Culture of Houston (Center: neighborhoods, school district, living in)

[Steph22679VA]

Hello everyone!! Thank so you dearly for all of your replies! And keep them coming...!! I have also been posting on the San Francisco board since I have also been considering moving there. HOWEVER, I have narrowed it down to these two cities, SF and Houston... very different, yes. But I am interested in them for different reasons. I was just asking about liberal views, etc in Houston because I love openminded. I, myself, am not gay. I am a straight, single, 29yo white female, however, I love tolerance of all sexual orientations, race, etc. I find that some of the most close minded DO associate with and are evangelicals so that is why I asked. I knew there were a large number there and I had to be sure it wasn't going to start impeding on my life. Just as everyone has said, there may be things more expensive in Houston compared to other cities, but also less. A friend of mine lives in Houston says there is no state income tax or personal property tax... that is huge to me coming from Virginia!!! We have it all here. The cost of living here is pretty high, regardless of what people hear. Granted, many places are a lot more expensive, HOWEVER, our job market and salaries are from the DARK AGES.

I am planning a trip down there in a couple of weeks. I will definitely check on the Montrose area, as it has been recommended to me by several people. Let me know what other specific areas you think I may enjoy based on the information I have given you. I'd also like to give you a little more info so you can keep them in mind.... I have 2 dogs and they are not small. I have 2 Weimaraners, so I need apartments that are dog friendly. I'm sure most of those will be in the burbs, but I thought I would mention it because maybe part of your city has some green areas vs. many big cities that are strictly concrete around downtown. I used to live in Richmond VA in a converted loft downtown and my dog had to go to the bathroom in a mulched flowerbed... we will NEVER go there again ;-) As long as there's any type of grass around, then I would be willing to live there, but there has got to be some at least! As a lot of you have said, it can be quite a drive and out of the loop if i live in the burbs, so i'd honestly rather not have to. Are there any areas that aren't directly in uptown or downtown or whatever you call those areas there, but are right outside of the city? LIke one member mentioned she was only a couple of minutes away? And don't think I am scared by the cost of rent there... I assure you it is MUCH less than Virginia Beach where I currently live.

I look forward to receiving more advice. I appreciate this all!! Stephanie

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by Steph22679VA

Hello everyone!! Thank so you dearly for all of your replies! And keep them coming...!! I have also been posting on the San Francisco board since I have also been considering moving there. HOWEVER, I have narrowed it down to these two cities, SF and Houston...

San Fran is beautiful and I love it's cool weather. The restaurants are fabulous and it is, of course very gay friendly. But the cost of living is very high. Rent and taxes will be much higher than VA.

Houston is simply a different place. Both have their pluses and minuses -- I find Houston's weather to be miserable but the open spaces it offers would be better for your dogs. If money were no object, then I would choose San Fran in a heartbeat. But SF is SO expensive that your standard of living could take a big hit.

But neither San Fran nor Houston would be my first choice. You should check out Boston...

[travelguy_73]

If you have dogs, then you might consider looking at a small house/bungalow. Depending on what you have to spend each month, you could find something cool that has room for your dogs to roam a bit.

[worldlyman]

Quality of life is quite better in Houston. I enjoy my trips to the Bay Area but there's definitely a have-and-have not thing that really pervades California. I lived in SoCal, so I saw that.

Even if I could afford San Fran...I LOVE HOUSTON BETTER! I like Houston's different pedestrian pockets and entertainment centers throughout the sprawl rather than some small tight dense city like San Fran where every street block seems the same. And yes, downtown Houston does offer that big city nightlife vibe especially with Houston Pavilions set to open next month.

Houston is a true melting pot. That is the beauty of it. People of different colors and orientation here get along better than most other places. There was no, ahem, Spirit of 76 such as that which typifies snooty, holier than thou towns like Boston...if we are aware of that infamous picture where white people jabbed a US flagpole into a black man in 1976.

Despite what the naysayers and condescending folks say, modern Houston in many respects is not much different than New York, L.A., San Fran or Chicago. It's a big city with its rude horns and indifferent people who come from all over the world, and yes they come from places like New York, L.A., San Fran and Chicago.

(Boston is not as ethnically diverse as Houston, simply put. It's a challenge to find any Filipino cafe in Boston. Houston's got at least 9 or 10. I doubt you'll find Salvadoran pupuserias in Beantown as well.)

Houston's got it going: Ethiopian, Colombian, Guatemalan, Indonesian, Venezuelan, tons of Singaporean/Malaysian (try the Banana Leaf in New Chinatown...their rendang is to die for!), Pakistani, Persian, Thai, Lebanese, Turkish (Istanbul Grill is awesome), Nigerian. Indian food in Houston blows away Indian food in San Diego, that I can vouch. Yeah, pizza and Italian is probably better in Boston and they have the authentic Irish bars but...

You simply have wider spaces in Houston, better economic mobility and there's less of that old style "ethnic neighborhood" mentality though there are commercial agglomerations such as New Chinatown, Little India, Little Korea and so forth.

True Asian cafes in Houston are open until 2 or 3 in the morning along Bellaire Blvd. Try Fu Fu and Cafe 101. Hong Kong Street. Sinh Sinh. Montrose has a few 24 hour diners that are fairly good, especially Katz's. Biba's Greek is OK.

Rice Village, Montrose, White Oak Ave, Uptown Park, burgeoning Washington Ave, Midtown all around, downtown, the many spots along Westheimer....there's many formats of nightlife here in H-town. Big city skyscrapers? Fancy strip mall setting like the fabulous Fountainview@Westheimer corner with Cafe Europa there? Low rise bar clusters? It's all here in Houston.

I just couldn't believe the nocturnal al fresco action at Uptown Park last Friday night, it made Beverly Hill's Rodeo Drive look LAME! When did Rodeo Drive hop and pop like that at 11 pm? I'm not into that upscale stuff but it just made Houston look like a truly cool happening city when we drove around that night.

Sitting at Coco's in Midtown feels like a slice of New York...pedestrians and bars and eateries so close together in a format and setting different than Uptown Park.

Montrose has that Melrose style in a more odd bungalow setting. It's more of a main drag. Tomo's sushi is quite good there.

Rice Village is like La Jolla but without the Pacific view. Still Rice Village has way better nightlife and bar crawl though. There ain't no Gingerman Pub in La Jolla! And there's no Half-Price Books for that matter either in La Jolla.

Yet Houston seems to be more sophisticated in a sly, down-to-earth way than L.A. or San Diego or Tampa Bay. L.A. is too pretentious for me. A night out in downtown Houston in the Theater District affirms this. But Houston is also hub to hip-hop culture, Asian bubble tea/food culture and all that.

Bollywood and Filipino entertainers come to Houston. Sure there's a yearly Rodeo in Houston...but there is also the high impact Houston International Festival every year too. I guess there's room for the cowboy and the cosmopolitan.

Houston is base to the largest working Norwegian population outside of Scandinavia. (No, we do not count the Norwegian Americans of Minnesota...angry that Norway is concentrating on Houston not Minneapolis nowadays.)

L.A. Times did a story on Houston in late December 2007 called "Flocking from SoCal to Houston."

Houston in my many years of living here does not strike me as "Bible Belt." Sure there are large churches that belie something else...but many faiths exist here...many mosques, Buddhist temples and the like. If you're not a church goer...nobody gives a hoot here in Houston. People do their own thing here like they do in any other large modern metro.

Modern Houston. It has ways to grow and go but it's a better deal than most other places in my opinion, many things considered. You have a mix of part urban, with part suburban with part pastoral. I still love this eccentric city.

[worldlyman]

Originally Posted by Steph22679VA

I am planning a trip down there in a couple of weeks. I will definitely check on the Montrose area, as it has been recommended to me by several people. Let me know what other specific areas you think I may enjoy based on the information I have given you. I'd also like to give you a little more info so you can keep them in mind.... I have 2 dogs and they are not small. I have 2 Weimaraners, so I need apartments that are dog friendly.

I look forward to receiving more advice. I appreciate this all!! Stephanie

Many apartments allow dogs but can be breed specific out of safety concerns. As long as they're not pit bulls or such, you could be OK. You'll love the new Discovery Green park in downtown Houston then. They have dog runs specially made for man's best friend to play around in, run and introduce themselves.

[Steph22679VA]

Worldlyman-

THANK YOU SO DEARLY for your response. That was soo full of information that I will use in my day to day life in Houston. In fact, I'm printing it out as we speak. I love good restaurant recommendations. I rarely find the right place by picking from an online listing or phone book... I want personal recommendations. It sounds like you have similar taste to me. The past few days, I have been increasingly excited about the culture that Houston is going to offer me. I was speaking with a medical professional in my area yesterday and she said I am going to LOVE Houston (she knows me very well and knows that I work in the medical field). SHe said it's a perfect fit for me. The only scary thing is the cost to move I talked to PODS yesterday since my things will be in storage for about a month before I get there and it's going to cost me a small fortune to get my things there, but once I'm there.... I'M THERE

Thanks again and I will always refer to your response for recommendations. If you don't mind, I will hang on to your username as well incase I have any further questions of culture. Thank you so much!!!

Stephanie

[chris_ut]

You might want to do a search as there was a thread a few weeks ago discussing pros and cons of Houston vs SF.

[bamba_boy]

I think a lot of that amazing diversity of the people and the restaurant and culture scene is because Houston is both the largest or next largest (depending on various measures) seaport in the country and indistibutably the energy industry's world capital with executives, engineers, and geoscientists from all the world's major energy companies and national oil companies having offices. Also, the industrial parts , drilling and services end attracts a huge population of skilled tradesmen - both local bubba's and adventurers from all over the world.

A nice fringe benefit of the booming port and oil & gas industry is that their profits are so high that they are looking for favorable PR and tax write-offs so the charities and the arts are much healthier than in many US cities - making us competitive with the Boston's and SF's of the world in live pop music, ballet, symphony, etc.

BTW, that wonderfully useful post was useful to me even as a transplant living here nearly 20 years! I'll add to his note about the great International Festival as a yearly event in that this year , we added another second event - a Cuban/Puerto Rican festival downtown that was hurricaned-out by Ike. He didn't mention that we're getting up there with Miami and LA as a Hispanic capital (over 30%).

[vegasgyrl]

You say you have narrowed your search to SF and Houston. While I am moving away from Vegas to Houston, I must say for someone such as yourself Vegas would be a good match. It is truly a liberal town, even though the conservatives here would die if outsiders knew it. There are art districts, the cost of living is not as low as in Houston, but definitly not as high as SF. The city is totally openminded when it comes to sexual preference, race, nationailty etc. The city is booming and blossoming. I know you are thinking well why am I moving? I want a different lifestyle. The only minus I would give Vegas is the "culture" I mean true culture. It is a tolerant city but since it is such a new city it hasnt developed its own culture yet. You very rarely find people that were born and raised here that are over the age of 30. So I would definitly look into Vegas.

[vegasgyrl]

Wow Worldly man. I must say that you have affirmed for me my decision to move to Houston. I am a L.A native and love my city for sure. But the prices and the deregulation of the housing market has made it just un-liveable. I will still go every now and again for that air ( I am a native so the air smells good to me ) and the beaches. But Im good on living there or in NO Cal either. I currently live in Vegas, and have for a nice part of my life. Even though the cost of living here is good and the jobs plentiful, it lacks the culture imbedded in a city that has been around a while. I am so glad that come Saturday I will be a bonafide Texan