The Economy in Houston

Hello everyone! I'm back after almost two months of caring for a sick loved one. See my other blog, "Frugal, Single Mom" for details.

Houston always has one of those economies that maintains no matter what is happening in the rest of the world. As an almost native Houstonian, it can be depressing at times, because it is hard to maintain friendships when your coworkers are being rotated in and out of jobs every two years. Luckily for me, some of my oil and gas coworkers from years ago have finally landed back in West Houston, and I shake their hands vigorously and get a five minute update whenever I happen to bump into one of them.

The Houston economy, at least in my opinion, is leveling out. I've called one of the local recruiting agencies lately (mainly because I'm so put out with my current job), and was told to "stay put", at least for now. That means, I've got to sit and eat crow for at least another 4 months.

Unleaded gas this week hit $3.50/gallon. My car gets 22 mpg compared to many of my coworkers who get 15 mpg or less because they drive SUVs. When gasoline goes to $4.00/gallon, I told myself that I would start staying at home, walking more, or riding the bus, but the reality becomes that Houston is 2 weeks away from 90F or higher temperatures. Sigh!

All that glitters is not gold. There are a lot of hidden costs to living in Houston...sales tax 8.25%, long commutes to your job (sometimes 60 miles roundtrip per day), high crime rates depending on where you live, TRAFFIC +++ (that's a HUGE understatement), no reliable commuter system, and it's hotter than hell here in the summer time with electric bills at $225.00 + through October.

So, my advice to those who feel lured to move to Houston this summer...stay put! Unless you have a lot of money saved up, have a great car, or are willing to live in substandard housing conditions or overly priced housing (with a high crime rate), don't make the trip.

I'm sure our mayor, who I dearly love, would paint a rosier picture. I'm Houston Proud, but not Houston Stupid. Good luck to everyone during this tricky economy!

Road Construction Everywhere

These days it's not easy to get anywhere in West Houston. The Sam Houston tollway (known as Beltway 8 to locals) @ I-10 has closed access ramps to I-10 through September 2008. This means you can no longer access I-10 in any direction and will have to find an alternative route to the tollway. The olds ramps will be demolished and new ones will be put into place. Opinion: Why didn't Texas DOT make a 40 year plan, instead of allowing that money and structural work to be torn down after only 20 years! I'm mad because they've wasted our tax dollars.

Most roads north and south of I-10 from Highway 6 to the 610 loop are under construction. Be sure to plan an extra 30 - 45 minutes into your schedule should you visit West Houston anytime during 2008.

I-10 Construction Blues: "The Pit"

The local news is calling this intersection "the pit". What am I referring to? The horrible intersection at Interstate 10 West and the Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8).

The old sky high ramps from the Beltway 8 feeding onto I-10 are coming down to make way for new feeder ramps that will accommodate the new eight lane monolith that will eventually become the new I-10.

I don't know why Texas DOT couldn't have planned all of this out 20 years ago, as it seems a HUGE waste of time and money, not to mention a big headache for Houston commuters. I certainly wish that Houston METRO had put a train, monorail or some form of mass transit down one of our busiest corridors. It certainly might have kept me working downtown.

Fellow commuters, plan carefully...this intersection will be "the pits" for approximately the next eight months, and it does flood when we get heavy rains.

For more info, connect to Houston Transtar: ttp://traffic.houstontranstar.org/construction/construction_report.aspx

And I-10 closes again this weekend

Please see last weekend's post for more information. Once again, I will post the link for local traffic info: http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/construction/construction_report.aspx