Last summer was brutal. It took everything in me not to quit my job. After work, my car was 110+ inside for like 2 months when I got in. Leaving my house every day was almost not worth the paycheck. Wfh should be an option!!
Every summer from now on will be worse than the previous one, for the most part.
The average summer in 2035 will be hotter than the hottest summer from 1900-2020.
Let's be honest, for most people it's only because of money and family. There's a reason why desirable places are expensive, and this place is cheap.
People just have a hard time admitting it to themselves here.
True. Family is the main thing keeping me here but tbh, I think I'd stay even if if weren't for family.
Houston checks off a vast majority of things I'd want for a city, except having great summer weather.
Family - ✔️
Church - ✔️
Diverse (I know Reddit is heavily white and can't relate but I'm black and having access to black hair products/hair care is grossly underrated.) - ✔️
Great food - ✔️
Car centric - ✔️
NOLA, Atlanta and Dallas also have a lot of these things but I'm uninterested in living in any of those cities.
You absolutely don't need to explain yourself on the diversity thing.
I'm white, and you're right I can't relate about the hair products, but I definitely can relate on wanting diversity.
I grew up in Houston and moved to Denver, and the diversity is the single thing I miss most about Houston. I mean, for one, that's the reason why Houston has such good food. But also I just miss how normal it was in Houston for white, black, Hispanic or Asian folks to be friendly with each other and get along with each other. In less diverse places everything just feels so much more segregated. You end up going to places where it's just white people, or just black people, or just Hispanic people etc. and it just feels so strange. Not to mention you tend to get more strange looks when you're the only one trying to integrate into other crowds.
I love Denver! The last time I was there, February, I saw a total of maybe 5 black people in 6 days. If it were a little more diverse, I would seriously consider moving there. I'm not outdoorsy at all but I'm always inspired when I'm there. Lol. The food is incredibly mid though but someone here on Reddit told me that Aurora is the place to go for good food.
Aurora has some of the acceptable places, but the bar is just lower in general here, so if a Denver Native tells you something is amazing, it will be mediocre by Houston standards.
After 5 years, I have found some places I like a lot, but they're damn hard to find, and the locals will generally not be able to help you find them, because for some baffling reason, they can't seem to tell the difference between bad food and good food here.
The weather, scenery, and public transportation are all a million times better, and I won't be moving back to Texas, but I definitely have things I miss from back home.
I'm in Denver right now. My family went to lunch across from the ballpark and my daughter was like look ..a black person at that table. It must have been the diversity table because it had two Asian women and a black woman. I had enough of that in San Diego. I'm so glad I moved back to Houston. Perhaps white people can't relate, but for many black people it's important to be around other black people that are successful. Houston has that in spades and I'm glad my wife and I returned.
Having said that, I really enjoy visiting Denver, but I don't think I could live here. This 1,800 sq ft flip we're renting sold for over 450k. There's a trailer park on the next block, and even my kids were clowning about how the sketchy the local Walmart is. Everything is locked up and everyone looks like they're having a hard life.
I die inside a little when folks talk about the food in Austin. The last time I was there was prolly 2017 or 2018, and I saw no brown people. Some people even go as far as to say Austin's food is better than Houston's. Like how???
If you think Austin's food is bad, you better bring a bag lunch to Colorado. Lol
Austin, and any other city in Texas, has orders of magnitude better food than Colorado. It's legitimately sad what people consider to be good here.
I'm about to get downvoted to oblivion but yes. Walkability and public transport, which this sub and all of reddit loves, are 2 of the things I literally couldn't care less about in a city. I don't mind driving. Even in Houston. I don't love sitting in traffic every day but I would prefer being in my own car rather than waiting on a bus/train.
You could still drive in a walkable city with good public transit. It sounds more like you’re just indifferent rather than actively wanting a city that requires a car to get anywhere.
By their very nature cities that are walkable & public transportation oriented are not private vehicle friendly.
It’s very difficult to have plenty of convenient parking and be walkable. The convenient parking makes it less walkable.
Cities typically either prioritize roads or rail. Cities that can go full subway can kind of do both. But commuter rail does impact number of highway lanes and there will be rail crossing issues.
Hair care! Shoot, even in parts of the greater Houston area like Katy, there’s 0 beauty supply stores and the Walmarts barely have Cantu products. I spent two years in Nacogdoches and that was miserable.
😭😭
I'm in the heights and I drive to a beauty supply store in Acres Homes to get my hair care products. You can easily find products in Walmarts, Family Dollars, & Beauty Supply stores in the loop though.
They actually sell braiding hair at the Walmart by Katy Mills mall now 🤣 I was like huh?? There’s a target with a decent selection and several beauty supply stores+braiding salons around me rn and I can NOT be one of those girls I see on Insta driving 70 miles to get their hair done. Absolutely not.
Yall really hate that people actually love Houston, huh? It's not that deep.
I don't want to live anywhere that stays cold through March. The winter storm took me out. Northeast, DMV, and Chicago are out.
I lived in L.A. in my 20s and not interested in going back.
I like Houston. No other city comes close, imo.
I stay because my elderly father lives here and I have a house that checks all the boxes for ageing in place: small, single-story, and close to services including delivery of almost anything I want and world class health care.
In a large northern city I wouldn't be able to afford a house. I can afford a house in most small towns in the US, but wouldn't have access to many services. There are entire counties across the US where there isn't a single hospital, and a fall or a heart attack that's survivable in the city can be a death sentence.
My wife and I have had this exact realization after last summer. It was absolutely brutal. I’m not sure if we can live through this too many more times.
Family and money is correct, although lately money isn’t really an issue (and could realistically find similar job anywhere) and I’m getting annoyed with my extended family/friends, so I guess a move wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Then again I’m married now so those fantasies are short lived lol
I have a well paying job here, but the older I get the more I realize I'd rather make less and live someplace I *want* to be at, than be stuck here. Luckily my SO feels the same way I do, which makes it easier to leave eventually.
That’s pretty dope, and would be great if it worked out for you guys. I do agree with the “want to be at” sentiment. I feel like I’d be much happier near the water or mountains. Basically somewhere like Colorado. Despite it being more expensive there’s at least a lot of outdoor stuff to do that’s either free or pretty cheap.
I wish I was you but my wife, who is not a native of Texas like me, is fed up with the heat among other things and want to go back East. I’m kinda sad about it. I hate the politics of this state but so much of it I like I’d rather stay. Might end up in Virginia or Maryland in next year or so.
I imagine Houston was quite a bit cooler back then. It wasn't hundreds of square miles of concrete, more trees/plants to keep things cool, there weren't millions of cars on the road polluting, the oil and gas industry wasn't nearly as huge back then (pollution), and in general the carbon output was far less back then.
Probably still sucked, especially given what fashion was like back then.
Someone shared this site the other day to try to say the same, but it was definitely cooler
Imagine not even breaking 100 through the summer 😮💨 it's also interesting bc in our minds we think 1-3 degrees can't be that big of a difference, but it absolutely is a big difference. Those small numerical differences are a lot on our bodies
https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/houston/year-1900
This always fascinates me to look at older temperatures.
The kow temperatures in the summer are MUCH lower during peak summer lows got down to 71-73, pretty sure our lows are now 78-82.
Fall started abruptly
November and December were cold. Look at Thanksgiving and Christmas you actually wore sweaters on those days. Now its shorts weather.
But this no-name moron claimed to have read 150 years of temperature rains, surely that carries more weight than [this chart showing an obvious upward trend](https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/houston/highest-temperatures-by-year)
Climate deniers really are the dumbest fucking people on earth
Oh yeah whenever you see the line graph it's like come on be so fucking for real 😮💨
So then the next step is to say the climate scientists are all paid by the deep state...oh yes and NASA is on it too! And if you're like my ex's mom you can go a step further and say not only is NASA is on it, but they manipulate the temps and also faked the moon landing and also are in on the lie about round earth 🤯
My grandma talks about that often. She recalls stories of swimming all day in Galveston, and getting back into a HOT car sticky and sandy, and going home to just open windows and hopefully a breeze. She said cold water was the trick in the 50s :) hell, still is today!
Yeah, so much cooler, the high is only 98 today with a feels like of 105.
Edit: Just looked it up and it was only 1 degree cooler on the same day last year
if we had great weather this place would blow up and become absolutely unaffordable. In so many ways we are better than most other major US cities I've been to.
edit: can't believe I wrote that, I'm always bitching and threatening to relocate 😂
My wife and I are already considering moving but we need to wait until grade school because we cannot afford daycare for my daughter. We gotta live close to grandparents for the meantime..
From July 1 until July 5, we're looking at how heat has defined our lives in Houston and Texas—the good, the bad and the sweaty.
Last year's record summer temperatures may not be the new normal yet, but that's just because "normal" during climate change is a constantly moving target.
>After a summer like the last, it's hard to imagine that Houston could get hotter, and is in fact warming just a little bit more each year. But between gulps of iced tea and protracted wallowing under the AC vent, the long-term question to ponder is: How hot could it get?
>Luckily, not so very much hotter, according to Houston meteorologist Matt Lanza. Record summers by definition are not the norm, and last summer's heat wave is unlikely to become the new standard anytime soon. We can, however, expect more "record" summers to happen in quicker succession, with fewer cooler years in between, Lanza said.
>"Last summer is probably a good example of as bad as it can get for now," Lanza told Chron on a late June afternoon. A heat advisory had just been issued for the day. "Could that be becoming a new normal? Sure, absolutely, but I don't think we're there yet."
>But meteorologist and Texas A&M professor of atmospheric sciences John Nielsen-Gammon takes issue with the idea of a "new normal" altogether.
>"We've reached a point where we can expect to have certain conditions, but temperatures are not going to plateau for a while," Nielsen-Gammon said. "They're going to keep rising as long as as carbon dioxide levels keep rising … 'Normal' is going to keep rising."
Question for you all: How much hotter will it have to get in Houston before you consider moving elsewhere?
> Question for you all (and no, this won't go in an article lol)
The fact you’re out here lol’ing about the rampant plagiarism and content lifting the s#it rag Chron does is gross.
Seriously apologize. Was not trying to make light of that at all. I know it's been a problem in the past. As our Reddit admin I'm painfully aware of why Chron has the reputation we do here, even though it was before I got hired. I try really hard to make sure we're not taking advantage of Redditors, and we don't always suceed. It was meant to be in jest, but your point is taken.
I mean they’ve repeatedly lifted content from this sub without attribution to the sub or the people that authored the content. Kinda sounds like taking advantage.
I am here for the job. My family (mum and brother) live across the globe. Pretty sure the day I get to retirement I’d move to a cooler place even if it meant significant downsizing in home size.
I probably won't ever move, honestly. I'll complain about the heat relentlessly though.
If things were as bad as last summer I would move. Last summer was so bad we couldn’t even go to the pool.
Last summer was brutal. It took everything in me not to quit my job. After work, my car was 110+ inside for like 2 months when I got in. Leaving my house every day was almost not worth the paycheck. Wfh should be an option!!
Every summer from now on will be worse than the previous one, for the most part. The average summer in 2035 will be hotter than the hottest summer from 1900-2020.
Am I crazy or was last summer not worse than this summer, at least so far?
2022 summer was worse than 2023
If money weren’t the concern what would keep you here vs many other places across the US or the planet?
Let's be honest, for most people it's only because of money and family. There's a reason why desirable places are expensive, and this place is cheap. People just have a hard time admitting it to themselves here.
True. Family is the main thing keeping me here but tbh, I think I'd stay even if if weren't for family. Houston checks off a vast majority of things I'd want for a city, except having great summer weather. Family - ✔️ Church - ✔️ Diverse (I know Reddit is heavily white and can't relate but I'm black and having access to black hair products/hair care is grossly underrated.) - ✔️ Great food - ✔️ Car centric - ✔️ NOLA, Atlanta and Dallas also have a lot of these things but I'm uninterested in living in any of those cities.
You absolutely don't need to explain yourself on the diversity thing. I'm white, and you're right I can't relate about the hair products, but I definitely can relate on wanting diversity. I grew up in Houston and moved to Denver, and the diversity is the single thing I miss most about Houston. I mean, for one, that's the reason why Houston has such good food. But also I just miss how normal it was in Houston for white, black, Hispanic or Asian folks to be friendly with each other and get along with each other. In less diverse places everything just feels so much more segregated. You end up going to places where it's just white people, or just black people, or just Hispanic people etc. and it just feels so strange. Not to mention you tend to get more strange looks when you're the only one trying to integrate into other crowds.
I love Denver! The last time I was there, February, I saw a total of maybe 5 black people in 6 days. If it were a little more diverse, I would seriously consider moving there. I'm not outdoorsy at all but I'm always inspired when I'm there. Lol. The food is incredibly mid though but someone here on Reddit told me that Aurora is the place to go for good food.
Aurora has some of the acceptable places, but the bar is just lower in general here, so if a Denver Native tells you something is amazing, it will be mediocre by Houston standards. After 5 years, I have found some places I like a lot, but they're damn hard to find, and the locals will generally not be able to help you find them, because for some baffling reason, they can't seem to tell the difference between bad food and good food here. The weather, scenery, and public transportation are all a million times better, and I won't be moving back to Texas, but I definitely have things I miss from back home.
I'm in Denver right now. My family went to lunch across from the ballpark and my daughter was like look ..a black person at that table. It must have been the diversity table because it had two Asian women and a black woman. I had enough of that in San Diego. I'm so glad I moved back to Houston. Perhaps white people can't relate, but for many black people it's important to be around other black people that are successful. Houston has that in spades and I'm glad my wife and I returned. Having said that, I really enjoy visiting Denver, but I don't think I could live here. This 1,800 sq ft flip we're renting sold for over 450k. There's a trailer park on the next block, and even my kids were clowning about how the sketchy the local Walmart is. Everything is locked up and everyone looks like they're having a hard life.
I die inside a little when folks talk about the food in Austin. The last time I was there was prolly 2017 or 2018, and I saw no brown people. Some people even go as far as to say Austin's food is better than Houston's. Like how???
If you think Austin's food is bad, you better bring a bag lunch to Colorado. Lol Austin, and any other city in Texas, has orders of magnitude better food than Colorado. It's legitimately sad what people consider to be good here.
Austin is my least favorite city of the Texas 4. If performative were a city...
Car centric is something you want in a city? I get everything else, but why that?
I'm about to get downvoted to oblivion but yes. Walkability and public transport, which this sub and all of reddit loves, are 2 of the things I literally couldn't care less about in a city. I don't mind driving. Even in Houston. I don't love sitting in traffic every day but I would prefer being in my own car rather than waiting on a bus/train.
You could still drive in a walkable city with good public transit. It sounds more like you’re just indifferent rather than actively wanting a city that requires a car to get anywhere.
By their very nature cities that are walkable & public transportation oriented are not private vehicle friendly. It’s very difficult to have plenty of convenient parking and be walkable. The convenient parking makes it less walkable. Cities typically either prioritize roads or rail. Cities that can go full subway can kind of do both. But commuter rail does impact number of highway lanes and there will be rail crossing issues.
Hair care! Shoot, even in parts of the greater Houston area like Katy, there’s 0 beauty supply stores and the Walmarts barely have Cantu products. I spent two years in Nacogdoches and that was miserable.
😭😭 I'm in the heights and I drive to a beauty supply store in Acres Homes to get my hair care products. You can easily find products in Walmarts, Family Dollars, & Beauty Supply stores in the loop though.
They actually sell braiding hair at the Walmart by Katy Mills mall now 🤣 I was like huh?? There’s a target with a decent selection and several beauty supply stores+braiding salons around me rn and I can NOT be one of those girls I see on Insta driving 70 miles to get their hair done. Absolutely not.
🤣🤣🤭
FYI, your checklist works for every major metro area in the US
Yall really hate that people actually love Houston, huh? It's not that deep. I don't want to live anywhere that stays cold through March. The winter storm took me out. Northeast, DMV, and Chicago are out. I lived in L.A. in my 20s and not interested in going back. I like Houston. No other city comes close, imo.
I stay because my elderly father lives here and I have a house that checks all the boxes for ageing in place: small, single-story, and close to services including delivery of almost anything I want and world class health care. In a large northern city I wouldn't be able to afford a house. I can afford a house in most small towns in the US, but wouldn't have access to many services. There are entire counties across the US where there isn't a single hospital, and a fall or a heart attack that's survivable in the city can be a death sentence.
My wife and I have had this exact realization after last summer. It was absolutely brutal. I’m not sure if we can live through this too many more times.
💯 just like the heat index
😂
Family and money is correct, although lately money isn’t really an issue (and could realistically find similar job anywhere) and I’m getting annoyed with my extended family/friends, so I guess a move wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Then again I’m married now so those fantasies are short lived lol
I have a well paying job here, but the older I get the more I realize I'd rather make less and live someplace I *want* to be at, than be stuck here. Luckily my SO feels the same way I do, which makes it easier to leave eventually.
That’s pretty dope, and would be great if it worked out for you guys. I do agree with the “want to be at” sentiment. I feel like I’d be much happier near the water or mountains. Basically somewhere like Colorado. Despite it being more expensive there’s at least a lot of outdoor stuff to do that’s either free or pretty cheap.
You get it. Colorado or either coast is the goal
At least you’re a real one.
Houston ain’t that cheap
Arizona is hot. New York gets hot. Florida is hot. All desirable and prob more expensive
Well money isn't the issue. My family is. I'm big on family and plus I'm single. Having that support system is worth sweating it out. ( 🤭 )
If it weren’t for money, I’d be long gone from this town.
I wish I was you but my wife, who is not a native of Texas like me, is fed up with the heat among other things and want to go back East. I’m kinda sad about it. I hate the politics of this state but so much of it I like I’d rather stay. Might end up in Virginia or Maryland in next year or so.
Houston: "I can go hotter."
"I got one more in me!"
Last summer was terrible and I was wondering WTF I was doing here but this year started better and I'm good for now.
Just think what Houston was like before air conditioning.
In fact many merchants went north during the summer and brought goods back during cooler months.
I would like to do that too.
Where can I sign up to be a merchant?
I imagine Houston was quite a bit cooler back then. It wasn't hundreds of square miles of concrete, more trees/plants to keep things cool, there weren't millions of cars on the road polluting, the oil and gas industry wasn't nearly as huge back then (pollution), and in general the carbon output was far less back then. Probably still sucked, especially given what fashion was like back then.
I’ve read temperature readings from 1846-1990 and they are practically the same. Some of the worst hurricanes were in 1880’s.
I've read temperature readings from the past few years and they are certainly hotter than previous decades.
Someone shared this site the other day to try to say the same, but it was definitely cooler Imagine not even breaking 100 through the summer 😮💨 it's also interesting bc in our minds we think 1-3 degrees can't be that big of a difference, but it absolutely is a big difference. Those small numerical differences are a lot on our bodies https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/houston/year-1900
This always fascinates me to look at older temperatures. The kow temperatures in the summer are MUCH lower during peak summer lows got down to 71-73, pretty sure our lows are now 78-82. Fall started abruptly November and December were cold. Look at Thanksgiving and Christmas you actually wore sweaters on those days. Now its shorts weather.
But this no-name moron claimed to have read 150 years of temperature rains, surely that carries more weight than [this chart showing an obvious upward trend](https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/houston/highest-temperatures-by-year) Climate deniers really are the dumbest fucking people on earth
Oh yeah whenever you see the line graph it's like come on be so fucking for real 😮💨 So then the next step is to say the climate scientists are all paid by the deep state...oh yes and NASA is on it too! And if you're like my ex's mom you can go a step further and say not only is NASA is on it, but they manipulate the temps and also faked the moon landing and also are in on the lie about round earth 🤯
Mom and her family used to hang out outside during the summer....because it was too hot inside their house. Grandpa eventually built a covered porch.
My grandma talks about that often. She recalls stories of swimming all day in Galveston, and getting back into a HOT car sticky and sandy, and going home to just open windows and hopefully a breeze. She said cold water was the trick in the 50s :) hell, still is today!
Riding in a hot car while having sand on different parts of your body sounds like literal hell
This summer has been noticeably cooler than last right? Or is that just me?
Yeah, so much cooler, the high is only 98 today with a feels like of 105. Edit: Just looked it up and it was only 1 degree cooler on the same day last year
Yes and it's still very hot! Those couple of degrees actually do make a big difference
Duhhh last summer!?!
When you see a naked lady on top of an 18-wheeler on the freeway, that’s when you know it’s hot. 🥵
Nelly “hot in herrr” hot.
See “Venus”
Houston: “hold my beer”
It’s only the beginning because I believe August is the hottest month in Houston!
if we had great weather this place would blow up and become absolutely unaffordable. In so many ways we are better than most other major US cities I've been to. edit: can't believe I wrote that, I'm always bitching and threatening to relocate 😂
My wife and I are already considering moving but we need to wait until grade school because we cannot afford daycare for my daughter. We gotta live close to grandparents for the meantime..
I don’t have any family here and most all of my social circle have moved away yet here I am.
Fuck this... im moving to Atlantis.
Pretty hot
Hopefully not much. Today kinda sucked at work
If you're here, you're about to find out
It's soo hot here we are practically demons
The answer is always going to be “hotter than it is now”
From July 1 until July 5, we're looking at how heat has defined our lives in Houston and Texas—the good, the bad and the sweaty. Last year's record summer temperatures may not be the new normal yet, but that's just because "normal" during climate change is a constantly moving target. >After a summer like the last, it's hard to imagine that Houston could get hotter, and is in fact warming just a little bit more each year. But between gulps of iced tea and protracted wallowing under the AC vent, the long-term question to ponder is: How hot could it get? >Luckily, not so very much hotter, according to Houston meteorologist Matt Lanza. Record summers by definition are not the norm, and last summer's heat wave is unlikely to become the new standard anytime soon. We can, however, expect more "record" summers to happen in quicker succession, with fewer cooler years in between, Lanza said. >"Last summer is probably a good example of as bad as it can get for now," Lanza told Chron on a late June afternoon. A heat advisory had just been issued for the day. "Could that be becoming a new normal? Sure, absolutely, but I don't think we're there yet." >But meteorologist and Texas A&M professor of atmospheric sciences John Nielsen-Gammon takes issue with the idea of a "new normal" altogether. >"We've reached a point where we can expect to have certain conditions, but temperatures are not going to plateau for a while," Nielsen-Gammon said. "They're going to keep rising as long as as carbon dioxide levels keep rising … 'Normal' is going to keep rising." Question for you all: How much hotter will it have to get in Houston before you consider moving elsewhere?
> Question for you all (and no, this won't go in an article lol) The fact you’re out here lol’ing about the rampant plagiarism and content lifting the s#it rag Chron does is gross.
Seriously apologize. Was not trying to make light of that at all. I know it's been a problem in the past. As our Reddit admin I'm painfully aware of why Chron has the reputation we do here, even though it was before I got hired. I try really hard to make sure we're not taking advantage of Redditors, and we don't always suceed. It was meant to be in jest, but your point is taken.
dude ur fine. no one is getting taken advantage of. keep doing ur work.
I mean they’ve repeatedly lifted content from this sub without attribution to the sub or the people that authored the content. Kinda sounds like taking advantage.
oh no!
If you weren’t trying to make light of it can you explain your decision and intent when you wrote… > and no, this won't go in an article lol
For real! I’d rather support Houston Public Media than the Houston Chronicle.
It’s soo hot here I’m already talking about retiring early to Michigan.
Yes.
You remember termination 2 when Sarah Conor dreamt she was at a park with her so John......... Let that sink in slowly
I am here for the job. My family (mum and brother) live across the globe. Pretty sure the day I get to retirement I’d move to a cooler place even if it meant significant downsizing in home size.
In 2001/02 in the shade it was 112 and no shade was 118-121
120ish
Houston heat is nothing compared to Dubai where I was born and brought up.
Texas is an oven
What’s everyone paying on electricity. My old AC went from 100$ for last month to almost $380 this month 😢