Author: /u/HtownTouring

Man I’ve never seen so many zombies in a part of town like I’ve seen in midtown. How do yall stomach paying thousands in rent to live in such a sketchy area? I went to pick up food at a restaurant next to the Greyhound bus station, immediately start to get surrounded by vagrants but I managed to quickly escape from the parking lot. I went to study at HCC Central, I get in my car to leave and at 9pm when it’s 35 degrees outside, homeboy hauls ass down a residential street with his stolen shopping cart to tell me something blocking my view of oncoming traffic to get my attention. Later down the street on Milam there’s someone spazzing out in the middle of the street. Seriously could not imagine living in midtown and having to deal with this on a daily basis. Much less with a family. I’ve never once visited midtown without being bombarded by panhandlers.

Is anyone trying to avoid signing or renewing a lease right now? My lease went up 30% compared to last year, management will not budge. It’s insane what apartments are asking for inside the loop. Dinky motel looking 1BRs in the Heights renting for $1,300. Good God. Are that many people trying to move into the city? I love Houston but for $1.3k+ a month for a small 1BR, there are nicer cities to live in.

To go off on a tangent, I’ve seen so many luxury apartments built in the last 2 years. One after another. 1BRs going for well over $1,800/mo. Who in their right mind would rent in Houston and pay 2 grand for a 1BR? Like damn, this isn’t Santa Monica. Our idea of nice is getting on and off I-10 without the freeway being shut down. You can’t go outside for 6 months of the year without being drenched in sweat. It’s not a city you’d want to throw 2 grand away on rent lol.

I live in the perfect 1BR apartment (650 sqft) around River Oaks, Montrose, and the Heights. It’s safe, quiet, close to damn near everything including parks/trails/entertainment, all the amenities including washer/dryer in unit, and I got it at a steal for $1,030/mo with the first month free and no deposit. This was several months ago when it was still relatively quiet inside the loop because of covid. I checked the prices for the exact same apartment configuration as mine just below me and the price has gone up to $1,500! I knew the rent prices would go back up but I didn’t think they’d be almost 50% higher! Anyone else seeing the same thing?

In the meantime, I’m passively looking at apartments. How bad has the Galleria area gotten? Just last year someone tried to openly sell me narcotics inside the mall right in front of the police.