droxford, excellent summary. I forgot about the cockroaches. I lived in apartsments most of the time in Houston and never got away from them - even when I had almost no possessions to move. Never saw them again after moving to Austin or Silicon Valley. Of course other southern parts of the US have the exact same problem. Agree with you on Dallas, but have only spent about a week there so can't give a complete shake down like I can on Houston or Austin.
Be thankful for what you have... Atleast you guys dont have to live in Richmond, VA. There is ONE big street here(broad stree), and everything is on that street. all the way from downtown to the west end. IT sucks assss. "hey where do you live?". "right off of broad" "well doesent everybody" Stupid small city, No sports teams I wish I was in Houston. It would add one more Rocket fan in the stadium, I'll tell ya that.
I'm guessing that if the strip centers are gone away with that there would thousands and thousands of unemployed people. There not much to look at but people do have to work.
So...good place to live, not that good place to visit! So Houston sucks..but other cities suck more! I think traffic is improving..always new construction though. I love our city....the only thing I don't like is all the crime...that's sad. But every city has crime.. yep droxford good post!
I don't mean to take a shot at civic pride, but I think that people should note that plenty of cities that don't have the ( I am assuming) noticeable negatives of Houston also manage to have nice people, good restaurants, etc. Not taking a position on Houston, just pointing out a logical flaw that seems to be being overlooked.
I love Houston! I'll be living here for at least four more years, no matter what any ****ty journalist says!
That's what I have for you WSJ. A big, fat, . Have another. I would rather live in Houston, with it's gorgeous skyline, brand new facilities for Astros-Texans-Rockets, downtown culture (I can go to Alley Theater, Jones Hall, Wortham Center, and the amazing Angelika movie theater and they are all within 5 minutes walking distance), fantastic restaurants and night life, etc., than in Yankee infested ****hole known as New York. New York is the city responsible for the corruption of baseball...responsible for the AntiChrist taking physical form (Steinbrenner). New York has mobsters running around 'whacking' people.. New York has damn liberals making the decisions... New York is the slimiest, scummiest, most terrible place in the entire world and I would rather sleep with Linda Cohn for my entire life than live in New York for a day. I spit on thee... New York City.
It's funny that this crap surfaces about Houston. People I've run into up here (even in Plano, recently rated #1 most desirable city in some publications) in the Dallas area have said that they'd like moving to the Houston area... they've said "it's pretty down there." I think some towns are just insanely jealous of a city that can build 3 new ballparks/fields/arenas and land Superbowls/All-Star games in short amounts of time. Houston has a lot to offer. Especially if you look past the feeder roads inside, or just outside, the loop. Sick hatin' freaks.
I have been to alot of cities and here is a partial list of cities that are worse than Houston in terms of a place to live (in no particular order) LA (too much traffic, can't see the sky because of pollution, the physical infrastructure of the city is falling apart) Detroit (I have never seen more abandoned buildings in one city. If people think the Superbowl in Houston sucks, wait till it goes to Detroit. Nothing like downtown Detroit in January) Buffalo (Similar to Detroit except not as nice) Cleveland (You can smell the smoke from the factories. The city is cold and depressing as hell) New Orleans (Once you get out of the French Quarter, the place is a dump) Memphis (The whole city just seems backwards, poor and run down) Philadelphia (Dirty, cold, run-down) Silicon Valley (Strip mall capital of America and boring as hell)
...and the amazing Angelika movie theater... We're about to have two of them Angelika Theaters. I'm surprised their building a second one in the D/FW area. The new one is in Plano. It's funny that this crap surfaces about Houston. People I've run into up here (even in Plano, recently rated #1 most desirable city in some publications) in the Dallas area have said that they'd like moving to the Houston area... they've said "it's pretty down there." There are all sorts of different things that make people happy. And there are different types of things that appeal to different people. If a person fits in a given place, they're likely to focus on the positives of a city. If they live in a place they don't like (or visit there), they're likely to see and overplay the negatives. I grew up in Amarillo. I absolutely hated every minute of it, and I hate every second I have to spend there now. I'm really looking forward to 2011 when the younger of my sons turns 18 and will be leaving there. But there are other people, including my father who grew up in Houston, who love living in Amarillo. When I'm up there, all I see is all the things I don't like. When I'm in the Dallas area, I don't even think about the downsides of living in the big city, most of the time. When my Dad is down here, he hates every second of it (and when he's in Houston, he's the same way).
Jim Rome had great things to say about Houston at the top of his show today. He basically threw out every stereotype about Houston and said, "if that's what you think about Houston, then you're dead wrong." good stuff. he certainly has a vested interest in making those kinds of statements...but he didn't make them about Atlanta a few years back. And ultimately, anytime a guy with as much media influence as Jim says something good about your town, it's a good thing.
Houston gets a bad rep a lot of the time. I say to hell with those who don't like it, more room for the rest of us! I agree with those who said you have to look for the beauty, but it is there. I talk to people that don't live here any more and they say they don't miss it. When I ask them about places they used to go to a lot of times they didn't really know about the city. Then you get the ones that come here with their minds already made up that the place stinks. Don't know why we're so hated, our problems exist in all big cities (I especially like when those from LA complain about our smog or those from dallas about our traffic). People that I've brought over were always surprised with how much they like it. I don't think that Houston is a tourist destination, I agree that it is a great place to live though, just ask all the athletes who live here. As far as weather yeah the summer is hot, but the rest of the time is nice. I think home is on the way up (finally), but after traveling to other world class cities (London, Munich, Chicago, LA, etc) I've seen that one of our biggest problems is transportation. I like the new rail, but I would love to see a subway put in, though someone told me it couldn't be done because of something with the land. If it could be done though, that would definately help. Whatever anyone else thinks, Houston has a huge place on my heart and I've noticed that pride in others. Maybe that's why people attack us.
Flooding and Subways don't mix. A monorail would get you safely above the tide. If only Lanier hadn't nixed it for spite.
Maybe I am missing something here but can someone tell me what is special about the following US cities; NYC Chicago LA Newark I don't see anything special about these cities. They have flaws that repels me from them. Except Canadian cities (based on hear-say), I don't think there are any or many US cities that can claim 'the saint' title. As far as I am concerned, IT IS HOUSTON or BURST.
Nice quote, balki. NY and Chicago kick H-towns ass, having lived in all three. Newark is a sh-thole and one of the worst cities in America LA I haven't spent enough time in.
