Hey, Texas guys...

[deerfield]

…what are three things you like about Houston and three things you would change or improve? Also, how far out of Houston are the lakes for boating and fresh water sports?

Read an interesting piece about Houston in the Federalist. The area in the past fifteen years has gone through significant growth, could soon be the third largest city in the nation, is home to more than a handful of Fortune 500 companies, and yet has an amazingly modest median home value of just $144,900. Wow! Might be a go-to location to keep in mind when the rest of the country goes total bat crazy.

My wife has had her eye on Texas for years. Appreciate your perspectives on Houston. Thanks.

[rdlangston13]

I live in Katy, TX which is the first suburb west of Houston in I-10. If you live in Katy the closest fresh water body of water is 1 hour away. That 1 hour will get you to Lake Houston (north east side of town), Lake Somerville (north west of Katy in a small town off of Hwy 36), or Lake Fayette (small power plant lake north west of Katy off of Hwy 71). You cab drive a little farther from Katy and go to Lake Conroe which is about 1:15 to 1:30 minutes depending on what end of the lake you want to launch at an this is basically directly north of Houston off of I45. Then there is Lake Livingston and the Trinity River with is about 2 hours from Katy (where we go). It is the longest drive but the river provides the best riding conditions unless its been raining/storming really bad in the DFW area, which seems to be the case in the last few years.

There are private ski lake neigborhoods in the metro area but you will be looking at 600,000+ to get on the water there and most of them do not allow v drives and ballast.

What would I change? I would add more fresh water bodies of water on the West side of town. Also the rain water run off system needs to be revamped, it floods way to easily around downtown and uptown. I would change all the dang people moving here too, its getting freaking crowded. I would change the toll fees on Grand Parkway (99). Cost $17 in tolls one way to get from I10 to I45 on there with the boat. It gets stupid humid here too. All of those bodies of water have alligators so just an FYI. Traffic can be stupid at times but that is any major city. We need a better public transit system, we have a train but it ONLY services down town and reliant park, does not go out to the burbs where it would be useful.

If I think of anything else I will let you know.

[Woody929]

I think David said it nicely DFW is better!

[deerfield]

I think David said it nicely DFW is better!

Matt - In what ways is DFW better than Houston? - Stuart

[Woody929]

I was just giving David a hard time.
Real estate has started to go crazy up here though. With Toyota coming the market in some areas has really felt it. We just got our tax assessment in the mail last week, and the value went up by the most allowed - 10%. That was the same for most people that I know in our county.

With all that being said, I really can't see me leaving the area unless a job takes me somewhere else.

[smorris7]

Matt - In what ways is DFW better than Houston? - Stuart

Try about 20 lakes within 75 miles! That's what makes DFW better!

[trayson]

I don't live in Houston, but my Sister and her family live there, as does my Mom and her husband. My sister went down there to work as a petroleum geologist and has a great life they've built there.

Some of my observations:

1. Texas is a handful of states that don't have a state income tax. This made it quite favorable for my mom to retire there
2. They obviously have warm weather most the year, and you manage humidity with a pool, A/C, and a boat.
3. along with their humidity/warmth comes things like mosquitos and fire ants. I still have scars on my foot from my fire ant bites
4. BBQ. they have freaking amazing BBQ places everywhere
5. Texas Pride. They have a pride for their state that I don't really see in the PNW. It's not like you see anyone flying the state flag in WA or OR.
6. Their houses are stuid cheap. My sister sold her house in WA and was able to get something in TX that would have cost double the price here.
7. Warm Water. When I went out with David on the Trinity river, the water was well into the 80's. That's unheard of in the PNW. However, there is NO visibility in the water. None.
8. There are things like alligtors and alligator gar in their waters. Those are way more scary than the occasional seal we see up here.
9. They are a gateway city to a lot of amazing tropical destinations by airplane. You can get crazy deals on flights to Mexico and the Carribean. Also cruises.
10. Their gas prices are a ton lower than many other areas of the country. There are many factors that play into relative fuel prices, but refining capacity and transportation distance obviously are in their favor.

[trayson]

Try about 20 lakes within 75 miles! That's what makes DFW better!

In-n-Out burger. that's what makes DFW better! And Doomswell!

[KG's Supra24]

I wouldn't particularly view a large population with low income as a place to gravitate towards. Perhaps it's more income inequality than simply low income.

I'd bet immigration is the source of low housing costs. What is the population demographic?

I have two friends that have movend to Houston for work (different supply chains of manufacturing) and both are ready to leave. One looking to transfer to dfw.


Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

[Broke Pilot]

I live up in Conroe right near the lake. Conroe right now is about as far north as you can go before It becomes a huge pain to get places in Houston. I work in Sugarland which is southwest Houston. Takes me an hour at 0300, but it has taken me 3+ hours to get home at 5pm.
The Houston area is a great place, there's no shortage of things to do. Traffic sucks, but not as bad as the metromess (DFW). I grew up down here for the most part. Trinity river was home base all through high school and college. It's great out there, always glass smooth. But it gets pretty bad after storms. Lake Conroe is fun for the social scene at the island and party cove, but it's hard to do much surfing/boarding out there. It's either wind rough or boat rough, or both! If you can go out during the week it's not bad. Last season it was so smooth on some days we were surfing in the big lake, just going for miles.

As far as housing, it's way cheap down here, property taxes aren't bad in some spots. Here in Conroe we average 2%. I'm in the process of buying my first house right now, close on the 27th, never thought I'd be able to afford what we're getting. Schools... They're definitely sub par, even the charter/private schools aren't the best. We have some kickass colleges down here though!

If you can live with crazy weather every now and then it's not bad. Just always humid, skeeters are bad. This year so far has been nothing but rain and wind.

Texas is a great place, I would never live anywhere else willingly at this point. My job has taken me everywhere, and I love it here. Only other place I'd go back to is Vegas. Dry, hot desert.
If anyone was seriously considering it, north of Houston right now is the place to be. The Woodlands, Spring, Conroe. Taxes are lower and it's the growing market now. Still a heck of a lot less crowded than Houston.