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Uh ... you obviously don't know Houston very well.
The city of Houston itself (not talking about the SMSA here) will overtake Chicago as the third-largest city in the US within the next 20 years, if the current rates of growth remain the same. Houston is widely recognized as the most diverse city in the US; has the largest medical complex in the world; the busiest port in the US (in terms of foreign tonnage) and 13th largest in the world; two international airports; the Johnson space center; the largest petrochemical complex in the US; an entire museum district with 19 museums and galleries, several of them world-renowned; sports teams in all major sports, a symphony orchestra, and opera company; the most-happening food scene in the US (according to the NYTimes); and a lot of other superlatives. The cost of living is ridiculously low compared to other major urban areas. And the weather is great. Yes. Great (we get rain ... a lot of it ... but it comes down fast, and then it gets sunny. The secret here is we have lots of sun throughout the year, with wonderful warm springs and falls, and only one to two months of cool weather; all good, assuming you can tolerate the humidity of summer).
I will also say, after living here for almost 7 years now, that people GET ALONG in this city (in contrast to the last place I lived ... Baltimore). That is, we don't have the racial tensions that exist in places like Chicago and Baltimore. Our police departments are relatively sane, and one tends to feel safe when half the population is packing. The highways are awesome, and traffic moves (unlike a place like Seattle, where half the drivers are in Priuses (Prii ?) which crowd the left lane at 60 mph. There are jobs here, lots of them, even in the energy industry, even in this downturn, and if one can't get a job, you're either a felon or you don't want to work.
Seattle is bursting at the seams with no room to grow, hemmed in by water and lacking the ability to expand its highways, and is as pricey as San Francisco. Atlanta is a hot mess, with traffic so bad I wouldn't wish it on a republican (well, maybe). California is the sun version of Taxachusetts, where one will never be able to buy a house unless one wins the lottery. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati ? You're on drugs. Dallas is Oklahoma without the taxes but with the churches. The big, iconic-to-be, upcoming cities of the future are Houston and Phoenix. Those cities have room to grow, sun, jobs, affordability, and a forward-looking mindset.
Where is the NHL team in Houston? Although I agree with you. Houston is the city to watch as one to potentially reach the #2 spot in the next 30 years or so.
Where is the NHL team in Houston? Although I agree with you. Houston is the city to watch as one to potentially reach the #2 spot in the next 30 years or so.
Well, maybe I wasn't considering hockey as a major sport
I forgot to mention ... we do have "dense" urban areas, three of them (downtown, med center, the I-10 energy corridor centered at Memorial City). The downtown is attracting more and more residents, but people in Houston like a little bit of space, and they can get it, even in close-in neighborhoods, so no, we're not dense like NYC.
NYC, Boston, DC, etc ... old school. This is new school.
Uh ... you obviously don't know Houston very well.
The city of Houston itself (not talking about the SMSA here) will overtake Chicago as the third-largest city in the US within the next 20 years, if the current rates of growth remain the same. Houston is widely recognized as the most diverse city in the US; has the largest medical complex in the world; the busiest port in the US (in terms of foreign tonnage) and 13th largest in the world; two international airports; the Johnson space center; the largest petrochemical complex in the US; an entire museum district with 19 museums and galleries, several of them world-renowned; sports teams in all major sports, a symphony orchestra, and opera company; the most-happening food scene in the US (according to the NYTimes); and a lot of other superlatives. The cost of living is ridiculously low compared to other major urban areas. And the weather is great. Yes. Great (we get rain ... a lot of it ... but it comes down fast, and then it gets sunny. The secret here is we have lots of sun throughout the year, with wonderful warm springs and falls, and only one to two months of cool weather; all good, assuming you can tolerate the humidity of summer).
I will also say, after living here for almost 7 years now, that people GET ALONG in this city (in contrast to the last place I lived ... Baltimore). That is, we don't have the racial tensions that exist in places like Chicago and Baltimore. Our police departments are relatively sane, and one tends to feel safe when half the population is packing. The highways are awesome, and traffic moves (unlike a place like Seattle, where half the drivers are in Priuses [Prii ?] which crowd the left lane at 60 mph. There are jobs here, lots of them, even in the energy industry, even in this downturn, and if one can't get a job, you're either a felon or you don't want to work).
Seattle is bursting at the seams with no room to grow, hemmed in by water and lacking the ability to expand its highways, and is as pricey as San Francisco. Atlanta is a hot mess, with traffic so bad I wouldn't wish it on a republican (well, maybe). California is the sun version of Taxachusetts, where one will never be able to buy a house unless one wins the lottery. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati ? You're on drugs. Dallas is Oklahoma without the taxes but with the churches. The big, iconic-to-be, upcoming cities of the future are Houston and Phoenix. Those cities have room to grow, sun, jobs, affordability, and a forward-looking mindset.
All that said, you're still missing one of the key criteria here: urbanity. In terms of big city amenities, Houston scores very high. In terms of being iconic, it scores pretty well. But for urbanity it's relatively low compared to the cities included in this poll.
Uh ... you obviously don't know Houston very well.
The city of Houston itself (not talking about the SMSA here) will overtake Chicago as the third-largest city in the US within the next 20 years, if the current rates of growth remain the same. Houston is widely recognized as the most diverse city in the US; has the largest medical complex in the world; the busiest port in the US (in terms of foreign tonnage) and 13th largest in the world; two international airports; the Johnson space center; the largest petrochemical complex in the US; an entire museum district with 19 museums and galleries, several of them world-renowned; sports teams in all major sports, a symphony orchestra, and opera company; the most-happening food scene in the US (according to the NYTimes); and a lot of other superlatives. The cost of living is ridiculously low compared to other major urban areas. And the weather is great. Yes. Great (we get rain ... a lot of it ... but it comes down fast, and then it gets sunny. The secret here is we have lots of sun throughout the year, with wonderful warm springs and falls, and only one to two months of cool weather; all good, assuming you can tolerate the humidity of summer).
I will also say, after living here for almost 7 years now, that people GET ALONG in this city (in contrast to the last place I lived ... Baltimore). That is, we don't have the racial tensions that exist in places like Chicago and Baltimore. Our police departments are relatively sane, and one tends to feel safe when half the population is packing. The highways are awesome, and traffic moves (unlike a place like Seattle, where half the drivers are in Priuses [Prii ?] which crowd the left lane at 60 mph. There are jobs here, lots of them, even in the energy industry, even in this downturn, and if one can't get a job, you're either a felon or you don't want to work).
Seattle is bursting at the seams with no room to grow, hemmed in by water and lacking the ability to expand its highways, and is as pricey as San Francisco. Atlanta is a hot mess, with traffic so bad I wouldn't wish it on a republican (well, maybe). California is the sun version of Taxachusetts, where one will never be able to buy a house unless one wins the lottery. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati ? You're on drugs. Dallas is Oklahoma without the taxes but with the churches. The big, iconic-to-be, upcoming cities of the future are Houston and Phoenix. Those cities have room to grow, sun, jobs, affordability, and a forward-looking mindset.
This why I'm on this forum. To see the reactions to posts like this.
Uh ... you obviously don't know Houston very well.
The city of Houston itself (not talking about the SMSA here) will overtake Chicago as the third-largest city in the US within the next 20 years, if the current rates of growth remain the same. Houston is widely recognized as the most diverse city in the US; has the largest medical complex in the world; the busiest port in the US (in terms of foreign tonnage) and 13th largest in the world; two international airports; the Johnson space center; the largest petrochemical complex in the US; an entire museum district with 19 museums and galleries, several of them world-renowned; sports teams in all major sports, a symphony orchestra, and opera company; the most-happening food scene in the US (according to the NYTimes); and a lot of other superlatives. The cost of living is ridiculously low compared to other major urban areas. And the weather is great. Yes. Great (we get rain ... a lot of it ... but it comes down fast, and then it gets sunny. The secret here is we have lots of sun throughout the year, with wonderful warm springs and falls, and only one to two months of cool weather; all good, assuming you can tolerate the humidity of summer).
I will also say, after living here for almost 7 years now, that people GET ALONG in this city (in contrast to the last place I lived ... Baltimore). That is, we don't have the racial tensions that exist in places like Chicago and Baltimore. Our police departments are relatively sane, and one tends to feel safe when half the population is packing. The highways are awesome, and traffic moves (unlike a place like Seattle, where half the drivers are in Priuses [Prii ?] which crowd the left lane at 60 mph. There are jobs here, lots of them, even in the energy industry, even in this downturn, and if one can't get a job, you're either a felon or you don't want to work).
Seattle is bursting at the seams with no room to grow, hemmed in by water and lacking the ability to expand its highways, and is as pricey as San Francisco. Atlanta is a hot mess, with traffic so bad I wouldn't wish it on a republican (well, maybe). California is the sun version of Taxachusetts, where one will never be able to buy a house unless one wins the lottery. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati ? You're on drugs. Dallas is Oklahoma without the taxes but with the churches. The big, iconic-to-be, upcoming cities of the future are Houston and Phoenix. Those cities have room to grow, sun, jobs, affordability, and a forward-looking mindset.
It's funny how you say others don't know Houston well and then proceed to bash Dallas with false statements. I'm being very nice to Houston, but I can just as easily throw it under the bus with outdated stereotypes.
It's funny how you say others don't know Houston well and then proceed to bash Dallas with false statements. I'm being very nice to Houston, but I can just as easily throw it under the bus with outdated stereotypes.
I didn't BASH Dallas. My quick comparison was meant to convey that Dallas is conservative. It's Midwest in mindset. It's more similar to OKC than Houston. That's all.
Well, it IS the city that killed Kennedy. But that was a long time ago.
Urban density is growing faster in Seattle than any other major city. Sure, there are reasons for this...the basic one is there is no room to grow. Also explains huge suburban development across Lake Washington in Bellevue. At the end of the day, Seattle is well-positioned to become the next big urban city in the US.
I didn't BASH Dallas. My quick comparison was meant to convey that Dallas is conservative. It's Midwest in mindset. It's more similar to OKC than Houston. That's all.
Well, it IS the city that killed Kennedy. But that was a long time ago.
No it isn't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pinytr
This why I'm on this forum. To see the reactions to posts like this.
It's all about the arguments. Anybody can say anything, it's all about how you back it up.
We have an OP who thinks LA, the second largest city in our country, has yet to achieve iconic, urban big city status. Then there are those who disagree. Who has the more sound reasoning? Which claims have stronger foundation in fact? You'll have to pay attention.
How are St. Louis, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh "trendy?" I mean sure, every city has their trendy neighborhood or two, but are those cities really pulling in people based off of that alone? And there's also the "other" option, so Houston wasn't completely ignored.
Yeah, they were trendy for 5 min but that has passed. Lawrenceville was once dubbed the New Williamsburg but that is over since almost every city in the US has a neighborhood of rich hipster millennials.
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