Houston or New Orleans?

[GermanCdn]

So seeing as winter has dragged on far beyond reasonable expectations up here in the Great White North, I flipped off my resume to a large oil and gas producer in the Deep South, thinking it's time to move somewhere warmer.  Within 20 minutes (I kid you not) I get a call and they want to talk money (be careful what you wish for).

The options are either living in Houston or New Orleans.  We'd probably choose Houston as the default, as my wife's company has an office down there so she could likely get transferred.

So looking for some feedback on which city would be better to live in, if we chose to go that route.  And, of course, which one has better guitar stores.

[gtr2]

New Orleans is hurricane territory...

[GermanCdn]

Yup, that's what my wife said as well.  Over, and over, and over again.

[whitebread47]

I'll offer some opinions, but bear in mind I have nothing like a comprehensive view of either city.  Being close enough, I've been to both a number of times.

As far as being a city is concerned, I like Houston more.  The traffic can be bad, and so can New Orleans traffic, but the difference I've experienced is that Houstonians know how to drive in traffic.  Us Louisianians are generally terrible drivers....let a storm come through and we get exponentially worse at knowing how to drive.  Comments from people all across the nation who visit here confirm this.

I can't comment on the guitar stores, as I usually just went to the nearest Guitar Center in Houston and have yet to visit a shop in NO.

Of course, if a major interest of yours is culture, New Orleans is the way to go.  That place is steeped in all sorts of culture with amazing musical styles and an intriguing homage to the early days of the Big Easy by way of voodoo and other cross-cultural traditions.

[derevaun]

Houston isn't exactly invulnerable to hurricanes either, but New Orleans is certainly closer to the gulf and lower in elevation.

Both areas have serious sprawl, and your particular commutes will be a big determiner of quality of life, IMHO. New Orleans' more pleasant neighborhoods are also a pain to drive in and out of, especially if you'll be commuting across the river.

If you have kids, the school situations are rather different too--contentious subject that I'll avoid here, but it's worth investigating as part of the choice of cities.

Naturally, both cities are de facto stops on just about any tour. I think New Orleans would get the edge for a cool local music scene, but maybe not by much.

[Bret608]

As a Louisiana native myself (and having lived in the northern and southern areas of the state), I have to concur with whitebread47. It all depends what you're after in a city I guess. Houston is more well-rounded for a family, I'd say. In New Orleans, elite privelege has a huge impact on the city geography and vibe.

I've lived outside the South for about 18 years now (NYC and now Wisconsin), but in my memory N.O. does have some cool guitar stores. This is all pre-Katrina memory, of course. You never could beat the place for restaurants. I still have vivid memories of particular meals!

[timbo_93631]

Houston is a nice place to be in Texas, you can drive to Austin real easy and see that whole music scene and supporting gear peddlers or drive the other direction to NO and get that whole world or keep going to see the deep south.

[glowsheep]

What do you do in the oil industry? I work for a company that sells aftermarket repair parts for the blow out preventers. I'll actually be in Houston in May for their big oil show.
I've been to Houston a couple times, never been to New Orleans, so I can't really compare. I will say that everytime I've been to Houston, it's been enjoyable. I'd really like to be able to spend more time there so i can go check out Dallas and Austin.

[GermanCdn]

I do absolutely nothing in the oil and gas world, which makes this so funny.  However, I do work with port loading and unloading equipment, which is what they're looking for (for a coal handling project I suspect).

Looks like Houston wins out with the wife.  Now we just have to see if the money lands.  Seen the benefits package, suspecting they're going to miss the mark by a good 30%, but we'll see.

[BraindeadAudio]

H town bud, I live in Austin and let me tell you between H town and here there are deals on guitar gear like you have never seen in your life. Ive seen 70s les paul customs sell for 1300$ and Marshall Super leads for 900$ Be warned NOLA is getting robbed waiting to happen and Houston is like a sweltering jungle.

[GermanCdn]

So it looks like there's no decision to be made, New Orleans is now the mandate.  So not moving there.

Judging by how much I've posted today and considering I'm at work, I must be really tired of the current job.

[Haberdasher]

I freakin love New Orleans, myself.  Much more unique and has a small town feel to it.  GREAT food.
Tons more people in H-town though.

[billstein]

Houston Rockets or New Orleans "Pelicans"... Just saying.