I left Houston for a small Texas town. Now I own a house, my kids like it more, I feel safer, and my neighbors are like family.

• Quiana Darling lived in a rental in a dicey Houston neighborhood with her two sons.
• The 29-year-old single mother felt unsafe and decided to move to Katy, a suburb, in August.
• She bought her first home for $324,000, put her kids in a good school, and has neighbors like family.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Quiana Darling, 29, who, along with her two sons, left  Houston for Katy, Texas, in 2023, to escape the city's high housing costs and crime. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.

I had no family in Houston, it was just me and my kids.