Where should I move?

[thrill]

Atlanta >>>>> Houston imo.


Houston sucks. Atlanta is a good city with lots of variety of things to do and you are a short drive to both mountains and beaches for outdoor recreation.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

I'll second Houston's suckage. We lived there in 1991 and left after little more than a year. Too big and too humid for us not accustomed to that climate.

[heyzeus]

There's another dark horse that reared its head while I was researching. It seemed like a very strong contender at first; the housing prices can't be beat. It also has the highest Vietnamese population outside of California. But the more I look into it, the more the luster seems to fade. I'm still curious what people think, especially people that are familiar with the city (calling you, @heyzeus , I think you've lived there): Houston.

Yo Smith! I got ya covered. I lived in Houston for 11 years, and my brother still lives there today, so I'm back there fairly regularly. Let me tell you some highs and lows of Houston (and in particular, as compared to Austin).

The highs:

1. Houston has a truly massive Vietnamese community. Tons of people, tons of restaurants, tons of community centers and retail and churches and cultural events that are Vietnamese. It's mostly centered in the west/southwest part of the city along Bellaire Boulevard around Beltway 8. The Asian community in Houston in general is massive - Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese foremost. After the fall of South Vietnam in the 70s, many immigrants came to Houston because the climate is pretty similar. But your wife's parents will find a big community, including grocery stores, where speaking Vietnamese will not be a problem at all.

2. On that same note, Houston is the most diverse place I think I've ever been. Name a country/culture and it's there. The oil industry has this habit of going just about anywhere on the planet, and bringing those folks to Houston, then couple it with decades of immigration from Latin America. But the benefit is that if you've ever wanted Burmese food, or Bangladeshi food, or Ecuadorian food, or Guatemalan food, or stellar BBQ, and then fusions of everything imaginable, Houston's the place. In college I interned for the big pan-ethnic grocery chain in Houston, called Fiesta, and they did a survey at just one of their southwest Houston stores, and found something like 100 different countries of origin of their customers. What's cool too is that it's diverse throughout. Yes, there are predominant ethnic enclaves in the city, but it's not like St Louis where if you're Black you live here or here, and white you live there or there. Not so in Houston.

3. It's a city on the upswing. It's growing rapidly and has been for decades. You can feel it there. New restaurants, new highrises, new entertainment centers, etc are going in all the time. It's easy to find a job there. The upward mobility is incredible. There are so many smart, young, diverse people there.

4. Culture. Kinda hit on it above, but the diversity and wealth of the city are drivers. There are almost all of the pro sports (sorry if you love the NHL), big concert venues, a whole theater district, really excellent museums that are expanding all the time, an expanding light rail system, big food/cultural festivals almost every season.

5. Cost of living. There are definitely super expensive parts of town, but because Houston is a freewheeling place, they build tons of housing. It tends to be a cheaper place to live than Austin.

6. No state income tax. It does mean property taxes are pretty high compared to some places, but if you and your wife are both working, it usually comes out pretty well on the tax front compared to, say, Illinois.

The lows:

1. The weather is...an acquired taste. It's about 50 miles from the coast, so it rarely gets too cold. Many winters it never even dips below freezing all winter, or only briefly. But the summers are brutal. Think 95 degrees with high humidity, not unlike New Orleans or Florida, and that level of heat starts in late May and doesn't really abate until October. Flooding is a big issue, especially with tropical storms and hurricanes, so before you buy a house you have to do your homework on how it fared during Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Allison. When it rains in Houston, it rains like a mother [expletive]. The mosquito situation in Houston is real.

2. The traffic. It's a sprawling city. To drive from the burbs on one side of the city to the burbs of the other is probably 70+ miles and well over an hour. Kinda like LA, the highways are perpetually under construction and traffic is rough. The best Houston advice ever is to live as close to your work as possible so you can avoid the highways, which isn't an easy task given how sprawling the city is. You'd probably want to be near the Vietnamese community in SW Houston.

3. The flatness. Houston is...not a very aesthetically pleasing city. They're working on it, building more parks and improving what they got, and it is a very lush and green place with big leafy trees. But there are no hills at all. And once you're out of the cool inner city neighborhoods, there's a certain monotony and ugliness to the sprawling urban form. A lot of Houston is an endless repeating cycle of strip malls, gas stations, auto shops, highways, pawn shops, and apartments.

4. There are cooler cities. No way around this. Houston does not have the rep of the Next Big Thing, or the cool place to be like Austin or Portland or NYC or SF or wherever. It's a very workmanlike city. People move there because of its economic vibrance and diversity, not for the natural beauty and hipness. The thing is, there are tons of very cool restaurants, coffee shops, nightlife, and all that, but it's kinda spread around a big city so it can be harder to find.

Anyway, this is long enough, but if you have specific questions, holler. One of my law partners is Vietnamese and has lived in Houston her whole life and is plugged into the community there, so I can probably get more info if you need it.

[MrCrowesGarden]

Offseason

[Smith Corks One]

Thanks for all the terrific responses. It's a lot to think about and consider, but I think a lot of things are pointing toward the Atlanta area.

I said that most of Cali would probably be out of the question, but there is one city I wonder about that might be doable. Anybody very familiar with Sacramento? I've actually been there a couple of times, but it's been so many years that I don't remember much at all. Housing prices seem similar to Atlanta, you've got the great weather, close to San Fran...seems to have a lot going for it.

[Smith Corks One]

Thanks for all the terrific responses. It's a lot to think about and consider, but I think a lot of things are pointing toward the Atlanta area.

I said that most of Cali would probably be out of the question, but there is one city I wonder about that might be doable. Anybody very familiar with Sacramento? I've actually been there a couple of times, but it's been so many years that I don't remember much at all. Housing prices seem similar to Atlanta, you've got the great weather, close to San Fran...seems to have a lot going for it.

Well, maybe a little higher house prices than ATL.