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It's been a while, but I will dare to ask questions =P
It's a long story, but my husband and I are considering a move. Nothing set in stone, no real set plan at this time. Merely contemplating options.
My husband has a chronic health condition and it helps him A LOT to be near the ocean. That saltwater helps him a ton. We keep being told again by doctors, specialists, and everyone - Mediterranean diet. We also know this helps because his blood sugar levels drop dramatically and stay more level. Although, fresh seafood here - it isn't happening. Too expensive, not easily accessed, etc.
We've thought about areas like Corpus Christi or other beach towns of Texas, but it seems a lot of them lack employment opportunities, which is the same thing we struggle with here. The beach and other fun activities like fishing drew our eye, but some aspects of the beach towns there didn't seem to fit. We also noticed we'd be further from stores we use to save money like Costco or liquidation stores. Perhaps further from medical appointments like we are now, so we are thinking Houston may be close enough to go get that beach fix (closest beach from here is like 5 hours+) and some humid air. (Greenery would be a plus. I'm tired of dead desert plants).
Also being closer to the ocean helps me with my chronic health condition when we've visited places in the past like Florida. I have a lot less issues. We're afraid where we have been living hasn't been great for our health and we're worried about getting totally stuck here...even more than we are now. The bigger nightmare we have is: Our kids are going to grow up and not have a wide variety of career or college opportunities and be poor as we've been for our entire marriage. We don't want that for our kids.
We're also terrified to move because of things in the past that have happened to us on big moves, and the last thing we want is to pick up and move only to encounter the same problems that we're facing here at this point.
So, the questions about Houston and it's surrounding areas:
1. Are there any good suburbs right outside of Houston? Like a 10-30 minutes drive to city? (Looking for something that's good for kids, has some outdoor things to do relatively nearby, good schools, etc).
2. How is the job market in Houston and it's surrounding areas? Is there always something to apply for? Are there plenty of jobs and opportunities? (I have looked on Indeed and it seems that there are like 6 pages of new jobs if I filter the past 24 hours alone. Here, where we are at, you're lucky if you get 1 page of jobs posted in the last 24 hours. We do not have a lot of jobs here to apply for. Basically if you don't have a job with the military, medical, something on fort, or something with the city then you're screwed for an income. It's the land of no opportunity here. There's not a lot of room for job growth when you already have a job, either. We don't want to be somewhere like that).
3. Any areas that are great for young families? (We have kids to raise and want an area that's great for that! We are currently in senior-citizens-ville. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't hate old people. What I do hate is the old people that shouldn't be driving turning out of the straight away lane at an intersection and never get cited. An old man blows a stop light and plows down 4 cars - no citation. A young person runs a stop sign, doesn't hit anyone, and is cited. This has been only getting worse. Arizona supposedly has issues convicting sick criminals because of their age here. It's stupid. If they did the crime, they should do the time, but here's Arizona, "Oh, but they're so old...I mean...we can't have a child molestor get sent to prison in their 70s or 80s...this is a complicated case!" Stupid stuff. I'm also tired of the senior citizen like hours! Only 24/7 businesses being gas stations is frustrating. Walmart was the only 24/7 thing we used to have here, but they close before midnight now as most of us know since the pandemic. It's not great when your kid gets sick in the middle of the night and they could use some medicine, but they're not ill enough for the ER. Most places here close between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Some of the old people here are nasty! It's a rough area to be young and chronically ill because old people will literally call the police on you if you look healthy and have a handicap plate - it happened to us, and the cops are all trying to explain to the lady how they can't do anything because we have a legit handicap plate. She was ticked because we must be "faking it". I've had older people tell me constantly in different places how to parent my kids...it's rarely the younger and middle aged people. I've had old people come up and school me about how they didn't want to see me breastfeeding in Walmart. I've had old people come up and literally tell us to put our kids on leashes because they get overwhelmed in the store with all the people and try to make a dash for it. We have had old people come up and tell us that we're lazy because we wore our sweat pants to the grocery store - if only they knew the type of week we had! I remember being in a thrift store in the dressing room and I had multiple outfits to try on (but I wasn't above the limit I could take in) and the entire time she's out there shouting, "My grandma dresses faster than you!" and constantly was complaining to the poor cashier that had this long old line. He eventually got so tired of her that he demanded I just get out of the dressing room for her sake. NAH! That's garbage! I was there first and she couldn't wait a few minutes? I'm tired of people here. So tired of it!)
4. How is the weather in Houston? How hot does it get in the summer? Is rain throughout the year or is it during a 'monsoon' season? Is it windy all the time? If you can compare Houston, TX heat to Phoenix, AZ heat for me then please do! That would give me a great idea.
(I can tolerate some heat. I don't like to, but I've been in the desert all my life. I know I can do it, but it hasn't gotten kinder to me with age. We have our monsoon season here, but I'd like more sunny days than cloudy days as I'm concerned I probably have a Seasonal Affective Disorder. Cloudy days hate me and I feel so super depressed).
5. How is the walkability in Houston and other surrounding areas? Is there a good public transit system? Which areas do you feel have the best walkability? (I cannot drive due to medical issues so this is important. My husband also worries being the only driver in our household that if he gets older, what if his health doesn't let him drive? Would we be able to get around fairly easily or would we be stuck? Our transit system here was limited to one route, basically. The closest bus stop here is about a 20 minute walk and I've taken the bus here. It hasn't been among my most pleasant experiences).
6. How is the crime rate? What parts of Houston and it's surrounding areas should be avoided at all costs? What parts are great? (I've seen on here a lot of people mentioning the insane crime rate, but I'm wondering what that means to some people. Crime where we are at isn't necessarily the highest as say the big cities because we're in a smaller town with less people. Although, there have still been crimes here...some horrible ones. A few shootings at small businesses here have happened. Some of the convenience stores have a history of being hot spots for hostage situations, shootings, and theft. For crying out loud, if you have rare cacti in front of your house here - people will steal it to replant and sell! It's nuts...but anyway...)
7. Are there good hospitals? Which ones are great? Which ones not?
I know this may be dependent on our medical issues, but are there good hospitals in this area? Are there plenty of specialists? (I currently have to travel 2 hours just to see a neurologist. It'd be great if I didn't have to do this anymore).
8. Food cost? Are grocery stores currently super expensive? Fair price? (Yes, I know...the inflation right now is crazy everywhere. Although, we can travel 2 hours away from home and spend $200 on groceries at Costco that'll actually last through the month and we do so because food is too stinkin' expensive here and the grocery stores have been ripping people off (literally refusing to give discounts and hoping you won't notice on your receipt), but where are people really going to go when there's only 5 big grocery stores in town? Food has always been more expensive here and it's worse now with inflation. To get one box of 4 sticks of a good quality butter here is about $8 - $10. Avocados are getting to be like $1.50 - $3 per avocado. A large bag of chips is easily $5 - $8. It's about $4 - $6 for one 8oz package of cream cheese. It's about $6 - $8 for a 1lb block of cheese that's the generic store brand. We get very little shopping at grocery stores here. You'll only fill up the part of the cart a child can sit in and you're shelling out $60. We need something more affordable than this. I'd love to have a Costco or Whole Foods nearby.
9. What does the illegal immigration look like here? How much is this influencing the job market, crime rate, etc. there? (Here in Arizona, they've been cracking down on human smuggling and at least once a week, there's some car full of illegal immigrants that gets pulled over and they all book it and then the local PD is alerting people to stay inside and lock doors. Also, my husband and I have tried to start businesses here to keep our lives afloat, but we can't compete with illegal labor. You have people coming across the border and doing under the table work such as cleaning homes, landscaping, handy man jobs, etc. They aren't paying for a business license or business insurance so they can charge like $50 for a huge job and local legal businesses can't compete with that).
10. Natural disasters? I know there have been hurricanes that have come up and hit Houston. Are tornadoes watches and/or warnings common in this area? (I've heard that in these areas, it's the flood insurance and other insurances that are weather related that get you when buying a home depending where you're situated. Where I'm at in Arizona, tornadoes can happen, but the weather is rarely right for them. We have had some touch down, but they normally don't last long or go over a long area span if they touch down at all. So, super rare here. I've only experienced one earthquake here and it was mild. We don't have hurricanes hit here, but we get the leftovers at times coming up from Mexico. We get intense lightning and thunderstorms, though but it's basically a small season per year that happens).
11. Mold issues in homes? (This seems so common in our area. It's the desert, I don't know why. Do they not calculate on mold issues here or something? I don't know, but there have been many houses in this state that get ravaged by black molds and things of that nature. I know this could happen to anyone, but we've noticed spikes of this in certain areas over the years, which makes us super nervous to buy a home here - even with an inspection beforehand).
Really, anything else you would like to add that will help us determine if this area would be right for us! Rants and raves welcome regardless of length! If we get serious about an area, we will make sure to take a trip over to check it out.
I almost can't imagine Houston would be a good fit for you. From your list of 11, I'd think the only boxes that could click favorable would be great hospitals and job oportunites.
I almost can't imagine Houston would be a good fit for you. From your list of 11, I'd think the only boxes that could click favorable would be great hospitals and job oportunites.
Based on this, the only box that checks is great hospitals
Also, my husband and I have tried to start businesses here to keep our lives afloat, but we can't compete with illegal labor. You have people coming across the border and doing under the table work such as cleaning homes, landscaping, handy man jobs, etc.
I almost can't imagine Houston would be a good fit for you. From your list of 11, I'd think the only boxes that could click favorable would be great hospitals and job oportunites.
What makes Houston and it's surrounding suburbs not a good fit based on my questions/OP?
Based on this, the only box that checks is great hospitals
Also, my husband and I have tried to start businesses here to keep our lives afloat, but we can't compete with illegal labor. You have people coming across the border and doing under the table work such as cleaning homes, landscaping, handy man jobs, etc.
What makes Houston and it's suburbs not a good fit in other areas, though?
I agree. ^^^
Jobs depend on skills, experiences and education. OP didn't mention any fields of interest.
I was using "job opportunities" in general, just to know there are more options is great. Even if it is retail or fast food with a better variety of hours.
My husband has background in customer service, manager/supervisor positions, behavioral health, and teaching at this time.
I'm currently a stay at home mom, but feel stuck here as far as any opportunity. I have some customer service experience, but the inability to drive knocks me out as a candidate almost every time. My medical issues themselves keep me from getting jobs where someone's life is essentially depending on my performance. As much as I would love to go into the medical field like that, I won't do it.
1. Are there any good suburbs right outside of Houston? Like a 10-30 minutes drive to city? (Looking for something that's good for kids, has some outdoor things to do relatively nearby, good schools, etc).
Yes there are good suburbs - Pearland, Sugarland come to mind.
3. Any areas that are great for young families? Again, Pearland and Sugarland are great for young families. Schools are decent and there are things to do. They are not close to the beach though - you would need to drive to Galveston for the beaches.
4. How is the weather in Houston? How hot does it get in the summer? Is rain throughout the year or is it during a 'monsoon' season? Is it windy all the time? Houston is hot and humid. https://weather.com/weather/monthly/...0b501f206d265c
5. How is the walkability in Houston and other surrounding areas? Is there a good public transit system? Which areas do you feel have the best walkability? There are no areas that have good walkability in Houston or its suburbs and public transportation is quite lacking.
7. Are there good hospitals? Which ones are great? Which ones not? The hospitals in Houston are great! The medical center has plenty of good medical care. MD Anderson is one of the best in the US.
I doubt if Houston would be a good fit for you given your needs.
I live outside Houston,in Richmond,not downtown Richmond but off 1093 which leads into the busiest commercial street in Houston called Westheimer Rd where you find HD,WMT,Kroger,many restaurants,fast,slow.
Other busy streets are Bellaire where you find Asian town and they sell plenty of fish,shrimp,carbs,and fresh veggies.
Summer can be hot,but not as humid as Florida,winter can get down to 30s.
There are 2 schools within walking distance-George Bush high school and Barbara Jorden middle school.
hospitals are good,MD Anderson is one of them,plenty of doctors too.
I dont know what kind of business you want to start,but I often hear local companies hire contractors who hire illegal immigrants and pay them $1 an hour.
This is how they can make money by submitting bids covered by insurance co without you paying any deductible,eg roof replacement.
More businesses are moving to TX-TSLA,ORCL,HP ,and of course the oil and gas companies and their contractors.
Galveston is by the sea,it takes 1/2 hour to get there,but I have found better seafood in Houston than Galveston,the seafood can be flown in from Fulton Market in NYC or from MA,Gulf or overseas.
Living standard is cheaper than other cities,but we do get hurricanes and flooding,
New Subdivsions or rather those built in 2000s like mine have receiving ponds to take in the water ,when full,it will send it downstream.
It is the largest city in the south,plenty to explore ,you just have to find out for yourself.
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