Got a job in houston

I lived in Houston for three years. I lived near Memorial Park which has a 3-mile marked trail and a lot of dirt trails grassy areas for longer runs. There is a marked asphalt 2K course there also. Rice Univ. has a good track if you join the Houston Harriers Track Team. Be careful to learn the city first, as 90 percent of Houston is ghetto and it is not the easiest place to train.

400m wrote:

Be careful to learn the city first, as 90 percent of Houston is ghetto and it is not the easiest place to train.

90% ghetto? WTF? Seriously, you really don't know Houston. It would be correct to say that within a 2.5 mile radius of Greenspoint, it is 90% ghetto. Houston is a sprawling metropolitan complex. The surburbanites dominate the city. With the resurgence of downtown/mid-town areas, I would be hard-pressed to think that 10% of Houston is "ghetto." C'mon.

This much I agree. It would be wise to find an apartment for 3-6 months to get a feel for Houston.

Much of what is great about Houston is inside the loop. That's where all it all happens - bars, restaurants, hangouts, coffee shops, etc. It's also where all the great places to stay are. Since there were no zoning laws, you simply have a great eclectic mix of businesses and residences. I once had a duplex in mid-town and walked to my favorite coffee shop every morning - virtually next door. However, that all comes at a cost. Housing prices will easily be $150 square feet (if you buy).

Outside the loop is typical suburban living - subdivisions (many of them nice), strip malls, so on and so forth. Greenspoint is about 15 miles directly north of Downtown. While the area is not great, you can go 5-10 miles along the Belt and find great places to stay. You are lucky, you can find some reasonable living and still be 15 minutes away from work. Unfortunate souls like myself, find cheap housing in the 'burbs and drive 45 minutes each way downtown, screaming at traffic the whole way.

Houston running is robust. Memorial Park is running central. What I don't understand is why not many runners know about the trails across the street from the main loop. They are awesome, and I have them all to myself practically. I have run 2.5 hours on those trails. Allen Parkway loop is nice. Running around Rice U, West U, River Oaks is great. There are trails along several bayous that run FOREVER. Braes Bayou is one of them. There are other parks around town that you can find good running. Much more difficult to find good running in the concrete jungle in the suburbs. Like anything though, you make it work. I get up early and run around the nearby golf course before anyone gets on my case.

I can't see why training in Houston is any more difficult than anywhere else. If you need a track, there's always a local HS you can go to. You don't necessarily need to run with the Harriers to have access to the Rice track. If you get to know Jon Warren, I'm positive he will let you onto the Rice track. Otherwise, there are plenty of HS tracks you can run on. If you like running for a club, you can choose from at least a dozen of them. Sean Wade runs a training group.

Houston is not for everyone. It is not NY, Chicago, SF, or DC. It does have many elements of a big city, but overall it has a big suburban population. It certainly is better than Dallas but falls short of Austin (my opinion). I have lived in all three. Texas is hot during the summer, but is great right now (low 35, high 54). You have to love running in a singlet and not breaking a sweat.

The good thing is that if you stay outside the loop, housing is fairly cheap ($55-$70 sq. ft.) and the cost of living is low. You will learn to use your car - expect 15-20K per year. I live in the NW and am basically 30-45 minutes away from anywhere in Houston. Don't let geography constrain you in terms of residence. Living 15 miles away from work in many cases is a 15 minute commute (especially to Greenspoint which is at the crossroads of two major freeways).

Good luck. If you decide to come here, welcome - I'll perhaps see you at the races.

my girlfriend works up in greenspoint for exxon. she finds it easy to live in midtown (b/t downtown and the museum district/rice) and commute up there. there's a cinder path around rice (about 3 miles) and there's another path around hermann park which is right across the street. also, buffalo bayou is not bad either. hermann and memorial are shady, so they're more tolerable during the summer months.

Start here for your Houston running resources:

www.harra.org

Check out the running maps. 161 routes. You will find as many running routes as you need.

Hello-

Well I am moving to Houston around January 1st from the midwest. I got a job relocation and well Houston is the place. I am flying down next week to check out the area as I have never been to Houston to really see what its like. I am also apartment hunting and would like to live near memorial park and or some good bars, coffee shops. Any advice you can provide would be great. I have been working through an apartment service but they are not so great and I want a decent place to live.

THanks

Stay with the opinions in the post of Notwithstanding. I think he's in my club, actually.

My only addition to this is DO NOT LIVE ANYWHERE NEAR GREENSPOINT!

Other than that, enjoy Houston.

Whatever you do, don't sign a long term lease. Something between 3-6 months. There's no way you will find all the cool places to live in even a week's time. I spent a month looking for my place (about a decade ago). This involved driving street by street in neighborhoods I liked looking for "for lease" signs. The individual listings are the best. Apartments, in general, suck big time (my opinion). Also try

www.har.com

. Find a few cool looking places in different zip codes (within the loop) and then drive around those places.

Living around memorial park will be very expensive. You are right around the corner from River Oaks - the most exclusive address in Houston. Don't pin yourself down on any one location. People drive in Houston. That is what we do. Convenience will cost you a pretty penny.

Mid-town/museum district/Rice U/Southhampton - all very good choices.

Yes, and don't live around Greenspoint.

By the way, I don't run for a club....

try to get a job in Austin, way better city to live.

hot

Houston is Not 90% ghetto. I've spent alot of time in Houston....There are many nice places. The bad part of town is mainly east and northeast Houston.......One area you might want to check out is the Heights. The Heights is a close in historical area with a small town feel. Lots of quiet streets for running. I've run all over the Heights and am surprised more local runners do'nt... I'm not too crazy about the Memorial Park 3 mile loop. Part of it goes right along Memorial drive and for a good mile you might as well be sucking on an exhaust pipe not to mention having to dodge alot of slow runners. Nontheless, people like the social scene that the park has to offer. Good close in running can be found on the paths along the Bayou at Allen Parkway........ By far the best places to run are on the west side of town. There's a network of trails that go along some of the bayous. Your totally away from cars and the running Is excellent. Why more locals do'nt take advantage of these trails is beyond me..Especially if you want to go long. Check these links:

http://www.briarhills.org/HersheyPark/HersheyPark.htm

http://www.pct3.hctx.net/PGeorge/HikeBikeTrail.htm

These two parks are linked by both paved and non paved trails. Lots of options.. Really great running. Once you learn this area you wo'nt want to waste your time at memorial park.....

Another place I like to run is along the beach in Galveston. Galveston is less than an hour from Houston. The sand is hard packed and there's not much of a slant to the beach... Great for miles and miles of running.. Nice to do every now and then.. The weather for Houston running is good most of the year but the summers can be brutal.. Hard to train long and hard in the summer...

Houston does have some good things to offer but you have to go out and find them. Also, be sure to take traffic into account when choosing a place to live. Houston traffic is on par with LA, Absolutely Horrible...... Good luck on your move...

"I am also apartment hunting and would like to live near memorial park and or some good bars, coffee shops. Any advice you can provide would be great."

The area around Memorial Park is more houses than apartments. I lived in apartments just off Memorial Drive/Allen Parkway between Shepherd and Waugh for five years and thought it was very good for running. Directly across the street is the Buffalo Bayou loop (4.75 miles of trail-some of the only hills in Houston) and you can run 2 miles down Memorial (or through the neighborhood) to the park. Doing this plus the park loop and back makes a good 7 mile run.

In addition the location is very central (close to highways I-45, I-10, and only a 5 minute, one stoplight drive to downtown). Unfortunately its Houston, and you still have to drive almost everywhere.

If you want to be within walking distance of bars and coffee shops you should look at Midtown. This will put you close to another part of the Buffalo Bayou loop but maybe 5 miles from Memorial Park. Or there are also some small and older apartment complexes close to the Rice Village. This would put you next to Rice U. and lots of bars/coffee shops, but a 20 minute drive (maybe more at rush hour) from Memorial Park.

Good Luck.

you have our condolences.

Just out of curiosity why Houston over Dallas?

Vex wrote:

I'm not too crazy about the Memorial Park 3 mile loop. Part of it goes right along Memorial drive and for a good mile you might as well be sucking on an exhaust pipe not to mention having to dodge alot of slow runners.

Gotta agree about the Memorial Park loop, it has to be the most overrated running spot ever. Great if you want to go for a walk or really slow jog and check out fit members of the opposite sex, no doubt. I've done it several times when I lived in the area years ago, I couldn't get in much of a run because even my easy pace was so much faster than that of all the RW fitness types who have to run or walk in a chorus line 3+ abreast with dogs and baby joggers and they are going in both directions so you are constantly having to slow down and wait to pass them. It's like one huge loop of 5k'ers who don't line up according to their ability. I much preferred the Allen Parkway/Buffalo Bayou loop and the Hermann Park loop and even the trails on the south side of Memorial Parkway in Memorial Park. Oh yeah, weather sucks there a lot. March-October it's really warm (or hot!) with stiffling humidity and it can be really rainy in the cooler months (Feb and Nov, in particular.) At least there's usually no snow or ice! Good racing scene, too.

Dallas is a city with no soul.

At off times the Memorial loop isn't too crowded. Not too many others are running at 8:30pm or later on weeknights even in the summer when it can be necessary due to the weather (I rarely started evening runs before 7:00 pm).

Looking at all the other people on the loop can also be really entertaining. There are usually a few good looking women out there.

If you must go there on a weekend morning the best thing to do is to not run. That just gets you sweaty and messes up your hair. Park your car close to the stretching area that is next to the tennis center, and spend a few hours checking out all the girls that run by or stop to use the water fountain. Or if you have a nice car you can stretch next to it. Some people really do this. It can be pretty funny.

Hey atleast its not San Antonio. We got McCallister Park and are own creativity downtown to keep us occupied.

Space City USA ! Go Oilers !

If you are getting a job in Greenspoint, you should consider living about 20 minutes north in the Woodlands area. There are running trails (asphalt) everywhere and there is a race every couple of weeks to test where you are at.

http://www.runningintheusa.com/rtw/

The only downside is the lack of terrain...as you probably well know, Houston is flat.

I went to HS and College in Houston and I still call it home (though I lived in the Woodlands). Good luck!