One of my best friends just took a GREAT job within the Rice Athletic Department. It was a promotion in comparison to his former job at UVA, and he left for Houston today.

He is a little worried about the fact that he doesn't know but a couple people in the area. He is renting some really nice apartment a couple miles from campus.

Any suggestions/recommendations I could pass along to him about the area surrounding campus?

BTW... the first time I heart him "Hoot"... I nearly spit my drink out. Haha It's weird, because he went to ECU and is the biggest ECU fan I know... going to be strange going to another C-USA program.

I am excited for him, and Rice just picked up a guy with "Future AD" written all over him.

The Rice campus is bordered to the east by the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex. On the west side of the campus is Rice Village, an eclectic/upscale mix of shops and restaurants within walking distance to the school. To the north and the south of the campus are beautiful residential neighborhoods with tree-lined streets. A light rail line is located on one side of campus with easy access to downtown (Theater district, Market Square, Toyota Center, Dynamo Stadium, Minute Maid Park), midtown (lots of bars and restaurants), the museum district (also walking distance from campus), and Reliant Stadium. Nearby is a large urban park with a zoo, outdoor theater, and public golf course. Also within 5-10 miles of campus is the Montrose area, Galleria area, the Heights, Upper Kriby, Washington Ave.

He's in or near one of the most diverse and exciting and frankly, upscale parts of any town anywhere in an area of perhaps 6 million people now. It will be very hard for him not to find his place in town, no matter what it is.

The worst things about Houston are the humidity and the traffic. From where he is, he can avoid most of the traffic and there are worse things than humidity.

Congratulations to your friend. As for being such a huge ECU fan, we will fix that. Everyone makes mistakes just kidding

Tell him he needs a car. You can't live in Houston without a car. And an AC. The car needs a really good AC.

(07-31-2013 03:06 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  He's in or near one of the most diverse and exciting and frankly, upscale parts of any town anywhere in an area of perhaps 6 million people now. It will be very hard for him not to find his place in town, no matter what it is.

The worst things about Houston are the humidity and the traffic. From where he is, he can avoid most of the traffic and there are worse things than humidity.

Congratulations to your friend. As for being such a huge ECU fan, we will fix that. Everyone makes mistakes just kidding

This. Houston is just so diverse. He will definitely be able to find what he likes and what he'd like to explore.

I agree with the posters who mentioned 'car' and 'getting around Houston'. My first two years on campus, I did not have a car, and I definitely did not get around as much. Public transport in Houston sucks - it's never on time, and sometimes, you have two buses that were supposed to be 45 minutes apart that show up at the same time.

That said, if you live along the one lightrail that they currently have, it's not so bad - easy access to downtown bars/nightlife and a bunch of apartments along the TMC/Rice corridor. The trendy midtown area can be easily accessed via the McGowen station and I have friends who graduated with me that currently live there.

However, with this system, you can only begin to scratch the surface of what Houston has to offer. The city seems to have a bad reputation in the US based on my experience (I've traveled to more than 30 of the states), but it's really a lot cooler than people say it is - that is, if you can get over the summer humidity. The bright side is, when winter comes, you will be guaranteed NOT to have skin issues due to the humidity.

Houston grows on people. I knew Freshman at Rice from the NE that hated it, but by graduation they became boosters and never left.

(07-31-2013 03:22 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Tell him he needs a car. You can't live in Houston without a car.

Presumably he already has one. As a practical matter, a car would be needed for just about anyone who works in college athletics just about anywhere, with the obvious exception of the very few places where keeping a car is virtually impossible.

Quote:And an AC. The car needs a really good AC.

For Pete's sake, he's coming from Virginia/North Carolina, not some backward place like Maine or France! Give the guy some credit.

(07-31-2013 02:52 PM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  He is a little worried about the fact that he doesn't know but a couple people in the area.

Encourage him to at least lurk here in the Parliament.
Even if his job precludes active participation, he can PM us to pick our brains.