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Houston Babies
New York-Texas
Hey Ladies. Me and my husband are trying to relocate from New York City to Texas (Houston). Once the twins are born we want to stay for about a yr or so and the try starting life in Texas.Of course were planning on coming dwn to see things for ourselves..But Ya'll guys know more about texas of course then i do. So heres the questions...
Hows the Jobs ?
Rent?
Schools?
Or any input you want to add will be soo great!!! Thanks Ladies 
This discussion has been closed.
Re: New York-Texas
Most of the time, it is suggested to live in an apartment or rent first. Not sure how easy that would be with kids (twins?) but it makes sense.
Houston is HUGE and the public transportation is almost non-existent. Take that into consideration when it comes to finding a job and a place to live.
The job market is pretty good, depending on what industry you're in. Oil & gas, energy - great. Teaching - iffy. Since your kids are young, I wouldn't worry too much about schools until you find a place where you know you'll live for a while.
Good luck!
Do you want a long commute, short commute, have walkability?
The cost of living is probably about 1/3 of what you're paying in NYC.
I am from MA originally and I love Houston. It has a lot to offer. It's the 4th (but possibly moved in to #3 spot after the last census) largest city in the country and has an amazing arts scene, great museums, is family friendly, affordable, great shopping, AMAZING eating. Job market has more stable here thanks to oil&gas and medical industries.
I will say (and most on here who know me know I am kind of an in-the-city-snob), but the suburbs here are NOT like the suburbs back east. If I lived in Boston, DC, NY, I wouldn't mind the 1-2 rind of suburbs. Here, though, the suburbs are very removed from the city center. It's a frustrating commute and no really good public transportation. You can get A LOT of house but coming from NY, you might think I have a lot of house even though my 1930 bungalow is small for Houston.
Either way, with 2 small kids, I highly recommend my area- The Heights. It's a great neighborhood in town, about 5 mins from downtown, with a lot of great stuff going on.
No matter where you end up in Houston (city or suburbs), the cost of living is much lower. You can probably get a good size home for the same cost as your rent in NYC. Schools vary depending on where you live, but private schools/child care is way less expensive. Just remember that we don't have mass transportation like NYC and you will need a car to get around.
Depending on your field, the job market is pretty good.
Dx: PCOS and short luteal phase
18 cycles (3 with our RE) - Metformin + Clomid + HCG booster did the trick!
BFP #1 6/22/09 EDD: 3/2/10 DS born: 3/8/10
TTC #2 since Dec 2011
BFP #2 7/8/12 EDD: 3/18/12 M/C @ 9w1d: 8/16/12
I noticed you threw in "y'all", so you are already getting the hang of it here! ;-)
Jobs - depends on what kind of industry you are looking into. We could give more input if you let us know that.
Rent - I would say rent is around $1/sq. ft around here, so very reasonable. Obviously, you can find cheaper places and more expensive, but that's a good average.
Schools - Again, depends on where you are living. If you want to live inside the loop (610), then the public schools can be sketchy - a lot of people do private. If you want to live in the suburbs (typically outside 610 and/or outside Beltway 8 (aka Sam Houston Pkwy)), the public schools vary - but for the most part are ok.
Daycares - depends on where you live, but they run anywhere from $600-$1,400 per month, per child (infant).
The Cost of Living is definitley lower here, however, our salaries are probably lower, as well (again, depending on the industry - but just something to note as you are job hunting).
I slightly disagree. There are some really excellent schools in HISD, all over the city. Schools outside the loop can be hit or miss, just like schools in town. A lot of it depends on what you want from a school, as well. I do not send my kids to private school because there are no good schools but because we have a different philosophy about education than *any* public school offers.
go to www.greatschools.com to search for schools in different areas
www.har.com to rent or buy a home
those are two very helpful sites
Kinda iffy with the government cutbacks coming from the national and Texas governments. It depends on what you do and where you want to work. We have one of the largest prison systems in the nation so there are always jobs there. They are more in Huntsville area though which is about 60 miles North of Houston. We live West of Houston and love it. I used to commute into town, which was bad, 1-2 hours depending on traffic each way. Now I am a teacher and work 2 minutes away. Excellent school districts are everywhere, HISD is iffy, depending on the area. Be aware that living downtown can be just as much as NYC. DH and I were looking at lofts and condos and were surprised that they matched the prices on Selling New York. Our house is 1400 square feet and cost 79,000.00 and is in a nice neighborhood. It is an older home but you can't beat a $400.00 a month payment.
This is literally not possible. I mean, can there be downtown lofts that cost as much as NYC apts? Yes, but they are at least 3x as big.
You should look again, there are some and we found them. 800 square feet and it cost a whole lot. DH and I thought we could move downtown for 300,000 and didn't find anything as nice. Also, the Galleria area is really really high. It was astonishing. We did find a nice condo near Nasa for 175,000.00 and it was 1100 square feet but it had monthly dues of 900. So not worth it.
800sq ft in any where close to in town NYC can run you a cool $mil. A 1br rental is upwards of $5000/month. While downtown Houston is definitely pricey for our standard of living here, saying it's anywhere comparable to NYC isn't fair to someone who is looking to make a move between the two.