Opinions wanted! Used to live in Austin travelled to Houston often and been to Dallas a few times. They all have great things about them. Here's my pros and cons...and really nervous about the job markets in some of them.
Austin Pros:
Beautiful Hill Country
Medium sized, liberal town
Right in the middle for drives to HOU or DFW
Used to live there, familiarity is good
Austin Cons:
Not as many hospitals not sure what nursing market is like
Not as much to do as in larger cities (museums, etc)
Can be pricey for houses
Dry like the dessert
Dallas Pros:
Loved Plano area
The culture,shopping
The houses
Sports teams, museums,
Change of seasons as compared to rest of cities
Dallas Cons:
Tornadoes more prevalent
Houses can be pricey too
Crime rates
Houston Pros:
Love the heat
Great houses and affordable
Culture, museums,sports
Katy Mills,shopping,Ikea
Nursing market seems favorable
Great master planned communities
Houston Cons:
Heard about giant flying roaches(never saw them)
Crime rates
Anyone else confused now? Anyone have a favorite? Thanks for listening!
Thanks! Can anyone tell me about some concerns I have about Dallas and Houston...
TORNADOES in Dallas!
-I am looking at living possibly in Plano/Frisco/Allen or
Fying ROACHES in Houston!
-I am looking at maybe living in The Woodlands
Am I freaking myself out on these things or what do you all think?
Any big bad sightings in these areas, any thoughts on these areas? In Austin we got scorpions and tornado warnings and hail warnings but we never got hit.
Thanks again.
Lived in Plano for nearly 10 years and never saw a tornado...just as many natural disaster warnings as here...minus the hurricaine and flash flodding (at least not as much flash flooding in the DFW area). Downtown FW did get hit by a tornado pretty bad recently, but I can't remember exactly when that was.
We have been living the Hill Country since 2000...my son got stung by a scorpion when he was six months old. He is now two. BTW he was fine! Turns out there are no poisionous scorpions in TX and we found out that their venon is very similar to that of bees, so he is more than likely not allergic to bees.
I have been stuck in Dallas(Pleasant Grove area),and if you want to live North of here(Plano,Allen)the suburbs are very very elitist and conservative(people are not as nice as in Austin or City of Dallas,they are very judgemental,greedy,and plastic than what Austinites or Dallasites are used to).I think only 10% of the people in the burbs are even Texan,the other 90% moved here from the East and West coast because they all lost their jobs could only to afford to live here unfortunately.
Wow, that's pretty harsh. I live in Plano and am not orginally from Texas, but I don't think I am "judgemental, greedy, and plastic". Most places I've lived it doesn't matter if you aren't a native, but I guess that is a big deal in Texas.
We haven't had a tornado while we've been here, but we did have a bad hailstorm last spring. We had to get our roof fixed and replace a broken window. The only crime we have is when people leave their garage doors open and have things stolen from the garage.
Austin is much prettier, but the job market is better in Dallas. There are many ads in the paper and several new hospitals/additions being built. I don't know much about Houston except that it floods a lot down there.
Former Texan here. Interesting discussion actually. If it were me, i would avoid Austin, not because its not a great city cuz it is, but because its very college centered and the crime rate there isn't all the wonderful. not that they are in any of the 3 cities, but you KWIM. I just think its a more college oriented town.
if i had to choose between Dallas and Houston that would be HARD. I can only think of the cons for each. the cons for Houston is the weather. Hotter than haites and no real seasonal changes. Not to mention HUMID HUMID HUMID and floods. BUT its the best place in the world to eat, tons to do as far as activities, the beach is nearby, and a great medical community to choose whatever job you want.
Dallas cons......i think that the farther North you get, the more expensive it gets. I prefer the areas of Plano, Sherman and Allen, but they are PRICEY. The housing market has gone way up, and that sucks. And yes the people are slightly more reserved, but not enough to make me avoid going there. But there are tons of things to do in the city, i love the West End, i love all the sports stuff, food is awesome any given direction.........IMO the crime is better slightly than Houston, but that's just on my personal experiences and not any any facts. Seems like crime is more prevalent in Houston i guess.
I guess my choice would be made solely on the weather, so i'd go with Dallas area. I don't really care for the FW side tho, not real sure why. lol But then again, i left TX cuz of the weather (lived in Tyler/Jacksonville, born and raised) and moved to the mountains. lol Not to mention, i HATE the law enforcement in TX. I think in East Texas especially its a very oppressed area when it comes to the police.
Wow, that's pretty harsh. I live in Plano and am not orginally from Texas, but I don't think I am "judgemental, greedy, and plastic". Most places I've lived it doesn't matter if you aren't a native, but I guess that is a big deal in Texas.
maybe not,but you probably are one of those soccer moms who can't drive right because you can't get off your cell phone and can't get your spoiled kids to behave
yes,sorry,being this close to chocktaw and commanche and coushatta reserverations
being native is more personal
peppermint arapaho
(translated from commanche peppermint "has many horses")
WOW you are bitter. I'm sure that's not what she meant. And BTW, i'm part native american too, and its not that personal to me. You are making it personal. WOW. Most people in TX are super nice, and welcome anyone and everyone. Usually the nicest people in the states i'd say.
HOuston Cultureless??? I do not think so. I have lived in Houston for over 22 years now on and off. I always seem to come back here. We have world class museums, a TOP RATED symphony, Theaters....the Alley and the Wortham are nationally noted. Some of the best restuarants int he country. Sports teams. The games are affordable. I can take my kids and see an Astros game for 40 bucks total. Football is affordable. Hard to get tickets at times cause they always sell out. Concerts all the time. The best rodeo in the country. The weather here is not as bad as you think. it is jan 4th and 72 degrees outside. The humidity can be high but no worse than Miami. As for flooding...Only once in 22 years have I been flooded and that was during a Hurricane. The water did not even make it up to my house. It came about half way up my lawn. Yes there are some areas of town that CAN flood but it does not happen that often. The floods we had the other year were a fluke.
The crime in this town is WAY down. I feel safe walking downtown at night to the different clubs and restaurants. I live in a very safe neighborhood. My kids attend the BEST school district in the state. Katy school district. Just check the stats...
I have no trouble commuting around town. I live 35 miles from my work and it takes me about 45 minutes to get home during traffic.
The wages for nursing here are the highest in the state. we have the worlds largest medical center right here. We have more hospital beds per capita than any other city in the world. The cost of living is dirt cheap. I pay right now 1.29 per gallon for gas. My house is 2500 square feet 4 bedroom 3 bath 2 car garage and with a pool you could get it for 135,000. formal dining and also a game room.
Dallas is stuck up and we actually have more money here in Houston than they do...we just do not flaunt it like they do. They have worse traffic than us and higher crime rates. Austin is EXPENSIVE and wages for nursing are LOW. low 20/hr range. Housing is unaffordable there. I did a contract there for 6 months. It was unbelievable the prices and they dio have a lot of crime there. Alos a lot of drug usage there. San Antonio is a pretty town but prices are not cheap there either and they also have a bad gang problem.
All in all Houston is not a bad place to live. You can have a great life here if you want. I personally prefer the west side of town to the north but both areas are nice.
I grew up in The Woodlands and have lived in both Austin and Dallas as well. I hate to disappoint you, but large flying roaches live in all three areas. Feel free to PM me if you would like to chat more about any of the cities.
San Antonio is a pretty town but prices are not cheap there either and they also have a bad gang problem.
One could argue this is true of any metropolitan area in the *country*. And yet another factor is that there are more prevelant in certain areas of said metropolitan areas.
Having lived in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Plano. My experience is that SA does have the less expensive cost of living. So while some may not consider it cheap, it is still less expensive than the other options.
Well it looks like I am leaning more and more towards Houston. Keep the input coming okay!
Dplear, I hear you loud and clear. What you said pretty much sums up how I felt everytime I visited Houston. We looked at some houses over a year ago loved the Katy area and loved the Woodlands. Taking a visit in a few months. Can't wait. Got to check out schools, hospitals, housing. Everything in one week.
By the way, I never saw a roach in Austin much less a flying one. Just lots of scorpions. Creepy. Especially when you have a child in the house. They blend in to the tan walls/tan carpeting so they are really hard to see. I think they are called tree bark scorpions(non-poisonous) anyway my point is to get back to the roach thing and that is that I think I heard they are called tree roaches. Ummmm, does that mean The Woodlands are going to be infested with them and they are going to be on the walls of the house and fly at me and stick to me. That happened with me and a cricket and me ever fearful of all bugs large and small went bizerk. But the bats of Austin didn't bother me a bit.
IamRN
303 Posts
Lived in Plano for nearly 10 years and never saw a tornado...just as many natural disaster warnings as here...minus the hurricaine and flash flodding (at least not as much flash flooding in the DFW area). Downtown FW did get hit by a tornado pretty bad recently, but I can't remember exactly when that was.
We have been living the Hill Country since 2000...my son got stung by a scorpion when he was six months old. He is now two. BTW he was fine! Turns out there are no poisionous scorpions in TX and we found out that their venon is very similar to that of bees, so he is more than likely not allergic to bees.