What's with all the houses with 8 ft ceilings and carpeted floors in a hot-humid climate? Is it poor planning? Lack of understanding? Immigrant mentality?
Also, Houstonians don't really care about showing off or flaunting their power. With the amount of wealth that Houston has seen over the last 20 years, there is a surprising lack of high-class, large-scale developments. We could have been like a mini-Dubai if we wanted to.
I don't know that it is that so much. Chicago is certainly old, but it had the reputation as a "rough rider" looking city that really sprung up over night. The problem is that the area is old and falling apart, and it not attractive to live in or look at. There are train tracks everywhere, the area is extremely dense to the point that other than a token tiny park, there is no greenery. There is a lot of unemployment and the weather and narrow streets don't help as cars are parked back to back and there is a lot of garbage everywhere. I will say this, downtown Chicago by the Lake is simply amazing and for the rich is a wonderful place to live and visit. I lived on the GC for almost two years. Outside of that? Not so much..... places like Maywood, West Chicago, etc are uglier than the ugliest parts of the Houston. I also agree that Houston has changed a lot the last 20 years.
Clarified. "I have no knowledge of this, but here's my opinion on it." Houston is ugly, but that's OK because it's a place to live, not a place to visit. I agree it's getting better, but it'll never be any kind of destination for travelers, and there's nothing wrong with that. 99% of the cities in the world aren't worth visiting...doesn't make them unlivable.
Common concepts of "beautiful" cities come usually from coastlines and from history. The main parts of Houston are a bit outside of the coast and I can't think of a city that people consider pretty that isn't right up on the water. Plus the city isn't that old, so it doesn't have much of a historic look. That being said, I wouldn't call it ugly. It looks like a lot of other average cities. I would say some of the building in Houston are better looking than other cities, but that's about it.
Never said that those cities don't have there bad spots, as does Houston. Just saying in regards to beauty, those cities definitely have a leg up. Houston suffers from bad city planning and no zoning restrictions.
My problem isn't that the uggos are better looking to me when I am drunk. My problem is I know they are ugly but I just don't care.
Houston is pretty ugly. Not sure why people are defending the city. The entire city is flat...with hideous strip malls everywhere. The only curvy roads are the freaking overpasses/exit ramps. There are some nice neighborhoods here and there but our landscape is ugly and we add nothing to it by building these unattractive buildings.
The problem is the stuff we are building are not going to be historic. 20 years from now...tear it down and build something new..rinse and repeat. We are not building structures that are going to be around for a while.
clearly many of you haven't been to the newly opened (still under construction) river oaks district for luxury shopping, or the revamped buffalo bayou park for outdoor activities. ROD pics Spoiler buffalo bayou Spoiler
I love Houston but I don't live there for a reason. No zoning makes the city look trashy, horrible weather, and you have to 30 mile to do anything. The things I really miss. Nice and friendly people, diversity, sense of community(Katrina), and awesome food.
it would take too long to get an exact number, but there is probably about 300-400 places i would rather live than houston. and one of the biggest reasons i would want to live there would be because my mom lives 40 minutes from the city and i could see rockets games in person. otherwise yah i dunno
