MiDTOWNeR

Kinda curious. What cities are you refering to as hip and trendy that makes Houston look so bad in your opinion?

I wasnt comparing. Just making a statement.

I'm scared to ask how you entertain yourself while living in Houston if you've never left your house at night before...

Don't be scared...i'm harmless.

As I mentioned previously I travel for a living so luckily I do not have to spend every day and night in H-town. But I do okay entertaining myself while I am here. I don't mind living in Houston, but I have come to accept that it is what it is and thats that. I do not pretend that it is this great wonderful best place on earth sort of place. I have lived many places and Houston is actually not the worst. But even if people wanted to trash talk the places I do treasure i would not have a problem with it or take it personally. I have been enough places to understand the norms and the unique.

You used the word wannabe...and that perfectly sums up Houston, and the attitude on this board. I've never been somewhere where folks try so hard to make themselves and others believe in it's greatness.

"BBBBut we have the galleria, and the med center, and the museum district...Please please please tell me that counts for somtehing!" The places ain't cool if the peeps in um ain't cool. And the peeps are certainly not cool. The atttidue in Houston is just too crappy.

I've been to many, many places outside of Texas. Houston has more urbane variety than San Diego. No ifs and buts.

Um, that question was directed toward DJLawrence...notice the question followed Djjazzylawrences' quote.

And to query your remark, what is so uncool about the people from Houston? This is a city made up of folks who come from India, Manhattan, Los Angeles, Vietnam, Taiwan, Pakistan, Japan, Louisiana, Chicago, Nigeria, Lebanon, Iran, Mexico, Miami....

Just reread your post, and that will tell you right there how uncool people are in Houston. Good Grief. "Montrose's textured neighborhood vibe" YOU are trying way to hard to come off as some super hip finger on the heartbeat of all things cool asian individual. Just like DJ Jazzy lawrence. Y'all are just to cool for your own good and Houston's good.

OMG, you did not mention Kemah!!! There is no point whatsoever to continue this dialog!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...nt/4392841.html

Good job, yo! I never recall hearing about Lakewood Church mentioned by Walters on tv before, but perhaps I'm wrong. Olsteen has really built an empire with Lakewood when it comes to media. It's great to finally hear some positive news from Houston on the national/international spotlight. Rizpekt!

Oh joy, Joel and his wifey..the Jim and Tammy Baker of the new millenium. Sumpin else for H-town to be proud of. Especially when the empire falls...as they always do.

I guess we can agree to disagree.

fair enough

But is that avatar of yours The Hillcrest area of San Diego?

why yes, yes it is!

I've always found that part of town interesting...Nami Sushi in the evening, some of the best my wife and I have ever had.

um okay...great. glad you found it "interesting".

Houston is definitely hip compared to San Diego, which isn't so bad to begin with. But all those Navy boys, bermuda Midwesterners, insular Filipinos and retirees...and the Gas Lamp? The little strip on University is cool and all but...

"insular Filipinos" What is that all about? There are insular folks within any ethnic group and insular folks live in all cities everywhere. The idea that anyone would remotely claim that Houston is Hip compared to San Diego is laughable. I travel for a living and therefore have experienced many different places, and certainly San Diego is hardly EVERYONE'S cup of tea, but I really think you need to get out a bit more before saying that San Diego is lacking when compared to Houston. As I said in a post that I deleted, but not before theniche was able to quote it.... Hip and trendy is so much more than a rapper wearing an astros jersey as suggested by someone on here. Disposition, outlook and attitude of a community's populace play a huge part in a community's hipness. And the folks here in Houston are so busy TRYING to look hip and be seen as hip...as is evidenced by the many "but wait look how cool we are" posts on this board that it misses the mark. Houston has the clubs and different scenes but when it comes down to the people, they just aint cool. But don't be down y'all there is hope...

BTW, the Gas Lamp is hopping in the evening like NO PLACE in Houston on any night.

We've been a trend-setting city for the past couple years (ESPECIALLY on MTV) Where've U been? We went from not being mentioned to MTV's 2004 Super Bowl fiasco to Destiny's Child getting A-Lister play to Swisha House artists winning MTV Music Awards to Houston models blowin' up Myspace, to Houston athletes blowin' up ESPN etc.

Look at how many times you see rappers (Jay-Z, P-Diddy, all H-Towners) wearing vintage Astros jerseys. Next time you're in the mall, check out how many people are sporting McGrady, Yao Ming, or Vince Young jerseys or shoes.

And when it comes to hanging out at night, have you ever tried Bellaire in Alief ( > da SWAT, baby!!! > ), Starbucks on Westheimer & Post Oak, Montrose, Warehouse district near 3rd Ward, Main Street Downtown, Sugarland Town Center, Westheimer's car crews, or Midtown? We have more millionaires in Houston than any city in Texas, and plenty that are middle-upper class, and a lot of them are under 35. That means they love to splurge, and this city accomodates. They're the ones setting the trends, while making mad international business. There's a reason why seven Cinncinati Bengals were arrested outside a Houston nightclub and not in Cincy. And they weren't playing here the next weekend, either.

Another problem with Real World coming to Houston isn't the fact that it's not hip or trendy; it's the fact that there's no one definition as to what hip or trendy is in Houston. Every area of town is like another city here. It's difficult to have just one personality and call that Houston. Montrose, Bellaire SWAT, Uptown, and Downtown are like four different worlds. Difficult to call just one Houston. But if there was one, I'd say Uptown...

I seriously wonder if you have ever been to a city outside of texas?

We've been a trend-setting city for the past couple years (ESPECIALLY on MTV) Where've U been? We went from not being mentioned to MTV's 2004 Super Bowl fiasco to Destiny's Child getting A-Lister play to Swisha House artists winning MTV Music Awards to Houston models blowin' up Myspace, to Houston athletes blowin' up ESPN etc.

Look at how many times you see rappers (Jay-Z, P-Diddy, all H-Towners) wearing vintage Astros jerseys. Next time you're in the mall, check out how many people are sporting McGrady, Yao Ming, or Vince Young jerseys or shoes.

And when it comes to hanging out at night, have you ever tried Bellaire in Alief ( > da SWAT, baby!!! > ), Starbucks on Westheimer & Post Oak, Montrose, Warehouse district near 3rd Ward, Main Street Downtown, Sugarland Town Center, Westheimer's car crews, or Midtown? We have more millionaires in Houston than any city in Texas, and plenty that are middle-upper class, and a lot of them are under 35. That means they love to splurge, and this city accomodates. They're the ones setting the trends, while making mad international business. There's a reason why seven Cinncinati Bengals were arrested outside a Houston nightclub and not in Cincy. And they weren't playing here the next weekend, either.

Another problem with Real World coming to Houston isn't the fact that it's not hip or trendy; it's the fact that there's no one definition as to what hip or trendy is in Houston. Every area of town is like another city here. It's difficult to have just one personality and call that Houston. Montrose, Bellaire SWAT, Uptown, and Downtown are like four different worlds. Difficult to call just one Houston. But if there was one, I'd say Uptown...

These examples you are providing are far from hip and trendy. They only prove my point more...STOP TRYING SO HARD!!!

well, mine is deadly accurate and yes, i got the same feeling about reggie.

Reggie would have been a hard one not to get right on target. I was surprised he even made it on the air in this conservative redneck part of the woods.

Compared to most other places in the USA, Houston is hip and trendy.

Stop trying so hard folks.

After hanging out in the Museum Tower, on Main Street square, and at Tan Tan on Bellaire Saturday night while jammin' to Paul Wall, Mike Jones (who?) Mike Jones (who?) Mike Jones, Chamillionaire, and Slim Thug on our bangin' system, I beg to differ...

> Whu'chu know 'bout dat?! >

Of course you do...

Houston is not Hip/trendy. Sorry.

No need to worry, I'm sure as Houston name spreads people will see Houston for everything it offers and not just one demographic

HAHA, thats ripe.

just wonderin...is he gay?

um...DUH?!!! Are you really THAT provincial?

Where would they stay? You REALLY trust MTV's producers to portray Houston as a hip-trendy city?

Kind of hard to portray Houston as hip & trendy when it is hardly either.

Although I think most of these town center deals pretty retarded and corny, there is one in Columbus, OH that is thriving quite well. It originally opened in 1999. Its called Easton Town Center. Check it out online.

See, Northwest holds a 'golden share' in Continental that basically prevents any other airline from aquiring us. However, that doesn't prevent us from aquiring United or another airline.

The "golden share" could very easily be bought in order to facilitate another airline purchasing Continental.

Delta will most likely be seeking larger bids than the one offered up by USAirways (aka America West). Perhaps United will put in an offer for Delta. There would be little overlap in a combined Delta/United network....just like the case with a Continental/United merger.

OK, OK, I have read enough. I will tell you EXACTLY why we are sooooooooo behind in mass transit. We are the energy capital of the world, our whole economy in Houston is based on OIL ! Now, if we had mass transit and didn't have all this sprawl, requiring everyone that moves here to buy a car in order to drive 50 miles to get anywhere you need to go and burn OIL, then what kind of example would we be setting by trying to CONSERVE our economy's number one resource ? I mean really ?

I been waiting for someone to post this!

I smell condo conversion

Well thank goodness I can sleep now. My skyrise envy has been keeping me up at night.

thank you michael richards.

Oh please. Ghet off your soap box

, Frankly, I don't care how many people (psst...cities can't agree on account of that they aren't sentient) disagree with me. Although I'll be the first to admit that I won't always be correct, or that I'll even know what correct looks like, I'd like to think that I at least have intellectual integrity.

I hope that you hold yourself to the same standard.

blah blah blah.....

One answer to this question is the fact that sprawl has splintered the city and it's beginning to function more like disparate towns than the fourth largest city in the country.

Isn't sprawl what made Houston the 4th largest town? Without annexing everything in site would the town be the 4th largest? Has Houston in fact ever really had the opportunity to function as one cohesive unit?

All the while our red lights are out of sync (AGAIN)!

They are in sync. They turn red at the same time, then green at the same time. Nice.

To answer your question, yes. Of course.

I never said that there weren't costs to having no zoning. But the net benefits are greater, IMO, without it than with it.

Interesting that more cities don't agree with your opinion.

In Amsterdam ( among others) there are sections on the freeways with sensors that check to see if one makes it from point A to point B in less than a given time (based on speed limit obviously). If you make it to point B too soon...you get da TICKET!!! Wait till that crap makes it to the US. Redscare will be in HEAVEN with all that revenue!!!!

For such a progressive and open-minded city, our development community is sadly behind the times.

Perhaps then, Houston is not "progressive and open-minded.

An honest question.

It isn't as though there aren't other areas of opportunity within the city where it'd be easier to stimulate major redevelopment on a more concentrated and grand scale (i.e. Buffalo Bayou corridor). Downtown/midtown are each just have this problem with divided ownership of a whole lot of tiny parcels that makes cohesive urban planning incredibly difficult.

Doesn't the whole -no zoning- play a huge part in not having a cohesive urban area?

Plenty of projects are going up in Houston - There are cranes poping up all over the city, condos and townhomes are going up like crazy as well. Don't worry people, this project is a go. In my opinion DT Denver and Seattle has more residential and shopping then our DT because that only have one cenral area and also majority of our cities residential and shopping is in uptown/galleria area which is like a second DT.

Although Seattle and Denver do not have areas on the scale of The Galleria or the Medical Center, Their Downtown's are hardly the only area where residential and shopping coexist.

How is the mattress/ cheap shoe market not saturated yet? Do people buy new matresses every 3 months?

Probably not every three months. But do you think illegal aliens bring mattresses with them? They have to purchase them somewhere.