Tell me about Houston, TX

I have a pretty deeply negative view of Houston, since it's closely associated with the most painful romantic breakup in my life.

And I have not been there since December 31, 1979 (the last day of the Seventies).

But my most vivid memory of Houston is the vermin that thrive there.

If you come into your Houston kitchen at night, and turn on the light, you will find the sink, stove, and counters all arrayed with an astonishing entomological exhibition, like a really crowded 19th Century natural history museum -- except with living specimens.

In Houston, you wash your dishes and tableware before putting them away, and then wash them again immediately before use.

One time, when I was food shopping at a Safeway supermarket in Houston, I saw a rat scamper across an aisle. Not a pristine little white lab rat, but a huge and filthy-looking scavenger.

Later, I heard that Safeway had become disreputable and shut down all of its Houston stores, but I doubt the groceries that remain are sparkling clean.

Up here in the snowy North, one can sustain the illusion that bugs are outdoor creatures. I can hold the naive belief that there is not a single cockroach my entire house, and go for decades without seeing any evidence to the contrary. The ants and spiders we do sometimes see are tiny.

In a subtropical climate, you are denied this luxury. Hugely oversized beetles and flies and spiders and worms are your constant, everyday companions. When you go to bed, you are comfortable with the reality of bugs in your mattress, bugs crawling over your shoulder while you sleep, bugs buzzing around your ears, bugs nestling between your toes, bugs searching for food in your scalp. In the dust under your bed is a veritable city of vermin.

Obviously, preferences vary, but speaking for myself, I'm not interested in coming to that kind of accomodation.

 

Houston has no formal zoning or land use code; the only large in the country that lacks such urban planning controls...and it shows.

To counter the lack of zoning/land use in the city, Houston suburbs are enacting some of the strictest codes, even down to very rigid homeowner association regulations.

I dont know that you will find a happy medium in or around Houston.

 

In the political realm, Houston did elect two famous lesbians, Barbara Jordan (congresswoman) and Annise Parker (mayor).

 

If you like live music. Houston has a great variety of venues for indie alt-country and blues bands.
They pride themselves on it in fact and have a major music festival.

 

I have some, but I'm grocery shopping! I'll get to it!

 

Okay, so Houston...

Positives:
Four Whole Foods stores, IKEA, and Spec's
Vegetarian friendly in some areas
Large metro area surrounded by 'burbs
Good garden weather
Nice parks in certain areas, outdoor activities, etc.
Decent driving distance to other places

Not-so-great-things:
Traffic, crime, etc, which you mentioned
Wacky winter weather
It's Texas
Very meat-centric culture
Mental health laws and health care benefits can be screwy

The neutral things...
It's Texas. Texas has screwy alcohol and gun laws, in the perception of the rest of the country. Texas is kind of a country of its own. They make rules that the rest of the country would FREAK OUT if they knew about them. There are very, very bad sections of Houston and it's rather easy to find yourself in them if you're new to the area. The suburbs and expensive section of town are gorgeous. Bike trails, foot paths, etc. But, I couldn't afford to live there.
It's the South. Southerners fall into a number of categories... redneck, roughneck, Southern Belles, Southern Gentlemen, cowboys, transplants, and Texans. Some are nice, some are ridonkulous.
It's also in the Bible Belt. Like no other state I've been in. Some will shoot your ass if you cut them off on the way to church on Sunday There's a crazy mix of overly religious, religious on Sunday, and "my way is the right way." I haven't seen a whole lot of tolerance for agnosticism or atheism in Houston. It's definitely better than other places though... like... say... Jasper.
I also have not found a large cultural center in Houston, though it might be there. You'd have to ask @ChrisNoyb, he's pretty good with that stuff. The beer culture was disappointing for me... I didn't find any brewpubs or craft beer places when I went exploring, but they might be there.

Houston is kind of a mixed bag for me. And I've only visited a handful of times.

 

I'm a native Houstonian.

What is your perception of Houston?
--I have many, hopefully most of them will be mentione in my other reponses.

Have you ever been there, or is your impression based on second-hand information? (both are welcome)
--I'm a native Houstonian.

Do you think you'd want to live in Houston? Why/ Why not?
--For the restaraunts, the fine arts, & museums.
--Houston is sprawling, and traffic sucks. If you want to take adavantage of the numerous activities, you have to be ready to drive a ways to attend some of them.

What is your impression of Texas overall?
--A mixed bag. The major cities are pretty multi-cultural, the small towns can be very redneck.

Is it a good place to start a small business?
--I have no idea.

Is it a good place to raise a family?
--Yes/no/maybe. A lot depends on where you live.

How do you feel about the schools there?
--HISD sucks, but if you're an involved parent your kids can get a good education.

Anything else you want to add?
--Houston has much to offer, but it depends on how much you put into it. If you keep up with upcoming events, and don't mind driving, there is plenty here to keep you positive about Houston.

- It's hot and humid
Yes. But our winters tend to be mild.

- Traffic is terrible and people don't know how to drive
Yes, but I doubt the drivers here are worse than any other major city.

- The public schools suck and don't teach evolution
HISD sucks. Teachers find ways of getting around 'no evolution.' Keep in mind we don't have children, and my wife teaches at a private school outside of Houston.

- There's a lot of crime
Yes, but it depends on the areas where you live, work, visit, etc.

- People are intolerant
No. Generally speaking, people here are friendly & helpful.

- Vegetarian food is hard to find
Absolutely not. Houston is very multi-cultural, you can find whatever kind of food you want.

- Universities there aren't funding much research
I have no idea. I've been out of college a long time, & don't know anyone in academia.

- While the Johnson space center is there, good luck getting a job there
Probably true, but that's no surprise with the space program being placed on 'hold.'

- The only current jobs for a PhD are in the oil industry
I have no idea.

According to my wife, I need to get busy helping with dinner. I'll post some additional thoughts later.
--- merged: May 18, 2014 at 7:36 PM ---

I couldn't let this wait.

SP, your perception of the insect & rodent "problem" in Houston is

totally fucking incorrect.

Insectss do thrive here since we don't have brutal winters to keep them in check, but treating the yard & the exterior of the house keeps them outside. Perhaps you moved into an apartment, or a house that wasn't properly treated.

 

As I wrote, it was my experience when I was there, in 1979, in two different houses, relatively new at the time, in different parts of Houston.

Things may well have changed in the last 35 years.

 

Dere'some big'uns and sum little'uns. Dey is what dey is, down heeyah. Sha behbey no 'fraid ob dem bugs.

 

In Houston in 1979 developers were clearing land and builders were slapping together houses as fast as they could.

Part of it might have been because the houses were new construction; I've known quite a few people who complained of insects in new houses. When the land is cleared, and the houses are built, you have a lot of displaced bugs, and they find their way into the houses.

It's really matter of how well you treat your yard & home. A combination of general yard treatment, a heavy barrier starting about five feet from your house, and spraying the lower exterior and around any access points will keep the bug problem under control.

Small cockroaches are usually brought into the house in something, a TV box, items pulled from storage, etc. The wood/tree roaches and water bugs/sewer roaches find their way into the house.

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I think Houston is like any large city, it has its good and bad points. How you view living here, and what you get out of it, greatly depends on what you put into learning the city.

All major cities have areas to avoid. It's easily done because those areas don't usually have much going on that attracts 'outsiders.'

IMO, the two biggest downsides to Houston is the related sprawl and traffic.

We have a downtown business district, but it is not the central/main area like in many large cities. About the only time we go into DT Houston (rarely) is for a major events such as the symphony, opera, theatre, and large festivals.

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Our recycling program has improved greatly. Most areas now have the large containers on wheels (just like the trash cans, but green), although some areas still have the containers that look like a heavyduty laundry basket.

 

If you thinking about buying a house, ask about foundation repairs, if any. Talk to other folks around the home that you're considering. Plan to install an automated watering system for the foundation if the house doesn't have one already. If a foundation warranty is offered, you might want to consider taking it, depending on what the neighbors have experienced.
I'm not trying to be overly negative, we know people who have never had a foundation problem. But one of our original neighbors oversaw the building of their house. He had them put in piers to start with, made them drill through the 'gumbo' down to the stable red clay, instead of the predetermined depth they wanted. There was an eight foot depth difference between the front of the house and the back. Apparantly our section of the neighborhood, a later add-on, was bulit on a field that had a stream running through it, and was about half marshland.