Living Car Free - Anyone live or lived in Houston, TX?

I am planning to relocate from Phoenix to Houston for work. I'm car-free, and I'd like to know how bike-friendly the city is. I have a copy of Houston's bike system map. It shows an interconnected bike system covering 345 miles. However, that doesn't tell me what reality is. So far I've been told by several people that Houston is far from bike-friendly and that the people do quite a bit of hellish driving.
I was basically told I'd become road pizza.
Is the system map just an illusion? Are things really that bad in Houston?

What is the address of your future place of work?

It's on East 32 1/2 Street, off of Airline.

It can be kind of sketchy in some places but nothing I wouldn't bike through, as far as being car free in Houston I have been doing it about three years and love it. I really couldn't compare car free to other cities since I have only been car free in Houston, and have no plans of moving or buying a car anytime soon. Coming from AZ you will probably get quite a shock June through August from the humidity. As far as drivers go I would really recommend staying inside 610 loop the drivers just seem more used to bikes on the road plus everything is more condensed easier to get to. If I worked out there I would move to the heights which is mainly west of I45 north of I10 and inside 610 really a great neighborhood and my favorite if you haven’t already found a place. This city needs improvement in the bike situation that I will admit but it's really not that bad at all. Have you any ideas on what part of town you will be moving to?

I was car free living in the Heights until moving to Athens, GA, about a year ago. Here are some good things about Houston:

The street are (mostly) a grid, so you have route options in getting from place to place.
The lanes are wide, and major roads have multiple lanes, so you can find your own space in the road.
The terrain is flat, so it's easy to cover long distances.


The Heights is a pleasant set of neighborhoods, and I see (saw) more cyclists there than in any other part of Houston. Roughly, it is the area between I-10 and 610 North, west of Main and east of TC Jester. I used to commute daily from there to the Medical Center, and I would often get groceries from the Whole Foods at the corner of Kirby and Alabama. I did not become pizza. Speaking of pizza, Star Pizza on Washington, just east of Heights Blvd, is very good.

The lanes are wide, and major roads have multiple lanes, so you can find your own space in the road.

Wide lanes are a mixed blessing. Plus: a cyclist can share the lane with a car. Minus: People expect cyclists to share the lane with a car.

We mostly have narrow lanes here in Philly, and there are times it's nice and there are times where wider lanes would be better.

The bike rout map is nice, but aside from some signs on the roads and a few narrow bike lanes the only useful part are the bike trails in the parks. When using the roads it is often feels safer an more convenient to make up your own routes.

that said - I was very pleasantly surprised when I moved to Houston at how friendly the drivers were. I ran into a few inconsiderate people honking at me to get off the road, but in general drivers felt very courteous and safe. There are quite a few bikers within the outer loop, and people seem to be used to the concept of bikes on the road.

Also - Texas law is very biker friendly - the law specifically states that if you feel the lane is not wide enough to share you may take the lane. In addition to this, the wide streets give you more options if something goes wrong.

Most of the larger roads are divided down the middle - meaning it is somewhat safer to pull into the left lane for turns.

The biggest downside is the heat and humidity - I would get completely soaked on my 2 mile zip to school, and I was never there from May through August. Of course I'm from Alaska, so I'm a weenie about heat.

Oh - one other thing - The public transit is pretty minimal - but the bus system does go to both airports and it only costs $1.50. It takes forever but its cheap and easy.

I was car free living in the Heights until moving to Athens, GA, about a year ago. Here are some good things about Houston:

The street are (mostly) a grid, so you have route options in getting from place to place.
The lanes are wide, and major roads have multiple lanes, so you can find your own space in the road.
The terrain is flat, so it's easy to cover long distances.


The Heights is a pleasant set of neighborhoods, and I see (saw) more cyclists there than in any other part of Houston. Roughly, it is the area between I-10 and 610 North, west of Main and east of TC Jester. I used to commute daily from there to the Medical Center, and I would often get groceries from the Whole Foods at the corner of Kirby and Alabama. I did not become pizza. Speaking of pizza, Star Pizza on Washington, just east of Heights Blvd, is very good.

I second what Scout says. The further outside the 610 Loop the dicier it gets; however, the west side specifically the Spring Branch/Memorial area is also fairly accessible. Although I'm not completely car free I live just off of Westview and Gessner and I commute to Texas Southern University which is over on the east side. I also find downtown as well as the medical center accessible. The area where I live has four grocery stores under 5 miles from me, two hospitals within a half-mile (Memorial Hermann affiliates) and two bicycle stores ( Sun and Ski Sports in Memorial City Mall and Spring Valley cycles over by Memorial Senior High School.). If I put forth some effort I could be car free and somebody who already is should have no problems living in this same area.

Now anyone living south of me in the neighborhood behind Memorial Hermann Memorial City hospital (This would be the neighborhoods residing south of I-10, west of Gessner, north of Memorial Drive, and east of Beltway 8) really have it made when it comes to grocery stores as they have a Randalls and a Rice Epicurean backing right up to the neighborhoods so that there's no need to go on any major road to get groceries.:love::D:lol::eek:

So nostalgic did you move to houston and what part if you did? I would really be intrested in hearing a comparison coming from Phoenix?

It's nice to see others from Houston in this forum. I moved down from New England in August and I've been finding it pretty tough to adapt to the heat/humidity (that was a brutal first month), the dreadful drivers and their general hostility/ignorance towards cyclists. I'm getting more used to it, but I have to admit it: I hate living in Houston.

Winter is the Best Season Here.
Rode 90 mi yesterday.
80 mi today. 80*temps in Dec. You got to love that.

It's nice to see others from Houston in this forum. I moved down from New England in August and I've been finding it pretty tough to adapt to the heat/humidity (that was a brutal first month), the dreadful drivers and their general hostility/ignorance towards cyclists. I'm getting more used to it, but I have to admit it: I hate living in Houston.

It will take awhile, but you'll get to like it.:D