2018 FT Houston Housing

I am an incoming FT analyst in Houston and I am starting to look for apartments now. As all of the Houston housing threads are a bit dated, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on where to live.

Would it be a good idea to look for a roommate as well? I will be working in the downtown area.

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Best Response

Midtown is overrated in my opinion. Check out Washington, Montrose, Upper Kirby and Allen Parkway. Downtown has some nice buildings but...you'll be in the heart of downtown which, excluding the bars, is very meh.

The Heights is really cool if you're 26 - 34, but I wouldn't live there if you're 22.

Edit: In addition to EnergyHOU's recommendation on the Museum District, check out Rice Village too. I'm not super familiar with Museum District but know lots of people that live at the Carter near there. Rice Village is really laid back, near Rice University so you're always surrounded by people, and the area is very kind of quaint and "community" feeling.

 

I am a vp at one of the "good" firms listed above and I can provide some color from looking at different analysts go to the buy-side:

Enron,Barclays, MS Evercore Citi, GS, JPM,CS Rest Accurate on Barclays and CS- best option for exits, good deal flow etc

Pretty accurate about UBS, DB, TPH, BAML. You could go to few MM PE funds, impossible to go to some MF in NYC so don't even entertain the thought...

On BMO, Wells, and RBC absolutely correct.. the best exit opps from these firms in the last 3 cycles- BMO: Shell corp dev, Small cap PE, MM HF, MBA @ Rice (early decision) Wells Fargo: small cap energy PE(family business), Exxon corp fin (lateraled from stifel), MBA at UT RBC: UberEats (even lateraled to intrepid partners first), Training the street instructor, Oracle Sales, Shell marketing

TPH is pretty decent in the energy space.

I would highly recommend going to Enron......

 

Currently live in the heights and would echo what has been said thus far. Used to live in the galleria (worked there) which was easy to get to work, but wouldn't suggest as an area to live. I would highly recommend using google maps during peak times just to see if traffic is bad in certain areas (i.e depending where you are on Washington could be further from downtown). I've had a couple of friends that have lived downtown and really enjoyed it (several new buildings).

Would also see that the feel of neighborhoods is quite different between Rice Village, Montrose, Heights, etc.

 

I honestly don't think midtown is as bad as people make it out to be. Yes a lot of people do go out there on the weekends, but once you are in your apartment you can barely tell. I agree with the poster's above that Rice Village, Museum District etc. are all also really great places to live.

One thing that I like about midtown is that I walk to work everyday and Uber back, if I am stuck late. Also if I manage to leave at a decent time, I can always stop at a bar on my walk back.

 

I just moved from Houston and lived in Midtown, Montrose, the Galleria, and Washington during my time there. I highly recommend Montrose and Washington for a recent college grad. Midtown was fun but was really annoying when I was busy on a weekend and had to deal with the noise and traffic of all the bars. I wouldn't do the Galleria ever again unless I worked within a very short distance of the place.

As for Washington, I think the sweet spot is between Heights and the roundabout leading into Memorial. There are some good bars and restaurants in the area and it is really easy to hop on Allen pkwy and be in downtown in only a few minutes with very little chance of traffic.

 

As others have mentioned, I'm a big fan of the Rice Military / Washington area. There are several nice apartment complexes in the area. Commuting to downtown is quick and easy because you just hop on Allen Parkway or Memorial Drive.

Washington Ave. has a lot of cool bars and restaurants. It's also a great midpoint between the Heights / Midtown / Galleria / Uptown. You can get just about anywhere for a reasonable uber fair on the weekends. Another underrated aspect of Rice Military / Washington is that access to the Buffalo Bayou trails and Memorial Park is easy. When you're cooped up all day it's nice to get outside and go on a run and not worry about getting run over.

 

I assume you work in downtown, if thats the case, you should highly look into anywhere along Allan Parkway and Memorial (like sinbad25 said). Although, not too close because Buffalo Bayou does flood (see Harvey pics).

I would draw a circle from the Whole Foods on Waugh and W Dallas and start there though.

 

The Greenway Plaza area is another option to consider. A bit less of a neighborhood feeling, but there are lots of apartments to choose from, a movie theater in the area, places to eat, easy access to Hwy 59 that will take you downtown quickly, and the Galleria area. Lakewood Church is in the area too, so you can go kick it with Joel Osteen on Sundays.

Array
 

Gables River Oaks and Hanover Montrose are two places I could recommend. Rice Village is also great, but Kirby Dr. can be quite backed up during peak hours.

 

They're alright. I think they're a little overpriced for what you get. There are a ton of apartments in that area. I highly recommend taking a full day to go and visit as many as you can. Pictures / websites can be deceiving (not intentionally so). There are some nice newer complexes in the area. Below are a handful from most expensive to least:

Elan memorial park ($$$$) Pearl Washington ($$$) District at Washington ($$) Jefferson Heights ($$) - super close to downtown 24 Eleven Washington ($)

 

Some are saying to avoid the Heights but I would encourage you to still look there. A couple of new apartments have gone up recently that are just north of I-10 (basically the edge of the Heights).

Nice area and easy access to Downtown, Washington, etc.

 

I recently moved to Houston and live in Montrose/edge of Downtown. Would recommend Montrose/River Oaks/Upper Kirby for easiest access to Downtown if you don't want Midtown. Regarding Midtown, I have friends that love and hate it, it's all personal opinion. A roommate is not nice but not necessary, but that may have changed as I moved here pre-Harvey so I don't have as much of a feel for pricing. Feel free to PM me and welcome to Houston!

Array
 

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