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

*sighs*.... not you at all

There's been that growing population of metro'd out men in Texas conscious of what they're image is that always wanted a place to call their own. They tend to say things like this, cuz the simpletons of Texas are too limited in thought and imagination to see what "more life has to offer". They call that place Austin, and sometimes Dallas.

I dont know why it is or how it came to be but a lot of people in Houston simply don't gives a rat's ass what people think. And its less than self confident people that can't stand that.

 

Walkscore:

Childhood home town Lake Jackson, TX (52 miles south of Houston) 54 -currently- sure it was worse back then.

Current home in Plano, TX: 82 Not bad.

 

you live in Plano?

 

yep..

 

since i just popped into the last page of the thread and saw this comment i always see, i have to ask why do people always say this? what does everyone have against the suburbs. i guess they're kinda like Houston in that everyone hates them and yet so many people live there. i grew up in the suburbs and loved it. i live inside the loop now and don't hate it or anything, but if it wasn't much easier to get to work going against traffic and i wasn't too young to get a home yet i would much rather be in the suburbs. open spaces, actual parking, landscaping and green grass all over the place at businesses or houses, all the stores in the world you need to get stuff from close by, good malls and movie theaters, better golf courses, better schools if you have kids, cleaner, less crime. i don't see the big problem.

maybe it's just that i don't get hairlipped by going to a chain restaurant or any other store that, God forbid, has multiple franchises or can drive by a strip mall and not hate it and other people just value those things so much (as those are the 2 things that seem to come up the most often), but i just don't get what so many have against the suburbs. i guess if you want to be by museums and theaters then you'll lose out and the nightlife isn't as good, but i guess those aren't high enough on my priority list to beat out the other things i mentioned above.

 

i interviewed at Capital One a couple years ago, i think it was in Plano.
The houses looked nice.

 

My city's better.

No, my city's better.

Noooo...my city's better.

 

Cuisine?

 

I don't think Austin will ever have the theater scene of those major cities. Austin is too small.


I think alot of people dislike Austin just to be contrarian really. I've never been to the art car parade, etc so I guess I'll take your word for it on what city is stranger.


And, I agree wtih Francis, what's wrong with the burbs if you're going to raise a family?

 

Oh no!

Please like Houston, jgreen91. Please? Won't you please reconsider? I just can't live with myself if you don't.

 

spoken like someone who probably lives/lived in pearland or sugar land or katy or spring and grew up with nothing but long commutes, strip malls, and cookie cutter homes.

if you dont live inside the loop, or spend a great deal of time there, your opinion regarding how houston compares with other cities (miami? phoenix?? really???) is irrelevant.

 

isn't it relatively expensive to live inside the loop?

 

compared to the suburbs? yes.

compared to many other cities' core/urban centers? hell no.

 

I think that's rapidly changing now. In Katy, I can go out to locally owned bars and restaurants, do any shopping I need and pretty much only have to into town if I want to see a sporting event or go to the museums. Nothing against any of the other areas in town, but I think the suburb hate has jumped the shark.

 

I liked living in Houston when we lived in the inner loop. We lived off of West Grey right by Allen Parkway and it was cool to go outside and hang out with the Art Car Parade folks, or look up and see an awesome fireworks display from the porch. I enjoyed being right in the heart of things and still being able to walk around and go to places like Texas Junk Company, or the Menil Collection. My wife is from New Zealand and we moved here in 2002. I am not going to get into which place is better, but when we have visited in 2004 and last year, Houston didn't feel like home anymore and I think part of it is because all of my relatives live way out in the outskirts of the city. I missed the Houston that *I* lived in, but the driving-50-miles-to-do-anything, strip-malled version felt exhausting and alienating.

I am glad that people are finally having a conversation about the sustainability of the driving culture. I have lived it my whole life and I want a change. Auckland is sort of the NZ version of Houston-style sprawl, but people here still think I'm crazy because I drive 35 kilometers (about 20 miles) to work every day. I used to think that's hardly any commute at all, but when I think that I spend over two hours a day in the car, I can't help but think that there has to be a better way.

 

Excellent, excellent post. I hate having to defend Houston to outsiders, most of whom have never ever been here. I'm happy and proud to do it, I just really, really hate the perception outsiders have of Houston effing Texas.

Re: the political thing: I was in NoCal a couple months back. Telling people there about life in Houston was akin to telling someone about the social life on Mars. People truly have no idea; they just don't get it. People were shocked to hear we have something in the neighborhood of 5 million people 'round these parts. They were equally shocked to hear how liberal (at least socially) Houston itself is. They were shocked to hear about our opera, our ballet, our symphony, our theater, our restaurants, and our museums. They would nearly have a collective aneurysm when I'd mention Montrose and our huge gay population and community, as well as our diversity in general.

People think of it as one big Enron building surrounded by a bunch of close-minded rednecks, and that pisses me off.

THAT'S the part I hate about Houston: other people's perceptions of it. Granted, I'm all for better public transportation (and I'd sure as hell use it if it were there), and I'd love to see more of a downtown community as others have mentioned. But that stuff is coming. Enron did so much to hurt our reputation....it still amazes me how much....especially to the folks in California.

Keep spreading the word, people. Houston's a great place to live.

 

and the Houston economy continues to boom....

http://www.houston.org/economyataglance/Glance0608.pdf

 

I just moved to Houston from New York and I can tell you that public transportation is overrated. There are things that I love about Houston more than New York. I don't want Houston to be another Urban city like New York. If I wanted NY, I would've stayed in NY. However, I don't want Houston to turn into L.A. that's for sure.