What is Houston?

[nmainguy]

Good post, Jonah^^^^

Not much to dispute there...

[nmm]

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.

Excuse me, but you think Houston, with its 2 mill population, is somehow more diverse than london? how so?

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.

Ive heard good things about UH Business School.

[nmm]

You know, there is not one thing that you could pinpoint in this city and say "Oh Yeah, thats what Houston is."

That was the underlying argument. Forget Astroworld; Astroworld was just an example i was using.

Ever since ive moved to Houston, (and dont take this personally) Houston just seems like an overblown Suburb-City. It has no real 'culture' that defines itself seperately from other cities.

And as Jonah mentioned, it does have the museum district and the downtown district, but they seem so 'detached' from the lives of Houstonians. The Museum district and downtown arent places where people live, rather they are places you go, then you drive home 40 miles away.

Whereas in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, the people seem as if they are part and parcel of the city. IN Houston, its as if the city itself is something you drive into everyday ~ only to go back home at night.

I find everything in subdivisions, divided, parted or dissociated with one another. It doesnt have that unified feeling that cities have.

Heck you cant even use NASA as something to define Houston. From my experience, no one realizes NASA is a part of Houston until you remind them. I doubt Houston would be as associated with NASA as it is today was it not for that famous movie line quoted by Tom Hanks "Houston, we have a problem". [Houston is not NASA's biggest facility, from what i hear. Their biggest office is in Washington DC]

Perhaps you can say that not having a clear defining characteristic is what makes Houston Houston. I dont know, but that just seems off kilter. Every place ive visited has a cultural flair to it, a personality, or a landmark. I dont see one in Houston. I just see a overblown suburb with seperate city-states within it. Part of the city seems to be high density (Galleria, Greenway Plaza, Hillcroft, Sharpstown) another part is either rotting or abandoned (mostly Greater East End and the dead NE part of the city) and a third part is still unused (follow Beltway 8 South from 59 to 45 and youll see what i mean; or drive up 59 North past downtown onwards).

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

The wierdest, most strangest, absolutely fascinating thing about Houston is the abnormalities you find in the city. Drive down 610 East towards Gulfton, past 288 and Reliant Stadium. What do you see? I see empty grasslands, abandoned warehouses, and some sort of debris and dust accumulated on the feeder roads. Driving down this freeway youd think you were driving past a small, Southern blue collar town ~ a "NoWheresville". Then i look up to my left as i drive and see the downtown skyline. Its such a hilarious absurdity to see a city skyline so close to a rotting, overgrown grassland piled up with highway debris and dotted with abandoned lots and car dealerships.

Soon enough i drive past the I-45/610 intersection and see the quirky Gulfgate strip.

How strange indeed.

[nmainguy]

You are indeed a hoot.

From my experience, no one realizes NASA is a part of Houston until you remind them.

I forgot the exact words Armstrong said from the surface of the moon but it was something like, "HOUSTON; Tranquility Base here...." Must have been an error...since you say no one would know NASA's human based exploration operations are located in...I forgot again...maybe HOUSTON.

...and OH! Heres another quote from one of your posts:

Actually ive heard from graduates that UH's MBA is wort more then Rice's MBA program.

I have heard that you would not have a chance in hell of being admitted to Rice if you can't even compose a sentence "wort" quouting.

Compared to Rice, many would say UH comes off as "the suck"-a somewhat 7th grade slang recently invented perhaps by a HAIF 7th grader.

Your best bet is to quit posting about things that are clearly out of your league lest you be sent to your room with no dinner.

[bachanon]

god, that is the suck.

i love this game. let's take evidence of limited communication skills and create new slang and colloquialisms. who was it that stated "if you restore the meaning of words, you can restore a society"? (or something like that.) c.s.lewis? plato?

i can see it now. i'm going to be in polite or not so polite conversation in public and someone will say something that really "grinds my gears" and i will without hesitation state........."that is THE SUCK!".

thanks haifers for giving me one more reason to laugh or snicker in the midst of others at things i dare not share.

btw, if you live in houston or the surrounding areas and think it is the suck then you, my friend "suck". either you don't have a car, do not read, or are too lazy to enjoy any city you are in (or you live in pasadena, channelview, baytown, deer park or la porte, cuz there it really is the suck). you gotta get out there and make it happen, houston's not gonna ask you to dance.

[N Judah]

You know, there is not one thing that you could pinpoint in this city and say "Oh Yeah, thats what Houston is."

Ever since ive moved to Houston, (and dont take this personally) Houston just seems like an overblown Suburb-City. It has no real 'culture' that defines itself seperately from other cities.

And as Jonah mentioned, it does have the museum district and the downtown district, but they seem so 'detached' from the lives of Houstonians. The Museum district and downtown arent places where people live, rather they are places you go, then you drive home 40 miles away.

Valid points, but the thing is that you're hardly the first to notice any of this.

I think people just got mad at you for calling it "the suck" not because it sucks -I mean, in many ways it really does- but because there are a lot of people here putting a lot of time and money into addressing the things you describe and I guess they'd rather hear more about potential solutions than hear over and over again about the problem.

Compared to Rice, many would say UH comes off as "the suck"-a somewhat 7th grade slang recently invented perhaps by a HAIF 7th grader.

Neither MBA program is perceived as being particularly prestigious. But over time they should both end up being pretty good. A city this size should have at least one good b-school.

[RedScare]

Excuse me, but you think Houston, with its 2 mill population, is somehow more diverse than london? how so?

Actually ive heard from graduates that UH's MBA is wort more then Rice's MBA program. Ive also heard that UH's Chemical Engineering is much harder then Texas A&M's or UT's Chem Engineering program. Some professors at A&M cant solve some of the problems that UH Chem undergrads are tested on.

Moreover, most UH undergrads from Chemical Engineering have the highest GPA's when they transfer to UT for the M.S.

The reason i was told this is so: Both UT and A&M get much state aid, and UH doesnt. They are always trying to prove themselves.

This is all something i heard from friends in the college, so go figure..

Apparently, your friends are as ignorant as you. Go figure.

Top Chemical Engineering universities. This section lists the graduate school rankings available for chemical engineering programs in USA:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chemical Engineering

U.S. News Rank University

1

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2 University of California

[torvald]

Excuse me, but you think Houston, with its 2 mill population, is somehow more diverse than london? how so?

Actually ive heard from graduates that ....

Ive also heard that ...

The reason i was told this...

This is all something i heard from friends in the college, so go figure..

fella, if you are asking our advice, then listen to what

folks are spending their time to share with you. i'm not

saying you should agree, just listen and debate further.

you have certainly taken some other opinions already

(see your quote above). you are just saying the same

thing over and over now.

maybe you should tell us how londen is more diverse than us.

how much older is london? how much more history does it have?

if you do not learn to listen to folks concerning their own city,

how do you expect to excel in civil engineering?

you say forget astroworld, that it was "just an example you were using".

find some new examples to ask about. every time i click "view new posts"

and see that you have responded to this thread, i KNOW that you are to

discount NASA again. out of curiosity, why do you dislike NASA so much,

have you been?

[nmm]

I didnt know many individuals would take personal offence to the initial post.

[tierwestah]

Thinking it over, i regret creating this thread.

I didnt know many individuals would take personal offence to the initial post.

Here i present my formal apology. Forgive me, all of HAIF, for my criticisms of the City of Houston. My rushed and hastily presented critique wasnt the least bit beneficial in the long run. I realize i may have seemed cynical and brazen, so i offer my most sincere apologies to those that were offended. I personally hate hypercritical and fault-finding individuals who dont offer real solutions.

I hope we can forget this thread and move on.

no why don't you move on? Out of Houston. Because you can't just hurt people's feelings and just forget about it. You have really hurt my feelings creating this thread along with all the forumers on here. You have basically slandered Houston's name. You have wrongly critiqued this city. Basically you opened your rant and dragged this city in the mud by calling our NASA a POS. Saying that there's nothing further to Houston beyond the galleria. You have insulted this city, therefore you've insulted me as a human being!

All i gotta say man, is check us out in 2 years. With the crazy development happening in and around town such as Sugarland, Katy, Galveston, The Woodlands, Houston Pavilions, TMC, Rising lofts/condos, The Mosaic, Uptown Houston development, Town & Country/Memorial City development, Hardy Rail Yards Project, The Up and Coming Intermodal Transit Center, and Holcombe Square. You and the rest of the world will be kissing our ***you know what***.

[worldlyman]

You know, there is not one thing that you could pinpoint in this city and say "Oh Yeah, thats what Houston is."

That was the underlying argument. Forget Astroworld; Astroworld was just an example i was using.

Ever since ive moved to Houston, (and dont take this personally) Houston just seems like an overblown Suburb-City. It has no real 'culture' that defines itself seperately from other cities.

And as Jonah mentioned, it does have the museum district and the downtown district, but they seem so 'detached' from the lives of Houstonians. The Museum district and downtown arent places where people live, rather they are places you go, then you drive home 40 miles away.

Whereas in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, the people seem as if they are part and parcel of the city. IN Houston, its as if the city itself is something you drive into everyday ~ only to go back home at night.

I find everything in subdivisions, divided, parted or dissociated with one another. It doesnt have that unified feeling that cities have.

Heck you cant even use NASA as something to define Houston. From my experience, no one realizes NASA is a part of Houston until you remind them. I doubt Houston would be as associated with NASA as it is today was it not for that famous movie line quoted by Tom Hanks "Houston, we have a problem". [Houston is not NASA's biggest facility, from what i hear. Their biggest office is in Washington DC]

Perhaps you can say that not having a clear defining characteristic is what makes Houston Houston. I dont know, but that just seems off kilter. Every place ive visited has a cultural flair to it, a personality, or a landmark. I dont see one in Houston. I just see a overblown suburb with seperate city-states within it. Part of the city seems to be high density (Galleria, Greenway Plaza, Hillcroft, Sharpstown) another part is either rotting or abandoned (mostly Greater East End and the dead NE part of the city) and a third part is still unused (follow Beltway 8 South from 59 to 45 and youll see what i mean; or drive up 59 North past downtown onwards).

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

The wierdest, most strangest, absolutely fascinating thing about Houston is the abnormalities you find in the city. Drive down 610 East towards Gulfton, past 288 and Reliant Stadium. What do you see? I see empty grasslands, abandoned warehouses, and some sort of debris and dust accumulated on the feeder roads. Driving down this freeway youd think you were driving past a small, Southern blue collar town ~ a "NoWheresville". Then i look up to my left as i drive and see the downtown skyline. Its such a hilarious absurdity to see a city skyline so close to a rotting, overgrown grassland piled up with highway debris and dotted with abandoned lots and car dealerships.

Soon enough i drive past the I-45/610 intersection and see the quirky Gulfgate strip.

How strange indeed.

Houston is not as populous as a city like Tokyo but is that Japanese megalopolis more diverse? By the way, Houston has 5 million people in the overall area, more so than 2 million. Houston has a mass of Asians, Middle Easterners, Africans and Europeans of varying stripes...just like London. But Houston's seemingly got a lot more Latin Americans than London Town, like I previously stated. Even Houston's SW Chinatown in strip mall style has more energy than London's urban version! I cannot say that London is more diverse than Houston, bottom line. And consider how young Houston is in comparison.

I'm living in Southern California, have been for years, but I don't find Los Angeles to be all that "unified." It's nothing more than a denser Houston. Southern California as a whole is something "you drive into." Orange County is an even bigger joke. At least Houston has some truer urban heart, energy and character compared to that plastic and reactionary former fruit grove.

L.A. is even MORE SEGREGATED than Houston. Varied demographics checkerboard in H-town, unlike the overall harsh social divisions exacerbated by geography in Los Angeles. Walk in Rodeo Drive. Get in the car. Drive to Santa Monica. Drive to Amoeba Records on Sunset. Umm. Get back into the car and go home to Culver City or West Covina or San Pedro. How the heck is that really any different from Houston?

In San Diego, a border town...it lacks the true sense of daily Latino fiesta that Houston seems to enjoy more. Latinos seem to make Houston more what they want it to. In colonial-style San Diego that hides behind surf-n-sun resort imagery, not so, as Latinos seem more repressed here. It's whitebread compared to the rich stew that is H-town. I've always seen Asians, blacks and Latinos partying en masse in downtown H-town...in the GasLamp, there are just token presences in comparison.

Cars, cars and cars are the main way around here in SoCal. Yes, it's not too badly served by rail...but cars are still king out here.

I'm an L.A. fan, I love the town still. But I don't dream of it anymore. Houston is more the ideal place, a sort of younger L.A. that does some things better and has a chance to avoid many of L.A.'s terminal mistakes. Namely one thing is the downtown question. Houston is far ahead in that game. And it's a more pleasant town to live in too.

The thing I love about Houston is that it can be anything in that sprawl. You can have a slice or two of SoCal, Florida, Mayberry, Chicago and all that. What other place can give that many slices? The trick about Houston is that it grows on people. You may not see it all at once but it's there. It's been one of the fast growing cities of America.

You complain about open lands here, some buildings there...well, there's an appealing oddness about Houston that does differentiate it from other Sun Belt cities that are plastic in comparison, however more orderly.

And I have never really cared for mountains. I don't judge a place whether it has them or not.

No culture in Houston, you say? There's a strong hip hop scene. There's a lively Asian scene in the SW. People dress up and go do the theater, ballet, opera and symphony downtown. It's hard to find the latter in spades here in SoCal. While I enjoy listening to some classical, I don't consume the higher performance arts...but it's cool to know that Houston offers that in a manner better than any other Sun Belt town.

And what American city other than Houston put Vietnamese food on the US culinary map? (See John Mariani in Esquire Magazine, 1993 and again in 1998 or '99...he being the prominent food critic from New York.)

[dbigtex56]

no why don't you move on? Out of Houston. Because you can't just hurt people's feelings and just forget about it. You have really hurt my feelings creating this thread along with all the forumers on here. You have basically slandered Houston's name. You have wrongly critiqued this city. Basically you opened your rant and dragged this city in the mud by calling our NASA a POS. Saying that there's nothing further to Houston beyond the galleria. You have insulted this city, therefore you've insulted me as a human being!

tierwestah, forgive me but your post reminds me of something that might have been said in the 19th century:

"You, Sir, are a scoundral! You have insulted our womenfolk and heaped scorn on the great and noble State of Texas! I hereby challenge you to a dual; defend your honor, if you indeed lay claim to such, or retreat in disgrace!"

[J.A.S.O.N.]

tierwestah, forgive me but your post reminds me of something that might have been said in the 19th century:

"You, Sir, are a scoundral! You have insulted our womenfolk and heaped scorn on the great and noble State of Texas! I hereby challenge you to a dual; defend your honor, if you indeed lay claim to such, or retreat in disgrace!"

Then Tierwestah proceeds to slap nmm across the face with his white glove lol

[tierwestah]

tierwestah, forgive me but your post reminds me of something that might have been said in the 19th century:

"You, Sir, are a scoundral! You have insulted our womenfolk and heaped scorn on the great and noble State of Texas! I hereby challenge you to a dual; defend your honor, if you indeed lay claim to such, or retreat in disgrace!"

i know it was my poor attempt at humor!

[scarface]

no why don't you move on? Out of Houston. Because you can't just hurt people's feelings and just forget about it. You have really hurt my feelings creating this thread along with all the forumers on here. You have basically slandered Houston's name. You have wrongly critiqued this city. Basically you opened your rant and dragged this city in the mud by calling our NASA a POS. Saying that there's nothing further to Houston beyond the galleria. You have insulted this city, therefore you've insulted me as a human being!

All i gotta say man, is check us out in 2 years. With the crazy development happening in and around town such as Sugarland, Katy, Galveston, The Woodlands, Houston Pavilions, TMC, Rising lofts/condos, The Mosaic, Uptown Houston development, Town & Country/Memorial City development, Hardy Rail Yards Project, The Up and Coming Intermodal Transit Center, and Holcombe Square. You and the rest of the world will be kissing our ***you know what***.

you are such a clown!

[Zapata]

Houston is a great place to be....!!!

The only think I can delicate flower about is traffic, but if you know your back roads you can overcome that.

When we have relatives/friends out of town we always take them (time permiting) to the following places:

1 - Museum District, Herman Park. (Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Natural Science are big favorites, if

they bring kids the Children's Museum is mandatory!) and TMC

2 - Kemah boardwalk and Seabrok fish market (not Houston metro but in the area).

3 - Downtown area (Main St, Chase building observation deck, tunnel system and round trip on the Metro rail

with a stop in the Reliant Park complex for pictures of the Astrodome and Reliant Stadium).

4 - Galleria Mall and the grounds around Williams Tower (Park and Water wall).

5 - Chinatown in Bellaire.

6 - Medical Center area and Zoo.

7 - NASA. (they love it!)

8 - Port of Houston (too bad they do not have the free tour in the PoH Authority boat.)

9 - San Jacinto State Park (Battleship and Monument).

10 - Arboretum at Memorial Park & Eleanor Tinsley Park.

11 - Bridge on Sabine St. for pictures with the Houston Downtown Skyline as a background.

12 - Minute Maid Park tour.

13 - Drive them a complete loop of the 610 starting/finishing at I-10 West.

14 - Drive to Baytown via 225 to show our huge Petrochemical complex finishing at the Exxon plant in

Baytown returning via East I-10.

15 - Last but not least, Galveston (Aquarium at Moody Gardens is mandatory!) and the Texas City dike.

What I'm missing...???

[maceo9903]

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

I wish I could trade cities with citykid. I hate it here in atlanta and would love to move to Houston. I have ALWAYS had a great time there. I dont understand why we get so much hype here and Houston gets so little, but if I had my choice I would take Houston every day of the week! Citykid, I'll gladly take your spot in Houston if you take my spot here!

[dalparadise]

I wish I could trade cities with citykid. I hate it here in atlanta and would love to move to Houston. I have ALWAYS had a great time there. I dont understand why we get so much hype here and Houston gets so little, but if I had my choice I would take Houston every day of the week! Citykid, I'll gladly take your spot in Houston if you take my spot here!

Problem is, Citykid is in Bryan-College Station. NOBODY wants to be there.

[houstonsemipro]

Good topic, because I'm trying to find out what is Houston, too.

[Gary]

Good topic, because I'm trying to find out what is Houston, too.

Houston sucks Semipro! It's a do nothing albatross of a city that should give in to the inevability that the Atlanta's and Dallas' of the world have taken over.

We should have seen this coming after being warned by you and citykid.

[houstonsemipro]

Came from the horse's mouth, "Houston sucks." Thanks for knowing that, Gary.

[Metro Matt]

we also have a great local art & music scene --

Depends on the kind of music you're talking about...

I wouldn't say Houston's music scene is as diverse as it should be for being the 4th largest city. Anyone who knows anything about the music scene here would tell you that Hip Hop & Rap is what owns this city. I'm not trying to say that you can't catch a decent concert every now & then, or see a big name Dj like Tiesto who is coming here next week, but Dallas & Austin kick Houston's ass when it comes to music.

I'm a Dj who happens to spin House music, I know first hand that the Electronic Dance Music scene here in Houston is relatively small compared to other major cities like Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Los Anegles, San Francisco, & New York. Myself, along with other local Dj's are trying push for a better scene here & put Houston on the level it should be on with EDM.

[hokieone]

I will say that the indie music scene is getting better though. I think for smaller groups that were not completely mainstream yet, there was a complete lack of venue as recent as 5 years ago. Verizon helped, but it basically just used to be numbers. Now with Warehouse Live and the meridian around, I feel like some shows are making it here that would have just passed a few years ago.

I don't know much about electronic dance music myself, so i can't comment on that. I did see DJ AM last time he was here, but that was much more of just typical popular music played - good show, just definitely not in the same genre as I think you are discussing.

[Metro Matt]

I will say that the indie music scene is getting better though. I think for smaller groups that were not completely mainstream yet, there was a complete lack of venue as recent as 5 years ago. Verizon helped, but it basically just used to be numbers. Now with Warehouse Live and the meridian around, I feel like some shows are making it here that would have just passed a few years ago.

I don't know much about electronic dance music myself, so i can't comment on that. I did see DJ AM last time he was here, but that was much more of just typical popular music played - good show, just definitely not in the same genre as I think you are discussing.

If you're up for a new experience, I highly reccommend you catch Tiesto when he comes here to Houston this Wednesday. He is consistently rated as THE best Dj in the world. His sets are so flawless & amazing you could easily be drawn away from reality without the use of illegal substances in your body.

For more info on this event & future others you can visit 77002