Moving to H-Town vs Atlanta?

Travel Info
what can u tell me about Houston? Is it anything like Atlanta, or is it better? I heard the cost of living is low, and that would be fantastic. Also what can u tell me about the medical center, and traffic in ur fair city? Any advice would help

Travel Tips

I haven't had the pleasure yet to travel to Atlanta, so I can't compare for you...but I can tell you about Houston.

Cost of living has risen dramatically in the last, I'd say 5 years. The average apartment use to be between $400-500....now your looking at $800-1500 for a decent apartment.

The Medical Center, has:

1. Lots of Hospital (World famous)
2. Houston Zoo
3. Science Museum
4. Houston Art Museum
5. Childrens' Museum
6. Rice University (very beautiful area)
7. The Womens Hospital
8. The Reliant Stadium (Rodeo, Concerts, Monster Truck Rallys, etc....held there)
9. Astro-dome
10. Downtown is about 5-10 minutes away
11. River Oaks (very affluent area)
12. Rice Village (lots of cool shopping, hangouts)
13. Galleria Mall (has a huge Indoor Ice Rink & famous name brand stores) is about 15-20 minutes away from Med. Center
14. Lot's of historical Churches in the area down Fannin.
15. Lot's of traffic
16. Also home of the historical Warwick Hotel.
17. Lot's of construction going on over in the Medical Center now on the streets....(causes alot of delays and confusion getting to your destination)
18. Home of the Light Rail (Train that stretches through that particular part of Houston into Downtown.)
19. Medical Center is about 30 minutes away from both airports; Hobby (out Interstate 45 Gulf Freeway) & Bush Intercontinental (out Highway 59 North)

Bad area's surrounding the Medical center:
If you coming from downtown, pretty much most of it, accept the Rice University & River Oaks area are really nice.

Bad area's in Houston w/their highlight area's:
SW & SE Houston

I-45 toward Dallas or North Freeway= (between downtown, Greenspoint, & FM 1960)
***out this way you will find another affluent area The Woodlands (very nice) home of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion (lots of famous name concerts held there) & Conroe (very beautiful Lake Conroe)
***Also out this way if you take Highway 249 off to the left (coming from downtown) this will take you into Tomball (very country) along the way you will cross FM1960/Willowbrook area (lots of shopping here)...also on 249 & Sam Houston Tollway is the Horse Track

I-45 toward Galveston or Gulf freeway= (between downtown & Fuqua)....
***Clearlake is a nice affluent upcoming community...the dog track is also out this way. In Galveston you can shop in the old downtown area (every year that have late 1800's style Dickins on the Strand Christmas where you dress in period costumes and come out to partake of the festivities and shop)...and they also have the Cruise line that docks and leaves from Galveston.

Eastex Freeway; aka 59 North...(between downtown & Sam Houston Tollway)

59 South (Pretty much all, accept the part that is in the River Oaks/Rice Village Exits) til' Sugar Land (very nice in Sugar Land, high Asian area)

59 North or Eastex Freeway = (Pretty much everything between downtown & Sam Houston Tollway(SHT))...
**After SHT you will find the small community towns of; Humble (Deerbrook Mall, it's okay), Kingwood (a somewhat affluent community), Porter/NewCaney/Cleveland (very country out this way) but nice decent folks.

Interstate 10 (toward Beaumont very Industrial) Bad traffic

Interstate 10 (toward San Antonio between downtown & Sam Houston Tollway)Bad traffic....
*** Katy is out this way very nice area (home of the Katy Mills Mall its huge)

Loop 6-10::::Goes around Houston, you can get lost on it very very easily, but remember it loops around Houston, so you'll find it sooner or later. Inside the Loop is the (713 area code) Outside the Loop is (281 area code)....we use 10-digit dialing here in Houston. Inside the Loop you will find; Medical Center, Downtown, Heights (not a great area), Memorial Park (near the Galleria area) big joggers area about, Polo Club, etc....

Beltway 8 or Sam Houston Tollway;;;;;Basically another bigger loop around the city of Houston.....but emcompasses most of it....it is a Tollway so you will have to pay tolls from $1.25 to $7-8 to go over the tollway Bridge something kinda in the Ship Channel area.....

Affluent Neighborhoods:::::River Oaks (oldest), Champions, The Woodlands, Kingwood, Friendswood, ClearLake

Malls: The Woodlands Mall, Galleria, Katy Mills Mall, Northline Mall (not good), Greenspoint Mall (not good), Memorial City Mall....Mall of the Mainland (out toward Galveston), DeerBrook Mall (Okay), Willowbrook Mall (Okay)...

Hope that helps....
Others

We have one of the best medical centers in the US....cost of living is low compared to most large cities like Houston....we have alot of fun things to do you just have to look for them...ideas for things to do on the weekend arent going to arrive on a pretty little invitation in the mail....you have to look on line or read the local HOUSTON Newspaper....traffic like any other city is bad during rush hour and fair during the weekends
Hmmm, first of all, no one calls it "H-town" so there's one thing. Second, our cost of living can be low, but that is in comparison to other major cities, and especially both coasts. Still, you can spend a few million bucks on a house here if you want to. The Medical Center is huge, and an incredible amount of research goes on there. There are two med schools there, too. Here's a link to their site:

http://www.texmedctr.tmc.edu/root/en...

Traffic is about what you'd expect for any large city. Can be good, can be bad. We're rebuilding sections of Interstate 10 and that won't be done for two years. Consequently, traffic moves slowly. On the other hand, I zip down the tollway at 80-85 on my way to and from the office because I'm going against traffic. There are freeways, ring roads, tollways, buses, and one light rail line that was built to try and draw the 2008 Olympics here. Could be worse!
Houston is very alike to Atlanta in many ways, but Houston has the advantage of fairly low cost living. Traffic is pretty rough during rush hour, go to http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/layer... and see the average speed for the road segments during the day, it helps to know where the hot spots are during rush hour. Houston is such a diverse city, it is an awesome place to be. Mainly the bad part of Houston that you would want to stay out of is the general South East and South West side of Houston. The 'really nice' parts of Houston are mainly inside the 610 loop, and in the Northwest part of houston near FM 1960 is about middle class. Anymore info you need on houston feel free to ask me at any time...hope this helps have fun.
Houston resident 18 yearz
No way. Houston is boring. They pretty much watch other cities in the US, and then copycat. Try Atlanta.
I grew up in the Houston area. I am considering relocating back to Houston but Atlanta is also an interest of mine. But I hear negatives regarding Atl and I haven't been able to make a trip to Atl as of yet. But I can definetly tell you about Houston!

Houston is very large and multicultural. It's literally like an LA or NYC no exaggeration. There is always something to do. Always! Lots of events hosted. Mostly all areas are diverse. Inside 610 loop is very upscale (Galleria, River Oaks, Rice University, West University, Memorial Park) and is the heart of the city. The Medical Center is East of Rice Univ. and thats where lots of jobs are! People walking in that area always look "happy" going to work.
I love North houston burbs. That is where most of my family resides. I almost never go to SE or SW Houston. Stay away from SW houston unless you opt for Sugarland, TX which is a SW burb of Houston. Sugarland can get expensive. There are high profile people out there(NBA, NFL and other high profile folks) SW Houston(Sharpstown area, Chimney Rock Rd, Bellfort Dr., Fondren St, Harwin Dr, Bellaire St/SW Freeway intersection) ghetto areas and has crime.

I like also, Kingwood, TX, Humble, TX and Atascocita, TX all are NE Houston burbs about 20 mins north of downtown. check out www.humblearea.com Also Lake Houston area is nice(Beyonce's parents have a house out there)

I love The Woodlands, TX because it is great for raising a family if you are at that stage. It is 30-40 mins north of downtown Houston and has a toll road to travel south to Houston. www.thewoodlands.com