Kiplinger Names Houston #1 City to Work, Live & Play

Sugar Land is crowded already, I don't want anymore people moving into the area. I liked Sugar Land when it was under the radar and wasn't exposed to the nation.

 

Suck that Dallas.

 

I don't think Houston can be called a world class city until it gets some sort of effective public transport(rail, trains, subway).

 

Umm...




btw- How do youpropose to put in a subway system at such a low-to-sea level city?

 

key word: effective

I don't know about the logistics of a subway, but a more expansive light rail would do the trick. Right now light rail is a joke. Something like the Atlanta MARTA system might be able to be replicated here.

 

Give it time. Isn't it in the works?

 

Light rail is pretty much a joke.

It's more for "show" than for function. The next step for Houston is to build up downtown, with more luxurious condominiums and high rises, to bring more people into the city. This would make a sophisticated metro system more feasible. You can't build a major "downtown" with a bunch of tall office buildings. The city needs more life and that means more residential and residential-catering businesses such as restaurants, corner stores, etc etc anything that you would find your local neighborhood. Because compared to most cities it size, Houston is DEAD at night. There is very few people outside at night walking around, or doing anything for that matter. And very little cars as well. And I'm talking about Saturday night. If Houston wants to take the next step into becoming a major player in the United States, and out of its current state of being a over-sized suburbia, they must develop its downtown. As you know, Houston is a city that often gets overlooked and I believe that is because they lack a true identity-outside of the blanket "Texas" one. Many people do not even know the difference between Houston and Dallas. I believe Houston has the potential of becoming a city similar to Chicago, but changes have to come from within.

 

Some random thoughts...
The cities with bustling night life typically serve alcohol past 2am. Also, there is plenty going on at night. Its just spread out. There is no hub. I don't see why we need a hub though, we are what we are. Public transportation would be cute but once again. We are what we are. I have two cars, 1 for the grind and one for play. We drive. I like it.

 

I don't think you can have it both ways though. If you serve alcohol past 2 and have a city where all the night life is spread out, people will use cars and end up with the obvious problem. If you keep last call at 2, nobody can fully appreciate all the spread out spots in one night without a DUI (like now).

But if you centralized the nightspots and some corresponding residential areas, small-scale transportation systems like the current light rail would become more effective and maybe spawn a larger web of coverage from there.

 

Houston is probably one of the least walkable cities in the country. It's impossible to get anywhere without a car. The city has sprawled out of control and now extends all the way past 99. When you say the biggest plus about a city is its low cost of living, it's a bad sign.

And I agree with the previous poster that city is dead at night. The only people out there are the crackheads, as everyone flees downtown in the evenings. As far as Sugar Land, there's not a more bland, dull place in the nation. Miles and miles of strip mall shopping centers and chain restaurants.

 

That's unfair. That description really applies to all of Houston, not just Sugarland.

 

I thought the article was pretty lame. It didn't go into many details at all.

Hopefully some top NBA free agents read Kiplinger's.

 

LOL, yeah, I'd much rather walk to work, especially in those beautiful mild summer months! By the way, have you ever heard of Memorial Park?

I think it's a great sign. I don't care whether other cities think we're 'hip' or not. Don't care one bit. In fact, I'd prefer it if they didn't...

So you'd rather have a bunch of drunken douchebags downtown to go along with all the crackheads? What is this obsession with wanting to have everyone in the city come downtown to drink on the weekends?

Lord, here we go with the tired and predictable "strip mall/chain restaurant" argument again... EVERY CITY IN THE COUNTRY has strip malls and chain restaurants. Even Austin and Portland. I think that's why they call them CHAIN restaurants....


And it's ironic to me that most - if not all - of the people screaming for more public transportation wouldn't use it if we had it.

 

^^^

Well said ima. Well said.

 

Lol, an amusing article. No mention of our God-awful traffic, pollution, and 6 months of summer. To say Houston is the ideal city for a family is absolute garbage, who in the world wants to live in a concrete jungle like Houston? What are we going to have by the time any of us have future families.... 10 more freeways? 2 million more people in the metropolitan area?

I've lived here all my life and want to move out of here as soon as possible just because of the above. I know we're the best city for medicine, job opportunities, etc... it just doesn't add up to staying though.

 

I agree with the article, and I also agree that we need better mass transit like an easily accessible HOV lanes on all of the highways and elevated rail.

 

houston is a great city.

i hope they hurry up and redevelope the astrodome. just build the hotel already.

or make an indoor theme park. you can name it astroworld.

 

Do you know why people in Houston are so fat? Because they have one of the most inactive lifestyles in the nation. Some of them would benefit from walking or biking to work once in awhile.

As far as downtown, I wasn't talking necessarily about drinking. It's about having stuff to do there, whether its live music, BBQ, restaurants, etc. Getting the Rockets and Astros to move downtown was definitely a step in the right direction. There's still a long ways to go on that front though.

 

If you are successful like most people in Houston, you can afford a car.