Moving to Houston, TX

matttahoe53

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Hi All, I have been on a 5 year journey to move back to the Carolinas and it seems I am headed on another detour.

A little back story: my wife an I left North Carolina seven years ago and moved back to Ohio (where we are both from) so she could be treated at the Cleveland Clinic. Long story short she got better and after two years back in Ohio I started to look for an opportunity to advance my career and move us back to NC.

I interviewed for a job based in RTP and got the job, but the hiring manager asked if I would be willing to move to Portland, OR. I had never been their before except for the in person interview (I went at the end of August and it was beautiful) and my wife and I discussed the opportunity and decided to take it.

Fast forward another two years and we absolutely hated Oregon (the rain is no joke and the homeless tolerance is ridiculous). Along with the location there were troubling signs within the company I was working for (they closed around a year after I left) and I was not interested in getting laid off in a place where there were so few opportunities within my line of work. Since Oregon was not going to be a long term place for us to settle down I started to look for the next opportunity in my career and one that would take us back to the Carolinas.

In the end I accepted job in the Denver, CO area (had never been to Denver before) as it was another great opportunity for advancement. We have now been here three years and really do like the area. My current job is not bad, but there is not the room for growth that I had hoped for. I have learned a lot and have brought real value to the organization but that has not translated into compensation or growth within the company. My wife and I are currently renting as the housing in the area is a quite expensive and the benchmark for us to buy was for me to get promoted and to make a bit more for us to comfortable buy. That really is our ultimate goal is to buy a place and settle down and put down roots somewhere. Since there was no clear path forward within the company I currently work for to make this happen I started to look for something new again preferably in the Carolinas.

Well that hasn’t happened. I was one of the final candidate for for three jobs and got two no’s and an offer but we couldn’t come to a salary agreement and I turned it down.

That brings us to today. I have accepted a job with a company in Houston, TX (been to TX a couple times but never Houston) It will be remote for the foreseeable future and my wife and I will stay in Colorado until we need to move but eventually we will have to relocate. I am excited about the position as it will also me the ability to build something from scratch with a fair amount of discretion.

Sorry for the long story as I thought it helped to bring a little context to show that moving to a new unfamiliar area. So, have any of you ever lived in the area? Any advice will be appreciated? We are actually going to have plenty of time with this move rather than the past two giving us plenty of time to figure out where we want to settle. We plan on buying our first house and hope to put down some roots.
 
What kind of work do you do?
 
Congrats on the new job. Once you move down to TX, you may never want to go back to the Carolinas again. We lived in San Antonio for 3 years and fell in love with Texas and decided that is where we will retire too....once I can get out of this hell hole that is northern VA.
 
What kind of work do you do?

I work in the Mortgage/Banking industry, particularly involved with defaults. Really thought we would end up in either Charlotte/Fort Mill or Greenville, SC. The job I turned down was in Greenville.

Charlotte is a huge hub for this. I compare it to what Detroit was and the auto industry (I grew up outside of Flint smaller scale same thing).
 
I spent two summers in Clear Lake (NASA), but that was 32 years ago :oops: so my impressions are likely woefully out of date. Johnson Space Center and Houston are conflated in the minds of most, but they are somewhat far apart. You won’t find much in the way of trees there. The couple of times I went to Houston, it was somewhat overwhelming for this country boy. Clear Lake I was fine with. I think you’ll find Houston to be much like a hot, humid, swampy Denver. There are places you shouldn’t go. Live as far outside Houston proper as you can manage. If you like seafood, buy it fresh off the boat at one of a bazillion roads filled with folks selling it - DAMN good eating, even if you are not passionate about it. And do go to Clear Lake and visit JSC.
 
I work in the Mortgage/Banking industry, particularly involved with defaults. Really thought we would end up in either Charlotte/Fort Mill or Greenville, SC. The job I turned down was in Greenville.

Charlotte is a huge hub for this. I compare it to what Detroit was and the auto industry (I grew up outside of Flint smaller scale same thing).
I would love to get back to Greenville, but my tech isn’t really there. They also tend to way underpay EE folks, so I can see salary being an issue in other fields. Southern cost of living tends lower, but lots of firms push that to ridiculous extremes in salary offerings.
 
I spent two summers in Clear Lake (NASA), but that was 32 years ago :oops: so my impressions are likely woefully out of date. Johnson Space Center and Houston are conflated in the minds of most, but they are somewhat far apart. You won’t find much in the way of trees there. The couple of times I went to Houston, it was somewhat overwhelming for this country boy. Clear Lake I was fine with. I think you’ll find Houston to be much like a hot, humid, swampy Denver. There are places you shouldn’t go. Live as far outside Houston proper as you can manage. If you like seafood, buy it fresh off the boat at one of a bazillion roads filled with folks selling it - DAMN good eating, even if you are not passionate about it. And do go to Clear Lake and visit JSC.

The humidity is one of things my wife is looking forward to, me not so much I like the high desert climate of Colorado.
 
I would love to get back to Greenville, but my tech isn’t really there. They also tend to way underpay EE folks, so I can see salary being an issue in other fields. Southern cost of living tends lower, but lots of firms push that to ridiculous extremes in salary offerings.

Yep, the cost of living is low but it isn’t free. The annoying thing was we were only separated by $5k and I was taking a pay cut from my current job. Luckily with this new job I’m getting a decent raise and low cost of living.
 
The humidity is one of things my wife is looking forward to, me not so much I like the high desert climate of Colorado.
I lived in Boulder for 5 years doing my PhD and I miss the heck out of that climate. Low humidity, no mosquitoes (well, hardly ever), gorgeous scenery...but all the family and family land are over here in AL to VA and parts in between.
 
I have never seen any place where it cost more to live than Texas. (in the north texas part anyway) And I have lived in 6 different states.

People with a good job probably will be fine.

Never lived in California but I guess that is a different world.

You had better like flat and hot too.

and people.
 
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I have never seen any place where it cost more to live than Texas. (in the north texas part anyway) And I have lived in 6 different states.

People with a good job probably will be fine.

Never lived in California but I guess that is a different world.

You had better like flat and hot too.

and people.

We praise God for the small blessings he has bestowed upon us.
 
Hey, where you live matters little, the fact that your wife is better is all that matters. Everything else will work itself out.

100%, she has come so far. It was a long journey and rough on both of us. With all the unknowns that came with her health really put us in survival mode and really it’s been in the last couple years where we feel like we are coming out of it. Now we are ready to buy a house and try for some kids.
 
@matttahoe53 , I am almost 2 hours east of Houston and I find just the opposite of what @Tailhunter described. I've been here since the end of March and we're loving it. Granted, it's a small town here with Beaumont about 12 miles away. Of course, it's busy near the big cities just like anywhere. I do agree with @Tailhunter , it gets hot here, Texas hot. The last few days it has cooled off and you can feel fall in the air. But, we'll have some more hot days, for sure.

Let me know when you get here. If you need anything firearms related, I have a good friend in Katy that will treat you right. PM for my phone number if I can answer any questions about the area/state.
 
My father took a job in Houston. They bought about an hour west of the city in a little You-Never-Heard-Of-It town near Katy. He learned quickly.

Houston business attire includes a Stetson or Resistol hat (no other brands are acceptable), a bolo instead of a tie, Wrangler jeans (no self respecting kicker would be caught dead in Levi's) and genuine Western boots. These are worn with a suit jacket, their sole consolation to the rest of the country.

When in Rome, do as the Romans, even if you are Zooming from Colorado.
 
I'm in an old folks home.
 
@matttahoe53 , I am almost 2 hours east of Houston and I find just the opposite of what @Tailhunter described. I've been here since the end of March and we're loving it. Granted, it's a small town here with Beaumont about 12 miles away. Of course, it's busy near the big cities just like anywhere. I do agree with @Tailhunter , it gets hot here, Texas hot. The last few days it has cooled off and you can feel fall in the air. But, we'll have some more hot days, for sure.

Let me know when you get here. If you need anything firearms related, I have a good friend in Katy that will treat you right. PM for my phone number if I can answer any questions about the area/state.

Much appreciated @Geezer depending on how things go with the ‘rona I doubt we will move before February. From my initial research and based on the office location we will most likely end up on the west side of the city so maybe not too far from Katy.
 
I have some friends in Tomball and Spring, both are on the north west side of the city, very nice areas, check them out if you’re looking to move a little outside the city.
 
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