There's a lot to like and a lot not to like.
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3/20/2006
I came to Houston on a job transfer from California in 2003. Which is the first thing to like -- the VERY low cost of living relative to California. We literally got twice the house for half the price we got for our San Jose home.
People are so much friendlier here. That may come as a surprise to native and long-time Houstonians, but believe me -- there IS a big difference between Texas and California there. Strangers say "hi" and sound sincere. They can smile at each other when they meet and make eye contact, and not get too creeped out that someone must have ulterior motives. I like that. We LOVE Texas barbeque. And that Texas is a unique state of mind. Not many states have their own unique state of mind; Texas does. There's something uniquely, well, "Texan" about being in Texas.
And there's no kind of cuisine you could crave and not find in Houston, and get some of the best of it you'll find anywhere. Houston seems to be the epicenter for the convergence of a lot of uniquely American cuisines -- Tex-Mex, Creole, Cajun, soul food and barbeque. When you map the "influence zones" of each of their foods, Houston is a unique point where all of them overlap. Gastronomes will LOVE Houston.
But oh, the long summers and the humidity. And flat, flat land as far as the eye can see. When you get on one of Houston's many multi-decked freeway-to-freeway ramps, you're reminded of how depressingly FLAT this place is.
And now that it looks like hurricane seasons are getting worse and worse, there's that added worry, too, especially for those on the east side and the suburbs southeast of the city on the way to Galveston.
And finally, the crime. All big cities have crime and more of it than the national averages. Houston is no exception, though it should be noted that plenty of nicer areas in Houston -- even in the city limits -- feel quite safe for the most part. If you stay away from apartment complexes, anyway. Since Katrina hit and many thousands came to Houston there has been an undeniable surge in crime around apartment complexes. That sounds unfair to the honest, law-abiding folks who mean well and want to play by the rules, but let's face it -- along with them, we got the riff-raff and lots of it. Even in the "safer," more affluent suburbs, property crime seems to be up considerably.
Taxes? There's no state income tax in Texas, which is a big plus. Property taxes are punitive, though; in a home appraised at $196,000 last ye
Tim | Houston, TX