My wife and I Relocated from the Chicago Area to Austin for my job opportunity. Wanted to give a review on your great city, and why we are considering settling down in the Houston Area.

Hello everyone, my wife and I moved to Austin in November for my job opportunity with Tesla. I wanted to give a honest review on Austin, and why were planning to move to Houston at the end of the year. Here’s a brief background on us:

Me and my wife are 31 years old. We’re both black and grew up in the South Suburbs of Chicago and lived most of our lives. I am electrician and have been in the field for 5 years, my wife just graduated with her bachelor’s degree in political science/Public Law and is trying to get her career started in the paralegal/legal assistant field. We are both simple and suburban. We are foodies and we like doing fun activities, but to really into night light stuff. In October, I was offered a job with Tesla as a Technician, and we relocated. My wife landed a job soon after we got here as a legal secretary. I love Texas so far as a whole, but we concluded that Austin isn’t a good fit for us as a long-term location, and I’ll explain why. Disclaimer: This is just my opinion and I’m still trying figure out Austin, so some thing may change as time goes on.

First off, the pros of Austin. Austin is a very scenic city. Texas hill country is beautiful and has some great views. Austin has a dope nightlife if your into that type of thing. Austin also has a great job market if you’re in tech or law. However, that where it ends for us. After that Austin become an overcrowded college/tech city that lacks culture. The vibe just doesn’t feel right here. I thought when they said “keep Austin Weird” it was a joke, but boy they weren’t lying lol. The food is not bad here, but it lacks variety. I’ve had some of the best Mexican food and barbecue down here, but after that there isn’t much more to it. Being from Chicago area, we had a vast variety of different food because of the diverse cultures it has. Which leads me to my next issue, diversity in Austin. There’s not much diversity and culture here, especially for the things I do as hobbies. Besides cars and cooking, one of my hobbies is roller skating. Chicago’s skating scene is a vibe. This was one of the things I was getting deeper into right before I made the move. From talking to people from here that are pros at skating, they tell me that Austin is still trying to figure out it’s style. Where as Houston and Dallas have their skating culture and style set in stone like Chicago does. The final reason why I’m not settling here is the housing cost, it’s depressingly expensive. I refuse to buy our first house here. I know places like Pflugerville, Round Rock, and even San Marcos are all other good options to look into, but I still feel like its not a good fit for us. Now onto Houston.

We came to Houston for the first time in May of 2021 for my wife’s friend birthday. I didn’t have the best time, and it was mainly because her itinerary was a bunch of clubs, lounges, and expensive restaurants. Also, because it was Memorial Day weekend it was unbearable to be outside if you’re not prepared for Houston Humidity lol. We went to a place called Kamp, I remember it was so hot and humid I got irritated, abruptly left the table, and went and sat in the car in the AC until they were all finished. One thing I did like about Houston was the amazing seafood, the hospitality of the people, and the vibe was great. After the trip I said I would probably not come back to Houston, but After reading a lot about Houston on reddit and moving to Texas, I talked to my wife and said maybe I shouldn’t let that bad experience deter me.

So on to 2022 New year’s Eve weekend, we decided to do a to Houston our way. My friend has always told me about Katy, so I decided to book a hotel in that area. I don’t know if anyone in here is from the Chicago area but coming into the Houston metro (Katy) eastbound on I-10 is very similar to coming into the Chicago Metro (Aurora) eastbound on I-88. You see all the commercial and industrial complexes, then you see all the stores and outlet malls. Soon as I got into Katy and to our hotel, I felt home. I am an avid car enthusiast and love all cars (I have a C6 Corvette), and What I really loved was being off I-10 and hearing all the cars hauling 5.0 Mustangs, Corvette and Camaro, a few turbo V8 Silverados lol. I went out by myself the night we got in and drove around and went to a near skating rink to see how the sessions were, and it definitely was a vibe. Houston skating scene is similar yet different than Chicago. I’d say the difference between them is Chicago’s is smoother than Houston. By the time I left the rink it was around 1230am, I drove back to the hotel. I stayed out a little later clowning around with other car enthusiasts that were out, so I got back to the hotel around 130. I haven’t had a fun night like this in a while.

The next day, my wife and I got up early and toured around the city looking at neighborhoods we could see ourselves moving. We checked out Cypress and Katy and saw some nice areas that were affordable, but we are going to come back next month to check other areas out. We then went to Crawfish Café (amazing btw), and then toured the Heights by that time headed back towards the hotel. New Year’s Day, we headed back to Austin planning to come back every month to get a better feel for Houston.

Anyway sorry to ramble on, but I say all this to say we are currently setting a plan to move to the Houston area by the end of the year. I’m planning to finish this year with Tesla, and to possibly join IBEW 716 electrician union with my experience as an electrician, and eventually become a contractor. My wife wants to get her career established as a paralegal in Houston and eventually to UH for law school. Our next trip, we are going to check out the Spring, Humble area.