Top 10 Most Underrated U.S. Cities

[KimberlySayWhat]

Top 10 most underrated cities according to ShermansTravel.com:

http://shermanstravel.com/destinations/top...rated_US_Cities

Of course Houston's on there or I wouldn't have posted the link.

I say great. Houston needs to continue being underrated, all the while getting stronger, bigger and better.

[WesternGulf]

I usually blow off these list, but that list is PERFECT. I don't know about Sacramento though. The only thing I disagree with are the reasons.

[KimberlySayWhat]

So do I usually. I've never even heard of Sherman travel, but the lists are always worth the look.

[Subdude]

Excellent. Thanks for posting that. I notice thought the list also included Sacramento. Sacramento?

[Pumapayam]

Excellent. Thanks for posting that. I notice thought the list also included Sacramento. Sacramento?

Never been to Sacramento, but I am assuming it is ghetto with all the doubt given in this thread.

[HtownWxBoy]

Houston is DEFINITELY a very underrated city... I am glad to see it near the top of the list. Whenever I have visitors visit for the first time they always say... "wow, I had no idea Houston was this amazing!".

[WesternGulf]

OK, Sacramento is not too bad, but what is before (San Francisco) and after (mountains of Lake Tahoe) makes it seem extremely subpar. I was kind of upset last month when I took the exit to go off into the city and ended up in traffic that would make someone suicidal coming back to San Francisco.

[KimberlySayWhat]

I know nothing about Sacramento other than it's where "Eight is Enough" was set. Maybe it was a nice place back then.

HtownWxBoy:

Houston is DEFINITELY a very underrated city... I am glad to see it near the top of the list. Whenever I have visitors visit for the first time they always say... "wow, I had no idea Houston was this amazing!".

People also seem surprised that Houston is so green. I never knew it wasn't supposed to be green. It's s subtropical climate for goodness sake.

[Guest danax]

Excellent. Thanks for posting that. I notice thought the list also included Sacramento. Sacramento?

Even though it's the capitol it gets little respect within CA. Bakersfield is the most commonly laughed at with Sacramento perhaps next.

I've spent a few days there and it might be a sort of very mini-Houston; you really need to get down to street level to see and apprecitate the little districts and neighborhoods. Nice residential architecture, abundant trees and a light rail system. It gets hot there too, just like home, except its the oven-like "dry heat".

[TheNiche]

Houston is DEFINITELY a very underrated city... I am glad to see it near the top of the list. Whenever I have visitors visit for the first time they always say... "wow, I had no idea Houston was this amazing!".

Yeah, I've even had visiting friends from the RGV exclaim to me how walkable west Houston is!

[Guest Plastic]

First of all where are lal the utlet malls they speak of? And where is this TexMe x food everybody talks about? Heard it, never had it.

[dbigtex56]

Yeah, I've even had visiting friends from the RGV exclaim to me how walkable west Houston is!

By 'RGV' do you mean Rio Grande Valley?

Talk about faint praise....

[ProHouston]

First of all where are lal the utlet malls they speak of? And where is this TexMe x food everybody talks about? Heard it, never had it.

Surely you're kidding, right?

[Subdude]

And where is this TexMe x food everybody talks about? Heard it, never had it.

[editor]

The only thing I would add to that list is Cincinnati. Otherwise, it's quite good.

[Double L]

I wouldn't turn to the Rio Grande Valley for advice on walkable neighborhoods.

I don't like this list, I don't like their reasoning for putting this list together. They've based their list on things like restaurants, "nice districts", historical areas. This list is based on a cities public image and snobbiness.

[TheNiche]

I wouldn't turn to the Rio Grande Valley for advice on walkable neighborhoods.

Ever been to downtown Brownsville or McAllen? If a recreation of that were plopped onto some tract of land in Houston, a lot of urbanistas would be made very happy.

...but on the whole, yes, the RGV is pretty far behind on such things. Even so, her big problem is not the lack of sidewalks or streetscapes, but the inevitable cat calls and dirty stares from motorists. Such is the plight of a well-endowed woman, it seems.

[Double L]

I was in downtown Brownsville in the late 90s. My impression was that it was historical and the buildings were high-density, with entrances on the street. However it was also dead and on a small area of land.

[TheNiche]

I was in downtown Brownsville in the late 90s. My impression was that it was historical and the buildings were high-density, with entrances on the street. However it was also dead and on a small area of land.

I was there on business earlier this year (much to my protest), and it was anything but dead.

[Double L]

The retail is mainly lower-end, the sidewalks are narrow and there aren't any city-wide hubs downtown which the people in the city will regularly visit outside of the university.

[TheNiche]

The retail is mainly lower-end, the sidewalks are narrow and there aren't any city-wide hubs downtown which the people in the city will regularly visit outside of the university.

Wait, so the walkable environment has to be oriented towards wealthy or educated people and have an anchor store in order to be 'truely' walkable? Sounds like you're more of a suburbanista on the order of a Woodlands or Sugar Land resident.

(Incidentally, though, Simon Property Group is installing an open-air lifestyle center as an add-on to La Plaza Mall in McAllen, designed to conform to all the demands of the typical gringo suburbanista. They'll even have mist generators to try and keep people cool, but apparently the architects to realize that it is very windy down there, and the wind carries dust! What happens when you mix water and dust? )

...but getting back to topic, not only does there apparently have to be visual evidence of people walking, but they have to be comfortable walking!? Or is "walkable" one of those terms (like "livable") that gets applied to cities in which people successfully live, but means something entirely different?

[dgreco]

good list, but I think the ordering of some of the cities are wrong...

[Double L]

I think that a healthy, walkable neighborhood should be used by the residents of the city and not just be leftover historical buildings from how prosperous it used to be. That's how I would describe downtown Brownsville. Our downtown has healthier retail business, residential population and support from the population.

[TheNiche]

I think that a healthy, walkable neighborhood should be used by the residents of the city and not just be leftover historical buildings from how prosperous it used to be. That's how I would describe downtown Brownsville. Our downtown has healthier retail business, residential population and support from the population.

Downtown Brownsville is used by the residents of the city (and Matamoros). Its form is not an indication of former affluence, but of the former lack of modern methods of conveyance.

I would agree that our downtown is healthier in every way, that it is more "urban", and that it is more "walkable," in both the strict and loose sense of the word. But that comparison is perhaps unwarranted. The lack of stores catering to yuppies does not detract from the walkability of downtown Brownsville, as is evidenced by the people that are walking around.

[Double L]

If you consider the economy of the region during the period of history that most of downtown Brownsville was built then I would say that it was economically prosperous.

I think if we're discussing RGV cities as a model for walkability I think that they lack public transportation and residential population. I also think that residents of the city tend not to use the downtown and that is why it isn't filled with offices, entertainment hubs, retail or residential space.

[TheNiche]

If you consider the economy of the region during the period of history that most of downtown Brownsville was built then I would say that it was economically prosperous.

I would have to disagree. There were periods of prosper, such as during the Civil War, and there were periods of pretty severe decline, such as after Reconstruction ended. In the 20th century, it was all about agriculture until about the late 1960's, once maquiladoras started to be built, and even that was a slow process...in the mean time, the RGV was counted as the poorest part of the United States. Back when I lived in the RGV, I had older teachers now and then that would talk about how good folks have it now, that the kids don't have to go out and pick cotton and other crops instead of getting an education.

The fundamental truth is that regardless of how poor a population is, they still have to have a marketplace somewhere. And that was downtown. They got around by walking. It was walkable. It is walkable. People walk.

I think if we're discussing RGV cities as a model for walkability I think that they lack public transportation and residential population. I also think that residents of the city tend not to use the downtown and that is why it isn't filled with offices, entertainment hubs, retail or residential space.

RGV cities are not lacking in population. I don't know where you get that tidbit of ridiculousness. The population is in fact very fertile, and they're being supplimented by the healthcare industry that pulls in educated people from up north (and from the Philipennes).

They do lack public transportation (for the most part), but a larger percentage of them tend to carpool than is typical of most cities. But the question was not whether they're bussable, or railable, but if they're walkable. And parts of the RGV are indeed, as evidenced by the people that...walk.

As for why the downtown isn't filled with offices or entertainment destinations, it probably has to do with the fact that there just aren't many office users. In the past five years, not quite 90% of net non-farm job growth in the area has resulted from schools, healthcare, and government, none of which are very office-intensive. Entertainment options generally are limited as well, to big cineplexes. Anything of smaller scale would not likely be economical because these folks aren't generally attracted to high culture (although I think that there was an experiment on an old movie theater in downtown McAllen that I'd heard about several years back, and I don't know how it fared).

And you mentioned retail as something lacking in downtown Brownsville, but it is there, and there's plenty of it...perhaps nothing that you'd patronize, but then it isn't there for your patronage. If you doubt me, go back and see.

As for residential, it is also there, but isn't highly visible because it is above the retail and doesn't have signage or anything elaborate to announce itself. You tend not to see any new construction in that neighborhood because anything that would fit there except for a tax-credit complex would not be financially feasible. There are still new single-family homes available for as low as $65,000 in some places; why would anyone rent a new apartment that wasn't subsidized?

[Double L]

If you needed to live in downtown Brownsville without a car it would be impossible. I can find no information on the net about any condos or apartments in downtown Brownsville. If you lived in downtown Brownsville you would not have access to efficient enough public transportation which is necessary to help one travel long distances on foot and the retail would not be sufficient to support a family without a car.

I don't think Brownsville should be a good example of walkability. I think it has high-density buildings however it has narrow sidewalks, which impeds pedestrian transportation, especially in large amounts, a lack of public transportation and a lack of ammenities located within the downtown. It is not liveable without a car.

[TheNiche]

If you needed to live in downtown Brownsville without a car it would be impossible. I can find no information on the net about any condos or apartments in downtown Brownsville. If you lived in downtown Brownsville you would not have access to efficient enough public transportation which is necessary to help one travel long distances on foot and the retail would not be sufficient to support a family without a car.

I don't think Brownsville should be a good example of walkability. I think it has high-density buildings however it has narrow sidewalks, which impeds pedestrian transportation, especially in large amounts, a lack of public transportation and a lack of ammenities located within the downtown. It is not liveable without a car.

Of course you can't find any info on housing in downtown Brownsville. You aren't looking in the right places or probably in the right language. And we aren't talking about condos. We're talking about old buildings with retail on bottom and residence on top, a fair number being owner-occupied or some analogous situation involving family, and a completely backwards-ass way of doing business as far as most gringos are concerned.

According to Census data with 2006 estimates made by Claritas, downtown Brownsville has 13,130 persons living in it, of which 96.3% are Hispanic and 91.0% of which speak Spanish at home. They have a tendency to be very young, between 0 and 24, or very old, 65+. Two thirds of residents older than 25 years never completed High School. The median household income is $13,528. The per capita income is an amazingly low $6,733. 38.31% of households do not own a vehicle! And despite having 3.28 persons per household, 41.35% own only one vehicle. Only 56.9% of those that were employed drive private vehicles to commute, and 20.68% walk, ride transit, ride a bike, or work at home. Two thirds rent, and only 48.4% of housing is single-family detached. There are also only a very few large apartment complexes.

Check it out. Zoom in and notice the bus.

[Double L]

I want a source for those stats, I can't imagine fitting 13,000 people on that small of a space in 4-story housing without one of the housing units listed online. I think you counted areas outside of downtown in your statistics.

[TheNiche]

I want a source for those stats, I can't imagine fitting 13,000 people on that small of a space in 4-story housing without one of the housing units listed online. I think you counted areas outside of downtown in your statistics.

Yes, I also counted those older parts of town that were within easy walking distance of downtown, excluding Matamoros. But I just redrew the polygon to narrow things down to just that urban core, and although there's about half the population, the percentage of households without any vehicles increases, as does the rate at which employees walk or ride transit. Households are poorer in the area, with per capita income declining to $6,033, and with 61.3% of households earning less than $15k per year. And I already gave you a source: Claritas, Inc.

But honestly, do you think that a landlord is going to take the trouble to post a listing online for someone who probably can't afford the internet and wouldn't know how to use it very effectively if they could? And if they do happen to post a listing online, do you think that they're going to list it in English so that you or I could read it?