Knqn

What's with this "obsession" with passing Chicago in population? Say we wake up tomorrow and the NYT reports "Houston surpasses Chicago in population," then what? A cities vitality and healthy urban atmosphere is 10 times more important then bragging rights in population. Look at a San Francisco or Boston, two cities who have nothing to prove in the population category (city wise) and they're respectively a couple of the most dynamic urban centers in the U.S. Enough with Houston trying to polish it's image nationally, you first have to showcase your city locally and start some kind of critical mass in the central area.

In the third picture, bottom right hand corner, can someone tell me what those two circular buildings are? They're on Michigan right by the Chicago river and look like they were built around the late 60s early 70s. I tried to find them on Chicagoarchitecture.info, but didn't have any luck.

Marina City...

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=117109

Im an intruder from Chicago, not at all to bash the city of Houston, but for my passion of urban politics and cities in general.

Don't worry im not gay either.... not that there's anything wrong with that

I believe 2112 wrote down the exact same sentiments that me and many other Mexican Americans feel, but on a side note i don't want a chicken coop or laundry hanging in front of my yard either, i found that hilarious when i read it in citykids post. I know people still do this in places, but living in an urban environment i wouldn't be to fond on that aspect of my Mexican culture.

Mexicans are here to stay, you can argue all you want about " oh we need to stop them from coming in," it's to late, they're already here . I agree that a hispanic person should adapt to the American culture and learn the language, but easier said then done. If you live in a predominately hispanic neighborhood, and work in a job that doesn't require english first hand, do you really believe that anyone would learn english in that type of environment?

Also I believe the word "racist" is thrown around a little to much, people need to stop being so PC about everything. As a Mexican Citykids post might have been a bit annoying, but i wouldn't call it "racist."

Who said Chicago was losing population? If anyone has actually visited Chicago in recent years the city is booming with construction in and out of the downtown area. Remember the 1990 census estimated Chicago at a loss in population when it had actually gained 100,000 residents.