Crime is high thanks to the Democrats - Judges, mayor, criminal justice system, etc. No rules, high crime. Hate crimes - not really. Democrats are the ones popping off rounds not Republican folks. KKK went out along time ago dude. So did slavery . Go bad to where your came from.
Jane Dpe | | Report Abuse

Crime is high thanks to the Democrats - Judges, mayor, criminal justice system, etc. No rules, high crime. Hate crimes - not really. Democrats are the ones popping off rounds not Republican folks. KKK went out along time ago dude. So did slavery . Go bad to where your came from.
Jane Dpe | | Report Abuse

After 40 years of living in Houston or nearby (League City) I can't wait to get out when I retire. The climate is enough reason. It's 100 degrees for 100 days and now summer entails 2+ months of constantly dodging hurricanes. Plus, 16 degrees in the winter should not shut down a city for four days. About all I see in Houston anymore, from when I drive under Beltway-8 in the morning until I drive out in the afternoon is poverty. If not poverty, then an extended lower-lower middle class. Something like 70% of the census tracts inside BW-8 are in the bottom third of national average household income. And there are some areas in my part of town (Clear Lake, which used to be a nice place to live) that are getting so bad I won't go there after night. Crime is out of sight here and the police are nowhere to be seen. They aren't even doing traffic stops anymore so people are driving reckless on the freeways. And about one person a day is getting shot in a road-rage incident. The city government is inefficient across the board and corrupt at the highest levels, and the county is going downhill as well. Property taxes are ridiculous. In short, Houston is quickly on its way to becoming the next Detroit.
Mark | Houston, TX | Report Abuse

After 40 years of living in Houston or nearby (League City) I can't wait to get out when I retire. The climate is enough reason. It's 100 degrees for 100 days and now summer entails 2+ months of constantly dodging hurricanes. Plus, 16 degrees in the winter should not shut down a city for four days. About all I see in Houston anymore, from when I drive under Beltway-8 in the morning until I drive out in the afternoon is poverty. If not poverty, then an extended lower-lower middle class. Something like 70% of the census tracts inside BW-8 are in the bottom third of national average household income. And there are some areas in my part of town (Clear Lake, which used to be a nice place to live) that are getting so bad I won't go there after night. Crime is out of sight here and the police are nowhere to be seen. They aren't even doing traffic stops anymore so people are driving reckless on the freeways. And about one person a day is getting shot in a road-rage incident. The city government is inefficient across the board and corrupt at the highest levels, and the county is going downhill as well. Property taxes are ridiculous. In short, Houston is quickly on its way to becoming the next Detroit.
Mark | Houston, TX | Report Abuse

I agree with you Tomas on a lot of what you said. I been here for over 35 years and finally left my long term job to get out of Houston. The people moving here from other states are just enjoying the big house for a cheap price. It's like so new and amazing to them to get a BIG house and BIG yard with a pool for $400K. I am happy for them. If they can afford a nice house zoned to great schools I am happy for them but they should not come on here and say what long term residents of Houston say is not true. Especially if they are new to Houston. I know after 10 years they will be complaining about their property taxes or the over 100 degree days and who stole their vehicle. Thanks Tomas for your post and you are not the only one tired of Houston. I am trying to leave Houston also.
PJ | Houston, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo on St. Botolph Street is on the market now (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo on St. Botolph Street is on the market now (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo on St. Botolph Street is on the market now (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo on St. Botolph Street is on the market now (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo on St. Botolph Street is on the market now (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo on St. Botolph Street is on the market now (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! Lovely community pools and parks! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo on St. Botolph Street is on the market now (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments. If you want to get in touch, I will be relaxing under an umbrella beside our lovely community pool.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo there is on the market (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments. If you want to get in touch, I will be relaxing under an umbrella beside our lovely community pool.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

Wow! So much negativity! I’ll try to answer why you are ‘baffled’ that so many outsiders want to move here. From my perspective. But first let me address some of your other well-written but completely inaccurate comments. Yes, public transportation here is worse that LA. Both LA and Houston are cities that spread horizontally, and street cars and subways don’t make sense like they do in Boston or NYC. FYI - There are no trains near LAX airport either. Have you ever stood in 9 degree freezing sleet for 30 minutes, waiting for a streetcar? I have. Personally, I prefer my private heated/air-conditioned car! You are correct about one thing -- I’ve lived in Boston and Los Angeles for more than 10 years in each of those cities, and yes, there are more bad drivers here. A greater percentage of stupid, rude, selfish drivers who speed or cut you off or pull out in front of you from a side road at the last moment. Idiots. Just something you have to deal with and be alert for. Yes, its hot and humid in Houston in the summer months. But no walkable areas here? Not true. There are some nice walkable areas here. University Place, Greater Heights, the Museum District. There are many lovely parks such as Hermann Park in the city and many in the suburbs, such as Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land. You need to get out more! “Once you drive 20 minutes from downtown, it’s unbelievably backwards.” Huh? Cinco Ranch, The Heights and West University neighborhoods are not unbelievably backwards. Those areas have extremely low crime rates, too. Yes, Houston has a high number of shootings and murders, but it seems that the great majority of these happen in one or two of the very poor neighborhoods. You wouldn’t move to Chicago’s South Side, so in Houston, don’t live in the Sunnyside neighborhood. “Anti-black, and anti-gay sentiments are commonplace in the shiny and new suburbs, like Alvin, Kingwood, Tomball, Deer Park, and Conroe.” Really? First, I would hardly call Tomball and Deer Park “shiny and new”. They are older, lower-income somewhat tired and run-down suburbs and pretty far away from Houston proper. Second, what are you basing your comment on? Tomball and Deer Park are almost 60 miles apart. Did you live in either area? Here’s a tip: You will find greater social integration in the real, true newer suburbs – Katy, Sugar Land, Stafford, Missouri City. I live in Sugar Land. Two doors down lives a nurse and his family from Nigeria, originally. Across the street is a real estate agent of Chinese heritage. Next door is a CPA from India. We all get along just fine, thanks. Again – you need to get out more. Anyway. Why do outsiders want to move here? I previously lived in the Boston area and the Los Angeles area and we moved here from LA three years ago. You know what you find in front of your $750,000 condo in downtown LA? Trash, homeless people, drug needles and feces littering the sidewalk. Bad! Ok, maybe you don’t want to live in downtown LA. You want a nice home for you and your spouse and your two kids, safe neighborhood, good schools, convenient shopping. So you look at a home in the LA suburb of Torrance. Nice house, but nothing special. 3,000 sq. ft. Price: $1,600,000! And with a big down payment, you can get your monthly mortgage down to $5,800 a month! Who can afford that? Ok, what about living in Boston, with its great public transportation? When I was a student at BU thirty years ago, I lived in a run-down apartment for $300 a month on St. Botolph Street. It was a bad neighborhood. But now St. Botolph Street is gentrified. The old brick buildings have been converted into lovely condos. A 2 bedroom condo there is on the market (summer 2021). 1,500 square feet, for $1,500,000! You want to pay $4,000 a month for a lousy 1,500 square feet and standing in the freezing sleet every winter waiting for the stupid streetcar to come? Not me. Ok – how about a suburb of Boston… like Newton. Now you can get your family’s home – nothing special -- for only $1,000,000! Can you afford that? And of course you will need a car! Just like LA or Houston. Now let’s turn to an equivalent suburb in the Houston area -- Sugar Land! You can buy a very nice 3,000 sq. foot home for $400,000! A very nice home on a safe, quiet street. With good schools, and a nearby HEB store! Your monthly mortgage is just $1,000. Do the math: For the same house in a similar neighborhood, it’s $1,000 a month vs. $4,000 to $6,000 a month! And that is why people move here – jobs, more jobs, safe neighborhoods. At an affordable price! They don’t have HEB in Boston or LA, btw. Thanks for letting me reply to some of your comments. If you want to get in touch, I will be relaxing under an umbrella beside our lovely community pool.
rachael | Sugar Land, TX | Report Abuse

I hear you Tomas. I have lived here for 19 years (Job brought me here) and have never felt truly "at home" in Houston. You make a lot of salient points and observations. However, the housing market is easier to enter here that say SF Bay area in California (where I'd like to relocate to be near my daughter & 9-year old grandson). Have you discovered better places to live in terms of climate, culture, people, and cost of living? I'm aware that a number of Americans look to retire to South or Central America where the US dollars strecthes far and coat of living is good. Take care, Stephen
Stephen | Houston, TX | Report Abuse

Thank you. As someone who moved from Brownsville, TX to Houston, TX then moved to Phoenix, AZ and traveled to other states, I can 100% agree with you. I have no idea why so many people here act like it’s the best place to live in. It’s either ghetto or bland in most places in Houston. I didn’t realize how bad the humidity was until I moved to Arizona and actually noticed the sweat on my arm actually evaporating. I was appalled to see people from other states actually riding their bikes in the city to commute and how no one checked over their shoulders paranoid at gas stations.
T | Houston, TX | Report Abuse

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. I left Houston for Fort Worth, which isn't all that much better. I'm plotting my move out of Texas within the next year. This state is hyper-self-glorified mediocrity, kind of like a glorified Oklahoma.
John | Euless, TX | Report Abuse