Yeah, Houston may not be the prettiest of cities, but damn, I've seen pics of Detroit... I doubt I'd ever want to go there unless required.
"129. Houston is worth it because if you are here, you want to be here. The heat, the mosquitoes, the traffic - sure, they might bug you, but you have more important things to do than whine about the weather. You are in Houston because you have great things to accomplish. You want to be part of one of the most philanthropic communities in the world. You want to be in a town whose doctors are known, respected, and sought out by the entire world. You want art in the most unexpected places, and more of it in the expected ones. You want to be in a place where maybe, just maybe, you can celebrate the New Year in shorts and flip flops with a margarita in your hand while sitting under a palapa next to the pool. You crave contact with an incredibly diverse population. You thrive on challenges, and see them as opportunites to grow and improve. Sure, it is easy to go to a city with a beautiful bay and soaring bridge. You never have to explain your goals if you head for the big apple. Your soul is drawn to some new-age-old-hippie-town. In those places, you let the city speak for you. Houston doesn't speak for you - you speak for it. You make it better, stronger, healthier, wealthier, more beautiful, and more dynamic. Houston is worth it because your dreams, goals, and accomplishments are worth it. Houston is worth it because it will do everything it can to make those dreams and goals possible, and it will celebrate you for your accomplishments, no matter who you are and where you came from. Houston is worth it because it knows YOU are worth it. " Nice. Did someone from here post that? Houston rules. It's worth it!!!!!
The problems is that many of the changes, like billboards coming down, won't happen until 2007. Strip malls are being discouraged, but every time I drive down HWY6 there's a new one that just sprang up. HWY6 is miserable, as it stretches from Alvin all the way out to the airport -> miles and miles of strip malls. As far as positives go, you can always argue that the cost of living is much lower in Houston. Where else can you get a 3000 sq ft house for $150K? So in that sense, I hear "great place to raise a family" pretty often. So if can get past the lack of nature and scenery, then it might not be a bad place for you. It's just not my kind of place. Also, I've always been baffled as to why there's no main strip where you can go bar hopping. Or why there's no warehouse district to check out live bands. Houston's done good by revitalizing Main St, but there needs to be some places where you can throw back $2 longnecks without having to get all dressed up.
There are lots of cities uglier than Houston. Two that come to mind are Naples, Italy and Portsmouth/Norfolk VA. Now those places would truly be horrible places to live.
I've lived in both - and, in my opinion, they're tied for "Ugliest City" award. But, it's not difficult to find ways to appreciate the ugliness.
Your problem is that you hang out in the suburbs and expect it to be paradise. The suburbs are ALWAYS ugly. There aren't any strip malls downtown or in the Heights or in Rice Village or in the Montrose - well, at least the one's that are there are small and interesting. You couldn't pay me ENOUGH to spend any amount of time on Highway 6 or 1960. Those aren't even inside the freaking city limits. No, there aren't any "entertainment districts" compared to 6th Street or Bealle Street or the French Quarter. But, you also won't find the world class art and theater facilities within 3 blocks of each other in Austin, Memphis or New Orleans. You seem to view beauty and culture as pretty suburban areas and places to drink beer. That's a college town, not a big city. I'm just wondering how many big cities you've been to in your life to make that comparison, especially based on your arguments. It sounds like you've barely been out of Sugarland, let alone hung out in some of the world's finest cities.
After moving back to Houston from Los Angeles, this is one of the things I love the most about living in Houston.
How about, every single city, township, municipality, county, and tenament in California, Oregon, Washington, Florida,Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Alaska, and most every other state. Houston is hideous. You want scenery, come up here to the Bay Area.
Houston Rocket fans should love Houston! As long as Yao and TMac like Houston who cares about the rest of you! btw.. Jeff should be appointed the Houston ambassador or something.. he seems to know everything about Houston... must be that SOR campaign..
Beautiful Skyline No Perceptable Cold Winter Season Young Pretty Professional Women Superior Restaurants and Nightlife (You can get steak diane, a carne guisada plate for 3.95, Jazz and Irish Coffee and a kicker bar sometimes literally 20 feet from each other)
things i love about houston: the people my neighborhood/area of town ruggles the theater district james coney island seafood skyline rockets/texans/astros toyota center/reliant stadium/juicebox 19-10 1994 1995 no shoveling snow...no scraping ice october through may cynthia woods pavillion the finest childrens hospital in the world for my family my family high school football the galleria williams/transco tower and the waterwall casual style main street (rail) proximity to the coast memorial park having 4 downtowns the 40 year old oak trees in my neighborhood diversity eclectic neighborhoods
I agree with Jeff on this one...it seems like Baqui99 hasn't been to many large American cities and just prefers college-town type places...hey Baqui, where would you rather live...New York, NY or Baton Rouge, LA?
I won't bash houston because I have plenty of friends there and I did grow up as a young adult and learned all sorts of things...but Finn is so very, very correct! No matter where you are in Houston, you're still in Houston! so no thanks.....
Jeez. No need to get defensive. All I said was that Houston was an ugly city. Take that for what it's worth. I didn't really start disliking it until I got a chance to see what other cities had to offer. I'm talking about places like San Diego, Portland, San Fran, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, and New York to name a few. Then after visiting Europe, I was really applled by Houston's lack of aesthetics.
i don't know why people dislike the suburbs so much but i friggin' love them. i've lived in ponderosa forest (1960 and kuykendahl) my whole life and can't imagine living anywhere but the suburbs. some people hate strip malls, i love 'em. grocery stores, pizza places, fast food places, restaurants, a mall, movie theaters, blockbusters, best buy and circuit city type places, walmart and target all within short driving distance. basically anything i wanna buy all so close. maybe it's because i don't value "views" and "scenery" nearly as much as others. whenever i'm downtown (which isn't that often) i never get the sense i wouldn't wanna live anywhere around there. a nice cul-de-sac street where everyone has nicely landscaped lawns and it's real quiet when you wake up on a saturday (which i hardly do, but it happens). since i'm only 22, i've never had to commute downtown everyday so that could change my opinion, but for now, it's perfect.
