Might take a job in Houston, would be moving down with the family and young kids.  Schools would be important and job is likely pretty close to downtown so not wanting commute to be too bad.  Looking for recommendations on housing, where to live, schools, things/places to avoid.

Would be moving from Minnesota for reference.

Also I have lived in the south before so not new to moving around.

I've been in Houston 42 years. This town is HUGE in area, with 2.5 million people and Lord knows how many uncounted illegals. I couldn't begin to tell you where to move because I don't know you, your dislikes or your tolerances. There are a LOT of people who love NYC, LA, Chicago, and other big cities.  There are people who sacrifice quality of life for a job. Is this you? If so you'll fit in just fine. It's hot & humid, traffic sucks, half the population doesn't speak English, rents are high, and you have to keep your head on a swivel if you don't want to be a crime victim. It's not as bad as Detroit, Miami, Gary Indiana, Louisville KY, but that ain't saying much. Move to suburbs of Sugarland or the Woodlands, or up the 249 to Tomball, or up the 290 to Cypress, and enjoy your loooong commute. Schools will suck when 70% of the population has nothing in common with you and votes Democrat in most places in Houston. Woodlands is the only suburb I know of that the school should be fine, Not sure if Kingwood or NASA area are still good places they were 25 years ago. But I know Woodlands is a magnet and very over built there too. Unless you are a person who truly loves congested city life and bustle, this HOUSTON is not the city to fuck with! If your job opportunity takes precedence over most other considerations, then have at it.

Sorry, OP, but Houston is NOT what it was in the 80's & 90's. Never mind 42 years ago when I moved here. It was a VERY good town in those days with space to expand and cheap houses. People spoke English and ghetto people weren't in suburbs. Now you can add open border, Democrat DA's and police chiefs that allow crime, and high housing demand to that!

OT, but 42 years ago WAS the '80s
Everyone born in 1983 or after is closer to WWII than to today...

West side of town. Depending on your financial situation, from close to far: River Oaks, Memorial, Spring Branch(good schools are the half that are south of I-10. Whole area is being gentrified right now though. This is where i am currently), Cypress. The Heights isn't horrible, but it's overpriced for what it is and that's where all the yuppies congregate.

Avoid: anywhere else.

Lived in the Burbs for almost 20 years (as an adult) and then in River Oaks for the last 9.  

If you live inner city, may well want to have your children in private schools.   But, you get no commute, access to great restaurants and entertainment, and just a wonderful lifestyle.  Plus, crazy property appreciation.   Can't believe I did not move into town years ago.   River Oaks is very safe, and you are walking distance to pubs/bars, restaurants, private schools, and public schools.  

Burbs are far cheaper, but tend to be generic.  Chain restaurants and very homogeneous.  A pervasive sameness.  Big box and strip centers.     Plus, you will spend something like 10 hours a week, week after week, just on the cummute.  I enjoyed living there, but its soulless, and the commute is a grind that just wears on you.      

As far as Burbs go, its basically pick a direction - N/S/W - and they all suck as far as access to Downtown.  We expand the freeways, and the commute gets easier.  Then they build more houses, and its back to the suck.   Rinse and repeat.  

Be real clear on what does and does not flood.  The rule is like this.  If it has flooded before, it will again, and if its near an area that flooded before, it will likely flood in the near future.   The flood area basically expands with each new event.  

I love Houston, grew up in Houston, and it will always be my "home."   But, it takes some getting used to.  The heat and humidity, for example, takes a bit to adjust to for many northerners.

The Flooding Risk is VERY real.   Find out what did & didn't flood in Hurricane Harvey.

Crime is WAY out of control.  Even formerly "high end" and "safe" areas are over run by the Criminals & the violence they bring.   The first10 minutes of most Houston News is murder, rape, robbery & theft.  We have Constitutional Carry in Texas.   Carry!

I grew up in West Houston and the Spring Branch schools were some of the best - it was quiet suburbs with good times.

Now down by Clearlake and they have a very strong school district (nephew recently graduated). Clearlake is close to the coast if you like to fish or boat.  

The Woodlands is newer & nice too.  

Try to avoid areas with lots of Apartment Complexes - The Criminals breed like Roachs (another critter you will become familiar with in Houston)

Commuting to Downtown sucks - no other way to put it - Just Sucks!!    The Bay Area has a couple of Metro park & ride (express bus to downtown with WiFi)

Coming from MN, you will find the weather a mixed bless.   You won't have to shovel your driveway or sidewalks (often at least) but the Summer heat & Humidity is staggering.

BIGGER_HAMMER

Let's talk schools:  DO NOT put your kids in an HISD (Houston Independent School District) school. DO NOT.

They will either be killed or become idiots.  Seriously.

Shooter for one of the more "white" burbs.

Note:  since the Democrats too 100% control of the County courts (judges) and Harris County DA, violent crime in Houston is up over 400%.  That's correct, 400%.

Let is know where you are looking to live so we can steer you in the right direction.


CMOS

What area? Have a house for rent in the Heights.

Appreciate all of the honest advice so far.

I have commuted for a little over an hour both ways before so I know what it would be getting into it, and I know how much that sucks.  Thankfully I have basically no commute right now so I do know how much that would change lifestyle.  

Thanks for the advice on flooding, had not ever needed to consider that before.  

Sad to hear about crime though I would somewhat guess that is the direction that most major cities have gone in the past couple of years.

We would be upper middle class for housing and lifestyle so hopefully that opens up some choices.

Also I have no concern with kids attending private schools if needed.

For the commute I'd use a motorhome and plan on going home on the weekends.
Belt feds and buddies 24/7
Maybe find another job elsewhere?

Telling us that you are "upper middle class" removes some of the guesswork. You can forget about the exclusive areas like Memorial, Hedwig Village, Piney Point, Rice, West University, PostOak and many such city areas where it's rich folks and high taxes. Even many of your gentrified areas are probably out of your price range. The best thing to do is consult a realtor on the phone and tell them your concerns & price range. BTW; Somebody on this thread mentioned "River Oaks", and I almost coughed on my soda laughing; River Oaks is the #1 MOST EXCLUSIVE area in all of Houston and has been like that from the 1950's that I've heard, if not longer. It's like asking me where to move in LA, and I respond "Beverly Hills" ....lol . They are NOT millionaire's in River Oaks, they are MULTI-millionaires who pay $25-50K in yearly appraisal taxes for their single dwelling homes. Don't care how delightful the bars and dining can be in rich areas in Houston City, you are smack in the middle of the city only blocks away from gentrification and could become a crime victim walking to your car. The creeps go everywhere. Just remember that Houston is of very diverse cultures, and is a blue Democrat town. That explains it all for you.

Texas does have Constitutional Carry.

In Houston, it's a good idea to avail yourself of that benefit.

Also the cost of a Texas CHL has reduced considerably.  Having a Texas CHL ensures (A) no waits when purchasing guns & (B) Reciprocity in many other states

Bigger_Hammer

And no legal issues if you carry within a thousand feet of a school!

Here since 1969.

HISD is awful. Some ISDs, while historically decent schools, had financial troubles and lost quality teachers. Don't just go by district ratings, check individual schools. Check redistricting history. We're bad about rezoning to "normalize" demographics. Woodlands, Katy, Sugarland, and Nasa area have some really outstanding schools. We're in Clear Lake (NASA), but lived in Katy for 5 years. My wife taught in both ISDs.

Lots of apt complexes converted to "Govt subsidized". These are in the middle of otherwise good areas. Be several miles from these. Lots of smash-and-grab crime: people vanish into the complex with whatever they just grabbed from your car. Parents came here in the 60's with first wave of NASA workers. Still live in the same house. Used to be a great area.....but now they've had their neighbors raided by DEA, tires stolen off the truck in driveway, garage broken into...etc. Houston has changed. Check Nextdoor app and see what areas are complaining about theft and such.

Be sure you can insure your property. We're FEMA zone X....minimal flood risk. Dry during Harvey! Yet, 75% of the insurance companies refuse to write a policy for our area now. They now call us a Tier 1 tidal surge zone, which goes by distance from nearest body of water. Just renewed our insurance and it rose by 75%. Get accurate estimates.

I liked Katy. Houston was a quick drive to different shopping areas, without having to drive through it to go other places in TX. We were in old town Katy, which was getting kind of rough. We were zoned for a shitty high school, so we moved before kids got that old. Sugarland is a fast growing area. Newer construction so not too many rough areas yet. Downtown is a pretty straight shot. We love Clear Lake. Scenic low-ish traffic, good schools, homes in all price ranges......but it adds at least an hour to any trip north or west of Houston. Woodlands homes are higher and traffic worse, but very pretty.

Nothing in Harris county and nothing inside the city limits of Houston (which is in Harris county).  Buy in Pearland or Brazoria county. Harris county is very liberal and isn’t getting better.

The poster said he was going to work downtown - living outside of Harris County would be a haul.  

As for it being leftist - we have a solid chance of turning the Harris County Commission back to 4-1 Republican this year, if people volunteer and vote for Morman / Mealer / Cagle for the Commission in November.  Would do wonders to fight crime, and cut down on the slump of Houston.  

Houston's a dump but it's more or less always been a dump to some extent, yet it's been an OK place to live for me, for the last 25 years.

I'd go with the Clear Lake area, as other's have said - around the Johnson Space Center.  There's a park and ride bus that will take you to downtown in about 35 minutes, for 3 bucks one way.  Lots of employers downtown offer free bus passes or such as well.  I rode it for many years and it was great.

We're in Clear Lake too. I like it here.

I lived in Clear Lake too, good area.  It is nice when you can stay in the Clear Lake Bubble (between 45 and 146), but getting anywhere else in town is basically an hour each way.  Sure it may be only 45min as traffic lets up, but you get the point.

Also on the flooding, highly recommend an SUV or pickup.  You won't be rock crawling with it, but the extra ground clearance can be the difference between totaling your car and getting around just fine.  That's not just for tropical weather as many streets in Houston will flood a bit with normal rainstorms.

Home and vehicle insurance will probably be more expensive than what you are used too (flooding again).  It could easily be double or more of what you pay now (I don't know about MN).

I always tell people moving to Houston to seriously think about how much time you are willing to spend in the car.  The choices are live close to work (within a few miles) or embrace the suck of traffic.  

Houston is a place where it is really easy to be miserable.  Traffic, heat, roaches, more traffic, hurricanes and flood, yes it is hot this time of year and that time too, and you're still stuck in traffic...and so forth.  It is not the kind of place where you step outside and a great lifestyle is just there waiting for you.

But, Houston does have a lot to offer, and aside from the climate and geography, you can pretty much find whatever else you want.  Food, culture, like minded people, activities, work, entertainment, etc, and you travel to get some scenery when you need it.  And you'll need to be willing to drive to enjoy that stuff.

You can carve out a pretty decent niche in the Houston area, but you'll have to put some actual effort into it.

It's clear lake, not clearlake.  Clearlake is a neighborhood near Dallas.

I would not move to Houston, but thats just me.  

I can understand, job and wanting to get out of unfriendly states, but Houston…..