Tyler H wrote:
I went to Houston for a long weekend ~10 years ago. The thing that struck me was that it cost $12 in tolls to get anywhere. Maybe I'm just spoiled by living in TN where there aren't any tolls. I'd put toll plazas one notch below traffic cameras on the list of things that need to go away. There are plent of states with great highway infrastructure and no tolls.
I live here and don't pay tolls. There are only two toll roads with a third being built and you don't need to drive on any of them. Unlike other cities, there is always another way that is nearly as fast.
TxCoyote wrote:
But, if you want cheap housing, a great economy and genuinely nice people Texas is the place to be.
And if you don't want the "Texas attitude" you can do all that in the state to the north. 
icaneat50eggs wrote:
Everything about houses is going to be dependent on location. Is the job actually in Houston or one of the 6 thousand suburbs? Downtown? How much of a commute are you looking for and what price range of house?
The job is in Houston, pretty close to downtown if I understand the location correctly - a couple of blocks away from the University of St Thomas if that means anything to anybody here.
As to price range of the house, that would mostly depend on how big the paycheck is going to be 
, but I'd think that we'd be looking in the $300k-$400k range. I'm not complaining if the house is cheaper...
Commute-wise I've got about 45min to work each way right now and I'm hoping to keep it under an hour, although I'm beginning to get a feeling that this might not be feasible.
Vigo wrote:
Well, most 1920s and older houses are RAGING PILES OF E36 M3 which is why most of them are long gone. It would be like living in a model T while you restored it, except roomier and nobody makes parts for it.
+1 My grandmother lives in one, is only now moving out after nearly 30 years of trouble with it.
That's south side on the downtown so you would have real easy access to clear lake or pearland from there. Clear Lake is where Nasa is at for reference. Pearland is new housing mostly but you would have a much better chance of getting land out there. Sugarland is another option but that area is pretty well developed so getting an acre there may not be too easy. All of those options should be under an hour but it's been a while since I actually did a morning commute there. I tended to wait till later in the day to do my calls when I was there for Business.
So realtor.con shows 34 houses within 20 miles of at Thomas between 300-400 k on an acre plus lot
$400k will buy you a 5000 square foot house. You could have bought a 3500 square foot house with an attached three car, two extra out buildings and a horse barn on almost two acres for $270 right down the road from me but you would have been overpaying by about $50k.
Come visit and look around.
Actually I don't want a 5000 sq ft house - a 2500 sq ft house with a 2500 sq ft shop would do nicely .
It's only the two of us an three felines, we have 2400 sq ft right now and we don't use more than half unless we have guests. As a European expat I don't really need something the size of a palace.
I had a 2500 square foot house in Pearland on a half acre lot. I expanded a detached 3 car garage to 1400 square feet, finished the interior and AC'd it. I sold it for $270k about three years ago. Long story, but I wished I had been able to stay there.
The market has got more expensive, so imagine the same house would sell for 300 to 325.
I lived on the outskirts of Houston (League City) for 6 years. I live in Arkansas now. That's what I think of Houston.
There was some good autocrossing, though. And a good shooting range in Pearland. And I remember >30 days of >100F. It sucked. And the cop around every corner and behind every bush with the RADAR gun. Still, it beats L.A.
In reply to Dr. Hess:
Another fun thing about Houston, League City is over an hour away, and I live in Houston too. I live north of Kingwood. I have friends that live in Houston that are almost an hour and a half away at freeway speeds. Houston is BIG. The inner loop, 610, is 38 miles all the way around. The outer loop, Beltway 8, is 88 miles. The new outer outer loop they're building is going to be 185 miles long. I live outside that loop.
sergio
Reader
6/12/14 9:38 p.m.
The summers here last from June to October, 90-95 degrees everyday. Throw in some weeks of 100 too. It's hot! The rest of the year is Fall like, with a freeze every so often.
Try to keep the work commute under an hour. The traffic sucks donkey balls. If it rains hard for a half hour, lots of streets flood. Then the commute turns into days. Goggle pictures of Tropical Storm Allison.
As for motorsports, well the freeways here are your motorsport. Speeds under 70 will get you run over. 80 is the cruising speed. It's like a NASCAR race, bumper to bumper at break neck speed. Not for the timid. Throw in road debris and it turns into a real Road Warrior type driving. And most everyone drives trucks.
For the kind of home you want, look into Garden Oaks and Oak Forest. Montrose also but they are probably out of your price range.
mazdeuce wrote:
In reply to Dr. Hess:
Another fun thing about Houston, League City is over an hour away, and I live in Houston too. I live north of Kingwood. I have friends that live in Houston that are almost an hour and a half away at freeway speeds. Houston is BIG. The inner loop, 610, is 38 miles all the way around. The outer loop, Beltway 8, is 88 miles. The new outer outer loop they're building is going to be 185 miles long. I live outside that loop.
I didn't realize that many regulars lived in Houston. I'm in Kingwood. I heartily agree on the size, I've got friends in Baytown that are far enough away to consider it a day trip. Meeting "halfway" is an hour drive.
OP, I fall in with the "here because I'm paid to be" crowd. The climate is miserable, but the economy is the opposite. I went for a run this morning before sunrise, and came back drenched in sweat, feeling like E36 M3 for the next two hours (although that's probably because I'm out of shape). That being said, it's not a bad place aside from that. There's tons of amenities, restaurants, and people to visit. A huge amount of motorsports companies, and more car clubs and enthusiast groups than you could care to get involved with.
I grew up going to Mont Belvieu every summer to see family. Coming from Florida, I remember the weather being pretty miserable. The hill country is pretty nice.
I live in Austin but for 3 years I spent at least 2 weeks a month in Houston for work. I was asked to move to Houston and politely declined.
In reply to unevolved:
How do I not know you? Or do I? You should be auto crossing with us at the Police Academy, it's 10 minutes from Kingwood.
I just moved to Kingwood a few months ago, I didn't know there was autox that close. I spent a while on the west side of town after graduating from A&M, so I've just done all my autocrossing up there. Got some info on the autocross?
The BMWCCA runs all of their events there. Well run events, on time, good crew. The SCCA runs about half of their events there, for some reason slightly less organized and about twice as many drivers so the day always takes longer. PCA also runs there too. Super chill group, lots of fun.
The next BMW event is Sept 23 (it's summer break for them now) The next SCCA event there is August 3 though there is an event at Royal Purple in July. The next PCA event is October 12. Easiest thing is to visit the web pages for any of them and follow the links to register. If you have any questions, or anyone does, let me know.
Awesome, thanks, I'll definitely do that. I'll have to bring the E46 for a while, but once we get the FSAE car running again, I'll start bringing that.
Well, looks like that one went out the window.
With the information from the locals here and the fact that my wife isn't quite, err, on board with this[1], I had to drop out of the race for this job.
Thanks everybody for their input!
[1] Can't repeat the exact verbiage, it is a family friendly board after all .
No problem. Didn't sound like it is the right place for you. Heck, I'd get the berkeley out of here if I could find a job that pays as well as I have now. I thought I had escaped when the company I worked for transferred me to North Carolina a couple of years ago. A year after we moved they sold out and laid me off (thanks). The only place I had job contacts was in Houston, so (sigh) I'm back. I lived in Dallas for 10 years and liked it better than Houston, but only marginally. Most Texans will tell you that they'd REALLY like to live in Austin or around there-- though it has grown so much that it isn't as nice as it used to be.
You're right, it didn't sound like it would be the right place, at least not longer term.
That police academy track is a good one. The other track that the SCCA autocrosses at is in Texas City, or just west of there. I liked that one too. My shop fridge is covered in the little participation plaques from there. Miss that and the gun range, Pearland Shooting Club, which my friend described to another friend of ours as "The tactical nuke range is a bit short, but other than that, really nice." That's about all I miss from Houston, besides the people.
