To those from Houston

I've been planning relocation in May, although at this point I really don't have any particular place to go. I just want to get the hell out of the desolate West Texas, though I would prefer to remain IN Texas unless I get a job offer I can't refuse. Mainly I've thought about moving to San Antonio or Houston. I don't really fancy living in such a large city, but if I plan to get employed in my chosen profession I'll most likely have to. Since SA is practically a third home to me by now and I've never been to Houston, I'd like to ask how Houston is in terms of general living? The main things I'm concerned about are safety, the job market, and cost of living, because it's going to be rough going for me at first, but I'd appreciate any other help you could give.

I guess I can only pray that there are opportunities for technical writers/copy editors (in the technical or publishing fields) over there, because the lack of opportunities over here has left me feeling quite defeated as of late...

But anyway, thanks in advance.

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Originally posted by CynicalSphere
I've been planning relocation in May, although at this point I really don't have any particular place to go. I just want to get the hell out of the desolate West Texas, though I would prefer to remain IN Texas unless I get a job offer I can't refuse. Mainly I've thought about moving to San Antonio or Houston. I don't really fancy living in such a large city, but if I plan to get employed in my chosen profession I'll most likely have to. Since SA is practically a third home to me by now and I've never been to Houston, I'd like to ask how Houston is in terms of general living? The main things I'm concerned about are safety, the job market, and cost of living, because it's going to be rough going for me at first, but I'd appreciate any other help you could give.

I guess I can only pray that there are opportunities for technical writers/copy editors (in the technical or publishing fields) over there, because the lack of opportunities over here has left me feeling quite defeated as of late...

But anyway, thanks in advance.

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Houston is terribly spread out. Like...you can drive for nearly two hours and STILL be in Houston. The cost of living generaly isn't bad at all, but if you want to "live it up" so to say, you'll pay about as much/a bit less than you would in most of the top cities in the USA.

The problem is, since everything is so spread out, you're about 90% guaranteed a nice little commute to work. :(

For safety...hmm...it really depends on where you live. If you live near the downtown University of Houston area...it's not so safe. And there's a ton of shady areas all around Houston. I'd say it's about 50/50. 50% shady, 50% nice. You should be ok in most places. I have yet to have a problem.

Opportunity is probably a lot higher in Houston than in San Antonio.

San Antonio is a great place...to visit. Living there isn't all that great to a lot of the people I know. Me, I love it, and I wouldn't mind living there. But the majority of my friends/family that live there...like Houston a lot more. San Antonio IS the Riverwalk/Alamo. Without it, it would be a shit city. The good thing is that since it IS there, it is a bit possible to find some nice jobs around that area.

And since San Antonio is small, you can basically find a decent place to live around the downtown/riverwalk area and WALK to where you work. It's very possible :) My friend's dad and mom do it. My friend does it. Takes them about 5-10 minutes to walk there :) The mom and dad work in advertising. My friend works at the mall by the riverwalk.



I dunno if you've thought of this or not...but what about Austin? It's a GREAT place to live, and the living expenses are pretty reasonable (maybe a bit higher than Houston). It's relatively small, so getting around is easy. But the traffic on major highways/freeways can be a killer (there's ways of getting around that though ^_-). TONS of opportunity, and TONS of great people/fun things to do.

Sorry if I wasn't helpful at all, just wanted to give a bit of opinion. San Antonio is great, but not as good as Houston or Austin jobwise. Living expenses would probably be highest in Austin, but they are generally paid more than Houstonians or San Antonio peeps.

Austin would be the place to worry about safety. Lots of college kids wanting nice things....

San Antonio is not so much a worry for safety.

Houston is iffy for safety...but not so much to worry about.

Hmm...

^_^

I'll agree on the Houston is iffy on safety bit. There are places you don't want to be after dark, and there are places I'm perfectly comfortable wandering around after midnight.

Traffic is a major issue. If you live in suburbia (defined as anything around Beltway 8), expect to pay every day if you want your commute to anywhere inside the loop to be under half an hour -- you take the tollways, otherwise you'll get touchy and slow traffic. Living inside Loop 610 is ok for commute time, but there is still lots of traffic to deal with. Due to corrupt local politicians, Houston's only mass-transit is the Metro bus system. No rail or anything like that (well, we'll have a useless light rail track that goes nowhere in like 2006 or something. meh). People go through cars in this town like mad.

Houston sucks bacause: It's huge. It plays home to nearly 5 million people or more but is more spread out than any other city aside from maybe LA. Because of this, you HAVE to drive where ever you go unless you're lucky enough to have Metro lines going to where you are and then to where you need to go. If you do drive (and most everyone does.. makes sence about the air quality in Houston :/ ) you will have to learn quickly that the roads (besides the Freeways) cannot be taken lightly. You'll wreck your car if you don't tread lightly on some busy roads like Westheimer or Kirby.

There's nice things about it, though. Job wise, there's plenty. Much better than SA (from what I hear from my pals living there now). There's great resturants and a fair amount of things to do. Personally I find Austin over-rated. I like it here despite the bad press and the sprawl. I have a nice job, there's places I like here and would feel a bit out of place without. Honestly I would choose Houston or Dallas over either SA or Austin any day of the week and Houston over Dallas (except in the summer).

Well I've pretty much said my stuff in the aim i had with you cynical - but i agree with what tracer said as well.