Moving to Texas

[therev]

My husband is from Houston Texas. We plan on moving there next year. What is the economy like there? Is it as strong and vibrant as I have read online. I have over 10 years working in a call center and so I would be looking for those jobs.

Also is housing affordable. We would like a two bedroom apartment or house to rent.

Also what kind of money should we save up before moving. I am planning on u hauling down so there will be rental of that, gas, food and lodging for on the way down. Also, money to put down on a place, etc.

Would ytou recommend finding jobs here while living in PA and housing or getting jobs and housing when I move.

Sorry to ask so many questions, I have never moved outside Pennsylvania before so I don't know where to begin

 

[kanonfodr]

My main problems with Houston are traffic and crime. Everything else is similar to any other super-city it's size: Cost Of Living, things to do, historical places (lots of Texas Revolution stuff went down in the area, including the final battle with Mexican ruler/general Santa Anna). I'm not super familiar with the Houston area, but it's very big for bio-technology and shipping, with the Houston Ship Channel right there.

It's also a short trip from Galveston, which has decent beaches if you're a fan of salt water.

My sister just moved there from Austin for her job. I'm not a big fan, but at least she's not having to travel south of the border every other week for her work.

Peace,
Greg

 

[mrbell321]

Houston is hot and ridiculously humid. Traffic sucks depending on where you are and want to go. It's huge and sprawling, so you can easily spend 2hours driving to someplace "just down the road".
I don't know the specifics of Houston, but for TX as a whole, housing tends to be inexpensive and the economy is doing OK. On the other hand, owning a house in TX can be very expensive with out of control property taxes and environmental damage(hail, hurricanes, slow, but constantly moving foundations).

Basically, I moved out of Texas(Dallas specifically) for many reasons. There are some nice things(no income tax, the Houston area, in particular has lots of greenery, my family still lives there, Austin is supposedly the live music capital) but they are not enough to outweigh the misery of a Texas summer.

 

[DigMe]

I love Texas but not Houston so much. There is a lot to do there IMO but I hated the traffic and the humidity when I lived there. Now I live in central Texas and I really enjoy it here.

 

[camardelle]

The trick is to work in Houston and live outside of Houston. If you want to avoid lots of traffic, live in Houston and work outside of Houston.

There's no escape from the humidity no matter where you live around here. LOL

 

[Webtroll]

The Psych Ward Sirens hail from Houston. Love em! Think Lizzy has a gig coming up there soon at the House of Blues (if I remember right, I'm actually up the road a ways in Austin)