Disneyland in Houston?

[Houston19514]

True - but I think Houston has also had a rep of "it's too hot to do anything outside". I bet that starts to fade if the Bayou Greenway Initiative and the Hike and Bike trails get built out the way that they're planned.

It would also start to fade if Houstonians as a rule did not start every conversation with visitors with complaints about humidity, including claims of severe heat and humdity in October, November, and December. ;-) And Houstonians need to refrain from making their second sentence in every conversation with outsiders being complaints about traffic.

Then, Houstonians need to drive around their city and appreciate the very beautiful parts of town and place a bit of focus on those parts rather than always solely focusing on the less attractive parts (every city has its less attractive parts; I've never lived anywhere that the people were so insistent on focusing on the less attractive parts as Houstonians; citizens of most cities prefer to focus on their beautiful parts and pretend the less attractive parts don't exist)

[20thStDad]

It would also start to fade if Houstonians as a rule did not start every conversation with visitors with complaints about humidity, including claims of severe heat and humdity in October, November, and December. ;-) And Houstonians need to refrain from making their second sentence in every conversation with outsiders being complaints about traffic.

Then, Houstonians need to drive around their city and appreciate the very beautiful parts of town and place a bit of focus on those parts rather than always solely focusing on the less attractive parts (every city has its less attractive parts; I've never lived anywhere that the people were so insistent on focusing on the less attractive parts as Houstonians; citizens of most cities prefer to focus on their beautiful parts and pretend the less attractive parts don't exist)

The ratio of beautiful to not beautiful is much lower than one should hope for. Landscape and development just haven't gone in Houston's favor, ever. Delude yourselves all you want, but if you stack Houston against other cities almost anywhere, it's going to look sub-par at best from an aesthetics point of view.

[Houston19514]

The ratio of beautiful to not beautiful is much lower than one should hope for. Landscape and development just haven't gone in Houston's favor, ever. Delude yourselves all you want, but if you stack Houston against other cities almost anywhere, it's going to look sub-par at best from an aesthetics point of view.

I happen to disagree, but even if true, that misses the point. Even if it is true that Houston is "sub-par from an aesthetics point of view" when stacked against other cities almost anywhere, why do we lead with that? Let's lead with the beautiful parts of town like other cities do.

Let's lead with the great weather we have for most of the year, instead of focusing on the humidity (Chicagoans don't greet visitors with immediate whining and apologies for winter weather; Floridians don't constantly offer up the fact that it is humid . . .).

Similarly regarding traffic. We are the fifth largest metropolitan area in the country. Yeah, we have traffic. But all things considered, it's pretty darned easy to get around here. Easier than in almost any comparably sized metro area (and a lot of much smaller metro areas). Yet we are constantly bombarded with snide references by our local media about the horrible traffic and Houstonians are too quick to whine about it to visitors.

I lived here roughly 20 years ago, loved it, but then moved away for a variety of reasons. In the intervening 15 years or so, I visited often and followed Houston closely in on-line media and on this board. I found that when I went long periods without visiting, I would start to have negative thoughts about Houston and doubt whether I would want to come back. The negativity arose entirely from reading this board and the on-line Houston media (which is then also reflected in national media, when the national media bothers to notice Houston at all). The negativity on this board and in Houston media is pretty relentless, and as I mentioned above, when repeated often enough it's surprising what people will believe. But a quick visit to Houston would always remind me that, contrary to the Houston mythology, the city is quite beautiful, the weather is pretty darned nice, spectacular even, a large portion of the year, and it is not clogged with traffic 24-7.

[IronTiger]

My theory is that Houston is just kind of averse to theme parks. In addition to Astroworld, it also had a Busch Gardens, which only lasted a few years.

You could make the argument that both Astroworld and Busch Gardens were landlocked, but there hasn't any theme parks in the suburbs or even less developed parts (Northeast Houston).

[jgriff]

My drive down Memorial from the villages to downtown this morning was beautiful. It's such a nice drive that I look forward to coming to work on Saturdays. Like Houston19514 said, I focus on the nice parts of Houston. I avoid the other parts. I'll drive out of my way to avoid the bad parts of Southwest Houston. My parents live in East Texas and have hated Houston since the 70s. When I moved to a townhouse near Memorial Villages they changed their mind. All they knew of Houston was the freeways and where my grandparents lived near Inwood Forest.