HarryMoto Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Slate has taken notice of what's going on in Houston:http://www.slate.com/id/2193959/Here's the top:Houston, We Have No ProblemsIn the midst of a stagnant economy, an oil star shines in Texas.By Daniel GrossPosted Saturday, June 21, 2008, at 9:13 AM ET The former corporate headquarters of Enron in HoustonTo find a hot spot where soaring oil and commodity prices and the booming economies of the developing world are keeping cash registers ringing and construction crews fully employed, you don't have to trek to Dubai or Moscow. You need travel only as far as Houston. In May, the unemployment rate in the nation's sixth-largest metropolitan area was a measly 3.8 percent. In the past year, Houston-based companies, which include 26 Fortune 500 firms, added 71,000 jobs to their payrolls. The local United Way closed out its fiscal year with a record $76.1 million in donations. At the Galleria, a high-end shopping oasis, Bridgette Bottone, manager of the De Beers store, notes, "We're still selling the big guys": three-carat-plus diamonds that retail for more than $50,000. Pessimists are as rare as Birkenstock sandals or Obama '08 stickers in ExxonMobil's parking garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Houstonist article on...the Slate article. Meta-tastic. http://houstonist.com/2008/06/23/the_kid_rides_again.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Slate has taken notice of what's going on in Houston:http://www.slate.com/id/2193959/ Here's the top: Houston, We Have No Problems In the midst of a stagnant economy, an oil star shines in Texas. By Daniel Gross Posted Saturday, June 21, 2008, at 9:13 AM ET This is the same one from newsweek. Houstonist article on...the Slate article. Meta-tastic. http://houstonist.com/2008/06/23/the_kid_rides_again.php Funny how every time Houston gets pub, someone has to make a reference to being world class and whether we're there or not, sarcastic or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Funny how every time Houston gets pub, someone has to make a reference to being world class and whether we're there or not, sarcastic or not. I think at this point the whole "world class" argument has become very silly, hence the sarcastic question at the end of the Houstonist article. Nothing will ever prove or disprove one way or another, to anyone's complete and total satisfaction, that Houston is or isn't world class. People will always come up with some argument for or against. World class is just a running joke now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I was more impressed with his use of JAX's cool pic of Main Street. Congrats, JAX! This flurry of 'Ain't Houston Grand?' articles made me think of the 10 or 12 posters who used to whine about Houston's second rate status at every opportunity, using such well researched facts as, "my friends visited me last week, and they said Houston sucks, so that must mean that the entire country thinks Houston sucks". Or, how about, "During the Super Bowl, some lame sportswriter said Houston has sprawl", so Houston must suck. My favorites were always the "Why can't Houston be like Miami?" complaints, which leads me to ask, is Miami still there? I haven't seen an article about that world class city since they wrote about the see-through condo towers. Perhaps the best news about this biggest burst of national news stories about Houston since the late 70s 'boomtown' days is that we don't have John Travolta around this time to give a redneck slant to all of the stories. The writers are actually forced to write about Houston as it really is, as opposed to a cheap Hollywood caricature. Of course, the bad news in all of this....especially for the Houston-haters....is that it throws a bucket of water on our grass is greener fantasies about the other, sexier US cities. Yeah, they may look better (then again, they may not), but how much fun is living in a cool place if you can't find a job. Now, this isn't to say that Houston is perfect, as we all know otherwise. It does, however, show that old stereotypes CAN change, and stereotypical Houston, for better or worse, is changing dramatically. Enjoy the publicity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I was more impressed with his use of JAX's cool pic of Main Street. Congrats, JAX! The author is a she. Perhaps the best news about this biggest burst of national news stories about Houston since the late 70s 'boomtown' days is that we don't have John Travolta around this time to give a redneck slant to all of the stories. The writers are actually forced to write about Houston as it really is, as opposed to a cheap Hollywood caricature. Of course, the bad news in all of this....especially for the Houston-haters....is that it throws a bucket of water on our grass is greener fantasies about the other, sexier US cities. Yeah, they may look better (then again, they may not), but how much fun is living in a cool place if you can't find a job. This, times eleventy million. You hit the nail on the head. Ain't nothin' sexy about being broke, even if you've got mountains or ocean views or Times Square. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 The author is a she. The Houstonist is a chick? Who knew? My apologies, Katharine. EDIT: I just dissected your handle, sheeats. I guess you would know the gender of the author. Even more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 It's okay. Little known fact: Houstonist is actually an advanced cybernetic organism sent from the future. No gender...that we know of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Little known fact: Houstonist is actually an advanced cybernetic organism sent from the future. No gender...that we know of. Mmmmmm....advanced cybernetic organism sent from the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 This, times eleventy million. You hit the nail on the head. Ain't nothin' sexy about being broke, even if you've got mountains or ocean views or Times Square. Heh, you said just what I was thinking. So much for smog-breathing fatties when the cash register is dinging in the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Mmmmmm....advanced cybernetic organism sent from the future. Just be sure you don't mispell the words in your mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottonmather0 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 This is the same one from newsweek.Dan Gross is officially a writer for Newsweek and a contributor to Slate. He cross-pollinates a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I know these booms never last, but I have to admit I get very excited for Houston reading these articles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottonmather0 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I know these booms never last, but I have to admit I get very excited for Houston reading these articles. I get that the economy is cyclical and all, but, really, what's the point of this? Contrarianism for its own sake? I don't think she even knows what her thesis is here. I usually think, "Don't buy into the hype" means that the hype is wrong. That maybe the people who are generating the hype have bad data, or are misinterpreting the data, or something. We do indeed have low unemployment, higher incomes, and a stronger housing market than the rest of the country and the data backs that up. Is the hype wrong? I'm still waiting for Debbie Downer at the Chron to explain why! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I get that the economy is cyclical and all, but, really, what's the point of this? Contrarianism for its own sake? I don't think she even knows what her thesis is here. That's her M.O. We should just be happy she's not banging on about how people don't have a right to dye their hair red (since, as a natural redhead, it offends her) or writing about her selfless quest to get 17-year-olds the right to vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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