Houston?

brachysira

It's the long winter, but DH is talking about moving to Houston.  He can probably get a job there (only after which we would go) and we like the low cost of living, but we don't know anything else about it.  We live in Michigan now.  Can we make the change?  He likes his job here, and it would be harder and more boring work but a lot more money there.  I could stay at SAHM forever and our kids would have things like cars and college without loans.  If we move, what should we know?  What is a good area for families?

Andrewsgal

Well first of all Houston is huge. You really need to narrow it down to where in Houston you want to live. Some places are amazing and some are horrible. You trade mild winters for horrible summers. The heat and humidity is indescribable. Are you sure about your DH making more money? This is pretty shocking for me as DH would have a higher pay really in any other state, but often times salary is adjusted for COL. If you narrow it down to a part of Houston or have specific questions let me know.

brachysira

Thanks.  I know nothing yet.  He really just has to decide if he wants to find out more at this point.  He doesn't have an offer, but he'd be moving from public to private industry and we think that will about double his salary--his current job says he will never go up more than cost of living raises because he is at their max pay.  I guess all you can tell me without more info is that it's very hot vs. painfully cold during parts of the year...which we think we want to trade...but that's right now...how will we feel in a few months...plus drought, hurricanes...  

irishgrl317

What kind of work does DH do if you don't mind me asking? Do you know what part of the Houston area you'd be in? We loved south of Houston in the Clear Lake area for a while and
loved it, but DH hated his job. He is also paid a LOT more here in CO than he was in the Houston area, even with the COL adjustment. If you have any specific questions about the area, let
me know.

brachysira

Thanks guys.  He does large computer hardware--arranging to handle massive amounts of data.  He works for a U. and I've always felt best in college towns and felt like we can afford college-town living, but if he wants to be paid more, he needs to move to a large city where industry also uses his skills.  I know we can't afford to move to the Bay Area, which we both like, where a lot of jobs he could get are...but he knows someone in Houston so that's an incentive to go there.  Right now he can literally walk to work and our neighbors are professors, and I'm not sure we'll be trading up if we move...

MamaOwl11

Lurker chiming in... Have you considered Austin? Austin has a huge computer tech industry, and while it is a big city, it is considerably smaller than Houston. We moved to Austin from Houston a couple of years ago and like it much better. It is also a college town (University of Texas).

brachysira

We would LOVE Austin, I think.   DH has what I understand are very specialized skills so we don't have a whole lot of choices.  That is a city we could compromise about tho...