What do I need to take with me when I move to Houston this summer?!?!?

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Chuck C

April is usually the greatest weather month in Houston along with maybe October. June is statisticly the wettest month with July a close second. Thus the extreme humidity making a 92 degree day feel like 105! Though these showers are usually limited to when it gets real hot and gulf showers develope around 3-5 in the afternoon, not all day. Bring plenty of shorts and tank tops maybe. Take in a few games at Minute Maid park, enjoy the walks in the park, if you like golf you will love it here. And as the rest of us, PRAY FOR NO HURRICANES THIS YEAR!!!

melp1010

If someone tells you that you need tall boots they have never ever been to Houston! It SOMETIMES floods in areas, but unless you are planning to go walking through the flood, which would be silly, you wont need them. It wont flood in the area you will be in.
You need an umbrella anywhere you live! A regular one will be just fine.
Plan on bringing all the things you use in California... you don't need anything special!

William K

Geta backpack for your books. Scotchguard it.

As for umbrellas, they are of limited use. Some of the afternoon "showers" are accompanied by 50 knot winds. Then the sun is shining fifteen minutes later and all you're left with is puddles and humidity.

Tall boots will be of limited use. If you know you will be going out on a rainy day to school, wear tennis shoes or flip flops.

sweetmommy

A good backpack and a normal,folding umbrella and you will be fine. Mosquito spray might come in handy too.
It is horribly hot and humid in the summer but everyone has blasting air conditioners so you might want to bring a light sweater!
It is gorgeous here today. We are supposed to have a high of 80 with no humidity.

DCDARLING

You don't need tall boots, and you will rarely need an umbrella... Actually the rainy season is April, during the summer you will be PRAYING for rain, it get so hot... you will need SUNCREEN, your bathing suit, and lots of shorts and tank tops... or and red bull to study

Flip flops are your best bet. I don't feel like it rains all that much, but flip flops are perfect for hot, humid weather AND rain. Just make sure your flip flops don't get all slippery when your feet get wet, thats always a nightmare.. Boots are a really bad idea, the idea of wearing boots in the summer here makes me want to die. It's way too hot and sticky for boots! And umbrellas have always been more of a hassel to me because the distances from your car to a covered area are so small that its not even worth getting the umbrella out, and you get more wet hanging out of your car and trying to open it.
Considering you're going to be living in the downtown area.. I would consider getting some pepper spray. It can be kind of dangerous and you want to be on the safe side..

mamarivers

Flip flops are better than boots. Boots are too hot. A normal umbrella will be fine. You may want it to be compact so you can stick it in your purse because you never know when the rain will strike. Just bring everything you would use in Cali. Sunglasses, sunscreen, tank tops, shorts, bathing suit. Summer staples at it's best! Welcome to Texas and good luck with school!

BudgieTweet

Umbrella, good shoes--and lots of drinking water, lol. May want to get flood atural disaster insurance as well. Sunscreen, hatcap, mosquito repellents, cold weather and warm weather and in-between weather clothes! "If you don't like the weather in TX, wait five minutes, it'll change!"

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OMG I'm from San Diego and I moved to Houston, TX 2 years ago. I hated it!!! Good luck! Other people already answered your questions sooo there's no point on telling you what to bring, lol.

PS Oh and watch out for bad drivers!

Maverick

bring an airboat, and a Hummer

chocolatebee

last summer it rained 95% of the time. it was the wettest summer i can remember. it sucked. it does rain a lot and houston is flood and hurricane prone. i noticed that you post a lot of questions here. i know one was about renting an apt in houston so i know this may be a bit off the subject and i dont know if anyone has mentioned it yet but i would also suggest you get rental insurance for your apt. it can come in handy here in houston. good luck

Rooster Booster

Houston is, indeed, very hot and steamy. You'll want lots of casual clothes. T-shirts, shorts. Midtown is the most walker-friendly neighborhood of Houston, so take some good walking shoes as well.

Houston does have more than its share of heavy rain and thunderstorms. For all the years I lived there though, I never owned any rubber boots. Some cheap Walmart sneakers are fine. You can hose them out and dry them by hanging them outside the window so that's what I recommend.

A strong but lightweight umbrella (the kind you can fold up and put in your purse or backpack) is definitely a good investment. You'll want to carry it with you everywhere since you never know when there'll be a tropical downpour.

Houston's a great place for food. Just about every genre is present. Midtown has some particularly nice Vietnamese options. Mai's on Milam is fantastic an surprisingly affordable. Langford's (tucked away on a little side street off Bagby near Westheimer) has the to-die-for burgers and their enchiladas are an institution.

The Montrose neighborhood is close by with its gay chic and nightlife. My two favorite all-time restaurants are in the Montrose: Katz's Deli, New York kosher food with a Texas twist (the Rueben is stupendous and the Strawberry Cheesecake milkshake is marketed as "A Heart Attack In A Glass"); and, Niko Niko's, the best Greek food outside of Athens. The lemon chicken soup will knock your socks off and the Philly Cheesesteak is legendary. The late Marvin Zindler (restaurant cleanliness critic extrordinaire) had Niko Niko's perpetually on his list of cleanest and most delicious places to dine in all of Houston (Marvin was, incidentally, something of a local legend. He's the reporter that broke the story of the Chicken Ranch, a brothel located a short drive away in Sealy and LaGrange, Texas. In the movie, "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas," Marvin's character was portrayed by none other than Dom DeLouise. The Chicken Ranch, by the way, since relocated to Pahrump, Nevada, outside of Vegas, where it operates LEGALLY to this very day).

You'll also have access to the light rail, so can probably avoid driving most of the time if you really want to. However, Houston is built for drivers so to go exploring, you just HAVE to have a car.

Car insurance tends to be quite expensive in Texas. Be prepared for that. But gas is a little cheaper in Texas than it is in California (though maybe not as much as you'd think).

Galveston, the nearest beach city - about an hour south - is a fun day trip. There's interesting old architecture and you can almost feel time slow down when you go over the causeway. Just don't expect great beaches. The water in this part of the Gulf is pretty murky (it's not necessarily polluted, it's just a very rainy area and lots of mud washes into the ocean here). Also, Austin's only about 3 hours away and is everything Houston isn't: beautiful, quirky, liberal, hilly, fun and fashionable with more live music venues than New York City. Look out for the bumper stickers that say "Keep Austin Weird."

Finally, don't be shocked when you start seeing the "W 2004" bumper stickers here and there. They're not nearly as common as they used to be considering Bush's nose-dive in the polls, but some high-haired old Republican types still have them tacked onto their Suburbans and F-150s and will be voting reich-wing come hell or high water.

Enjoy!

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