Austin, Dallas, Or Houston (Galveston, Valentine: insurance, how much, college)

[country_girl2122]

I am looking for a small town near a big city that i can commute to work for. The thing is I've read up on the three cities-austin,dallas,houston- and still don't know where to reside. Can you tell me a little bit more about the three cities concerning prices, living, temperature, people, land, weather, job oppurtunities, nightlife, shoping, etc.

I'm 24 and single so i'm looking for a nice community out of the city, or close to it, but within a good commute to the city. Just have to pick which city first though

[metroplex2003]

All 3 cities would be nice. Though I will caution you that Austin's infrastructure has not kept up with its population growth. The lack of current freeways has really bottlenecked Austin.

DFW and Houston have more developed freeways and are actively trying to keep pace with the use of light rail and freeway expansions. Not to say Austin isnt doing more freeways, but it has become a problem in that city.

[AK123]

prices -- Houston probably has lower housing prices of the 3, but when you correct for property taxes, insurance, etc they all come out pretty even.

living -- not sure exactly what you mean by this, but Houston and Dallas have all the big-city amenities (top-notch culture/arts, museums, etc) while Austin is further behind on that end, as it is a smaller city and still primarily the capital and a college town.

temperature -- Houston has the mildest temps (not as hot in summer or cold in winter) but is more humid. Dallas can have harsh winters (by TX standards anyway).

people -- Austin is very laid back, no one cares what you wear or drive. Dallas is at the opposite end. Houston is in between the two on that. Austin has a very young population, lots of college-age people. Houston and Dallas are more diverse.

land -- Dallas is mostly prairie and has the fewest areas with large trees and least green of the 3. Austin has hills on the west side, the east side is more flat, a river runs through the center of town, lots of oaks, cedars, and a few large lakes. Houston is more coastal, more green with lots of big trees, has a lake to the northeast and a bay on the east. Lots of little creeks and bayous. The beaches are about an hour to the southeast on Galveston Island.

weather -- all have severe thunderstorms and are very hot in the summer. Dallas has the most extremes in temps of the 3. Dallas and Austin sometimes have drought issues, while this is rare in Houston because of the high amount of annual rainfall.

job oppurtunities -- good in all 3 places.

nightlife -- Austin is more geared toward the college crowd, while Dallas and Houston have nightlife for a larger age group. Live music is more popular in Austin.

shopping -- Houston and Dallas have a big advantage over Austin in this area as far as number of places, range, and more choices (including all the high-end stuff if you're into that).

Hope that helps...

[AK123]

Forgot to mention, all 3 places will have several small suburb towns worth looking at. You may need to see where your job will be first before figuring out anything else.

[kaykay]

Good post by JJP. I would emphasize again, though, the humidity in Houston and probably also Austin to a certain degree, is bad. That doesn't bother some people, I guess, but to me, it's a big deal. I think Dallas is humid, but Houston is much worse. So...that would be a dealbreaker on Houston for me.

[citizenone]

Austin has more nice days. When I moved here from Houston I was thrilled by how much dryer the air is. Now I am used to it and when the humidity is up I feel hot. it takes both heat and humidity to make one uncomfortable

[country_girl2122]

thanks for the info. no im not a big fan of humidity, i can handle high temperatures, but low humidity please ;]

[Pokahontas007]

If you enjoy a luke warm to hot climate all year around, I'd recommend Houston with the humidity. Consider it taking the bitter with the sweet. I am relatively new to Houston coming from Chicago where it gets very cold and I am glad I made the trade off. Someone born in raised in Texas keep me honest here but I was told it sometimes can snow in Dallas. Burrrrrrr!

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by JJP

prices -- Houston probably has lower housing prices of the 3, but when you correct for property taxes, insurance, etc they all come out pretty even.

living -- not sure exactly what you mean by this, but Houston and Dallas have all the big-city amenities (top-notch culture/arts, museums, etc) while Austin is further behind on that end, as it is a smaller city and still primarily the capital and a college town.

temperature -- Houston has the mildest temps (not as hot in summer or cold in winter) but is more humid. Dallas can have harsh winters (by TX standards anyway).

people -- Austin is very laid back, no one cares what you wear or drive. Dallas is at the opposite end. Houston is in between the two on that. Austin has a very young population, lots of college-age people. Houston and Dallas are more diverse.

land -- Dallas is mostly prairie and has the fewest areas with large trees and least green of the 3. Austin has hills on the west side, the east side is more flat, a river runs through the center of town, lots of oaks, cedars, and a few large lakes. Houston is more coastal, more green with lots of big trees, has a lake to the northeast and a bay on the east. Lots of little creeks and bayous. The beaches are about an hour to the southeast on Galveston Island.

weather -- all have severe thunderstorms and are very hot in the summer. Dallas has the most extremes in temps of the 3. Dallas and Austin sometimes have drought issues, while this is rare in Houston because of the high amount of annual rainfall.

job oppurtunities -- good in all 3 places.

nightlife -- Austin is more geared toward the college crowd, while Dallas and Houston have nightlife for a larger age group. Live music is more popular in Austin.

shopping -- Houston and Dallas have a big advantage over Austin in this area as far as number of places, range, and more choices (including all the high-end stuff if you're into that).

Hope that helps...

Good. Very accurate.

[momof2dfw]

Snow in Dallas? As a native Dallasite I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've actually been able to build a snowman that was over 3'. We get a "dusting" hopefully once a year. Every now and then we get some "accumulation". Like back on Valentines Day a few years ago, omygosh, the most snow we have EVER gotten IN Dallas that I can remember. This past winter was much colder than normal. The last few winters I never even got out my winter coat and dusted it off. I was fine in a sweater, as in the type you wear all day w/ a tank underneath. My kids outgrow their "winter" coats w/o ever wearing them out. One thing you can pretty much count on being passed down, the kids winter coats. We do get ice more than snow. What usually happens then is the snow, drizzle, sleet came in and melted and the temps dropped overnight and created some icy road conditions. We also have something called "black ice", you won't see it till your actually driving on it. NEVER slam on your brakes when driving over ice. Anyway, the few times it does get cold enough for a real winter coat are few and far between.