Houston or Bust, Help relocation?

Hello!

I might be able to help you out a little bit, as I moved from Pennsylvania to Houston 1 1/2 years ago d/t my husbands job transfer here.

I can tell you Houston is quite different from up north! (Jersey/PA/NY). People are very friendly here, and its a great place to live, although it gets quite hot here in the summer. Dont worry though, after a few summers, you get used to it!

Sugarland is a beautiful area. Very family oriented. Large homes, not expensive compared to PA/NY/NJ houses (In my opinion). Only concern is travel time if you plan on working in the med center, which is in the heart of Houston (close to downtown). It could take up to an hour with traffic.

Our med center has numerous hospitals all of which would grab up an experienced RN. I beleive that there is a brand new hospital - Memorial Southwest- being built right now in Sugarland, or somewhere close to it. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong..

Im not sure if you'd get paid more for being bilingual, but I'm sure you could get the 37 an hour that you are making now. ( Do you speak spanish? Most jobs down here would probably jump to have you if you do - we have a huge Spanish population)

Benefit wise, I have very good benefits from my employer at a cost of 23$ every 2 weeks just for myself for Medical, and $3 every 2 weeks for dental. I think thats pretty good.

Most jobs here offer education reimbursment. Mine does after 1 year of working on the job, I will get a reimbursement of 80% for any classes that I take and pass.

I cant answer about your husband b/c I am not familiar with that line of work, but I dont think finding a job would be a problem.

I hope that helps you out somewhat. Feel free to ask any other questions and I'll try and answer them. If I cant, maybe someone else from Houston can.

-Meghan

Thanks, MeghanRN :) :) your insight was extremely helpful,to answer your question yes my second language is Spanish. I am so looking forward to a change! I hope houston is the place for us, it seems to have alot to offer, and seems very exciting.How was your intial transition from the North?

Honestly, I hated it initially. BUT- only because I was given a 2 week heads up that we were being transfered to Houston and I had just started a new job in the mist of the transfer!

My husband loved it here immediately, it grew on me after time and now anytime I go back home (PA), I realize how much I love Houston and hate PA. I love that I dont have to drive 30 + minutes for shopping and an hour to the mall, I love that if I want to go to a museum, its 5 miles away, the aquarium is 1 mile away, work is 5 miles away compared to the 20+ miles it was in PA.

Things are closeby within the inner loop (610), and once you go outside of the beltway its greener/more family oriented living.

There is so much to do, so much to see, and a ton of places to explore.

I think you will like it. Have you come down yet to tour Houston and get a feel for the city?

-Meghan

No Meghan, I have not made it down to Houston since 2003, hopefully this April we will be making the trip. Looking So Forward to it!! Another question: The utilities there are they expensive? and the heat can't possibly be the only down fall, can it?

Well, I have a different take on Houston. It is not only hot, it is unmercifully hot! I am from the midwest and used to hot, very humid weather. Here, it lasts from April until November. It is so hot out you can't really do anything outside. Nice to have a yard I can afford-too bad it's too hot to enjoy and too many fire ants to walk barefoot (and that's after I treated 3 times in a season).

The housing is much cheaper than up north. But, you get what you pay for. For instance, I bought a home and when putting up shades discovered that they were not completly square or level. You couldn't tell when it was new, but could certainly tell when the level was put on!

Yes, there is a lot of different cultures here which is interesting. However, don't ever say you doubt God! You can be of a different religion but, you better have a religion.

I have 20 years of experience and am making $34/hr. The Tx board of nurse examiners has just proposed limiting work time for nurses (see other thread) to no more than 3-12 hour shifts in a row. However, the average pt load for med-surg nurses is 6:1; where I currently work it averages 6-8:1 and that does not always include a nursing assistant.

So, that's my take on it. When school is finished I will sell the house and I AM OUTTA HERE!

If you have to come to TX-go to Austin. Much better vibe!