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I am starting this thread because we already derailed the Sunbelt cities thread but I don't want it derailed further. Also, I'd love to hear from more than just the people who were involved in that conversation.
The topic of this thread is to discuss whether or not Houston has a good, bad, or neutral image in the minds of most people, and whether their image is what should be expected of a city of its size. It's about comparing Houston to the other major cities that are (supposedly) in the same league, cities like Dallas, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, etc.
I had explained that by my experience with the city of Houston that, while there are some interesting, historical, and unique aspects of the city, most of what they seem to always want to offer visitors is basically:
- great hotels
- good business
- great people
- great dining
- good nightlife
To me, that sounds like a lot of cities. I think all major cities can lay claim to these attributes and a lot of smaller cities can, as well.
It seems to me that where Houston disconnects from the other major cities in the US (most of which aren't even as big as Houston, populaton- and economics-wise) is in the fact that Houston doesn't have any particular attraction or image that attracts visitors. I know they get a lot of business visitors but tourism seems to be virtually non-existent there, and that truly is unusual for a city that is supposed to be one of the biggest in the nation (let alone any major city). When I ask people what Houston is known for or why they might want to go to Houston, most people don't have an answer. Houstonians, of course, do have an answer, but they're not the ones who need to be attracted there for tourism.
Some of the Houstonians here on CD admit that this is a problem for the city; many of the Houstonians, however, claim that this is how Houston wants their image to be. They claim that Houston wants to be "the big secret", the city that doesn't want to attract any visitors, but they also get upset when someone (like me) claims to not know what there is to see or do in Houston that they really can't see or do anywhere else.
So, how does Houston's image compare to other cities of its class??? Is it up to snuff in terms of image and attractiveness to visitors, or is it lacking? I think it is severely deficient in that area.
As an outsider to Houston, and someone who has never participated in CD discussions of Houston, I'd like to offer my perception. First of all, from the northeast, people view Houston as yet another over sized suburb. Statiscally big, perhaps with a decent skyline, but lacking virtually any substance or charachter that normally defines a great city. This is not to say that Houston has no culture or that it isnt a big city, but it's cultural importance in America is dim at best. Cities a fraction of it's size such as San Francisco and Boston bring much more to the cultural table. A great way to measure a city's attractiveness is how the market prices it. Supply and demand. If demand is high, so will prices, if low, prices decline. NYC, SF, Boston, DC and LA are consistantly the most expensive areas in the country, and really are this country's premeir destinations.
As an outsider to Houston, and someone who has never participated in CD discussions of Houston, I'd like to offer my perception. First of all, from the northeast, people view Houston as yet another over sized suburb. Statiscally big, perhaps with a decent skyline, but lacking virtually any substance or charachter that normally defines a great city. This is not to say that Houston has no culture or that it isnt a big city, but it's cultural importance in America is dim at best. Cities a fraction of it's size such as San Francisco and Boston bring much more to the cultural table. A great way to measure a city's attractiveness is how the market prices it. Supply and demand. If demand is high, so will prices, if low, prices decline. NYC, SF, Boston, DC and LA are consistantly the most expensive areas in the country, and really are this country's premeir destinations.
Not arguing with you or anything, but do all of those people live in the city themselves? I mean Houston has tons of sprawl, but every city has sprawl to an extent. So I am just wondering where do the people that say this live?
I went to Houston the first time to play in a volleyball tournament that drew around 60 teams from all over the country and even a few international teams. But sporting events/tournaments are something that most cities offer, so I guess that isn't such a unique thing.
The next time I visited Houston was just because I was too busy playing constantly to really see the city. I went to visit friends and experience Houston.
If you get right down to it...on one hand, no city is truly unique in the respect that every large city offers monuments, museums, restaurants, nightclubs, tourist attractions, etc.; on the other hand, every city is truly unique in the respect that it offers monuments, museums, restaurants, nightclubs, tourist attractions, etc. that aren't found in other cities. Some cities are more famous than others and have more well-known attractions, but that doesn't make them more unique.
Houston's image problem is that any of its things a tourist would be interested in visiting such as culture neighborhoods, museums, nightlife, nature, monuments, etc.... are pretty unknown to anybody outside of Houston. This doesn't mean Houston doesn't have those things, its just that they aren't very well promoted outside of Texas and thus the average tourist doesn't really know what they would want to see. I would have to do a lot of research to know the types of things worth seeing in Houston, compared to the top tourist cities that instantly bring up things to visit. I think Houston is viewed more as a business city and its cultural amenities aren't just promoted that well to the rest of the country.
The main things associated with Houston aren't super interesting to tourists like good business, NASA, and oil.
It does not try to market its top notch cultural amenities to the outside world. I think it is cool as it is and have found that friends from all over that I know have tons of fun here and everyone living here is pretty happy with it.
The complaints with Houston do not involve culture, things to do, nightlife or quality of life, they involve limited public t and traffic
One thing that I've heard about Houston (and someone who has more knowledge perhaps can confirm or deny this) is that it is America's "heaviest" city. Basically it has a high percentage of out of shape people, and more donut shops per 10,000 people than anywhere else in the country.
Like I said, someone from Houston maybe can verify this fun fact or dispel it as a myth.
The topic of this thread is to discuss whether or not Houston has a good, bad, or neutral image in the minds of most people, and whether their image is what should be expected of a city of its size. It's about comparing Houston to the other major cities that are (supposedly) in the same league, cities like Dallas, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, etc.
Maybe Houston has a marketing or "product placement" issue (among other products/cities). Growing up in NC and subsequently living in GA, I never heard as much about Houston - not much at all really - as I have on this C-D forum. Everything "Texas" we were exposed to or heard about was Dallas, Dallas, Dallas. From sports, to nightlife, to city living, to headline news... it just seemed as if Dallas was THE thing in Texas. Granted, twenty/thirty-somethings don't tend to sit around and talk about oil and medical centers...which seem to be the recurring discussion points when people here discuss Houston's place among peers.
I think the image nationwide is pretty neutral, not because Houston is not worth much more (it seems it is), but perhaps imagewise, Dallas is in the way.
One thing that I've heard about Houston (and someone who has more knowledge perhaps can confirm or deny this) is that it is America's "heaviest" city. Basically it has a high percentage of out of shape people, and more donut shops per 10,000 people than anywhere else in the country.
Like I said, someone from Houston maybe can verify this fun fact or dispel it as a myth.
I didn't know that!!!
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