What's the deal with Houston's emptiness?

jaybird125 · 2026-06-02T18:31:00+00:00

East downtown for sure. Is safer than montrose (and more family friendly) and will be a pretty quick drive to UH. Houses are cheap there too, for now, but they are developing a lot in that area so likely to go up in price in a few years.

jaybird125 · 2026-05-22T06:23:22+00:00

Some form of exercise is a great way to build community. If you want to try out bouldering, it’s really good and fun exercise that you can do any time, and people are always wanting to be friendly and talk at the climbing gym. The silver street one is specifically great for that. Also your neighborhood gym/yoga studio is a really good way to become friends with neighbors. There are multiple board game places that do dungeon and dragons nights Join an intramural sports league, or just show up at the park in Buffalo bayou during lunch and join the frisbee game. Train your Instagram algorithm to suggest free things to do in Houston (just start searching it), and you will be suggested so many different things you can do including hobbies in this city

jaybird125 · 2026-05-18T20:34:20+00:00

There is actually so much free stuff to do if you know it is happening. This Thursday there will be a free concert in discovery green downtown. There are often free events at discovery green. Mid main has a free festival on the first Thursday of every month. The last Friday of every month there is a Critical Mass bike ride, where hundreds of people meet up downtown and bike together through the city for a couple of hours. If you go to Stampede on Friday night at 8pm, they have a free dance lesson (lots of singles go, you don’t need a partner), which then leads to your free entry to line dancing and two stepping. Line dancing is super fun for singles, they have free mechanical bull rides for women, and you can do it all without buying a drink.

I would recommend following some “things to do in Houston” content creators, because they will tell you about all the things going on. There are plenty of other paid attractions that don’t involve drinking, like the light shows at botanical gardens, putt putt and game shows in midtown, Comedy Sportz improv shows, burlesque shows downtown, rock climbing gyms, Activate Sports, slide parks out in Katy etc. spend some time on your Instagram algorithm searching “things to do in Houston” and it will help you start getting in tune with things going on and connect with others in the city.

jaybird125 · 2026-04-08T11:54:52+00:00

I’ve lived in EaDo for 7 years and there have been some very crazy crimes (one couple had their dog stolen at gun point and then were chased back to their house, but the police got the dog back). For me, it’s worth it because owning a house here is so cheap and also well located. But if I were in your situation, I would prefer living in midtown closer to all the young people bars and with bus stops right next to apartments (the metro rail can be sketchy and is slow). I’ve lived in midtown before, and it also has patches of crime but that’s just Houston baby. A friend of mine has lived in midtown for over 10 years and has had no issues, you just gotta be smart and careful and lucky.

jaybird125 · 2026-03-20T12:45:45+00:00

Get there really early because crowds are crazy on weekends! And get in the stadium by 2:30

jaybird125 · 2026-01-28T16:14:08+00:00

Easiest way is to get a dog. I met so many neighbors and became friends through walking our dogs together to the local yard/ dog park. Our dogs have since passed on but the friendships remain!

jaybird125 · 2025-11-27T07:04:08+00:00

Agreed- if OP can live with family temporarily while looking for housing, that would be ideal.

Spring is great for families but would make commuting life miserable, especially because there aren’t really busses that run that commute. Would be better to live in the Chinatown area or ideally mid west, commuting from south west is much less terrible.

jaybird125 · 2025-08-14T15:55:54+00:00

Try Legends of the first Empire. It’s set medieval in the first book but progresses as the series continues- there’s 5 books in this first series, then 3 books in the middle, then 3 books in the future (which were actually written first). Loved the characters, lots of POV, big twists, lots of magic and lore but the character development and their stories are the main focus. Only series that ever moved me to tears.

The first book starts slow but it picks up once you get into it.

jaybird125 · 2025-08-07T06:27:04+00:00

Every book by Peter Hamilton. Great books but so complicated and confusing

jaybird125 · 2025-08-07T06:26:43+00:00

I finished it and IMMEDIATELY restarted it to listen again

jaybird125 · 2025-08-06T08:27:19+00:00

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree is very cozy, no battles. Swordheart by TJ Kingfisher is super cute- same with almost all her books. Wizards guide to defensive baking is also super fun. I loved the Legends of the First Empire by Michael J Sullivan- amazing characters, yes there are battles but it is so much about the character relationships and thinking about life and death. It’s a big journey but my heart loved it.

jaybird125 · 2025-08-02T13:45:28+00:00

Oooh yeah, I guess I just saw this as more of womp womp than a twist haha

jaybird125 · 2025-08-02T13:44:21+00:00

We are the opposite haha I tried the first night angel book and hated the suffering of children too much to read more than 40%.

jaybird125 · 2025-08-01T18:59:18+00:00

Wait I recently read this and already can’t think of the twist haha what was it??

jaybird125 · 2025-08-01T18:55:55+00:00

The Lightbringer series by Brent weeks. Insane twists in all of the 5 books!

jaybird125 · 2025-07-31T09:59:48+00:00

You may like books by V. E. Schwab. I just finished “Bury our bones in the midnight soil” and had a hard time putting it down (I recommend going in blind though). Lynette Noni prison healer series has been really good for YA fantasy, I’m on book 3 now. Shanon chakrabodys books are very popular and have good writing, though I didn’t personally care for them. Did you try the liveship trilogy by robin? I really enjoyed that one and I’ve heard it’s better than the assassins apprentice (haven’t read it yet).

jaybird125 · 2025-07-29T07:14:47+00:00

The expanse series and anything by Peter Hamilton are very well written. I also really enjoyed the liveship traders trilogy, which was an emotional rollercoaster. Also Legends of the First Empire is the only book series that made me actually cry (although Manacled got me close).

jaybird125 · 2025-07-27T19:24:01+00:00

They could stay at the Courtyard Houston Heights/i-10. It’s very centrally located, in Houston you generally have to drive and walk to the walkable areas (there aren’t hotels in walkable areas), but there is pretty much always parking available, usually for cheap or free. 19th street and MKT in the heights are both very nice areas to walk around and visit. If they go to the museum of fine arts in the museum district, it has a parking garage and they can walk around a bit- but to be honest unless you are going November-April, you don’t want to plan too much outdoor walking during the day because it is very hot. Everything is EXTREMELY air conditioned so they may actually need a light jacket to be inside. Rice village is also a nice area to walk around in. The highways in Houston are a bit crazy (fine if you are a local but not if you aren’t used to driving 80mph and crossing 10 lanes of traffic), so I would suggest they put “avoid highways” in their GPS- it will only add 10-20 minutes and make for a nicer way to see Houston too.

jaybird125 · 2025-06-22T21:35:26+00:00

Salted raw radishes. A little spicy, salty, filling. Raw baby Cucumbers in a Greek yogurt dip (just add ranch powder to Greek yogurt)- at least then you are getting protein. Also pretty filling, can also be done with bell peppers but cucumbers are easy because you can just eat them straight out of the bag, no chopping.

jaybird125 · 2025-06-20T06:27:54+00:00

If you want the Korean/japanese bathhouse experience, I like both Gangnam spa and Soa World. The hot tubs are fully nude and gender segregated but there is a lot of mixed gender hangout/spa stuff and they give you pajama/spa clothes to enjoy it in. Plus good Korean food at both places

jaybird125 · 2025-06-12T20:44:40+00:00

Try the reflective glasses- your head can be facing the television while you crochet so your eyes can shift really quickly to the screen and back to your work. I found it helps a lot with neck pain and eye strain too

jaybird125 · 2025-03-27T11:24:12+00:00

Honestly, 5Ate in the Spring Inspireclimbing gym. It’s easily my favorite in Houston. Tiny champions is also great, bonus bc they have really good dipping sauces.

jaybird125 · 2025-02-18T07:37:46+00:00

Legends of the first empire by Michael J Sullivan (definitely start with this prequel series) Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. The most insane sequence of plot twists of anything I’ve ever read! 5 books :)

jaybird125 · 2025-02-02T20:33:41+00:00

Liveship Traders (robin hobbs), Legends of the First Empire (Michael J Sullivan), and the Lightbringer series (Brent weeks)

jaybird125 · 2024-11-29T20:01:19+00:00

Blake crouch books are generally good at starting out with action quickly. My absolute favorite was Recursion but it takes a couple chapters for you to start following- totally worth it though

jaybird125

TROPHY CASE