Yeah, real estate is great. However, it doesn't have a culture that someone from San Jose would find appealing. Even though it's only a 3 hour drive, Houston isn't Austin. (though there's pockets, like Montrose) The heat is miserable in the summer, and the job market is somewhat narrow (more .NET and a fewer industries to pick from than you'll find elsewhere)

Interestingly, Houston has more (live) theater seats than anywhere else except NYC.. tons of awesome museums, and the most racially/ethnically diverse large metro area in the country (which makes it a great town for foodies)

I love Austin, but it's probably arguable that its "culture" (in the art/culture sense of the word) even approaches Houston's. "Houston is one of only five cities in the United States with permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts disciplines: opera, ballet, symphony, and theater"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Houston#Arts_and_th...

And Houston is cheaper than Austin, too... but I've found Austin's tech scene to be slightly up on Houston's (if only because Austin is more compact and so getting around to the nearest meetup is a bit easier... also, Austin has a much better VC scene, but Houston does have a surprisingly large tech scene, even given that Houston is probably going to become the country's third-largest city.) http://www.businessinsider.com/r-americas-city-rankings-set-...

But bdcraven is right... modern here tends to mean .NET or Java at most of the larger Fortune 100 companies based here (mostly oil and gas, medicine, and finance.)

You'll need a lot of air conditioning and maybe a swimming pool (or two) during the summer though.

I probably misused the term culture - I'm meaning more the culture of the people: red state with all the attitudes you'd associate, and many of the stereotypes that people associate with Texas aren't far off. A transplant who thinks those mindsets are wrong rather than different would probably experience alot of angst living in Houston.

I agree! although, as an import from CA myself, I actually found a healthy divergence in viewpoints rather refreshing.

Don't forget the insufferable mosquitoes. As if the heat and humidity isn't bad enough.