I don't know how people live and work on opposites sides of Houston. I know if I lived in the Woodlands and had a job in Sugar Land, I'd be living in/near Sugar Land. The traffic would give me road rage.
33 miles each way, about 45-55 minutes. Job moving from Galleria to Downtown next year so hopefully I'll cut that in half but more like just by about 10-15 minutes.
From my estate on 290 to downtown, it's about 50 minutes. Weekends it's about 30 minutes, door to door.
From Kirby & Westheimer to downtown so ~4 miles. I take Allen Parkway all the way from my front door. Takes 10 minutes by car or 20 minutes by bicycle.
I live in Omaha, and the only ones who have any real commute are the Iowa and Lincoln folks; that actually gets pretty brutal in the snow, though.
The housing market inside the loop is good and the burbs aren't really bad. The area between 610 and Beltway-8 can be weak except for Memorial. The greater Houston area's housing market doesn't appreciate much or depreciate much. As for jobs, it's ok depending on the business. I changed jobs at the beginning of the recession about 2 years ago and got a 25k raise doing the same job. I had another job offer that I turned down for $12.5k raise at the time. I have 2 family members change jobs for a 20-25k raise, last year. On the other hand, I have a young friend that worked as a gas station cashier and they couldn't find another retail job until the holiday shopping season started. It took about 6 months.
I was out of work for 18 months and even now I have had a contract position for the past six months. So if you don't mind, I don't think I will be changing jobs (at least voluntarily) or buying a new house any time soon...
I was speaking about the overall market. No need to take it as a direct assessment fof you and your situation. That's absolutely horrible thing to go through. I went through a similiar situation, when I graduated high school with no skills or money. I was homeless for 12 months, unless you count the homeless shelter. Don't take it, personal. I wouldn't ever wish another person to go through the same situation. I wish you the best.
Appreciate the kind words and didn't take it personally. I really intended to use my example as one reason why people end up commuting further than they would like. I certainly would prefer working closer to home, but i work in high tech, not O&G and here in Houston the options are a lot fewer and farther between. And as a contractor, my hold on the job is even more tenuous than most, so I continue to look for (and interview if possible) other opportunities... unfortunately usually they will require relo (and usually on my dime... I relo'd here and the company paid the full ride in 2000... times have sure changed). The company that laid me off two years ago is one exit away on Beltway 8... and back then I complained about my commute. Little did I know it would be worse. Again, no hard feelings and I do appreciate the kind wishes. I add my own to the growing number that have it worse than me...
