Haffrung Helleyes
First Post
If you move to Houston, be prepared for pollution, mosquitos, and cockroaches.
Ken
Ken
I was hoping you'd weigh in, as I remembered you had a similar situation. I noticed you didn't volunteer for OwlCon to get your free t-shirt and admission.jeffh said:Rice is an awesome school but I can't say I'm wild about the gaming scene - from that point of view I would have guessed that Seattle would be by far your best choice. There's a small annual gaming con on campus, which is fun but nothing special as such things go, and you would be close to a decent gaming store though their product knowledge on the roleplaying end of things leaves something to be desired.
As a philosophy grad student, all I can say about our compsci department is that I know our main logic guy has a lot of respect for some of the profs (and teaches some courses, e.g. on Godel's theorem and its implications, that compsci students might be interested in).
The best things about Houston are that you have no seriously cold winter weather, and that there are lots of big, cheap, reasonably nice apartments convenient to the Rice campus (e.g. in the Medical Center area). (The Rice campus itself is gorgeous and must get an honourable mention there.) The worst things about Houston are the ridiculously hot, humid summer weather and the extreme difficulty of getting around without a car. Except right around Rice itself, people simply don't walk in this town - sidewalks are an afterthought and tend to end for no reason or have inexplicable gaping holes.
My take:Boss said:To put things in perspective on previous comments... pollution isn't that bad, unless you are on the east side of town near the ship channel and various plants in Pasadena, then it is horrendous. Mosquitos, Cockroaches, and various other insects can get bad, and yes, they tend to be bigger in Texas (Houston was built on a swamp, so what do you expect). One negative is the gaming stores... really only one major one left in Houston, Nan's. Fortunately, it is extremely close to Rice so that is a plus for consideration.
Galethorn said:Some blame the lack of decent, centrally located game stores, but I think it has more to do with the way the area is divided up more between 'cities within a city,' like Bellevue, Kirkland, Ballard, and so on, as well as the different parts of Seattle proper; to get from one part of the area to another, you have to go through the narrow passage between the lake and the harbor, which happens to be where downtown and its associated traffic is nestled. Sure, a lot of people travel through the morass to get to and from work, but a lot of people simply avoid leaving their area on their days off.
Actually, there've been a lot of muggings around the Rice campus recently. And, going back over the last year, more mysterious disappearances and deaths than my (Canadian, I admit) sensibilities would lead me to expect, though no-one American seems to think the rate is alarmingly out of the ordinary. It's been a wonderful, positive place for me personally, but outside the circles I spend my time in some weird stuff seems to happen.frankthedm said:i'd feel safer going to school in Texas.