General chatter Because life isn't just about dieting. Play games, jokes, or share what's new in your life!

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 05-03-2012, 01:04 PM   #1  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Murrishmo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Portland Oregon, soon to be Houston Texas
Posts: 29

S/C/G: 220/220/130

Height: 5'3

Talking Anyone here live or have lived in Texas?

Hey y'all (I'm practicing my southern accent), any of my 3FC friends live or have lived in Texas? Especially Houston? I'm moving there in three weeks and would love any insight on what it's like. I'm wondering like about weather (hurricanes!), what are the main grocery stores there, what are produce prices and prices in general like? Favorite things to do? Things like that!

Thanks!
Murrishmo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2012, 01:33 PM   #2  
Senior Member
 
DezziePS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: The Dirty South...
Posts: 250

S/C/G: 240/216/160

Height: 5'8"

Default

I'm in Houston. We have a lot of fresh produce because we're relatively close to the Rio Grande Valley where they grow a lot. The major grocery stores are Kroger, HEB, Fiesta, and Randall's. Fiesta is a Mexican grocery store and it is a blast to go to and very cheap. We have a HUUGE asian grocery store called 99 Ranch Market on I-10, which is a really fun place to check out.

We have a lot of local, yuppie farmer's markets that I don't frequent very much and a huge, bustling farmer's market on Airline drive that I do. We have one of the best restaurant scenes in the nation, though you would never know it unless you lived here. There are lots of healthy/veggie/organic/local restaurants here- mostly in the Montrose/Heights/Midtown areas. Favorites Include: Field of Greens, Ziggy's Healthy Grill, Ruggles Green, Baba Yega. Those are all pretty moderately priced. If you want fancy food, we have a ton of world-class expensive restaurants.

We have a pretty active nightlife in the midtown area if you like bars/clubs. More chill over in the Heights. The Rice Village area is known for walking around/shopping/ having a pastry and coffee during the day and a kind of yuppie/college bar scene at night. Montrose is the more alternative district. Downtown used to not be the kind of place you would want to hang out, but they are really starting to build up some stuff down there that's worth checking out. Discovery Green is an area of downtown that has a lot of free outdoor events and festivals. There are also a good amount of bars/clubs down there, but you wouldn't want to just go wander around downtown. We also have Miller Outdoor Theater which puts on various plays and performances for free. Hmmm...we have a great zoo, a pretty decent museum district, and we have a lot of good theater come through. We have several large malls, most central being the Galleria which has a lot of fancy-schmancy stores. We have terrible/ almost no public transportation. You almost can not get around here without having a car. And the city is HUGE. I've lived here my whole life and there are parts of town I've never seen/ have no idea exist. Still, the cost of living here is shockingly low for such a big city, and once you get used to it you can find lots to do.

The weather is not bad most of the time. Well...it's definitely something you have to get used to. Hurricanes are not something we deal with every year, and we're generally far enough inland that it's not absolutely devastating. It gets hot here during the summer, and there are mosquitoes the size of baseballs (but hey, this used to be a swamp, after all), but the winter is really mild, and the whole city practically shuts down if it ever snows at all even a little (which is kinda cool- day off).
DezziePS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2012, 05:27 PM   #3  
Senior Member
 
Ash2007's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Near the coast in Texas
Posts: 176

S/C/G: 240/150/130

Height: 5 foot 4 inches

Default

I live closer to the coast. But houston is not far from me. I think houston is hectic, lol.but like I said, I live closer to the coast in a small town so of course I think that. We go to houston for concerts (which are always a lot of fun) there are also conventions and stuff. Since I live near the coast, we usually go to houston to evacuate so depending on where you are gonna be living at, I think you should be ok even if we get a hurricane. it is really HOT here. but we exercise later in the day outside and it is not too bad..
I hope you enjoy your move.
Ash2007 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2012, 05:29 PM   #4  
Senior Member
 
XLMuffnTop's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Lone Star State
Posts: 939

S/C/G: 252/see ticker/199

Height: 5'7"

Default

My part of Texas is absolutely no comparison to Houston. I've been down there plenty but I find the summers intolerable due to the humidity. I come from a desert climate.

It's my understanding that, like any big city there's good and bad but it's mostly good if you reside in a nicer area. Traffic's gonna suck no matter what though.

Last edited by XLMuffnTop; 05-03-2012 at 05:30 PM.
XLMuffnTop is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2012, 05:45 PM   #5  
Member
 
SensualSiren's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas
Posts: 47

Height: 5'4"

Default

I live very close to Houston and go there all the time. I love Rice Village! Houston also has a lot of great museums. I do think that you'll find the cost of living a lot lower. It is really hot and humid in this part of Texas, though, which will probably be a huge change from Portland. We had a drought last year, but it's usually quite rainy, too. I live in an area more prone to hurricane damage, and we have gotten stuck in Houston evacuation traffic before. Ack! Evacuating for a hurricane is terrible, though it can be fun when you eventually get to your destination (and find out that your house wasn't knocked down). When Rita hit in 2005, Houston evacuated, which resulted in lots of streets practically shutting down and most gas stations running out of gas (the National Guard had to drive more in). We had to sleep in our car. Don't worry, though, because that's not normal, lol. Whatever you're into, you should be able to find it in Houston, from cowboys to hipsters (and cowboy hipsters, lol). It would probably be easier to tell you what would be fun if we knew what kinds of stuff you like.
SensualSiren is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2012, 09:17 PM   #6  
Senior Member
 
nina125's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 227

S/C/G: 151/145/125

Height: 5'6

Default

Houston is very diverse culturally. There are plenty of chinese, vietnamese, korean, ethiopian, thai, etc restaurants. The cost of living is much lower in Houston compared to other large metros. Public transportation sucks, so make sure that you have a reliable car.
nina125 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2012, 09:41 AM   #7  
Senior Member
 
Glory87's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: San Diego
Posts: 6,192

S/C/G: 190/140/135

Height: 5'7"

Default

My brother lives in Houston and I have visited several times. In the summer, it's muggy, humid, hot and nearly unbearable!!!
Glory87 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2012, 12:16 PM   #8  
Senior Member
 
Quiet Ballerina's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,007

S/C/G: 171/ticker/121

Height: 5' 1"

Default

make friends with someone with a pool. summers will be fine then.
Quiet Ballerina is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-06-2012, 05:33 PM   #9  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Murrishmo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Portland Oregon, soon to be Houston Texas
Posts: 29

S/C/G: 220/220/130

Height: 5'3

Default

Wow thank you guys SO much for all of the time you spent responding to this. It really helps me a lot to know these things. I basically love free or next to free stuff and the idea that veggies will not be hugely expensive is good too. We're living right next to Hermann park so we're looking forward to the outdoor theatre, maybe doing some paddle boats, picnics. I'm looking forward to checking that part out. My husband has to live near the medical center, so I hear that there is some crime in that area, so I'm not sure how safe I'll feel running. But I'm kind of paranoid!
Murrishmo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-06-2012, 05:40 PM   #10  
JessBHFHTH
 
jsunshine4christ's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Highlands, Tx US
Posts: 14

S/C/G: 240/178.5/150

Height: 5"6"

Default

I've lived in the Houston area my whole life! Um...the weather is pretty much this...in the winter (which, if you're lucky starts in January and ends after February) it's a wet cold that makes you think you'll shatter into a million ice cubes and summer (which starts in June and lasts til about September typically) is **** lol. Hurricanes happen once every three or four years typically. And they aren't THAT BAD. Favorite Grocery stores are Wally World (walmart), Krogers, and HEB. Couldn't really tell you prices. Things to do for fun. Around this time GALVESTON Beach. The water is disgusting but we don't care! lol We have the galleria in Houston, we have rodeos...it also depends in what city in Houston you are moving to. Beaumont, Baytown, Humble? Housing is pretty dang cheap. So yeah, that's it!
jsunshine4christ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-06-2012, 05:49 PM   #11  
kon-fyoo-zed say it aloud
 
konfyoozed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Columbia, SC
Posts: 1,638

S/C/G: 300/Ticker/165

Height: 5'9"

Default

not yet, but i'm moving to college station, texas (about 70 miles or so away from houston) in july!
konfyoozed is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-06-2012, 07:04 PM   #12  
Senior Member
 
chickybird's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,102

S/C/G: 229/220/170

Height: 6'0'

Default

I live right in between Houston and Galveston--I love being a small town, but only 30 minutes away from amazing hospitals, malls, restaurants, theatre, sporting events, etc. I'm a teacher and off in the summer--pm me when you get down here, and we can meet for lunch!
chickybird is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-07-2012, 10:50 AM   #13  
Senior Member
 
nina125's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 227

S/C/G: 151/145/125

Height: 5'6

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Murrishmo View Post
Wow thank you guys SO much for all of the time you spent responding to this. It really helps me a lot to know these things. I basically love free or next to free stuff and the idea that veggies will not be hugely expensive is good too. We're living right next to Hermann park so we're looking forward to the outdoor theatre, maybe doing some paddle boats, picnics. I'm looking forward to checking that part out. My husband has to live near the medical center, so I hear that there is some crime in that area, so I'm not sure how safe I'll feel running. But I'm kind of paranoid!


You will love the inner-loop. IMO, there is just so much to do and see inside the loop than the burbs. There are plenty of groups in Houston through Meetup. If you love theater, symphony, ballet, museums, etc, you will never want to leave Houston. Also there is a decent chinatown between Sharpstown & Westchase area.
nina125 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Related Topics
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Friends around the world #9 Shad Support Groups 524 01-13-2006 06:30 AM
Steel Magnolias #34 gma22 Support Groups 17 10-11-2005 11:36 PM
*Christian Encouragers #182* SunnyD57 Faith Based Support Groups 133 05-05-2004 06:49 PM
Stay At Home Mom's #161 watkinsguru Support Groups 38 05-04-2004 10:17 PM


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:19 AM.


We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.