I want to return to San Diego or Hawaii. I don't care if i'll still be poor, i was poor when i was there and still felt clear and more at peace than ever in my entire life in Houston(not saying there was no stress bc there was in all those places). Maybe spending my school years in Austin(i pay no tuition in Texas only so i need to go to a school in Texas) and then making the move to SoCal or Hawaii for the rest of my days is the best route for a good life. I don't plan on marrying or even getting into serious relationships. I'd only make exceptions for 9 or 10's or an incredible Eastern Euro/Russian/Scandinavian/dutch woman or 6.5 to 8's with great personality and great career. Will never settle. If i end up an old creepy perv hitting on 21 year old girls, so be it. I just want a good life.
Funny, I'm currently in the process of moving from Austin to San Diego... I haven't lived in SD yet, but Austin's a cool place. Lots of nature-y stuff to do like San Diego, but substitute "Pacific Ocean" with "Barton Creek", so there's a bit of a drop off there. I've already covered Texas weather in this thread, which is one of the main reasons I'm moving. The people are nice, there's a laid-back vibe when you're interacting with random folks...but I think that's just a Texas thing, because it doesn't seem any different really than growing up in Houston did. I'm kinda interested in knowing if San Diego is the Austin of California...or at least how it compares with Houston seeing as how we've both lived there.
For 600k budget why would you live in the berbs? Plenty of nice neighborhoods and private cities close in. The OP is used to 1,500 sq ft if he moves his family to a 3,000 sq ft house it would seem like he has a place from cribs. BTW property taxes in Texas are r****ded so if you do move to a berb and spend 300k at least you will have a 4 figure bill instead of something cra cra
I would add for hotballa that Austin has nice suburbs too with strong schools/academics. Austin as a city is a great place to be with various activities and events going on, so Austin might be a viable option (not "full of hippies" as you've seemed to hear). Asian community there is way smaller than Houston's, though, so might not be ideal for original poster.
You might want to ask the other dude who says he's lived there. Besides being stationed in Camp Pendleton, I lived in a very run down crap apartment complex in Chula Vista. I worked crap jobs. I was too young to take it that seriously as i only wanted the money to party. I've been through major depression many times in my life so for me it was all about being at peace. I had been robbed and my car window bashed, but every morning i would walk out my apartment door and see the ocean and take a deep breath and smile as the cool breeze passed by. I could be in downtown San Diego in 10 minutes or Tijuana for a crazy adventure. The traffic doesn't bother me as i've dealt with it in Houston all my life. The things that sucked for me was everywhere i looked, i could spot a military douche a mile away. They annoy me and i try and stay away from them. Had the same problem in Hawaii. If i moved back, it would still be solely for weather and ocean which puts me at ease. I would spend more time enjoying the outdoors for health purposes instead of frequenting bars and getting drunk on the beach(which i hear you can't do anymore anyway).
The Asian presence in the Bellaire area (street, not city) is unbelievable. It's over-whelming actually in terms of picking a restaurant, massage place (foot reflexology), etc.
in other words you don't have a damn clue... but please don't let that stop you sh!tting all over the city every chance you get. glad you spent time in downtown, though... it's probably the deadest inner loop area outside of work hours. granted that will change in the next few years with all the new residential and commercial projects slated for the area but ya... you just keep on keeping on. btw i live in montrose and ride my bike, walk or take a $7 cab ride all the damn time.
You should visit during the summer to see if you like the weather. Yes it is that humid. Freakin' sauna outside, 10x worse when you get in your car. Seatbelt burns, mmm yeah. Yeah, there are some positives. Much cheaper cost of living. Rockets. Jeremy Lin. Some negatives. Everything is FAR. Bars close at 2 am. Mosquitos. "Asian" diversity is not so diverse. Disproportionately Vietnamese relative to other major cities in US. Then again, NY has a HUGE Chinese population which dwarfs all other Asians.
I love the beach, and would be why I would live on the coast..... but the Tijuana proximity is not a good thing... no interest in having some narco skin my face and sewing it onto a soccer ball. Too bad though, San Diego is very nice.
Well, now a days i'd be more of a b**** to go, but it's safe dude. Just stay away from drugs and you're okay. Oh, and don't give crooked cops any reason at all to arrest you. Always have money in your account bc chances are the cop will want to take you to an atm to get him money and then he'll let you go. Happened to me and my friends-for sitting on a curb no less. His reason was that since we were drinking, we could have fallen over onto the street and been run over.
To just show how uniformed you are.. Chevron Refinery Fire with smoke rolling over that hippy scenic city that is overpriced..
I love the fact that Baqui keeps bashing the city in every post he makes, but then he says things like, "Downtown was deserted at night." as an implication that there is no nightlife. It's fairly obvious he has no clue what Houston actually has to offer, and is basically just pimping San Francisco every chance he gets.
He's been posting his Houston hate long before he moved to San Francisco. Before that, Austin was the greatest city known to man.
The thing is that unless you're living in coastal California or above I-80, most US places aren't all that different. I grew up around Houston but have spent summers in Dallas, Washington, DC and Columbia, Missouri... they're ALL been ridiculously hot and humid in the summer months. The only difference is that with Houston it lasts from early May until early October, while the others are more Memorial Day until Labor Day. But it isn't a dramatic difference. To me, the "positive gap" in Houston weather -- that is, how much better we have it from late October until late April, compared to most places -- outweighs the "negative gap" in the summer months. Because the summer difference isn't as much as most people think.
As someone who grew up in Sugarland, went to school in NYC (but made (too) frequent visits to DFW for then-girlfriend) and now living on the SF peninsula, my only advice is to do your due diligence. If there is no timetable for the move, you should visit in late summer. I remember going to college in NC, and my first thoughts off the plane was "OMG, this place is so DRY" (in a good way, i.e., far less humid than Houston). Doing due diligence on Houston without a summer visit is like picking Cornell based on an April visit.... DFW struck me as being very similar climate-wise as Hotlanta.... And neither holds a candle to Houston's Asian offerings. If you(r wife) can stomach living in a big house, drive a nice SUV, blast the A/C going to and from The Galleria and shop until you drop, and store the goodies in your (her) 300 sq ft walk-in closet, then I suppose the Sugarland life style is not a bad one. Also, because of the humidity, when it gets cold in Houston, it'll feel much colder than it really is. Schools are great though. But once you're used to Houston's COL, it's really, really hard to move. Also check Zillow for how much (little) Houston properties have appreciated over the last 10 years vs. other places....
thanks for the links I might take a look since I am in woodlands area. my initial point was that travelling 2 hours a day is no fun and therefore recommend living close to where you work when in houston. This is magnified in a place like the woodlands when you work in central houston. not to derail but - Ocean beach in san diego has got a very hippy culture but with that you have a dude on a unicycle puking in your front yard if you dont watch out. Ocean beach is run down and wouldnt recommend it for living. I would say that san diego and san francisco are more the hippy cultures and of course LA with the wannabes. Where in san diego are you going to be living? I was in pacific beach. Women are better looking in austin than san diego. Food and dining choices are better in austin although I do recommend jakes in del mar. there is a place by san diego airport that has a neat atmosphere with open air patio planes landing overhead: http://www.elcaminosd.com/ San diego is a city but somewhat of a small town mentality. like LAs little sister. San diego is more outdoors than austin but not as much as you might think. torrey pines nature preserve and hiking julian come to mind. Bear mountain snow summit (big bear) is good for skiing getaway but the quality of skiing is not that great and certainly not as good as northern california. TJ is not a good place right now so hold off on that. One of my friends had me pick him up every monday after a weekend of debauchery in TJ and surprised he is still alive. He was a well known client of the whorehouses and even had his own song whenever he entered the whorehouse. I was robbed by police there and it was very shady. La mesa, clairemont, chula vista, el cajon,poway and basically anywhere inland in san diego is pretty much lame super hot in summer. There is this myth that you 'dont need A/C in san diego' good luck with that. inland in san diego is just as hot and nasty as anywhere in arizona and that is why they give 4 weather reports. Cracks me up when people talk about 'california weather'. What they are really talking about it a small 3-5 mile wide strip going up and down the coast. inland weather in california is brutal. There is a part of downtown san diego with high rises that arent bad, pacific beach, del mar, la jolla, coronado are the nicer neighborhoods but I wouldnt want my children going to school there, even in la jolla. You are not a cool kid in la jolla unless you are blacking out on cocaine in TJ every night. raising kids in san diego is dicey.
this. it's only uncomfortably hot in houston between may/june and september... the other 7-8 months are usually downright pleasant. granted you never really get used to the humidity but it gets just as hot (hotter in fact) in dallas and austin, is just as humid and hot as new orleans and essentially has the same weather as practically every other city in the south. i love SF but the constant houston bashing is tiresome.
Yup. San Fran has its perks, but you don't have to craft strawman arguments against Houston to make the case. Defining inner-loop Houston by downtown is pretty stupid. I live in Midtown, had a fairly active weekend, and moved my car a whopping one time. Most everything I need (grocery/restaurants/bars) is within 2-3 blocks, and for what isn't, I have a massive 1.5 block walk to the rail. I had to get a tank of gas last week for the first time in about a month. But, you know, Baqui was downtown for a couple days and it was empty at night, so that's all you need to know about inner-loop Houston. :grin:
Every city has its negatives when you look at it objectively. Austin is still the end game - I'd even take a pay cut to move back there in a few years if it was possible to land a decent finance gig there. Would love to live someplace near Zilker or in Tarrytown. SF has a long list of issues - home ownership here is a ripoff for what you get - public schools are horrendous - too many homeless, too many tourists - inadequate public transport inside the city (SF Muni is slow) - stench of piss in downtown/Financial District - high taxes etc.
