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Newbie’s perspective on Houston, pros and cons of living in Houston, cheap real estate, low cost of living, nice downtown, friendly people, too much traffic, crowded
Recently did some reconnoitering in the Houston area because I have a feeling my career will send me there one day. Even though I lived in Dallas for a few years when I was a kid (which doesn’t really count), this was my first visit to Houston. Thought some of you might be interested in a newbie’s perception of the place.
Things I liked:
- extremely cheap real estate / nice developments / beautiful homes
- relatively cheap cost of living / no income tax
- great international airport
- tons of restaurant options
- nifty downtown plus some interesting surrounding areas (like the Rice Univ. area)
- people I came across seemed friendly and courteous
Things I didn’t like:
- way too much traffic everywhere I went, every day (and at all hours)
- I felt crowded everywhere I went (except when I got lost east of Baytown)
- frontage roads / getting on and off highways / poor wayfinding signage
- gargantuan power lines seemed to be omnipresent
- painfully crappy beer selections at most bars/restaurants (Flying Saucer was AWESOME though)
Other notes:
- I was rather disappointed in Baytown, Clear Lake, Seabrook, Kemah and Galveston. Not what I expected at all. While there were some really charming neighborhoods, I was hoping for neat little downtown areas, which I didn’t really find (aside from Kemah’s, which was quaint yet too synthetic-feeling and touristy). I also wasn’t keen on the surrounding options for shopping (retail and groceries), dining, entertaining or recreation ... plus, everything seemed way too spread out with huge tracts of ugly land in between the different areas.
- Sugar Land (is it pronounced “SUGAR-lend” or “Sugar LAND”?) seemed a bit more livable and well manicured to me, though I didn’t spend much time there.
- Is it just me, or does the Houston area have at least 15 donut shops per square mile? I’ve never seen so many in my life.
- Positive/Negative thoughts on The Woodlands -- Negatives: I felt kind of claustrophobic (trees were nice and all but I come from Colorado where I can regularly see 100 miles, so I may be biased); the “affordable” ($200s-$250s) neighborhoods seemed kind of far from all the action of the town area; the strict regulations against commercial signage made it hard to see what was in the area; the downtown area was extremely crowded and it felt cramped. Positives: I thought the homes/neighborhoods were beautiful and the biking/walking paths were great. Access to the airport was pretty sweet as well.
I hope I didn’t offend any Houstonians with anything I said. Just calling it as I saw it and trying to be honest.
By the way, thanks to all that have posted in the Houston forums. I’ve been reading a lot of them and they have been – and continue to be – very helpful.
Recently did some reconnoitering in the Houston area because I have a feeling my career will send me there one day. Even though I lived in Dallas for a few years when I was a kid (which doesn’t really count), this was my first visit to Houston. Thought some of you might be interested in a newbie’s perception of the place.
Things I liked:
- extremely cheap real estate / nice developments / beautiful homes
- relatively cheap cost of living / no income tax
- great international airport
- tons of restaurant options
- nifty downtown plus some interesting surrounding areas (like the Rice Univ. area)
- people I came across seemed friendly and courteous
Quote:
Things I didn’t like:
- way too much traffic everywhere I went, every day (and at all hours)
Where did you go?
Traffic isn't fun, but it's hardly a 24/7 gridlock.
Quote:
- I felt crowded everywhere I went (except when I got lost east of Baytown)
East of Baytown is pretty much where the Houston metro ends out that way.
Crowded? Welcome to the big city.
- frontage roads / getting on and off highways / poor wayfinding signage
- gargantuan power lines seemed to be omnipresent[/quote]
Yep, that's Houston. Some of the signs were damaged by Ike and have not been repaired/replaced though. I've seen worse in my travels.
Quote:
- painfully crappy beer selections at most bars/restaurants (Flying Saucer was AWESOME though)
Pretty much subjective, so I'll just leave this one alone. I'm doing good just to afford to go out to eat, let alone order beer. There are cheaper ways to drink.
Quote:
Other notes:
- I was rather disappointed in Baytown, Clear Lake, Seabrook, Kemah and Galveston. Not what I expected at all. While there were some really charming neighborhoods, I was hoping for neat little downtown areas, which I didn’t really find (aside from Kemah’s, which was quaint yet too synthetic-feeling and touristy). I also wasn’t keen on the surrounding options for shopping (retail and groceries), dining, entertaining or recreation ... plus, everything seemed way too spread out with huge tracts of ugly land in between the different areas.
Kemah was different before Tilman Fertitta took it over. Did you visit the Strand in Galveston? Keep in mind (I'm assuming this was a recent visit) that Galveston got rather trashed in the hurricane.
Baytown....meh. Bigger version of my hometown, Texas City. Clear Lake is pretty much your average Sun Belt suburb. Yes, I know, it's Houston city limits. If Houston merged with Sugar Land it would only change which city government gets those people's taxes. That said...
Quote:
- Sugar Land (is it pronounced “SUGAR-lend” or “Sugar LAND”?) seemed a bit more livable and well manicured to me, though I didn’t spend much time there.
It's two words, and it's pronounced as such. "Land" rhymes with "hand."
Quote:
- Is it just me, or does the Houston area have at least 15 donut shops per square mile? I’ve never seen so many in my life.
Probably a bit of an exaggeration, but I can see how you come away with that impression. Shipley's is king.
Quote:
- Positive/Negative thoughts on The Woodlands -- Negatives: I felt kind of claustrophobic (trees were nice and all but I come from Colorado where I can regularly see 100 miles, so I may be biased); the “affordable” ($200s-$250s) neighborhoods seemed kind of far from all the action of the town area; the strict regulations against commercial signage made it hard to see what was in the area; the downtown area was extremely crowded and it felt cramped. Positives: I thought the homes/neighborhoods were beautiful and the biking/walking paths were great. Access to the airport was pretty sweet as well.
If you're from Colorado and not from inner-city Denver then your comments about the crowds suddenly make more sense to me. Wherever you go, you pay to be near the action. The crowds are where the action is too. And yes, when I go up there, I sometimes have trouble finding my way around. It's pretty, but it comes at the expense of some things. To me it's the same big box stores and whatnot hidden in the trees.
Quote:
I hope I didn’t offend any Houstonians with anything I said. Just calling it as I saw it and trying to be honest.
By the way, thanks to all that have posted in the Houston forums. I’ve been reading a lot of them and they have been – and continue to be – very helpful.
Thanks. No offense taken here, and anyone who's offended needs to lighten up.
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,846,008 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lupulin
Recently did some reconnoitering in the Houston area because I have a feeling my career will send me there one day. Even though I lived in Dallas for a few years when I was a kid (which doesn’t really count), this was my first visit to Houston. Thought some of you might be interested in a newbie’s perception of the place.
Things I liked:
- extremely cheap real estate / nice developments / beautiful homes
- relatively cheap cost of living / no income tax
- great international airport
- tons of restaurant options
- nifty downtown plus some interesting surrounding areas (like the Rice Univ. area)
- people I came across seemed friendly and courteous
Things I didn’t like:
- way too much traffic everywhere I went, every day (and at all hours)
- I felt crowded everywhere I went (except when I got lost east of Baytown)
- frontage roads / getting on and off highways / poor wayfinding signage
- gargantuan power lines seemed to be omnipresent
- painfully crappy beer selections at most bars/restaurants (Flying Saucer was AWESOME though)
Other notes:
- I was rather disappointed in Baytown, Clear Lake, Seabrook, Kemah and Galveston. Not what I expected at all. While there were some really charming neighborhoods, I was hoping for neat little downtown areas, which I didn’t really find (aside from Kemah’s, which was quaint yet too synthetic-feeling and touristy). I also wasn’t keen on the surrounding options for shopping (retail and groceries), dining, entertaining or recreation ... plus, everything seemed way too spread out with huge tracts of ugly land in between the different areas.
- Sugar Land (is it pronounced “SUGAR-lend” or “Sugar LAND”?) seemed a bit more livable and well manicured to me, though I didn’t spend much time there.
- Is it just me, or does the Houston area have at least 15 donut shops per square mile? I’ve never seen so many in my life.
- Positive/Negative thoughts on The Woodlands -- Negatives: I felt kind of claustrophobic (trees were nice and all but I come from Colorado where I can regularly see 100 miles, so I may be biased); the “affordable” ($200s-$250s) neighborhoods seemed kind of far from all the action of the town area; the strict regulations against commercial signage made it hard to see what was in the area; the downtown area was extremely crowded and it felt cramped. Positives: I thought the homes/neighborhoods were beautiful and the biking/walking paths were great. Access to the airport was pretty sweet as well.
I hope I didn’t offend any Houstonians with anything I said. Just calling it as I saw it and trying to be honest.
By the way, thanks to all that have posted in the Houston forums. I’ve been reading a lot of them and they have been – and continue to be – very helpful.
Overall, I think you are very accurate in your observations, and not offensive at all (unlike a lot of people in city-data, especially in the General US Forum!)
- IMO the suburban real estate is cheap... but the desirable areas inside the city aren't. For example, I've estimated that if we were to pick our current home up (currently in the Sugar Land 'burbs) and move it to one of my favorite city areas (Bunker Hill in Houston), market value would probably be something like $1.5 million (out here it's in the $350k range). So, much of Houston isn't such a bargain anymore when you look at it that way (plus the high property taxes).
- Traffic, crowds - that's the big city for you. But I've never really felt Houston was very "crowded" for being the 4th largest US city.
- The Strand in Galveston is a nice little downtown area, did you miss it? Historic too. But you're right about the others.
- Sugar Land is one of the few areas of metro Houston that has zoning laws and strict building codes, rules for signage, etc. That's why you got that impression (and yes, it's a nice area and was listed a few years back as the #3 best city in the US to live).
- The Woodlands is also a nice suburb, though it's much further out from Houston than most of the others.
Thanks for the replies, jfre81
“Where did you go? Traffic isn't fun, but it's hardly a 24/7 gridlock.”
- Spent a good bit of time up and down 45 ... from The Woodlands to Galveston. I’m coming from Denver, which has its own traffic, but it’s got nothing on Houston. And while Denver highways really seem to slow down on certain times/days, it just seemed like Houston kept on going and going. Although, the “traffic” I was in was still moving, so I probably didn’t experience the worst of it.
“Crowded? Welcome to the big city.”
- I guess Houston was just much bigger and more spread out than I anticipated. I now see how it’s the fourth largest in the nation. As far as crowds/traffic went, it really reminded me of the D.C. area.
“Some of the signs were damaged by Ike and have not been repaired/replaced though.”
- That could be part of it (I was just recently there for four days late December 2008). My two main complaints were that many exit signs were placed at/past where you needed to exit, not giving you enough time to respond ... and it was difficult to figure out where to get on/off the highway via the frontage road. Trying to get to a Pappa’s BBQ (good stuff, btw), I must’ve circled by the thing three times. Those on-off ramps and one-way frontage roads would definitely take some getting used to.
RE: painfully crappy beer selections “Pretty much subjective, so I'll just leave this one alone. I'm doing good just to afford to go out to eat, let alone order beer. There are cheaper ways to drink.”
- When I eat/go out I only drink one or two beers (not into that whole DUI thing) so quality is very important to me. Just about every decent restaurant/bar in Denver has something on tap that I’ll enjoy. The craft/micro beer culture in Houston is definitely different ... just something I noticed.
- Yes, visited Galveston one afternoon. I was able to overlook the trash piles and damage from Ike (I’ve survived about five East Coast hurricanes myself so I’m familiar with the sights), but I guess it was just a bit different than I imagined. Much bigger, too.
RE: 15 donut shops per square mile “Probably a bit of an exaggeration, but I can see how you come away with that impression. Shipley's is king.”
- Yes, some sarcasm there, but I did notice a ton of them. And there sure were a lot of mom-and-pops. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things, just something I noticed. I like donuts, so I’d put that in my positives pile.
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)
4,084 posts, read 12,686,276 times
Reputation: 1974
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lupulin
Thanks for the replies, jfre81
“Where did you go? Traffic isn't fun, but it's hardly a 24/7 gridlock.”
- Spent a good bit of time up and down 45 ... from The Woodlands to Galveston.
That explains it! Driving around the city is a piece of cake outside of rush hour. Driving up and down I-45 isn't.
Lupulin, thanks for sharing. No, it wasn't offensive at all. If your evaluation of Houston is getting on or off I-45, you're missing out a lot. I-45 and Baytown is as ugly as it gets IMO. Did you ever drive on Memorial Drive? The drive from downtown on Prairie Ave (westbound) which becomes Memorial Drive when leaving downtown, is one of the prettiest drives leading up to Memorial Park, one of the most popular parks for runners and cyclists in town. West of 610 Loop, Memorial is heavily wooded with beautiful neighborhoods throughout, all the way to Hwy 6 near Houston city limits. Also, the Rice University area is very beautiful.
You can still buy homes in the $250k range near 610 loop (near the heart of the city) if you know where to look. There are other posts on this board where this is heavily discussed.
Recently did some reconnoitering in the Houston area because I have a feeling my career will send me there one day. Even though I lived in Dallas for a few years when I was a kid (which doesn’t really count), this was my first visit to Houston. Thought some of you might be interested in a newbie’s perception of the place.
Things I liked:
- extremely cheap real estate / nice developments / beautiful homes
- relatively cheap cost of living / no income tax
- great international airport
- tons of restaurant options
- nifty downtown plus some interesting surrounding areas (like the Rice Univ. area)
- people I came across seemed friendly and courteous
Things I didn’t like:
- way too much traffic everywhere I went, every day (and at all hours)
- I felt crowded everywhere I went (except when I got lost east of Baytown)
- frontage roads / getting on and off highways / poor wayfinding signage
- gargantuan power lines seemed to be omnipresent
- painfully crappy beer selections at most bars/restaurants (Flying Saucer was AWESOME though)
Other notes:
- I was rather disappointed in Baytown, Clear Lake, Seabrook, Kemah and Galveston. Not what I expected at all. While there were some really charming neighborhoods, I was hoping for neat little downtown areas, which I didn’t really find (aside from Kemah’s, which was quaint yet too synthetic-feeling and touristy). I also wasn’t keen on the surrounding options for shopping (retail and groceries), dining, entertaining or recreation ... plus, everything seemed way too spread out with huge tracts of ugly land in between the different areas.
- Sugar Land (is it pronounced “SUGAR-lend” or “Sugar LAND”?) seemed a bit more livable and well manicured to me, though I didn’t spend much time there.
- Is it just me, or does the Houston area have at least 15 donut shops per square mile? I’ve never seen so many in my life.
- Positive/Negative thoughts on The Woodlands -- Negatives: I felt kind of claustrophobic (trees were nice and all but I come from Colorado where I can regularly see 100 miles, so I may be biased); the “affordable” ($200s-$250s) neighborhoods seemed kind of far from all the action of the town area; the strict regulations against commercial signage made it hard to see what was in the area; the downtown area was extremely crowded and it felt cramped. Positives: I thought the homes/neighborhoods were beautiful and the biking/walking paths were great. Access to the airport was pretty sweet as well.
I hope I didn’t offend any Houstonians with anything I said. Just calling it as I saw it and trying to be honest.
By the way, thanks to all that have posted in the Houston forums. I’ve been reading a lot of them and they have been – and continue to be – very helpful.
Once you've lived here, you'd be thankful for all the trees lol.
Sugar Land (is it pronounced “SUGAR-lend” or “Sugar LAND”?) seemed a bit more livable and well manicured to me, though I didn’t spend much time there.
As a Sugar Lander, I'll thank you for the compliment. It is livable and well manicured. Sugar Land is routinely bashed on this Forum for being a supposedly bland, boring place, but my family has lived all over the country and we like it here very much.
Recently did some reconnoitering in the Houston area because I have a feeling my career will send me there one day. Even though I lived in Dallas for a few years when I was a kid (which doesn’t really count), this was my first visit to Houston. Thought some of you might be interested in a newbie’s perception of the place.
Things I liked:
- extremely cheap real estate / nice developments / beautiful homes
- relatively cheap cost of living / no income tax
- great international airport
- tons of restaurant options
- nifty downtown plus some interesting surrounding areas (like the Rice Univ. area)
- people I came across seemed friendly and courteous
Things I didn’t like:
- way too much traffic everywhere I went, every day (and at all hours)
- I felt crowded everywhere I went (except when I got lost east of Baytown)
- frontage roads / getting on and off highways / poor wayfinding signage
- gargantuan power lines seemed to be omnipresent
- painfully crappy beer selections at most bars/restaurants (Flying Saucer was AWESOME though)
Other notes:
- I was rather disappointed in Baytown, Clear Lake, Seabrook, Kemah and Galveston. Not what I expected at all. While there were some really charming neighborhoods, I was hoping for neat little downtown areas, which I didn’t really find (aside from Kemah’s, which was quaint yet too synthetic-feeling and touristy). I also wasn’t keen on the surrounding options for shopping (retail and groceries), dining, entertaining or recreation ... plus, everything seemed way too spread out with huge tracts of ugly land in between the different areas.
- Sugar Land (is it pronounced “SUGAR-lend” or “Sugar LAND”?) seemed a bit more livable and well manicured to me, though I didn’t spend much time there.
- Is it just me, or does the Houston area have at least 15 donut shops per square mile? I’ve never seen so many in my life.
- Positive/Negative thoughts on The Woodlands -- Negatives: I felt kind of claustrophobic (trees were nice and all but I come from Colorado where I can regularly see 100 miles, so I may be biased); the “affordable” ($200s-$250s) neighborhoods seemed kind of far from all the action of the town area; the strict regulations against commercial signage made it hard to see what was in the area; the downtown area was extremely crowded and it felt cramped. Positives: I thought the homes/neighborhoods were beautiful and the biking/walking paths were great. Access to the airport was pretty sweet as well.
I hope I didn’t offend any Houstonians with anything I said. Just calling it as I saw it and trying to be honest.
By the way, thanks to all that have posted in the Houston forums. I’ve been reading a lot of them and they have been – and continue to be – very helpful.
Good post Lupulin. I would say your pretty accurate but for a few things. Im pretty new here. I have lived in quite a few well populated places but I have never seen frontage roads. I LOVUM !!! How can you not? Some one on here calls them suicide lanes.
I too have complained about the lack of signs or the poor placement of them. As Jfre pointed out, some probably were blown away. I could see how all those McDonalds signs blew away but not a street sign.
I also agree with Jfre that the traffic is not 24/7. If your local and learn your way around I suspect one can escape much of it. I have driven in worse traffic in other places. Houston has an awesome display of high flyovers and spegetti bowls which keep traffic moving. There are some very poorly designed interchanges though.
I also agree with your take on The Woodlands and Sugarland. They are very beautiful but to me they are still cookie cutter strips of houses that all look the same. I cant do that game anymore, I like my acreage.
I happen to love Galveston despite the bad rap we read about here. I love the old museums. Those old homes are beautiful and are open for tours. And there are lots of fishing access that are not private property. I would move there in an instant despite the hurricane threat but my spouse lived and worked in Galveston quite a few years at the San Luis Resort in her finer years and grew to hate Galveston.
Good luck to ya...............
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That explains it! Driving around the city is a piece of cake outside of rush hour. Driving up and down I-45 isn't. 
