Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Hi, hope everyone is well. My family & I are about to make the daunting move of relocating to Houston, TX. We are moving in Jan'13 and have started preparations.

If there is anyone here with knowledge of Houston, I'd certainly be grateful for some advice in the following areas....

a) Schooling. We have two daughters (8 & 3). We are thinking of sending the eldest daughter to the British School of Houston. The pro's are the consistency of the GCSE curriculum and being with children in a similar situation to her while the main cons are the fact she won't be interacting with American children and the cost of it (around $20k per year). Has anyone experience of the British School of Houston? If not, any particular schools you can recommend in Houston?

b) Obviously it is dependent on the schooling but any areas of Houston you would recommend living in? We are looking at perhaps Katy or The Woodlands. Any thoughts on these places?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Where will you be working? Commute time can be key in Houston. You probably want to look for somewhere close to work to live, then look at schools that are close by otherwise you'll spend all of your time in the car.

Conversely you could live close to good schools and put up with the commute, but it really can be bad. If your work hours are flexible and you can avoid the worst of the rush hours than that does make life a bit easier and would potentially open up more options.

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Sorry no help on Houston.

I am assuming if you are thinking of a British school you aren't intending on staying in the US long?! I moved over a year ago when my children were 10, 8 and 4 yrs old, all went to the local school/pre-k and settled really well :)

Good luck with your move :)

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Agree with Bink, where you are working is key. The woodlands and Katy are very far apart. Both are nice. Both wouldnt be as nice if you had an hour plus commute every day IMO.

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Neither are particuarly close to the British School either which is worth bearing in mind too.

I'm still at work right now, primarily because if I left I would sit for an hour in traffic (just getting towards the end of rush hour to be fair). I live North of Katy towards Cypress and work in the Galleria area. Commute in from Katy to I-10/Energy corridor is pretty good by Houston standards. Galleria area gets busy at the I-10/610/59 interchanges at morning rush hour and then from early afternoon onwards.

If work is in the Energy corridor or Galleria areas then Katy is the most convenient option though parts of Sugar Land are fairly easily accesible too.

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Well if you will live in Cypress!

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

We're happy here. If they'd only hurry along and fix 290 like I-10 then all will be dandy(er)!

We chose Cypress for several reasons but most notably it's a lot closer to my wife's parents who are in Jersey Village. Katy was just a little further from them than we'd have liked (free babysitting!!)

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Much here in Houston depends on where you work. Hubby works in EC and we live in the Lakes of Eldridge Communities. We have a bus to the British School... And hubby's commute is about 10 minutes.

Moving to Houston isn't daunting at all! It's a big place but easy. Just truly try to live near where you work unless you like traffic and long commutes. If you are working in Woodlands, then consider it. Otherwise, it is too far!

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Thanks for all of the responses! I'll be working in the West Sam Houston area. I know that living in Katy or The Woodlands will be quite a long commute but it's balancing convenience for me with my family being comfortable and happy and I think they'd settle a lot better in a more village-like environment. We will be having a trip out there next month for them to look around though.

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Is it just me, or is Houston attracting unusual amounts of Brits? What is the attraction? Not that I am planning to move.

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Houston is known for its oil biz. Maybe with the North Sea wells running out people are relocating.

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Did not know that! Cheers

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

It's also the centre of the US renewable energy industry it seems, as well as oil/gas - hubby gets headhunters trying to entice him to the US on a weekly basis, and 90% of the jobs are in Houston.

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

There is a shortage of people in oil and gas, and Houston is the global hub.

Re: Relocating to Houston in Jan'13...
 

Yep. Houston has become the most competitive salary market in O&G as a result.

The majority of the project teams for the rest of world are based out of Houston, even if the projects are in say West Africa. There's an awful lot of work about at the moment - every company I know is slammed right now.