Would you like to live in a vibrant city, booming with industry, culturally diverse, affordable, and close to the beach? You should move to Houston, Texas! Houston is actually considered one of the most desirable cities in the world, and it’s ranked above Austin and Dallas for best Texas cities. Whether you’re fleeing from a high cost of living area on the coast, or just looking for a change of pace, Houston may be the right place to call home. Here’s why.
Get a Great Job
Lots of people move to Houston, TX to take advantage of the city’s booming job market. The job market in Houston is better than average for the United States, and there are all kinds of options. Houston offers opportunities in health care, professional services, education, information technology, biotechnology, aerospace, manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and more. You could even work for NASA at the Johnson Space Center.
Buy an Affordable House
The high cost of buying a home has pushed many people out of the high cost of living areas on the coast. In Houston, the American Dream of owning your own home is still alive. Homes in Houston are much more affordable than they are in some parts of the country – the average price of a home in Houstin is $261,071. With the high salaries available at many Houston jobs, you’ll be able to afford a quality home in one of the city’s 88 neighborhoods.
Go to the Beach Whenever You Want
If you love the beach, you’ll love Houston. Beautiful Gulf Coast beaches are only a 30 to 60 minute drive from downtown Houston. Take a quick trip to Surfside Beach to build a bonfire or ride horses with the family, or jet down to Sylvan Beach Park along Galveston Bay in La Porte, TX. With calm waters, it’s perfect for swimming, and there’s 32 acres of playgrounds, picnic areas, tennis courts, and other state park amenities.
Access Great Health Care
Houston is home to the Texas Medical Center (TMC), an internationally famous facility that treats patients at 13 hospitals while training doctors at two medical schools and nurses at four nursing programs. TMC performs the most heart surgeries of any hospital in the country.
Enjoy Beautiful Parks
Houston boasts 370 public parks, including skate parks and handicap-accessible playgrounds. The city also maintains 220 green spaces. That adds up to 22 acres of parkland for every 1,000 residents, which is a lot more than the national average of 12. The Houston Parks and Recreation Department, founded in 1916, also sponsors a wide range of activities for residents of all ages. You could join a sports team, take a class, or simply spend time outdoors enjoying amenities like swimming pools, pickleball courts, camping sites, tennis courts, and hiking trails.
Eat Delicious Southern Food
Houston is a Southern city, and it’s not without its share of delicious soul food restaurants. You can sink your teeth into some old-fashioned Texas barbecue, down-home country cooking, or Tex-Mex cuisine. Houston’s restaurants have been recognized as among the best in the country – for example, The Breakfast Klub in Midtown has been showcased in Forbes, USA Today, and Esquire.
Other great restaurants include This Is It in the Fourth Ward. It’s one of the city’s oldest African-American-owned eateries and it serves soul food classics like chitterlings, oxtail, and ham hocks.
Attend a Prestigious University
There’s a reason why education is a booming industry in Houston – the city is home to more than 20 colleges and universities. One of the nation’s best research universities, Rice University, is located in Houston. Rice leads the nation in biotechnology research and is the sixth best college in the nation, ranking high for student quality of life, instructor-to-student ratio, and class/race interaction among students.
Other institutions of higher learning in Houston include Texas Southern University, which is one of the nation’s largest historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). If you’re looking to save some money, you can enroll in classes at one of the city’s community colleges, such as Lone Star College or Houston Community College. Houston is rife with educational opportunities to help your career, and when it’s time for your kids to go to college, they’ll be able to choose a great school close to home, if they want.
Houston is a beautiful city with a thriving culture, close to the beach, and with all the amenities you need to live an active modern lifestyle. It’s a place full of opportunities, where you can build a new life for yourself.
