Anyone from Phoenix move to Houston? How do the two cities compare?

[stoneclaw]

Houston only occasionally smells bad and that's usually in the summer when the humidity is high but its no worse than Los Angeles or any big city.

the heat, i hate the heat but it pays off for a very warm/mild climate in the winter , fall, and spring which is pleasant the other 8 months out of the year. People tend to forget that Houston has good weather the majority of the time after the 3 months of summertime heat.

All in all, Houston is larger than Phoenix and more urban, thanks to the strides they've made in developing inside of the loop( downtown, TMC, Galleria come to mind). Also add in the access to the beach, Kemah Boardwalk, Memorial City, The Woodlands, Kingwood, Cypress, Sugarland, Pearland areas as additional areas within the metro to look at.

[Metro Matt]

After spending all of my life in East, Southeast, & North Texas I couldn't imagine living in a treeless dessert city like Phoenix.

Is there any kind of shade to shield you from the 110 degree dry summer heat other than an over grown scrub brush?

[littlemissvalkyrie]

1. The best parts of Houston, are not ANYWHERE near downtown Houston. If you can see those tall buildings, then run far, far away.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by littlemissvalkyrie

1. The best parts of Houston, are not ANYWHERE near downtown Houston. If you can see those tall buildings, then run far, far away.

Typical suburban post.

[HTownNearNative]

Having worked in Phoenix for several weeks at the peak of the summer, I can make this analogy on heat:

Going outside in Phoenix feels like opening an oven while going outside in Houston (peak of summer) feels like entering a sauna. Either way, we can be thankful for air conditioning :-). When I was working in Phoenix, it seemed like it was still hot at night. In Houston it may cool off a bit so runners are able to run at night and early morning. The bright side: humidity is great for skin :-). Definitely a LOT more green here!

[Josci]

1. People have said that the city smells bad? Is this true? and are there areas that it doesnt?
Houston does not smell
2. Cockroaches! I've heard horror stories about giant flying roaches there? How bad is it? And can you spray for them?
I live in the inner loop and do not have a problem with roaches
3. The beach is crappy...How nice is the beach in Galveston? Can you swim in the water or is it too polluted?
Galveston got severly damaged in IKE...so you may not be hitting the beach anytime soon
4. Killer humidity...Obviously it's more humid than Phoenix, just about every place is, but is the humidity comparable to like Florida in the Summer or is it worse?
Houston weather is pretty good except for the summer...Spring is awesome, Fall begins hot and then becomes cooler and nice...Winter is mild and short...summer is HOTTTTTT and HUMID and sucks
5. What are some nice/safe areas for a SWF to live that are near shopping, dining, nightlife that I can find a 1 bed apt for under $800.
Heights, Montrose, Midtown, inner loop...
6. Safety is a huge concern, but if possible, I'd like to be close to the action, (wherever that may be), in a more historic or established neighborhood. Does such a place exsist?
Montrose/Heights

[Oildog]

Originally Posted by littlemissvalkyrie

1. The best parts of Houston, are not ANYWHERE near downtown Houston. If you can see those tall buildings, then run far, far away.

Uhhh. No. Houston has a nice downtown, many commercials are shot there. Proximate is midtown where a number of single folks live for the rates you discuss. Nice area.

[iamanewcomer]

Interesting comments ,especially the oven-sauna characterisation...

Humidity is definitely good for the skin,as for the air pollution ,it can only be reduced,so living in Hou can only get better...

[bamba_boy]

I didn't do Phoenix-Houston but did move to H-town from the Inland Empire of SoCal with similar dry desert climate. When I moved to Houston, my frequent nose-bleeds immediately stopped. My allergies also improved greatly from less dust being in the air.

Smell? Not bad unless down-wind (east) of ship-channel or Toxic City (Texas City) refineries. Very poor housing stock in those areas. You won't be living anywhere close.

Bugs? Never bothered me at all. You see a big tree roach maybe once every two years. Water bugs (much smaller) are a problem only if you have leaky pipes under your sink. Normal little brown roaches won't be a problem if you use roach proof (boric acid) every 3 or 4 years, unless you let you house be a pig stye with food laying around on the floor.

You won't get a GREAT apartment in desireable and fun neighborhoods inside the loop (MidTown, Montrose, The Heights) but you could get a small decent one or split a nice big 2-bedroom with a room-mate in those areas.

Those comments about the international/cosmopolitan'ness of Houston are dead on - I lived in SoCal for 4years and I think that Houston is even more worldly than LA. LA is strong on Asia and Mexico, period. Houston , with the oil industry, it's central location on the NA continent E/W on the "South Coast" gives it large communities of not only Mexicans and Asians but all the Central and South Americans, Europeans, Indian/Pakis, Africans, Caribbeans, you name it ... it's sort of a mini-NY. Also, it's not just illegal alien laborer types - it's Nigerian petroleum engineers, Chinese physicists, Kazakh geologists, Iranian medical researchers - the best and brightest minds from around the world.

I'd personally never go back to the desert, I love the greenbelts, bayous, Gulf. Paradoxically the Gulf at Galveston is visually much uglier than the LA and OC beaches because of the silt and lack of surrounding hills but it's much much more swimmable (85-90d in Summer, just like a warm jacuzzi!) and much better fishing.

Only drawback is June-August when the sun is up, well ... just be warned to stay inside and make sure your car A/C doesn't break down. Nights usually cool down to room temperature (75 tops) and you can do your jogging then.