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When You Think Of Houston...


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The Rolling Stone thread got me wondering about this. It seems that Houston's image to the world mainly consists of:

Cough syrup

Rap & screw

Multiple murderer moms

Enron

Pollution

Sprawl

REALLY big churches

Cowboys

etc etc etc

Sol what should our image be? What should people think of when they hear "Houston"? And how do we get there?

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houston is green. not necessarily environmentally green, but lush, semitropical...green.

houston is laid back, friendly.

houston is a great place for business and entrepreneurs.

houston loves art.

houston is a culture all it's own. we are THE melting-pot poster child for the 21st century.

as for "..how do we get there?", keep being ourselves. dallas' mistake (imho) was to try to measure up to some sort of urban/cosmopolitan idea or image. in the process, dallas came to be perceived as pretentious and fake.

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houston is green.  not necessarily environmentally green, but lush, semitropical...green.

houston is laid back, friendly.

houston is a great place for business and entrepreneurs.

houston loves art.

houston is a culture all it's own.  we are THE melting-pot poster child for the 21st century.

as for "..how do we get there?", keep being ourselves.  dallas' mistake (imho) was to try to measure up to some sort of urban/cosmopolitan idea or image.  in the process, dallas came to be perceived as pretentious and fake.

I would say International City as well. We have a ton of international visitors and business leaders from all over the world visit our city. Also, look at foreign business here and the consulates. I still think people think of Houston as a backwater, tick infested, redneck, beer drinking, gun toting, hot and humid city. Granted, not all the above mentioned embarass me at all. I think with time this will change, if it does not, oh well. Who really cares what people think, right?

A friend of mine in California told me that Houston is like LA, big and spread out, kinda dirty without great arts or green spaces. Dallas is like San Francisco, cleaner, great museums and restaurants and wonderful parks.

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The Rolling Stone thread got me wondering about this.  It seems that Houston's image to the world mainly consists of:

Cough syrup

Rap & screw

Multiple murderer moms

Enron

Pollution

Sprawl

REALLY big churches

Cowboys

etc etc etc

Sol what should our image be?  What should people think of when they hear "Houston"?  And how do we get there?

Well, seeing as how all that's true, it's hard to run from it. I say we embrace it.

Of course these aren't the only things we've got, but we DO have big churches, Enron and pollution...it's hard to argue that we don't.

We could be "the city that accepts that it is not perfect, and yet still likes itself in spite of its problems." ;)

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I still think people think of Houston as a backwater, tick infested, redneck, beer drinking, gun toting, hot and humid city.

I live in SF and that's what everyone says about Dallas too.

When you think of cities with REAL cosmopolitan atmospheres, Dallas is not the first place that come to mind.

Dallas is not SF. Not even close.

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I'm sure all of Dallas and most of Texas is thankful for that fact!

Right. I'm sure everyone in Dallas is much happier with the rednecks, guns, and ticks.

I hope Houston never gets too carried away with trying to live up to a unrealistic image of itself the way Dallas trys to do. I know people who will laugh in your face if you say the word Dallas and the word urban in the same sentence. Most people I know come back from Dallas expecting a lot more than what they just got.

O wait, this is supposed to be about Houston's new image slogan, here's one.

"Keep it real in Houston or you might as well be in Dallas"

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I live in SF and that's what everyone says about Dallas too.

When you think of cities with REAL cosmopolitan atmospheres, Dallas is not the first place that come to mind.

Dallas is not SF. Not even close.

To anyone outside of Texas, we're all just Texans. To anyone outside of the south, we're all rednecks. People from both Houston and Dallas need to realize that and stop with the petty arguments. Who are we trying to convince? No one cares.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across the biggest Texas-bashing rant article on the Internet (sorry, but I can't remember where), and the person who wrote it admitted that he'd never even been to Texas and he didn't want to go there, either. They were talking about Texas and Texans in general.

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Here it is. It's not one single rant, but a compilation of things people hate.

Scroll down to Emily's hate:

http://www.collegehumor.com/articles/247733/

She's obviously an ignorant moron, but I think it echos how a lot of non-Texans perceive Texas. Not Dallas or Houston or Austin or San Antonio, but Texas in general.

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We're just stuck with that reputation for now. Just like when you tell someone you're from California you might get something like "all a bunch of wack-jobs out there" (my bubba co-worker). I responded, "I resemble that remark!"

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Houston and Dallas are like brother and sister who are constantly bickering about the other. In fact, Houston may even join in with other siblings like San Antonio and Austin to pick on Sister Dallas.

But, if someone outside our Texas family tries picking on any of us, then they should be prepared to have their nose bloodied!

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You reap what you sow. Too many Texans do indeed brag a bit too much on Texas, even when some parts are not worth bragging about. We even brag about our ability to brag. I can see how it would be annoying to others. It is even annoying to me...and I LIVE here.

That being said, that's part of why I like Houston. Our little inferiority complex works to our advantage. Where, as Mr. X pointed out, one may leave Dallas wondering what they missed, most people coming to Houston don't expect much, and so leave pleasantly surprised . Understatement can be a powerful tool.

BTW, some of the other posts on that site are frigging hilarious...and I seemed to know all of those people they hated.

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Too many Texans do indeed brag a bit too much on Texas

In my many travels, I've actually had people beg me to talk about Texas.

They are curious, and others are jealous.

I don't really care for Yankees, carpet baggers, granolas, Left Coast hippies, people from Florida and Midwestern wierdos, so it's no skin off my back.

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Here it is. It's not one single rant, but a compilation of things people hate.

Scroll down to Emily's hate:

http://www.collegehumor.com/articles/247733/

She's obviously an ignorant moron, but I think it echos how a lot of non-Texans  perceive Texas. Not Dallas or Houston or Austin or San Antonio, but Texas in general.

What was that old Pace Picante commercial "Get a rope". That is what this girl could use.

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