Houston/Atlanta similarities & differences??

[KatieKennedy]

I grew up in Atlanta and moved to Houston in 1985. I thought I would work here a few years and move back to Atlanta, but I liked it so much I stayed. I also met and married my husband here. Atlanta is much prettier from a natural beauty standpoint with the 4 seasons, lots of fall colors, dogwoods in the spring and occasional snow or ice storms. Houston however has beautiful azaleas and live oaks. Galveston is very close by and you can sail and boat in Clear Lake. You can play golf year round here and are usually able to wear shorts and sandals by the end of February. We don't get too much cold weather. Houston is flat as a pancake and more hot and humid than Atlanta. However, every place has A/C. There are even air conditioned tunnels under the streets in downtown that connect up all the major buildings. Buckhead in Atlanta is a rough equivalent to River Oaks in Houston. Like Atlanta there are plenty of McMansions here. Westminster in Atlanta is the St. John's school of Houston. There are good public schools in some areas. Living inside the loop in Houston is like being inside the Perimeter in Atlanta. We have lots of nice walkable neighborhoods particularly near Rice University. I live in a great area called West University Place that is just west of Rice University. We have great shopping. The Galleria in Houston is like Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza combined. Our mass transit is pitiful compared to MARTA in Atlanta. There is only one light rail line that goes just to a few parts of town (downtown, the medical center and Reliant Stadium). We have pro sports teams like Atlanta--Texans, Rockets and Astros compare to the Falcons, Hawks and Braves. Atlanta is mostly black and white whereas Houston is mech more multicultural. The Tex Mex food here puts anything in Atlanta to shame. We have some great New Orleans style restaurants here. Brennan's in Houston is run by the family that runs Commanders Palace in NOLA. Dallas is pretentious, Houston is not. Nobody here cares who your Daddy is or how long you have lived here. Most folks here have come from somewhere else to work in our great job market. If you are willing to work hard you can make it here and the folks are very friendly. Dress most places is very casual--maybe because of our hot weather. Yes we have urban sprawl but so does Atlanta. the key is to live as close in as you can. We have 2 airports Hobby and Bush Intercontinental. Hobby is a lot less hassle than the big airport in Atlanta. I love both cities. I have been very happy here for 25 plus years but I still like to go back home and hear the Southern accents and eat at the Varsity.

[Lone Star Rooster]

Old thread I know...but Katie pretty much nails it. I've lived in both ATL and HOU, and each place has something good to recommend it. Personally, I prefer HOU for a few reasons...the people in general seem a bit less pretentious, it's more diverse, the restaurant scene is better IMO, and my wife's family is in HOU which makes it a better fit for me. Traffic actually seems worse in ATL to me. At the moment, the job outlook seems better in HOU, but I understand it's improving in ATL too.

However, ATL does have the clear advantage in scenery/terrain and overall climate. ATL has 4 distinct seasons, Houston just has summer and sorta-kinda-almost winter. You can take a quick weekend trip from ATL to the Blue Ridge Mountains or Asheville, something I dearly miss about living there (you have to drive about 2 days from HOU to come to anything resembling a mountain). And there actually seem to be more "touristy" things to do in and around ATL, like Stone Mountain, Six Flags, Coca-Cola museum, GA Aquarium, etc.

All in all, I think it would be tough to go wrong with either place.