jupiteruk

Hi All,About a year a go I moved to East Downtown, Houston TX, wanted to see if there are other fellow Brits living in the area. Would love to meet up with new people and share my experiences so far!Cheers!

jupiteruk

Anyone? I guess there's no Brits living in downtown Houston then

IndyDixie

We have been looking at Houston as a place to emigrate to. Would you mind helping us by answering where you can a few questions based on your experiences so far.
Cheers
Steve

jupiteruk

Hello Steve,

What do you need to know?

Owen778

I'd start a new thread on the main USA forum, if I were you, like you did your thread for Maine.

Considering both a small town in Maine and the fourth-biggest city in the US, at the other end of the country, suggests to me you don't really know what you want, or you don't really know the US well enough. I actually think you'd do better to go through your old thread on Maine, work out your priorities, and then post on the main USA forum to ask for advice, given those priorities.

jupiteruk

@Owen778, totally good point! thanks.

IndyDixie

At the early stages of looking where we would like to move to within the US. I replied above as this is an area we are researching, hence why I made contact with Jupiter. Our main priorities are jobs, a nicer house than we live in now, to have a better environment for our children to grow up in. Yes there is a lot to learn, that's why I wanted to speak to real people as opposed to seeing promotional video's where everywhere looks amazing.

Owen778

I understand, but let me explain why I said what I did.

Most of the people on this forum didn't have a choice in where to live when they came to the US - it was either controlled by their company's location or that of their future spouse. Since you have a job that you could do in most places, you have an opportunity that most here didn't, a free choice in where you live.

The US is a hugely varied place. Living in Houston, Texas, for example, is very little like living in Bangor, Maine. Here are some questions to consider:
- Are you willing to put up with very hot summers or very cold winters? Both? Neither?
- Where do you fall on the US political spectrum? Towards the right-wing (self-reliance, little government interference, but also pro-gun and sometimes with little government funding of services), or the opposite?
- Are you willing to put up with a high cost of living for a nice life and nice climate?
- Do you want climate, culture, scenery or just a normal suburban lifestyle?
- City, suburban or country living? (the distances in the US mean that you can't often combine country living with travelling to the city in quite the same way you can in the UK)

That'll do for the time being. To fill you in on Houston, it offers hot summers (on occasion up to about 110F/43C), mostly right-wing in the suburbs but more mixed in the city itself, cost of living is mostly quite low, the city has some decent culture downtown but it's not as much as you'd expect for a city of its size, and I'd prefer not to mention the scenery. Life in the city and the suburbs is generally relaxed, safe and fun, with the exception of a few dangerous areas that you're better off never going to.

That said, oil reached $29 today. You do not want to come to Houston (or other oil towns like Dallas/Fort Worth) until the oil price recovers. My mother-in-law worked in mortgages during the last really big oil bust in the 80s, and she remembers that the job losses spread through the whole of the city's economy. Houston is now more commercially diversified than then, but it's still going to be hit hard in the next year or two unless there's a miraculous recovery.

IndyDixie

I read a post from someone looking to move to Orlando. During their thread it was mentioned about deposits for utilities ranging from 300 to 1000 dollars, is this the case where you are? We are planning for my wife to go ahead with the kids whilst I remain in the UK till the end of my contract. I was after advice on initial costs from getting off the plane to getting set up in those early weeks. Anything that is different to what I would expect when moving in the UK, anything that might catch us unaware?
Many thanks

IndyDixie

Thankyou for your reply. Taking the time as you have is much appreciated.

TheKingOfHearts

Hey Jupiter!

I live in Galleria..

jupiteruk

Hello there,
Nice to hear from someone, how long have you been here? hopefully you are inside this morning we've just moved from East Downtown to Missouri City ...

TheKingOfHearts

I actually just moved here back in March I'm back in England this week though, however judging by my bosses text "stay home", I either got fired, or the weather sucks really bad... Hoping the latter!

jupiteruk

Oh bloody hell, its probably the latter hopefully, whereabouts in the UK do you come from?