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!

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

My brother lives in Houston and I have visited several times. In the summer, it's muggy, humid, hot and nearly unbearable!!!

make friends with someone with a pool. summers will be fine then.

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!

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!

not yet, but i'm moving to college station, texas (about 70 miles or so away from houston) in july!

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!

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.