Religion is a con when it leads to an atmosphere of intolerance and/or discriminationIf you're already on their boat, then it won't phase you
Houston is the third or fourth largest city in the United States (it depends on what factors you’re looking at as to which place it takes). If you’re familiar with metropolises, you know there can be differences between the communities in and around a city versus one community to the next and/or the city itself.Dallas and Houston deal with “sibling rivalry”. I don’t see how Dallas compares:- It is a conglomerate of Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington- Tornadoes- The heat is worse. The death toll from heat related deaths is higher- The airport sucks (donut shape)- More pageants per capita than any other US cityBlah blah blah so you can see what “side” I root for. Having said that, if I had a job that paid very well and/or personal reasons, I’d live in Dallas. How did Katrina and Rita affect Houston? Directly - not really. Indirectly it is simple economics – housing prices increased, pay for jobs decreased, public services are overburdened, etc. It’s still cheaper to live there than NYC or CaliforniaTHE SHORT LISTIMHO:Pro- You can swim in the ocean without a wet suit- There is an understanding of what conservative is and the various political organizations associated with that- There isn’t a Mexican versus Everyone else mentality- Two hours away is Texas hill country with beautiful scenery, weather, food and music, a growing wine country and great microbreweries- For what it cost to rent a room in some places, you can buy a house- You can park without paying- Urban planning, civic engineering, infrastructure – these all have recognizable value. It’s legal to drive 75 mph. If it is 10 miles away it will take 10 minutes or less to get there.- Super Target- If you don’t like dirty old looking cities – welcome to a town that thrives on construction. Everything is shiny and new. Super Targets are everywhere!- Culture: BBQ, Tex Mex, folk music, conservative mind set (work hard, keep your money), family and friend oriented- No income tax- Gardeners rejoice- The recreation center at University of Houston- You can get around without a car – if you planned carefully when selecting where you live, work, etc. There is public and private transport – Woodlands has a bus system for going downtown.· The average life span of a motorcyclist is 7 years, which is more than twice what it is in LA- Cost of livingCon- Religion- Weather is almost as bad as DC- The AC requirement (in your car, in your home)- The gulf water isn’t clear due to the Mississippi, busy ports and low water depth- Tropical Storm Allison was bad. Houston Law Center is still recovering (five years later)- University of Houston. It’s ugly and in a bad part of town- Rush hour traffic. Like when people leave their jobs downtown to drive home to Katy. I-10 West- Perpetual construction – will I-45 ever be done?- There is a lot of tobacco use. Last time I was there smoking was permissible within most establishments- History is missing since the buildings are gone and the neighborhoods go with themMiscellaneous notesOil & Gas· It’s the industry there· If you have problem with that industry, do not move to HoustonSome of the world’s largest petrochemical processing facilities are there. As a previous poster noted, they’ll be near water – Port Arthur, La Porte, Pasadena… basically the east and south sides of town. They do smell, and the people who live in those areas tend to be plant workers.Construction and Medical are also big industries· People drive large vehicles there. It is not so much Texas pride as practicality (though for some it is just pride) – they run a business on the side, have a ranch or go boating every weekend – they need something that can haul and/or carry. It is unsafe for you to drive around town in a Geo Metro or other tin can, find a Volvo or something!Neighborhoods. Please look at a map while you read this- Zoning isn’t popular. This means there may be a neighborhood next to a business district and so on and so forth.- Urban planned communities are popular. Woodlands and many others, mostly outside the beltway 8 loop. Probably the best bet if you have children (stay away from the Houston school district)- The museum district, medical center, park, Rice University… are all in the same area. A few years ago this was the place to live. Now it’s a little sketchy. The neighborhoods in that area are nice to live in, tend to be pricey, and have occasional riff raff causing trouble. Montrose is the gay pride section. While I tend to live in gay areas, if you find that lifestyle offensive or don’t want your children around it, choose a different neighborhood.- Galleria, Richmond, Downtown are making comebacks. Yuppies bought out the older neighborhoods and rebuilt with – well what looks a lot like California or the Northeast. Most areas are still in transition, so be sure to investigate before settling in.My personal choices:1. Avoid: east because of the plants and neighborhoods2. Avoid: west because of the commute, it’s very flat with very few trees and every foreigner’s worst nightmare of an American live there. Renee Zellweger is from here.3. Option A: If I was going to school in Houston and hated driving, I would find a nice pocket community in the Montrose or Rice area. I can’t think of anything on or near U of H that is safe (that doesn’t even get us to desirable)4. Option B: Well I lived in W, NW, N, NW, SE parts of town. My next move was Option A but instead I moved out of state.Children (since the original poster said she/he has an 11 year old son)· I’m not familiar with the private schools but if you are going public, you really need to live outside Houston – as in – don’t enroll your child into a Houston school district· Cypress is the largest school district in Texas. It is not Houston. It is on the northwest side of town. It’s a good school district. They also have great programs with NHMCCD.· Chances are if the school or local club soccer team is any good, it's a good school with nice kids.
People in Texas are overtly religious. I think that was all that was being said.It doesn't bother me personally, but I think it is a con because religion is a very touchy subject with many people and unless you are willing to openly proclaim yours and debate its merits, you may feel somewhat uncomfortable at times in Texas. I'm shocked at how many times I've been asked point blank about my religious beliefs, that never happened to me in other parts of the country.
Quote from: KUHerb32 on April 20, 2006, 10:51:39 AMPeople in Texas are overtly religious. I think that was all that was being said.It doesn't bother me personally, but I think it is a con because religion is a very touchy subject with many people and unless you are willing to openly proclaim yours and debate its merits, you may feel somewhat uncomfortable at times in Texas. I'm shocked at how many times I've been asked point blank about my religious beliefs, that never happened to me in other parts of the country.Good point. I agree wholeheartedly that being put on the spot is uncomfortable and rude.
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