Honestly, I'd rather live in Houston than Dallas, probably, but I'd get bored with Houston, too. I lived there for over 20 years. It was great when I was younger, but I guess I'd rather live more peacefully without having an hour drive to work, have land, and actually hear nature when I go into my backyard instead of traffic, or something. The one thing I regret is I may never own season tickets to the Rockets. For me, there's not really all that much difference between Dallas and Houston. I'm even contemplating saying I can put up with snow to broaden my search. lol. It's the only reason why I've thrown parts of Colorado into the mix. I don't mind cold - I just never really liked snow and ice all that much. Dallas is pretty much a donut. A ton of suburbs surrounding a city. Although the donut-hole has been improving and people are going towards the center more now that it takes forever to get out to the burbs. Houston's the opposite in that regard. It just kept/keeps growing and growing. When I see people talking about the flooding getting worse in Houston due to [insert reason here], I keep thinking of all the people (including me) thinking that the hail storms and severe t-storms that plague the city seeming to get worse and more frequent every year. The hail storms and tornadic activity around here the past few years seem to be closing in on me. lol.
Yeah Houston's not perfect but I'd rather much be in Houston than NYC any day. Bottom line is I am going to stay to make Houston a better fix rather than run away
Before everyone jumps on Judo, imagine how depressing it is for former residents to watch the news coverage. Harvey has truly been a catastrophe, as we've all seen play out, and while I also disagree that Houston will fall prey to what befell Galveston after the Storm, he has a point. Below is a description of Galveston just before the 1900 Storm. The city was never the same again, with 6,000 to 8,000 having died out of a population of 37,000 (no exact number was ever established). Houston, with the dredging of the Ship Channel, saw an opportunity and quickly surpassed Galveston as the state's leading port. Many view New Orleans after Katrina the way Galveston has been seen since 1900, in my opinion. Still a wonderful place, but not what it once was. As an aside, my grandmother was a child living in the Heights during the 1900 Storm and remembered it well. Houston was also hard hit. Spoiler Before the storm In the years before the great storm of Sept. 8, 1900, Galveston had grown from a small settlement on the Texas coast into one of the wealthiest cities in the country. Its natural deepwater channel made Galveston the most important seaport in Texas. Trains carried cargo to and from the port, and ships traveled across the seas. In fact, more than 70 percent of the country's cotton crop at the time passed through the port of Galveston, and some 1,000 ships called on the port annually. The wealthy from throughout the state and country visited Galveston to bathe in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The shallow waters made it easy for bathers to wade safely several yards offshore and enjoy what was considered to be a therapeutic bathing in the Gulf. At the time, the entire stretch of the beach was level with the surf. The Beach Hotel, which burned before the 1900 Storm, was a vacation destination. The city was home to about 37,000 people. Galveston, with its wealth and prosperity, was home to numerous firsts for the state, such as first electricity and first telephones. But the same characteristics that made the city attractive to its residents and guests left it vulnerable to disaster. "That same proximity to the sea that made Galveston prosper changed Galveston forever," said Macdonald, a descendent of a 1900 Storm survivor and author of a driving tour about the history of the storm. http://www.1900storm.com/storm/storm2.html
You pay a big city price for these amenities if you live in the city. I never understood why people call Houston cheap, particularly during the past 5-7 years. Sure, if you live out in the suburbs you get a lot for your money. But that's any suburb of any big city. People who live in places like Woodbridge, NJ can buy a 3,000 square foot house for probably the same price as Sugar Land or The Woodlands. Close-in neighborhoods aren't necessarily cheap, especially when you add property taxes into the mix.
The reason why Houstonians put up with the unbearable heat and humidity, the frustrating sports teams, and the natural disasters is because of the people who live there. You'll never find better people. People are what make a crummy city a home.
I think a lot of people discount what this city and its people have done. Look, this the biggest natural disaster in a very long time on U.S. soil. I am of the opinion that the cost of this when it all comes out will be higher than Katrina. We've had: minimal deaths minimal looting minimal social unrest That's more than most cities could probably say. And that's a testament to the character of the people here and the city itself. People aren't going wild at GRB or any other shelters. Neighbors are helping neighbors. People who have lost so much are taking it in stride and seeing what they can do to help themselves and others. There is very little selfishness and a lot of care being spread. That's what makes this city what it is. I can't imagine being anywhere else during a disaster like this and things being so calm and coordinated.
Houston was already larger than Galveston before the storm and had other small cities around it that it later annexed (so the overal pop was even higher). Galveston's peak population came later in the 1950s and 1960s. And New Orleans hadnt been a good business city for decades before Katrina. The energy industry had already been moving offices from New Orleans to Houston well before Katrina. Galveston would have been better of without the storm but I think Houston was already destined to be the big city in SE Texas. Its too bad the people in Galveston didnt heed those warnings before this storm. Not knowing what these things were back then was probably scary as hell.
I think anyone who isn't in Houston or isn't connected to Houston has been subjected to media sensationalism. Don't get me wrong, this is a ****ing disaster unlike anything ever seen, but I have had relatives comment to me that they saw the news and thought the entire city had been wiped out or something. Houston will remain as resilient as ever. The underappreciated backbone of America.
Houston has the largest medical center in the world, Nasa, a thriving business market....it's nothing like Glaveston. It will be fine.
Four hours ago, I drove 20 miles each way on 59 between the Williams Trace exit in Sugar Land and the Main Street exit near the Museum District. It's unreal that I didn't see a single stretch of flooded land, either on freeway or the streets I passed. Counting my blessings.
Hey guys, sorry Im new here, not really sure where to post but Im out of town currently and haven't really been able to get any updates as both my neighbors that im friends with are out of town. My only sources have been twitter and instagram and im not sure how reliable those are bc some have flooded houses and others do not but I have a home in the rice village area, how is that area? Most of my friends live inside the loop and they're all telling me its way worse on the news than it is in real life and some were out having dinner in montrose tonight! So whats the real story inside the loop? I've been living out of town for the last few years for work but I still have my property in houston and was just curious how bad it really was in the rice village area. Thank you again.
I hope Houston survives, but I know with me, I've lived in Houston my entire life till work sent me to florida for a couple years. Something is different now, it seems that we have a once in a lifetime flood every year now. My entire family is back in houston but I think im going to look to sell my home as soon as the market stabilizes, maybe it has already. I would like to buy a condo instead, I dont mind less space if it means 0% it floods. I think we're going to see alot more condos emerge in the coming years as people tire of owning homes with high flood risk. Other major cities people live in condos mostly and houston we all have sprawling homes and yards, I think the single family home market in houston is definitely going to take a hit and I could see condos soar in price.
Thank you Deckard and I admit that it I am getting a little depressed seeing all the media coverage, reading all the stats about rain, and also reading all of the stories of people being flooded out. This thread wasn't meant to crap on Houston and I certainly am proud of all the work being done by people in Houston to help each other out. I wouldn't be working on putting together my own relief efforts to come and help if I didn't think Houston and Houstonians had the spirit to come back. That said even accepted that the media does exagerate I don't think we should kid ourselves about the scope of this disaster. I was in NOLA after Katrina and saw first hand what can happen to a flooded city. Granted that Houston isn't NOLA and Houston has resources that NOLA didn't this will still be a long and difficult recovery. A significant portion of the city won't be livable possibly for months. The loss of productivity and dislocated population will have an impact on the economy. While also resources going to rebuilding and recovery rather than new development will stump Houston's physical and economic growth. What plays out at the federal level and with the pace of private donations will also tell a lot about how quickly Houston recovers. At the moment there are a lot of unkowns and challenges still ahead for Houston. I certainly hope Houston will remain the 4th largest city with diverse and vibrant population and economy. I will do my part to help.
He wants to tie his damn Wall to infrastructure. Unless he separates that from the bill.........won't happen.
Houston will be fine. California has earthquakes, wildfires, and mudslides. NYC and Boston have blizzards. Chicago has Blizzards and BITTER winters. Miami has hurricanes. Every large city has SOMETHING. Houston is no different.
I predict the same percentage of people who say I can't handle the flooding and move will be in line with all the celebrities that moved to Canada after Trump won
Honestly if electric and hybrid cars are ever a ****ing problem then we are the problem. All this pollution and excess drilling is only making the temperatures and humidity worse. Houston was not nearly this humid in the early to mid 90s, now it is reaching unlivable temperatures and humidity. So many major corporations want headquarters in Houston but the weather is so hot and humid that they end up moving to other cities in Texas such as Dallas and Austin.
