Don’t stay as long as I did...or just don’t come.
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6/25/2019
I moved here from California for a job transfer 10 years ago. I lost track of the amount of times I contemplated moving back in the first year...yet here I am. The weather was the first noticeable thing. We did move here in August which did not help. I quit playing outdoor sports. Struggled to do triathlons which I previously enjoyed doing. Many people mention cycling being dangerous here....that is so true. Ive had several friends get hit by drivers. I have family that come to visit that refuse to come anymore. My grandparents finally moved here after 5 years of us begging them to but complain regularly about how ugly it is here. Almost all of my coworkers including my husband are transplants from other cities. My husbands family won’t visit either, I don’t blame them. There is nothing to do once you have visited once or twice. We live inside the loop and have ran out of things to do. And don’t tell me to move around...I have. I have lived in Clear Lake, The Woodlands, Conroe, Huntsville, Pasadena, Magnolia and now in Montrose. Montrose and Clear Lake have been my favorite so far in terms of things to do and drivablitly. The Woodlands is a bubble of rich stay at home moms and strip malls. It’s nice but has this creepy Stepford Wives vibe. Montrose at least has some culture to it and is drivable to downtown, the museums, and bars. That being said within a year of living in Montrose paying $2,000 for rent, my car has been broken into at the gym twice. Our apartment package room regularly gets broken into even with cameras. I travel extensively for work and literally every time I drive home from the airport I ask myself why am I still here? It is by far one of the ugliest cities in terms of commuting. It’s so flat and just full of concrete. Do not get me started on the drivers here (and we have lived in LA). Traffic horrible and dangerous. People will cut you off the road even if you are going over the speed limit. The lack of public transportation is also agrivating. I used to drive over 2 hours round trip daily and recently moved closer to my job. I now live 4 miles from my job and the lack of options for public transportation is pathetic. I’m over it. My lease is up in March and I’m getting out. Ive lived in 3 states now and this has been the worst by far. Cost of living has gone through the roof since all the other California/ oil and gas transports have moved here. Yes the cost of living was once a selling point but not anymore. The weather, ugly billboard filled highways, gross polluted beaches you can’t even swim in because there is e-coli warnings constantly, religious uneducated nut jobs, fat people literally everywhere! Seriously I don’t need to look for my gate number at the airport....just walk to the gate where the most overweight passengers are. Anyone wondering about the schools? I quit being a teacher in this state because I had too many parents tell me to stop talking about evolution in my lessons (I was a freaking science teacher). I have never been surrounded by so many close minded uneducated people in my life. I was in Boston recently at a conference and literally everyone I talked to that had been to Houston or lived there felt the same way I do. The only people on this thread that seem to enjoy Houston are those that have not traveled much or enjoy the suburb life. This city is exactly like an abusive relationship you leave for a while and then come back then I get used to it and feel like it’s OK. The place is a god forsaken hellhole of sprawl. Rant over.
Judith | Houston, TX