What is Houston?

[DJ V Lawrence]

Nmm, did you think they were going to tear down Six Flags to build ANOTHER theme park in it's place ? Would you really take your "out-of-town" guest to Astroworld as representative of Houston's "culture" ?

Six Flags Astroworld was considered a place for tourists to go at one point. Though it's not representative of city "culture", I do understand why some would have expected another theme park to replace Astroworld. It wasn't like they didn't have potential. The owners just sucked, that's all.

[bachanon]

I just got back from a modern dance performance on the small stage at Hobby Center. The performance was raw and really felt like something you'd see in a very small, off-off Broadway kind of theater. We then went to Quattro, where I had a veal chop and and split a great bottle of wine with my wife. The dinner was expensive, but on-par with some of the finest food I've eaten anywhere. After coffee, we hopped into my personal convertible sports car, which I am able to comfortably afford, which was parked for free at a metered space in Downtown on a Friday night, mind you.

We planned to take a quick spin through Downtown with the top down (60s at night in mid-March) then head home, but there was such a lively crowd, we decided to park the car -- again, at a free street space -- and grab a drink at a bar. On the street, people were setting up a sound system for some concert or festival and the mic check could be heard for blocks. I'm guessing it will be going on tomorrow.

The bar was packed with mostly late 20s-late 30 year olds and had a nice vibe. There was live music, but also quiet areas to talk. We had two and decided to call it a night. It looked like their party was just getting going, along with numerous others lining velvet ropes all along Main St.

I have traveled all around the world and enjoy nightlife in big cities. I'd liken this experience and the atmospere to the East Village in NYC, parts of SOMA in San Francisco or the West End in London. It was a great time for adults, not college night. That's Houston. We are much more grown up than Austin and less staged than Dallas. In the end, the entire experience is low-key Texan in nature, not nearly as vibrant as those areas in NY, SF and London I mentioned, but still retaining much of the flavor. I like it a lot. I'm sorry there aren't more rollercoasters around to appeal to your idea of a good time.

precisely!

[N Judah]

Is my post hitting a little too close to home for you, Judah? Do you feel the walls closing in? It's OK. Take a deep breath. It'll be alright.

I guess I just don't understand the resentment expressed towards people who want to improve their lot in life, especially since those are the people Houston will want to continue to attract in order to continue on its drive to be a truly Awesome city. This is definitely a pull yourself up by the bootstraps sort of town, and anyone who has a problem with that part of the local culture can just go back to Shreveport or Corpus Christi.

And I have no idea what you mean by "walls closing in" but I guess that's another one of those things I just won't understand until I'm older.

[Guest Plastic]

What I want to know is anybody going to change it.

Now what I'm trying to understand is why people think Houstonis so great. I mean are they on Black Tar Heroin?

I've lived here 28 years and haven't found a damned reason to stay.

I think all of us should get in our cars,buses,catch planes and move out. And FYI Housotn has 5 million people.

[Jeebus]

What I want to know is anybody going to change it.

Now what I'm trying to understand is why people think Houstonis so great. I mean are they on Black Tar Heroin?

I've lived here 28 years and haven't found a damned reason to stay.

I think all of us should get in our cars,buses,catch planes and move out. And FYI Housotn has 5 million people.

Citykid is moving to Atlanta. Maybe you two could work something out.

[RedScare]

I guess I just don't understand the resentment expressed towards people who want to improve their lot in life, especially since those are the people Houston will want to continue to attract in order to continue on its drive to be a truly Awesome city. This is definitely a pull yourself up by the bootstraps sort of town, and anyone who has a problem with that part of the local culture can just go back to Shreveport or Corpus Christi.

And I have no idea what you mean by "walls closing in" but I guess that's another one of those things I just won't understand until I'm older.

Judah, to understand my comments, you should reread your post. I was making fun of the ridiculousness of your assertion that Houstonians pick on college kids. I've probably been in college longer than anyone here, and not once in my 29 years in Houston have I ever seen or heard anyone 'go after' college students. If you make outlandish, unsupportable posts, you'll probably get sarcastic replies.

[Trae]

Citykid is moving to Atlanta. Maybe you two could work something out.

[N Judah]

If you make outlandish, unsupportable posts, you'll probably get sarcastic replies.

Okay. So basically what you're saying is that in response to your post about "crybaby college kids, who blame their lack of personality and sense of adventure on everyone but themselves" I probably should have written a sarcastic reply. Sorry, I'll get it right next time. I apologize.

[RedScare]

Okay. So basically what you're saying is that in response to your post about "crybaby college kids, who blame their lack of personality and sense of adventure on everyone but themselves" I probably should have written a sarcastic reply. Sorry, I'll get it right next time. I apologize.

Exactly!

[nmainguy]

its aight, parts of it arent so ghetto and grungy. they revamped alot of it.

but we always had atlantic city, jersey city, the big apple, or Philly to go 'n' see. boston and baltimore werent so far neither.

It is stunning to me that someone who can barely construct a coherent sentence-much less have the intelligence to figure out where some of Houston's world class museums are located [a task any 5th grader could perform using a telephone book or the internet] is allowed to graduate from high school, much less attend the "Cullen College Engineering". [...god it's just too painful to point out the obvious]

It concerns me that I will now need to wonder if the next bridge I drive over will collapse...which glass of water I drink will make me ill...it's not "aight" with me.

My hope is the nmm's of the world will have no responsibility when it comes to designing our everyday infrastructures and will only be allowed to operate machinery no heavier than a fax machine.

[dalparadise]

It is stunning to me that someone who can barely construct a coherent sentence-much less have the intelligence to figure out where some of Houston's world class museums are located [a task any 5th grader could perform using a telephone book or the internet] is allowed to graduate from high school, much less attend the "Cullen College Engineering". [...god it's just too painful to point out the obvious]

It concerns me that I will now need to wonder if the next bridge I drive over will collapse...which glass of water I drink will make me ill...it's not "aight" with me.

My hope is the nmm's of the world will have no responsibility when it comes to designing our everyday infrastructures and will only be allowed to operate machinery no heavier than a fax machine.

I was thinking the same thing. I am a UH grad and a big supporter of the university. However, stuff like this makes me think the engineering program must be the suck.

[nmm]

Go forbid anyone come here and make the mistake of criticizing this city ever again.

[Jeebus]

Go forbid anyone come here and make the mistake of criticizing this city ever again.

Its one thing to come to a Houston forum and criticize, its another to critique & then offer insight or even solutions.

If we wanted to hear about how much Houston sucked we'd all go register on a Dallas forum.

[worldlyman]

Apologies for the title of the thread. I wrote it when i wasnt in a good mood.

Anywho i was looking for something to do here, that i havent done in Chicago or NYC. NYC does have world class museums and chicago has some of the finest architecture in the world, not to mention the tallest tower in the USA.

Initially i was desperately looking for a place to take some of my nieces and nephews and was genuinely smug when i heard the old Six Flags is set to become townhomes. Its really uniqe for a major city to have an amusement park within city limits. You dont find that anywhere else except SA.

However, i think i may have overlooked the museum district (i figured i 'saw it all' in NYC) Ill hit that up soon, God willing. And NASA is definitely something unique.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I think ive been to more places then the average American. I love visiting different cities and countries; they always have something unique. For example: NYC is alot more hectic and fast paced then Cleveland. LA is very liberal, and Dallas is squeeky clean.

Ive also been to Manchester, Toronto, Dubai, Lahore and Hyderabad. Each part of the world has a vivid, colorful history.

I've been to Amsterdam, Tijuana, Hamburg, Copenhagen, London, Vancouver, Manila, Cebu City (Philippines 2nd largest city), Malmo (Sweden) ...but I've always felt Houston was more diverse than the lot of them. I love those cities but Houston's probably got more Brits than London Town has Mexicans and Salvadorans. Houston, a Gulf Coast, can almost match Vancouver, a long-time Pacific City, in terms of Asian energy...and Houston's is growing. But Vancouver has not much in the way of Latino and African-American culture.

So think about that, NJudah, that just because someone's been around the world, "Houston is supposed to be boring." Not.

I live in San Diego currently, but all the touristy appeal wears off if you're a more analytical person who sees beyond the plastic brochure facades. This wanna-be, military crew-cut town cannot hold Houston's jock strap when it comes to diversity and cultural range. Yeah, the weather's great here and all...

Houston's shopping per se is no better or worse than what I've seen in places like Miami or Los Angeles. Because "celebrities", whatever they are, frequent the other two cities more often, I'm sure it's a bit more 'extra'. But then I'm not an upscale shopper so I don't care about those things, all I know H-town's an upscale city on that order.

You mentioned that the Houston Galleria is only "for the Houston" region (it's funny how world-wide shoppers go to Houston just to rip plastic). The Galleria has much the same stores and upscale grandiosity...but does anyone ever accuse South Coast of being provincial? I guess we can switch South Coast to Houston and I bet you'd say the same thing. Well, at least the Galleria has an attached energy plus the architecture that South Coast Plaza seems to lack. The South Coast Plaza is really the Galleria stores in a cookie cutter mall with no food court.

The Houston area's Kemah Boardwalk and Museum District offer two ends of an entertainment or tourism extreme. The upcoming Schlitterbahn complemented by the amusements of Kemah should fill in the AstroWorld void to a good degree. The hole-in-the-wall ethnic cafes, especially the Pakistani ones, are just as varied as L.A.'s.

The Rice Village is a cool SoCal style entertainment district. The Montrose is an interesting exploration area for urban travelers. Downtown Houston is just as trendy as the Sunset Strip. I stroll both nightlife districts whenever I can, and I can tell ya "NoDo" has nothing to be ashamed of.

Losing a once decent AstroWorld doesn't help but it surely doesn't tarnish what Houston is all about.

Houston's a very young city that's not built like the Old Ones...so I don't knock it for that. Sure there are issues I'm concerned with like keeping Midtown structures intact and using them rather than putting in more parking lots...parking lots are OK on upper Westheimer or Bellaire but not in Midtown or downtown or the Montrose or the Heights...

[VelvetJ]

Good God.

Forgive me for my frustrations when i posted this piece. Ive changed the title of this thread a while back for those who took it too sensitively.

I suppose i should let you all rag on me some more; let you vent out your frustrations.

Then can we call it equal?

Go forbid anyone come here and make the mistake of criticizing this city ever again.

nmm, continue your criticisms. Houston not only need them but it deserves them. This city is far from what it could be and pointing out areas where it could do better by spotlighting certain things is another method to help the city improve. Only allowing yourself to hear good news and suggesting anyone that criticizes the city is unpatriotic, oops I mean anyone that criticizes the city is a Houston basher will ultimately hurt it overall.

"The Menil Collection is one of the worst museums in the country". "The Houston skyline is far from futuristic". "The Galleria has the worst selection of stores for a mall in Texas". "Memorial Park has got to be the worst urban park in existence". "Houston's museum district has some of the weakest exibits and collections I have ever seen". Are those statements that Houstonians hear often..........no they are not simply because they are not true and they are great assets to the city. That is why none of us Houston bashers ever say such things. We can't.

Our awakening is long overdue. Some of our citizens have actually embraced Houston not having a positive identity as an identity. That in itself makes me........

And I say let them rag on you. Apparently you are not the only one who gets frustrated. Although most posters here get their points across clearly enough to garner responses, some will attack spelling errors and sentence structure on a consistent basis as a way to show dissatisfaction with your views. Paper thin. Paper thin.

Lastly, there have been tons of suggestions and solutions posted on how the city could improve but I suppose they have been missed.

[jupitercrisis]

hey

dont take it so damn personally you guys.... :?

i guess there isnt much for a person like myself to do in the city, except for the museums we have.

anyways, each city has something that defines itself, something unique. i just thought Houston, for being the "4th biggest city" in the USA would have a distinct personality/culture from other cities.

More or less, its just a commercial city.

dont freak and take it so personally.

btw - is this board mostly filled with architects or engineers?

Got into this argument before. Houston's culture is that we don't have a definable culture.

I've met dudes in other cities that were all "Oh, have you been down Harwin near Hilcroft? Man, their Indian food is like my family's" of course, I tell them, typically, their food is cooked by someone of Mexican/Hispanic Decent, and they say "Only in Houston!" or "Only in such a big city so close to the border! It's still so good!"

There's nothing to do in many cities. I went to Boston for 5 days and, yeah, walking around's pretty bad ass, and it was nice that I could get around on foot. But by the fifth night, I was like "yeah, just like any other place" - cept I flew to Boston from A&M, where A&M has a stature of a confederate soldier and the Commons has a monument to Union Soliders..

Oh, yeah, and that whole "tallest tower surrounded by grass" thing is pretty awesome.

and if one really wants to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, Bryan, TX always worked for me.

[nmainguy]

Lastly, there have been tons of suggestions and solutions posted on how the city could improve but I suppose they have been missed.

You rarely offer praise -unless it comes from your support of a "christian" pastor with a paid for fake PhD.

I'm not one of those "love it or leave it" types so you won't hear me urging you to move on down the line.

I just think it's important to point out what you are and are not for.

You don't seem to be too interested in at least once in awhile pointing out some good aspects of the city but you have embraced one of the seedier individuals we are unfortunate enough to have claim Houston as her home: The Very Reverend Dr. "Bring Me Gucci or Bring Me Nothing" Bling.

BTW-anyone hear what her final haul was and what was her cut from the $100 ticket price to attend her gift suggested birthday bacchanal at the Hyatt?

...and anyone who thinks this is off-topic...look at the title again. Houston is not just about roads, rail, buildings and amusement parks. It's also about the people who make up Houston and the face we present to the world.

This woman's behavior is definatly NOT what Houston is.

[Gary]

nmm, continue your criticisms. Houston not only need them but it deserves them. This city is far from what it could be and pointing out areas where it could do better by spotlighting certain things is another method to help the city improve. Only allowing yourself to hear good news and suggesting anyone that criticizes the city is unpatriotic, oops I mean anyone that criticizes the city is a Houston basher will ultimately hurt it overall.

"The Menil Collection is one of the worst museums in the country". "The Houston skyline is far from futuristic". "The Galleria has the worst selection of stores for a mall in Texas". "Memorial Park has got to be the worst urban park in existence". "Houston's museum district has some of the weakest exibits and collections I have ever seen". Are those statements that Houstonians hear often..........no they are not simply because they are not true and they are great assets to the city. That is why none of us Houston bashers ever say such things. We can't.

Our awakening is long overdue. Some of our citizens have actually embraced Houston not having a positive identity as an identity. That in itself makes me........

And I say let them rag on you. Apparently you are not the only one who gets frustrated. Although most posters here get their points across clearly enough to garner responses, some will attack spelling errors and sentence structure on a consistent basis as a way to show dissatisfaction with your views. Paper thin. Paper thin.

Lastly, there have been tons of suggestions and solutions posted on how the city could improve but I suppose they have been missed.

Nothing really to say here except that I'm finding it quite humorous that Velvetj is now supporting Plastic, citykid and nmm.

[worldlyman]

Nothing really to say here except that I'm finding it quite humorous that Velvetj is now supporting Plastic, citykid and nmm.

Well, one wants metropolitan Georgia peach cobblers baked all over Space City and if we don't want them he'll assume we must hate pastries per se; another wants a near uncompromising, exemplary reconstruction of Chicago-San Francisco in a south Sun Belt context lest things go to hell in a shameful handbasket, and yet another who still has longings for the East Coast or other such places that befit his linguistic pattern. The last individual, I am not really sure about.

Bobby Blotzer...I liked some RATT tunes and I thought it was cool that he played in the Contraband album with Michael Schenker, Richard Black, Share Pedersen and Tracii Guns back in 1991. It's cool that he's a Houstonian now.

[The Great Hizzy!]

The real key is to put Sharpstown Mall underground in downtown Houston, like underground Atlanta - per City kid.

[west20th]

I was thinking the same thing. I am a UH grad and a big supporter of the university. However, stuff like this makes me think the engineering program must be the suck.

Naw the Engineering aint the suck but the Computer Science department under the thumb of the Math and Science college (not to be confused w/the Business college's MIS program) is. But, on the other hand, my experience and knowledge of this is current as of 1998. Have things changed? Sorry for the rant.

[Fierce Pancake]

Miami doesn't have an amusement park either. Poor Miami.

Boomer's just 20 miles outside Miami city limits has an excellent wooden rollercoaster that operates year round, the Dania Beach Hurricane ( http://www.boomersparks.com/park/dania/coaster.html ). Plus, Orlando's just 200 miles away so give me a break about Miami. Houston's also a much larger city. There's no other metropolitan areas of our size in the country without a decent amusement park.

I must take exception that Astroworld wasn't an icon of the city. Created by Houstonian legend Judge Roy Hofheinz who also built the Astrodome, the place was a major attraction from the 60s-80s. Nothing says Houston like an air-conditioned outdoor amusement park the way it used to be.

[Fierce Pancake]

The Houston area's Kemah Boardwalk and Museum District offer two ends of an entertainment or tourism extreme. The upcoming Schlitterbahn complemented by the amusements of Kemah should fill in the AstroWorld void to a good degree.

Not sure how you figure this? Schlitterbahn's a water park. Quite a different appeal. Riding a rollercoaster and sitting in a pool aren't really all that much alike. As well the Kemah boardwalk's paltry ride selection, with only one thrill ride, is inferior to most traveling parking lot carnivals. Nor does Kemah even have a coaster (and what they plan to build'll probably just be a small fry "wild mouse" like at the rodeo). I like Kemah, it's pretty neat, but it's not much of an amusement park.

Schlitterbahn will merely fill the void from the loss of WaterWorld and Adventure Bay, which incidentally just announced its closure ( http://adventurebay.com/ ).

[dalparadise]

The real key is to put Sharpstown Mall underground in downtown Houston, like underground Atlanta - per City kid.

Give it time. The bulldozers should begin putting Sharpstown Mall underground someday very soon.

[zaphod]

I don't know what London has, but chances are you can get their by train.

you could get to astroworld by light rail too, well sort of.

Like what many others have said, astroworld wasnt that great. I think most people who went there where from houston...anyone in the rest of the state would rather go to Six Flags in Dallas which is way way better. I wish astroworld would've been made bigger or something, but in its current state im fine that it closed. Also, we should be glad that they are tearing it down and building condos and stuff, since it would be such an eyesore if it stayed.

[Fierce Pancake]

Also, we should be glad that they are tearing it down and building condos and stuff, since it would be such an eyesore if it stayed.

Sincerely, go straight to Hell.

[nmainguy]

Sincerely, go straight to Hell.

Behave.

Seriously. Behave.

[torvald]

you could get to astroworld by light rail too, well sort of.

I wish astroworld would've been made bigger or something, but in its current state im fine that it closed. Also, we should be glad that they are tearing it down and building condos and stuff, since it would be such an eyesore if it stayed.

as i see it, many folks on this forum are nostalgic and saying something obviously inflammatory like that will surely draw an angry response, especially from someone who mostly posts on the subject mentioned. yet, for some of us it might be the demolition of old hotels downtown, historic heights homes, row houses, etc...

[tierwestah]

What I want to know is anybody going to change it.

Now what I'm trying to understand is why people think Houstonis so great. I mean are they on Black Tar Heroin?

I've lived here 28 years and haven't found a damned reason to stay.

I think all of us should get in our cars,buses,catch planes and move out. And FYI Housotn has 5 million people.

dang you older than me? I don't know why but i thought you were like 12!

[Jonah]

I don't understand why everyone is being so hard on this post. I hate it when someone says something about Houston and everyone on this post gets so defensive. I love Houston, I'm from there, and would love to move back there eventually. However, I do think Houston has some serious issues and this post addresses some of them. One of which is there actually being different cultural districts. I know there's the Museum and Theatre district, which are wonderful and bland, but they still feel empty because there's nothing surrounding those districts that make people want to enjoy the day there. All of these cities that were mentioned in the post have walkable, liveable districts that a person can spend the whole day in. Midtown Houston, Museum District, and the Theatre Districts are more just places where you go eat, check out a museum, or a show, then you leave. These other cities you can have breakfast, walk around, shop, visit a nearby park/attraction, eat lunch at some sidewalk cafe, etc. That's what Houston doesn't have. I hope eventually Houston will get this, but I think it's silly when people say,"well why should Houston try to be like other cities." Well, because those other cities have attractable liveable/walkable areas, that are distinct to each city. The areas Seattle feel different to those in LA which feel different to areas in San Francisco. BTW, I hate it when people say because Houston is a new city. 1836 is not new. It's not New York, but other cities founded around that time still have kept a lot more of their history and character compared to Houston. It can be good for Houston to look to these other cities to see what works, and what is attractive, to use for creating districts in midtown and hopefully downtown.