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Houston Sucks?


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There are some who have hometown pride, or just simply hate where they live...

You hit the nail on the head. If you love where you live in Houston, you have more self confidence in your city. I lived in Sugar Land before I moved to West University and I really did not care for the city of Houston, because I didn't live in the middle of it all. Once you change locations into a more vibrant atmosphere, the view of the city you live in totally changes.

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houston has been the way it has for 40 years and the 5 years of revitalization, light rail and shiny new stadiums aint gonna make one iota of difference at this point but if things continue on there present course, houston will be on the right track of being a desireable city to live...and visit.

as for me, i don't want houston to be a new york, vegas or a chicago. houston has got to start being original and quit ripping off ____ from other cities and come up with its own ideas. it has plenty of unique untapped resources; the arts, the ethnic diversity, the rodeo (it's international reknowned), location to the beach (galveston is on an upswing) as well as the beautiful fall/ winter (yes, the summers blow here). i'm originally from new york and know of a lot of snow birds who head south every winter and houston could be an enticing alternative to tired old south florida.

houston is never going to rival new york, la or chicago but it still can be a force to be reckoned with in its own right - it just needs some foresight.

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well spoken Mancuso...

The thing is that every city has their own spin or reasoning on why they're a good city.

Our city matches up to theirs, but the thing is we have our own little reasons why.

As far as someone mentioning that Houston isn't a "tourist" city, I say I'm glad we're not. Cities that rely TOO MUCH on tourism take major hits during economic downturns.

Even NYC, Chicago, LA, and Vegas took major hits during 911, while we came out of it relatively unscathed. I'd rather be a self sufficient economy then to rely on 40-50% of the economy based on tourism!

Ricco

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I think Houston sucks bad on certain points:

1) No mass transit (METRO Bus is an eyesore and always in my way)

2) Road construction and potholes (I know every city has their bad roads, and detours...but I guess we are in a growing stage)

3) Sprawl (Houston was a shotgun-start city built to make money immediately, no one bothered to worry about zoning or commutes)

4) No mountains or waterways (unless they clean up the buffalo bayou)

5) The summers are miserable (unless you are drinking by the pool or lake)

6) The homeless people - spreading and multiplying (seriously...driving through midtown the homeless peeps look like zombies)

I think Houston is awesome on certain points:

1) Our downtown skyline is beautiful. And has so much more potential for filling in the empty lots.

2) Our bar scenes are scattered, but have some of the best bars/bar neighborhoods in the world and are very underrated.

3) From an outsider's perspective we are very cosmopolitan and are very diverse.

4) Our restaurants in Houston are considered to be some of the best around the world.

5) It has a very young population compared to other cities.

6) Months October through May are comfortable, and we never have to shovel snow.

7) We are not Chicago, LA, New York.

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I'm intrigued.  Where do you go and what do you see?  :huh:

Its not a way of words to the eye... or ear for that matter...

Maybe I have TOO much appreciation, or maybe all the little things matter to me... Attention to detail in this city can be viewed in many ways. But if you appreciate every aspect, and mold it all together... You'll see the outcome, and your have more respect for this town, then anyone else.

Or maybe I just have too much free time on my hands to go about the place...

:)

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Its not a way of words to the eye... or ear for that matter...

Maybe I have TOO much appreciation, or maybe all the little things matter to me... Attention to detail in this city can be viewed in many ways. But if you appreciate every aspect, and mold it all together... You'll see the outcome, and your have more respect for this town, then anyone else.

Or maybe I just have too much free time on my hands to go about the place...

:)

:huh:

I didn't really understand what you said. Please rephrase.

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From what I've seen, some people in Houston are so used to "defending" it from the nitpickers that they eventually start to wonder if it does "suck", and they reach the point where they spend more time critiquing the slightest thing that might not be considered perfect or exceptional and ignore the many things that make this one of the better locales in the nation in which to exist.

There's plenty of culture here, a competitive cost of living, 7.5 months of pretty good weather relative to the rest of the nation, (mostly) good people, great restaurants, good clubs, a variety of places in which to recreate (ask someone in Midland, Phoenix or Utah if they'd like to have an entire gulf to themselves or miles and miles of thick, diverse woods to frolick through).

It Houston flawed? Of course. But it's a matter of perspective as to whether it sucks or not.

Also, urbanity isn't the 100% indicator of what does or doesn't suck. Baltimore and Detroit, for example, are far more urban than Houston as a whole and those cities have severe quality of life issues.

If anything, Houston's at an exciting point in its evolution, having seen all the mistakes it has made through the years and finally starting to make some sort of move to improve upon those.

But I think it was Big Tex who said it a while ago: let Houston evolve into the type of urban local that fits Houston and not something that fits 19th century New York.

That makes sense to me.

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But I think it was Big Tex who said it a while ago: let Houston evolve into the type of urban local that fits Houston and not something that fits 19th century New York.

That makes sense to me.

I agree. I'm guilty of being critical of Houston sometimes, but I only want what I think is best. To me, tearing down historic structures is almost always a mistake because that IS the personality of a city. It's where the city came from. But, that's just an opinion in a sea of others.

Ultimately, people need to decide whether they fit within the "personality" of a city. If not, then it's time to move on.

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I agree.  I'm guilty of being critical of Houston sometimes, but I only want what I think is best.  To me, tearing down historic structures is almost always a mistake because that IS the personality of a city.  It's where the city came from.  But, that's just an opinion in a sea of others.

Ultimately, people need to decide whether they fit within the "personality" of a city.  If not, then it's time to move on.

So why are you still here?

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I agree.  I'm guilty of being critical of Houston sometimes, but I only want what I think is best.  To me, tearing down historic structures is almost always a mistake because that IS the personality of a city.  It's where the city came from.  But, that's just an opinion in a sea of others.

Ultimately, people need to decide whether they fit within the "personality" of a city.  If not, then it's time to move on.

Its almot like where all soccer moms for our son (Houston)...

"We only want whats best..."

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  • 3 weeks later...

Houston can be proud of what is has already done to turn around its Downtown - and to a lesser extent the Inner Loop - this progress must continue. Sure the city still faces a lot of challenges, but most of them are common to all large US cities, especially those in the sunbelt (sprawl, transportation, homelessness, etc.). Houston is not perfect, but it does seem to be doing a lot of things that are taking the city in the right direction.

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it is not fair to compare new york, Chicago, and LA to Houston, Houston is basically a brand new city as we know it. 40 years ago Houston was a completly different city. it was way smaller and the inner loop was basically the whole city. 30 years ago sharpstown was in the freaking middle of know where and sugar land took a days drive to get to. in the past 30 years Houston has quadrupled in population and has grown 10 times what it used to be. so we are simply playing catch up to the other cities. LA had the population of Houston now in 1950 and 50 years of development on us. New York and Chicago have been around for over 200 years and have hundreds of years of development on us. so the fact is that we are catching up and i think that we are doing a good job. we have a beautiful skyline great stadiums we are going to have the best freeways in the country when they are all complete. light rail is going to help the city alot. and all the new redevlopment of downtown and midtown is making the city great. you need to compare houston some of the other newer cities like pheonix, Atlanta, and Dallas. all these cities have expeirenced tons of growth in the last couple decades and now are huge cities. and personally i thing Houston is the best. And soon we will be just as good if not better then LA, Chicago, and New York.

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I think Houston finally has the right idea. There is a renewed civic spirit forming and a sense that this can actually be a wonderful city. I don't think we are close to being there yet, but with organizations forming to plan many different aspects of the city, we are finally moving in the right direction.

The most important thing that has happened in the last few years is the sense that more Houstonians are taking responsibility for their city. I think people can see there is a vision that involves them and not just the corporations that make money here, and they are empowered by it.

Quality of life is finally being talked about and debated. Instead of trying to prove that this is a great city by inflating statistics or coming up with nifty slogans, the city is now taking steps to actually make the city into a better, more livable place. But there is still a long way to go.

I read recently, maybe on this forum, a statement that Houston is the city without memories. This is true. Who ever remembers spiritless shopping centers or countless big boxes? It's the unique neighborhoods that make a city what it is. And it's the people that make the neighborhoods what they are. Unfortunately, lack of zoning has resulted in the proliferation of ticky tack developments by developers with no sense of what the city, its neighborhoods, or its residents want or need.

Urbanization, while not the fix-all solution to every one of the city's woes, is the representation of a plan for a better city. As friendly as Houstonians are, as green as the city can be, and as diverse our population is, Houston can be a better city that New York, Chicago, or LA. Just look to our northern neighbor, Canada, for proof. Vancouver, Toronto, and maybe even Montreal have America's top three most populous cities beat in terms of beauty and quality of life. These are the cities we should look to for inspiration, not our American counterparts.

It's simple, really. Urbanize, preserve and beautify neighborhoods, and continue to clean and improve our green spaces. We can't go wrong with these steps. Then maybe, someday, a city will try to improve its image by aspiring to be "The Houston of the ________!"

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I'm not even from Houston or Texas for that matter, (boo hiss!) but I've spent enough time living in the CBD and Midtown to understand what y'all are talking about. I agree that, right now, the city is pretty lousy. Nowhere near the three cities more populated than it, in terms of desireablity to live there. But it was worse 1 year ago. What's that mean? Things are changing, and you can feel it. There's definitely a sense of improvement and people really taking a pride in their city, and creating something to be proud of. Not only when the relatives come over for a wedding, but when you're walking (or taking Metrorail) to your place of employment, or when you're going out to eat. Being an outsider, I think I feel it a little bit more than most. The city has SOOOOO much potential to be cooler than LA or maybe even Chicago. And I want in on the ground level.

One thing Houston is not though, is green. Seriously folks, if I see another pro-Houston piece of propaganda touting it's endless open spaces and hundreds of parks, I think I'll vomit from the sheer ridiculousness. Memorial Park. Big freakin whoopty doo. An inaccessible open land set FAR away from downtown accesible mainly by car and of no real use to anyone living within the confines of the city. I know that being below the flood plain requires that you cover everything in cement, but at the very least, put a few benches in it. Oh yeah, and the Bayou. I don't think much needs to be said about that.

And don't even start blaming it on homeless people. They have absolutely nothing to do with it. Go look at Market street in bustling, beautiful, thriving, world renowned San Francisco if you don't believe me.

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