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Idk if this has been said before but if it has not been, here it goes.
Chicago has about 3 million people living on only 227 square miles.
Houston has about 2.2 million people living on 601 square miles.
Pretty unfair, i'd say. So you got Chicago.....looks and feels like a big city and you got Houston which has alot of unpopulated land and feels like a suburb. Back to the question, will Houston pass Chicago in population by 2020? ........no, becuase people forget that Chicago is also growing.
Chicago Metro-10 million
Houston Metro-5.8 million
People always love to talk about Houston's 600 sq mi population but fail to realize inside those city limits are many lakes and parks. Lake Houston in Kingwood is very large. Do you think people live on the water? People also don't live on the parks. Houston's urbn area is only like 570 sq miles. The main difference is the City of Chicago doesn't count large lake of Michigan within their city limits. Part of it may run along the shores of Cook County but not in the actual city of Chicago.
I think the point is because area size is so inconsistent on city size that population comparisons sometimes are worthless. Is Boston as a city 1/5th the size of Houston? Well the population would suggest that but is covers a land area (city proper) 1/14th that of Houston.
Another example the urban area (UA) population of Houston is 4.4 Million versus the UA of Chicago at 8.5 million
Pheonix is larger in population than Philly, does that mean it is a bigger city?
who cares about your fancy divisions? the fact of the matter is phoenix has more people than philly and Houston will inevitably have more people. It means nothing. who the heck cares? It is my home and I love it the way it is
People always love to talk about Houston's 600 sq mi population but fail to realize inside those city limits are many lakes and parks. Lake Houston in Kingwood is very large. Do you think people live on the water? People also don't live on the parks. The main difference is the City of Chicago doesn't count large lake of Michigan within their city limits. Part of it may run along the shores of Cook County but not in the actual city of Chicago.
Geoerge Bush Park, Memorial, cullen, and Hermann parks are some of the largest parks in the country.
Geoerge Bush Park, Memorial, cullen, and Hermann parks are some of the largest parks in the country.
exactly, and people (i.e. northeasterners) love to tout about Houston's 600 sq miles totally ignoring the fact that no one lives in many of those areas. Houston's true density is inside the loop
exactly, and people (i.e. northeasterners) love to tout about Houston's 600 sq miles totally ignoring the fact that no one lives in many of those areas. Houston's true density is inside the loop
In terms of parks alone Houston has 56000 acres of parks
Chicago only has 11 000
and for those of you who are going to want to play with the numbers and say Houston has more land, in terms of percentage, Houston is 15% parks while Chicago is 8 %
In terms of parks alone Houston has 56000 acres of parks
Chicago only has 11 000
and for those of you who are going to want to play with the numbers and say Houston has more land, in terms of percentage, Houston is 15% parks while Chicago is 8 %
Come on guys, who cares if Houston will surprass Chicago as the nation's third largest city? Phoenix has already surprassed Philly in population, yet nothing has changed. Philly is still considered "bigger" since its metro is still significantly larger.
The question is when will Houston's MSA surprass Chicago's MSA? That is what matters more.
Houston has 5.8-5.9 million in its MSA, Chicago has 9.6 million. That's a really big margin...so who knows
I agree with pretty much all of Omshahi's points. I think Houston better start thinking more like Dallas and investing in aesthetic landmarks in its downtown area before even trying to compete with a big boy like Chicago. That is one thing that Dallas beats the hell out of Houston on. If you're driving through each of the cities, especially at night, Dallas appears to be the more hype city but come to find out that everything that glitters ain't gold. Not a shot at Dallas but just saying that it may look more hype, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is, but at least it knows how to "act" like it is.
Yall should refer to my post in the Houston page about The Power of Houston festival.
I 100% agree w/ the whole thread about establishing a place. That said, I, personally, feel like part of doing that is establishing an identity. I feel like Houston's physical "face", so to speak, is pretty much non-existant.
New York = empire state building, brooklyn bridge, statue of liberty
Los Angeles = hollywood sign
Chicago = Sears Tower (or is it the Willis Tower now?)
San Francisco = TransAmerica Pyramid Tower, Golden Gate Bridge
Houston = ???. We have unique buildings and what not but I just feel like part of our problem is we don't have a concrete physical identity/face that EVERYONE (not just Houstonians or Texans) think of when they think of Houston. MAYBE the Williams Tower...maybe. I think part of it has to do w/ the fact that Houston's new found size is...well...new. Metro Chicago, San Fran, NY and LA have been the size they are for a LONG time now and in that time they've had things built and established...stuff to make them destinations...places people want to visit. Houston is trying to do that but this has always been a working town. People come here to work. I think, even for Houston leadership, thinking of making Houston into a "destination" is a new concept but you can tell they're trying.
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