Re: houston, tx
Quite a few of them. Know about 6-7 families.
Dont be hatin’ Sugar Land. If you don’t work in Downtown and surrounding area from what I have seen Sugar Land is the best place to be a desi, since everything from Hilcroft is moving there as well. I agree about the drive part but its not bad all the time.
Lol Joel.
Since we mentioned Sugarland. In terms if commute Katy wouldn’t be that far off either. While many Desis/Muslims live there, it does not have anything Desi as of now. Couple of Arab owned Halal grocery stores & Masjids. But the public school district is very good. It’s almost as good as sending your child to a private school. Taxes are a little high though.
My husband works in the galleria. Couple of miles west off the medical center. Katy is further west from there & while we do plan to send our 4 year old to an Islamic school, as a back up we also wanted to settle in a good public school district. After much research we ended up picking Katy. There is still a lot of new construction going on in Katy. Since we are in Texas, we figured we will take advantage of the fact that we can buy a completely off the ground new property. We get to customize it to our preference, it’s energy efficient & we most likely won’t have to worry about house repair issues for some time & its still reasonably priced compared to other cities & states in the US. There is a new tollway being built that we can take straight to go to Sugarland for our Desi or Halal food cravings. At the rate Katy is growing there might not be more land to build on by next year. You just want to make sure you stay on South side of I 10 in Katy because North is not the best area.
Sugarland does have its perks, a lot of desiness, good schools, Halal/Desi restaurants. Not too far from Hillcroft either. While I have yet to visit Pearland, we have heard great things about Pearland too.
I would suggest renting for the first year or so. Live in the city & in the meantime get a feel of all neighborhoods & suburbs & then pick exactly where to settle. Great thing about Houston is unlike other cities in the US, besides having main Desi areas for grocery shopping & clothes shopping, we also have clusters of masjids, halal grocery stores & restaurants in almost every other suburb. You can go anywhere & you will always find a Masjid, even Imaam Barghaas, at least one desi restaurant & at least one salon for your grooming needs (talk about only Desis being able to pull the perfect eye brow using a thread)
You will love Houston. Just brace yourself for the hot summer. Other than that it’s awesome.
Re: houston, tx
I agree about the summer. That is the only thing I don’t like about Houston specially coming from Chicago.
Also besides all things Desi we also have a lot of other great family events going on almost all year around. Since we are near a port (Galveston) If you guys ever plan to take a cruise ship, there won’t be any need to fly off to another city.
One thing you will enjoy the most here is because of diversity it’s a lot of fun to live here. Texans are very warm & welcoming people & Houstonions are even better. It’s a huge city with people from all sorts of backgrounds. I feel like growing up our kids won’t just learn what being an American or Pakistani is being about but will also be more familiar to other cultures & customs.
Another Chi towner here. I will take the hot & humid summer any day over Chiberia’s winter/spring. On top of that I have noticed summers in Chicago are starting to get really hot too now.
Re: houston, tx
Great!
I love the winters in Chicago. I would take them gladly over the hot summers in Houston with the electricity bills.
Great!
I love the winters in Chicago. I would take them gladly over the hot summers in Houston with the electricity bills.
[/quote]
In exchange for the winter time high heat bills lol. I have to admit I miss Chicago. Chi town has its own charm.
Re: houston, tx
What about the bug issue? Silly question but I am scared to death of any kind of bugs … even ants and flies. Do they enter homes when it gets hotter?
Re: houston, tx
There are bugs but if you keep the place clean and get some pest control done they don’t bother you.
Re: houston, tx
yes, unfortunately, we Texans do have to deal with the creepy crawlies during the summer..especially “June bugs” which love to congregate around any light source during the summer months
sometimes after a particularly rainy spell, you’ll notice bugs or ants that have gotten inside…it’s no biggy 
general cleanliness and pest control/spraying solves it real quick
Re: houston, tx
Wow i am SO glad i posted here. Great advice! Yes we do plan to rent a home for the first year. But even in that year I would want to be in a safe neighborhood but also within a 30 min drive to work and school.
As for bugs, ive heard about much worse than aunts…think roaches, lizards, snakes!!! Aaah! I hope that was all lies.
The bug situation is not any worse in summer than it is in most other states.
I have spent summers in Illinois & Colorado & the only difference I noticed is there is a variety in Texas. Spent two summers here & we go out like anything. Still haven’t come across a snake. Lizards, cockroaches, mosquitoes & occasional spiders are an annoyance but except lizards & cockroaches I have dealt with all the other bugs in the other mentioned states too.
You just call pest control & try to keep doors & garages closed in summer time, which you will because of the intense humid heat anyways.
Re: houston, tx
I used to think TX has nothing to offer but one visit changed my life umm opinion I mean 
I would move there in a heart beat but then I think about how “hot” it is in northeast at 75F and I go back to my preference of living here than south
Re: houston, tx
Guys I need lil help here,a friend of mine n her husband are visiting houston for 2 n half months or may be 3 , but they wants to live any city near byHouston, may be around 3 mins drive away, can you guys tell me any furnished rental community with like month to month rent for 3 months or any other option may be??
Re: houston, tx
A lot of apartments will give you month to month lease. It might be expensive. When I first came to Houston my company put me in a furnished apartment where the furnishing part was done by Aarons. I later on rented that apartment for myself and Aarons folks came and took the furniture. Something like that works better I guess since it was a lot cheaper for my company to pay for it that way.
Re: houston, tx
Kinzz, there best bet will be to find an Extended Stay or Budget Suites. These are furnished, a cross between a hotel and apartments, sometimes used as corporate housing, and are fully equipped with kitchenettes, laundry facilities etc. They can negotiate a weekly monthly rate. If your friends know which part of Houston they need to be in or have an address of location, they can google nearby extended stay residences.
Houston and the surrounding areas are quite large. If you can provide more details as to where your friends need to be and for what reason, I’m sure one of the Houston guppies can point them in the right direction.
Re: houston, tx
Thanks Joel Bhai and khatti,
my friends husband applied for business visa for his family and for this he have to live there for 3 months,after that thier kids will get visa and then they will buy/rent a bigger house in Houston.
Khatti I searched extended stay/budged suits but they were really expensive :/,
full furnished isliye because as khatti said it will be fully equipped with kitchen/laundry waghaira facilities.
Any city/area is fine which is about 25-30 mins drive away from Houston.
Re: houston, tx
I agree with Khatti about going for extended stay places. Just searched one in the area which is not near an airport and its coming up to:
DATE RANGE:
5/1/2014 - 5/31/2014
RATE ROOMS NIGHTS
$61.74 1 30
TOTAL: $1852.20*
I think the month to month lease with renting furniture will run anywhere from 2500-3500 a month. (this is just an estimate on a month to month rent for the apartment I live in and about 1000-1500 for renting furniture)
Re: houston, tx
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Re: houston, tx
many reviews about pearland and sugarland. what about the woodlands?
thoughts?