It's not just that - it's getting around to bars, clubs, restaurants etc is an absolute nightmare in a highly spread out city with lousy public transit and poorly served by taxis. That's what super bowl week is all about for most of the people attending - the fact that there's a metro line that goes from downtown to Reliant for the game is not a major consequence. I mean getting to the stadium in MIami requires a long car ride - but really nobody cares about that, the traffic jam on the day of the game is secondary. Pretty much every out of towner who went that I have talked to said it sucked compared to the usual spots, etc, mostly due to traffic and inadequate ability to absorb tourists.....I don't see any reason to disagree with them.
All of this is why I am saying 2013 will be so much better because the rail lines will be complete. They will connect Downtown with Uptown and all points in between. That, and if the Texans and Rodeo stop acting so stupid, the Astrodome will become a convention center hotel.
Downtown houston turned into what looked like a Katrina block party during the superbowl. Never again for me.
yeah, anything i dont approve of, we got jobbed. i dont approve of this. so we got jobbed. lets go to indiana and beat those people up.
Were you here? Virtually all activity was along Main Street. The fact that the rail connected downtown to Reliant was huge. It was every bit as compact in terms of activity as someplace like NOLA or Tampa. I'm not too familiar with the area around the Cardinals stadium. The Super Bowl doesn't go to compact cities...to high density cities like NYC. It ends up in warm weather climates (with the exception of places like Detroit and Indy when they build a new stadium) in cities that are typically far more spread out. If you're coming to Houston to visit for the Super Bowl, the farthest out you're going is the Galleria, most likely. Particularly if you're someone whose opinion matters when picking SB sites. Houston has a bad reputation nationally...some of it is earned and some of it isn't. But by all accounts, the SB went off very well when it was here.
What activity along main street - crap like the NFL fan fest or whatever? Nobody really cares about that. It's the unofficial activities that are the draw for most people - the scene on South Beach, etc. I wasn't there, anyway, I lived there so my opinion is different than that of a visitor. Everybody who I talked to who went there as a visitor said it sucked compared to the rest (with the exception of crap like Jacksonville) that they had been to. PS why would anybody go to the Galleria? to go to the Eddie Bauer? When one of your biggest attraction for tourists and revelers is a shopping mall, that crystallizes the reason why Houston pales in comparison to the Miamis,(old) New Orleans, etc.
I don't mean to the mall, Sam! I meant to restaurants that way. I can't argue with the, "my friends went and said it sucked," argument, though. I'm sorry those folks didn't enjoy it. But there's only one South Beach...it's in Miami. Unless they're going to have it in Miami every single season, we're back to the discussion of the other cities that are in the mix.
well if you're talking about comparing houston to dumps like Indy and Detroit or Dallas it's obvously in the mix - compare it to vacation/tourist friendly cities like Miami or SD, (though SD's nightlife is pretty weak IMO) etc it's harder to make a case other than "it's our turn"
I went downtown one night during that weekend, and it was absolutely insane. The streets were so packed you could barely move. There were people holding up signs saying the end was coming, women stripping in the streets, people playing homemade instruments and real ones alike. It was crazy. Everyone I talked to said they were having a great time (many were drunk) and it looked like most people were too. Then of course there were the official events, with the bands and all that other crap that they do...but it was more fun being sucked up into the mass of people. During the day is another story, I'm sure. Boring as hell in Houston during daytime.
We most likely won't get 2013 either, they'll go back to the rotation hotspots ie Florida/Arizona/NOLA if ready.
Houston doesn't really have a lot to offer imo. I don't care what locals think, our party scene does not compare to most other major cities. On top of that, most of the city is ugly and we have a bad national reputation.
