What is Houston?

[wendyps]

thankx for te replies. i was wondering if we have a History Museum in the Museum District. Does anyone know?

I just can't help replying...how can you go on a rant about how boring Houston is if you don't bother to look around you? You are condeming the city because an old theme park went away? Yes, Houston has history museums, and art museums, and car museums...

just check out this website, then start a new thread ranting about what a great city Houston is...

http://www.houstonmuseumdistrict.org/html/...rict_-_inst.htm

[skwatra]

Hah, the board is sitting here telling him to broaden his horizons and it turns out the dude has lived all over the world. I can easily see how he'd get bored in Houston. It's all relative.

growing up all over the world is not the same as living all over the world.

everyone i know how has moved to houston doesn't like it at first, but in time they find what to do and are all having the time of their lives.

also, moving to Houston and going to UH can be quite difficult, since its mostly a commuter school. if you don't already know a lot of people here, there may not seem like there's much to do.

oh, and nmm, i'm an engineer going to UH part time. and Space Center houston might suck (for some adults at least), but NASA does not.

[sevfiv]

ideas:

http://www.houstonist.com/archives/2006/03...rtainment_t.php

scroll down to houston:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/map/tx.html

[Gary]

I guess I don't understand this thread. It's obviously written by someone who is not well traveled throughout this city.

I have traveled to virtually every major city in the US in my career, and with the few exceptions out there, Houston is a great city to hang out in. From museums, to highrise architecture, to Galveston, to it's booming nightlife, to it's city parks, to it's third in the nation in racial diversity, to it's world class rodeo (and no I'm just talking about the cowboys), to it's five performing arts companies, Houston is a great town in most comparisons.

I ask, what is there to do in any other city, save NY, LA or Chicago that you can't do here? I've lived here for about 14 years now and there's almost nothing this city doesn't offer, I love it.

[wendyps]

ideas:

http://www.houstonist.com/archives/2006/03...rtainment_t.php

GREAT website! Thanks for the link, MORE stuff for me to do instead of working!

[RedScare]

Going after college kids or people who have been to college is also something you find in Houston moreso than in most other big cities. I have no idea why.

Is my post hitting a little too close to home for you, Judah? Do you feel the walls closing in? It's OK. Take a deep breath. It'll be alright.

[Gary]

Hah, the board is sitting here telling him to broaden his horizons and it turns out the dude has lived all over the world. I can easily see how he'd get bored in Houston. It's all relative.

Man a little smug aren't we.

The guys not that well traveled as you seem to portray, he's lived in 4 cities, one of them being Houston.

[TJones]

hey

dont take it so damn personally you guys.... :?

i guess there isnt much for a person like myself to do in the city, except for the museums we have.

anyways, each city has something that defines itself, something unique. i just thought Houston, for being the "4th biggest city" in the USA would have a distinct personality/culture from other cities.

More or less, its just a commercial city.

dont freak and take it so personally.

btw - is this board mostly filled with architects or engineers?

Apparently, you took it personally that they tore Astroworld down ? C'mon chief, it's Astroworld, it was definately NOT the ICON of this city, nor did it have anything remotely to do with defining Houston. Yet, you used it as your basis for your whiny little thread here.

<------(slaps nmm in the back of the head for being a troll, and proceeds to tattoo the letter "L" on nmm's forehead.)

[The Great Hizzy!]

Miami doesn't have an amusement park either. Poor Miami.

[nmm]

Apologies for the title of the thread. I wrote it when i wasnt in a good mood.

Anywho i was looking for something to do here, that i havent done in Chicago or NYC. NYC does have world class museums and chicago has some of the finest architecture in the world, not to mention the tallest tower in the USA.

Initially i was desperately looking for a place to take some of my nieces and nephews and was genuinely smug when i heard the old Six Flags is set to become townhomes. Its really uniqe for a major city to have an amusement park within city limits. You dont find that anywhere else except SA.

However, i think i may have overlooked the museum district (i figured i 'saw it all' in NYC) Ill hit that up soon, God willing. And NASA is definitely something unique.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The guys not that well traveled as you seem to portray, he's lived in 4 cities, one of them being Houston.

I think ive been to more places then the average American. I love visiting different cities and countries; they always have something unique. For example: NYC is alot more hectic and fast paced then Cleveland. LA is very liberal, and Dallas is squeeky clean.

Ive also been to Manchester, Toronto, Dubai, Lahore and Hyderabad. Each part of the world has a vivid, colorful history.

[nmm]

perhaps what i wanted to express has already been done.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...?showtopic=4976

post #9

[torvald]

While we may not offer more than some other major cities, we do offer a lot.

we also have a great local art & music scene --

anything form stringed quartets to rock & roll,

oil painters to puppet theatre, classical & modern

dance companies, material arts from art cars

to fotofest.

for many art folks houston is a springboard but

you can see them now before they get too popular

and out of reach -- all of them have events to

attend for under $10, sometimes free.

we also have some great history here and some

of it (what hasn't been torn down) is interesting to

native houston folk & out-of-towners.

[Gary]

When I first started playing in Houston (mid 80's), I found it to be a hick town with nothing to do as well, then upon moving here I found that to be untrue.

Now, you mentioned tall buildings being one of your prerequisites (is that spelled right). Houston has the Williams Tower which is the tallest building on Earth outside a CBD. Or you could take them to the Texas Commerce tower which is one the tallest buildings in the world, (in the top 15 or 16 in floor count) and has an observation deck that's great.

Also if you want to see some wonderful homes go to Galveston, The Heights or Montrose.

The NYC museum point is well, non valid. Houston has a collection of wonderful museums that most cities would love to have. Start your day at the Fannin rail station and make a day of visiting Herman Park, maybe walk through some of the Rice U area. Then head to the museum district which is not far and spend some time in this very cool area of town. Afterwards you could hop back on the rail, head Downtown and spend the rest of the day visiting some great super talls or browsing the tunnel system. Then finish off the day on Main Street at one of the many clubs which by the way should more than suit a college age person. If that doesn't suit you, travel a few blocks to some big live venues like The Meridian, the new Warehouse Live, or to the Engine Room.

There also other great places that make Houston so quirky like Montrose and the Heights. Get out a little more, you'll find that much of the stereotypes of Houston are simply old rumor.

[houstonfella]

I've never found Houston to be a hick town. In fact, I moved here in the '72. I have never had so much fun in one place for so long. The friends I have made have allowed me to enjoy the world. Malaysia, Viet Nam, Great Britain, Kazaksthan, Italy, Greece, Africa, Mexico, Argentina .... can't even begin to tell you all the new "Houstonians" who I have been so fortunate to share a city with; no, Houston isn't a grand destination to visit. But Houston is a great place to live. Unless you have lived it, you don't know. Here's to a prosperous 2006 wherever you might be.

[Gary]

I've never found Houston to be a hick town. In fact, I moved here in the '72. I have never had so much fun in one place for so long. The friends I have made have allowed me to enjoy the world. Malaysia, Viet Nam, Great Britain, Kazaksthan, Italy, Greece, Africa, Mexico, Argentina .... can't even begin to tell you all the new "Houstonians" who I have been so fortunate to share a city with; no, Houston isn't a grand destination to visit. But Houston is a great place to live. Unless you have lived it, you don't know. Here's to a prosperous 2006 wherever you might be.

Good post.

[editor]

Does NYC or London have a them park 8 miles from the city center?

New York has Coney Island and Astroworld. I don't know what London has, but chances are you can get their by train.

[Trae]

Initially i was desperately looking for a place to take some of my nieces and nephews and was genuinely smug when i heard the old Six Flags is set to become townhomes.

From the way you post, I had a hard time believing you have nieces and nephews.

[VelvetJ]

nmm, I completely understand from where you are coming and I think you will see that by reading my posts starting with post 10 on the link you provided. The reactions hear are not surprising yet still are a bit frustrating to me. Over the past decade in particular, the city of Houston has developed a NASTY habit of accepting the status quo as a position of arrival. I have said and I still say our city has lost it's edge and this started before 9/11/01.

To those that point out that Miami, NYC, and Paris do not have a theme Park, let's be honest about something.....do they really need one? Those cities have so much to offer that a theme park won't be missed by very many people. Houston is not one of those types of cities despite what our citizens think. Houston lacking a theme park can and I think will be noticed simply because we are not known for our attraction prowess. AstroWorld, despite it's flaws was truly one of Houston's TRUE tourist attractions and it is gone now. My fear is it will take us about 15 years before we can even come to an understanding that another park is wanted and NEEDED for the area.

And by the way, Miami is in a state that is the THEME PARK CAPITAL OF THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!!! That on top of everything else it has to offer. I sort of understand why there hasn't been a huge rush to build a theme park there. Florida has more parks than one can shake a stick at.

Editor is correct in that NYC does have Coney Island and AstroLand but also, they are only 74 miles from one of the best and the top performing Six Flags Park in the nation.

And for what it's worth, Disneyland Paris is a little less than 20 miles from Downtown Paris.

The Galleria, Kemah, and Nasa aren't bad as much as it is not enough for a city our size.

Note- It's interesting the offense that was taken by the OP's words and the sheer amount of people that responded to him/ her bascially spouting the same thing. Simply telling people to leave the city just because some point out and get frustrated by it's flaws is not going to help anyone. I suppose the whole attitude of "either you are with me or you are against me" seems to be contagious. Adopting that type of attitude can get Houston into trouble.

Note # 2- I thought it was quite obvious that there was a pretty broad age range of people that post on this site but apparently everyone isn't aware of that due to the way some of the older more experienced among us tend to down-talk some of the youngsters. Come on guys.

[torvald]

we would have become the capitol again if it hadn't been for that sniveling bastard, Capt. Mark B. Lewis.

[torvald]

i post here on and off, im a student @ Cullen College Engineering at UH studying Civil/Environmental Engineering

anyways, im hearing that the six flags they tore down is to become a set of townhomes.

what a lode of crap -

:start rant:

there is now NOT ONE THING in this damn city of 2,000,000 where you can take out-of-towners to.

Yes we have the galleria, but so does Dallas. And im sure shopping is much trendier in NYC, LA, London, Miami, or Chicago.

The galleria is reserved for the Houston metro area, and is nothing special in the long run

and NASA is a sorry POS.

:end rant:

So whats to become of this city?

In my honest opinion, Houston is getting tried and tiring.

All cities of the US have some "culture" to them

What is Houston?

NMM - if this re ally was a genuine post it may have been better to say... hey folks! i'm new in town and as the 4th largest city i am totally lost in finding a place to take my family who is visiting with kids. i'm am a student studying civil engineering school and i would really like to start on the right foot with you engineering folks! i am really happy to have found an instant resource like this because they're here now and i don't know where to take them! thanks!

you already seem to know about our shops, sprawl, astroworld, nasa etc...

good luck in your civil engineering studies.

[Gary]

nmm, I completely understand from where you are coming and I think you will see that by reading my posts starting with post 10 on the link you provided. The reactions hear are not surprising yet still are a bit frustrating to me. Over the past decade in particular, the city of Houston has developed a NASTY habit of accepting the status quo as a position of arrival. I have said and I still say our city has lost it's edge and this started before 9/11/01.

To those that point out that Miami, NYC, and Paris do not have a theme Park, let's be honest about something.....do they really need one? Those cities have so much to offer that a theme park won't be missed by very many people. Houston is not one of those types of cities despite what our citizens think. Houston lacking a theme park can and I think will be noticed simply because we are not known for our attraction prowess. AstroWorld, despite it's flaws was truly one of Houston's TRUE tourist attractions and it is gone now. My fear is it will take us about 15 years before we can even come to an understanding that another park is wanted and NEEDED for the area.

And by the way, Miami is in a state that is the THEME PARK CAPITAL OF THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!!! That on top of everything else it has to offer. I sort of understand why there hasn't been a huge rush to build a theme park there. Florida has more parks than one can shake a stick at.

Editor is correct in that NYC does have Coney Island and AstroLand but also, they are only 74 miles from one of the best and the top performing Six Flags Park in the nation.

And for what it's worth, Disneyland Paris is a little less than 20 miles from Downtown Paris.

The Galleria, Kemah, and Nasa aren't bad as much as it is not enough for a city our size.

Note- It's interesting the offense that was taken by the OP's words and the sheer amount of people that responded to him/ her bascially spouting the same thing. Simply telling people to leave the city just because some point out and get frustrated by it's flaws is not going to help anyone. I suppose the whole attitude of "either you are with me or you are against me" seems to be contagious. Adopting that type of attitude can get Houston into trouble.

Note # 2- I thought it was quite obvious that there was a pretty broad age range of people that post on this site but apparently everyone isn't aware of that due to the way some of the older more experienced among us tend to down-talk some of the youngsters. Come on guys.

So Astroworld was a tourist attraction of such magnitude, that it defaced the city that once had culture? C'mon! Since I've lived here full time, Astroworld was a dump and everybody knew it. As far as I know, the only thing that kept it above water was nastalgia for the natives, not a tourist attraction.

Secondly, a personal reason for defending Houston during all of these "Houston sucks" threads, is because it does not. I also think that some believe we should be like other towns when we're not like other towns. We have many original aspects to us that some choose not to see, or don't want to anyway.

The history down here isn't to bad either if you care to look for it. Last time I checked, Texas independence was won in Houston as well as the capitol, etc, etc.

I was having a drink with Bobby Blotzer of RATT last Saturday, (he lives here now) and asked him why he moved here. His comment went something like this..... Houston is really a strange town, really quirky and wild. He went on... The cost of living is beyond cheap, the girls are amazing (this coming from an LA native), the food is great and last but not least, I love the people here.

My main reason for being here, and I think this is way overlooked among these, "houston has no culture" individuals, is the people. I've said it before that for a big metropolis Houston is the city of nice people.I know that may sound strange but just about everybody I know and meet from out of town mention this.

It doesn't mean that we can't improve, nor does it mean that we don't want to improve. It does mean that we are happy with many of the aspects of our town. My gracious, we've got just about everything to keep one from most cultures entertained, what more do you want in regards to the basics?

My view... We're not doing bad, not bad at all.

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Houston, a BIG city in a free society, dont like it, leave. Simple as that. i leave almost weekly and have lived in multiple places and i always wanted to come back home. Im so happy that we are not the other cities you have listed. they are all trapped in thier respective boundaries with no room and wide open spaces to expand and grow, so they have to do a good job of making you think that whats there is great! I love the urban sprawl and face paced growth here, and the constant room for change, all of which make this place one of the fastest growing in the nation. i have visited EVERY continent on the face of the Earth and my desire to live in Houston is unmatched by any other place. The comment that you have visited more places than the avg. American, how nice for you. But watch your mouth when you bad mouth my hometown. The largest city in the LAST free state in the country :):):) You bad mouth this city again, and i will send you to the cornr for a time out

Now all that said, rent an oversized SUV and drive your friends around town and look at the city, then ask the question, would it be possible to do that in the northern and eastern towns for such a cheap gas pirice?

[dalparadise]

I just got back from a modern dance performance on the small stage at Hobby Center. The performance was raw and really felt like something you'd see in a very small, off-off Broadway kind of theater. We then went to Quattro, where I had a veal chop and and split a great bottle of wine with my wife. The dinner was expensive, but on-par with some of the finest food I've eaten anywhere. After coffee, we hopped into my personal convertible sports car, which I am able to comfortably afford, which was parked for free at a metered space in Downtown on a Friday night, mind you.

We planned to take a quick spin through Downtown with the top down (60s at night in mid-March) then head home, but there was such a lively crowd, we decided to park the car -- again, at a free street space -- and grab a drink at a bar. On the street, people were setting up a sound system for some concert or festival and the mic check could be heard for blocks. I'm guessing it will be going on tomorrow.

The bar was packed with mostly late 20s-late 30 year olds and had a nice vibe. There was live music, but also quiet areas to talk. We had two and decided to call it a night. It looked like their party was just getting going, along with numerous others lining velvet ropes all along Main St.

I have traveled all around the world and enjoy nightlife in big cities. I'd liken this experience and the atmospere to the East Village in NYC, parts of SOMA in San Francisco or the West End in London. It was a great time for adults, not college night. That's Houston. We are much more grown up than Austin and less staged than Dallas. In the end, the entire experience is low-key Texan in nature, not nearly as vibrant as those areas in NY, SF and London I mentioned, but still retaining much of the flavor. I like it a lot. I'm sorry there aren't more rollercoasters around to appeal to your idea of a good time.

[VicMan]

To those that point out that Miami, NYC, and Paris do not have a theme Park,

Nitpick: Paris has at least one (Disneyland Park in Marne-la-Vall

[torvald]

I just got back from a modern dance performance on the small stage at Hobby Center. The performance was raw and really felt like something you'd see in a very small, off-off Broadway kind of theater. We then went to Quattro, where I had a veal chop and and split a great bottle of wine with my wife. The dinner was expensive, but on-par with some of the finest food I've eaten anywhere. After coffee, we hopped into my personal convertible sports car, which I am able to comfortably afford, which was parked for free at a metered space in Downtown on a Friday night, mind you.

eeek! i was there (at hobby center performance) too! -- sans the sportscar, that is.

[RedScare]

would it be possible to do that in the northern and eastern towns for such a cheap gas pirice?

Been to the corner station today, Chief? We're not that cheap!

But, I get your point.

[KinkaidAlum]

I don't think it can get worse than somebody who has lived in NEWARK friggin' JERSEY thinking Houston "is suck."

[dalparadise]

eeek! i was there (at hobby center performance) too! -- sans the sportscar, that is.

They should have practiced more, don't you think?

[nmm]

I don't think it can get worse than somebody who has lived in NEWARK friggin' JERSEY thinking Houston "is suck."

New York was in close proximity.

[nmainguy]

Why is anyone responding to this thread

I'm replying because at almost 1 AM my cat is throwing up AGAIN; I am waiting for a call back from the vet; and need a diversion...

...I'm back...the vet said to try to get her to take some more water, bring her in first thing in the morning and shield her from all things nmm and any other kolledge edgeukateds frum Jersy.