be less. As far as property taxes, you're going to be around 3%, give or take.

3. Pretty much everyone I know, including myself, has used professional photographers for family photos. We do a professional family photo about every other year. Maybe our friends, family and us are a bit weird, but my guess is that it's normal in Houston to use.

4. As far as daycare, it will run anywhere from $600 to $900 (with the outlier exceptions) per kid. My guess is that you probably will be paying the exact same - $1600.

Welcome to Houston. If you can deal with our summers (which I personally love), you should enjoy it here.
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Old 11-11-2013, 09:53 AM
 
Location: Sugar Land, TX
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I used to live in NJ (Highland Park), so I am familiar with Woodbridge. The worst of NJ's hot and humid summer days can be brutal for sure. The thing with Houston is that those days can be relentless. They seem to go on forever...weeks or months at a time during the summer. And then, when you are ready for fall to come when the kids go back to school, it will still feel like summer here for another month at least. That is the hardest part, IMO. That said, it is beautiful today and the highs will be in the 70s, and you usually can't say that about Jersey in November. So, it all evens out to me.

As for utilities, our electric bill in the summer is high, yes. But, in the winter, my electric is low, as is my gas bill, because I don't use the heat much. So that is a plus. Back in the northeast, you have high bills in the summer because of a/c and then again in the winter because of the heat. Property taxes are about what a previous poster said...we pay a little more than 3%. And don't forget about no state income tax. That is a big plus coming from NJ.

Custom photography is very popular here. I live in Sugar Land, and lots of families love this kind of thing.

We never used daycare, so I can't help on that one. Let me if you have other questions! Good luck!
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Old 11-11-2013, 04:09 PM
 
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Thanks a lot guys! I am feeling even more excited now One more question. We are very family-oriented guys and do a lot of kids-friendly activiites. Its really easy having NYC next door with all its museums, zoos, etc. How diverse Houston is in this sense?
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Old 11-11-2013, 04:17 PM
 
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Originally Posted by PhotoBee View Post
Thanks a lot guys! I am feeling even more excited now One more question. We are very family-oriented guys and do a lot of kids-friendly activiites. Its really easy having NYC next door with all its museums, zoos, etc. How diverse Houston is in this sense?
I notice you didnt mention the stuff to do around the Delaware Water Gap area. Good, because there are no such outdoor fun stuff here in Houston. We also do not have those town festivals like those in NJ/PA areas
museums sure we have that
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Old 11-11-2013, 06:14 PM
 
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Originally Posted by GTRdad View Post
I notice you didnt mention the stuff to do around the Delaware Water Gap area. Good, because there are no such outdoor fun stuff here in Houston. We also do not have those town festivals like those in NJ/PA areas
museums sure we have that
Delaware Water Gap and small town festivals in Tri State have a big place in my heart.. Dont know if it coukd be a deal breaker, but I'd surely miss them. What are popular family activities around Houston?
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Old 11-11-2013, 06:20 PM
 
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Originally Posted by PhotoBee View Post
Delaware Water Gap and small town festivals in Tri State have a big place in my heart.. Dont know if it coukd be a deal breaker, but I'd surely miss them. What are popular family activities around Houston?
Tons of town festivals in the Woodlands and Sugarland. In the Woodlands some might argue there are too many. Very family oriented. I'm sure other burbs have them too. But in the Woodlands, they actually throw massive amounts of money at everything and anything kids. As a result, the kids are a little bit "spoiled" here.
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Old 11-11-2013, 06:31 PM
 
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Originally Posted by PhotoBee View Post
Delaware Water Gap and small town festivals in Tri State have a big place in my heart.. Dont know if it coukd be a deal breaker, but I'd surely miss them. What are popular family activities around Houston?
And here are a few of them...

http://woodlandscrawfish.com/

The 16th Annual Red Hot & Blue Festival and Fireworks Extravaganza
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http://www.woodlandsartsfestival.com/

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Official Website :: Children's Festival 2013

Winter Holiday Events in The Woodlands Tx Christmas Activities[/SIZE]
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Old 11-11-2013, 06:56 PM
 
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Sugar Land has lots and lots of family events, especially in the town square and the churches. Plugging in to a church (if that's your thing) will provide a ton of family connections and experiences. You also have a branch of the museum of natural science right there in Sugar Land and they're talking about an extension of the children's museum at the Imperial Sugar plant redo.

Also Fort Bend county has an annual fair that draws big crowds and some of my friends who are Fort Bend natives will never miss it and participate in many of the events. I don't know about the Delaware Water Gap, but I do know about Brazos Bend state park just southeast of Sugar Land with a neat observatory and lots of outdoor activities.

You will also be next door to Houston which has one of the largest art scenes in the country (I live in Los Angeles now and it pales in comparison to some of the easily accessible public interactions with art). Houston museums and sculpture gardens and outdoor public art (the giant president heads by Target, lots of giant sculptures throughout city parks, the tolerance statues along allen parkway, the police officer's memorial on memorial drive, the venet sculptures in Sugar Land parks, etc...). Houston has art and culture and does better than anywhere short of Paris to make it accessible and inviting to families and the general public.
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