COL SPGS vs Texas (Denver, Colorado Springs: relocation, vacation, wages)

[El Mac]

I guess it all depends on what you define as "activities". Most of those things you describe don't fit the bill. I could care less about made up 'festivals'.

I'll take the Colorado nature side of activities any day. Lets see...camping, trout fishing, ice fishing, bird hunting, big game hunting, backpacking, rock climbing, camping, kayaking/canoeing, skiing, snow boarding, ATVing, snow mobiling, mountain biking, etc...in relatively clean air.

Houston...hmmmm....air conditioning 10 months out of the year...a/c house, to a/c car to a/c office to a/c shopping mall back to a/c house. Oh yeah, bass fishing, golfing, water skiing. Just don't forget to pack the mosquito repellant, extra set of clothes and $40k bass boat, $8k trailer and $50k Truck to get you there. But hey, they have some nice diverse festivals....

[Postal]

I'm with you. I lived in San Antonio for a few years and tried their "Fiesta" festival in an attempt to "get into" the city. It was the biggest waste of time I've experienced in a long time. San Antonio was crap compared to most of the other places I've lived. I tried, but I just couldn't see the appeal.

But then again, I'm more into the outdoor activities. I like to bike (road and mountain). San Antonio has nothing for mountain biking and when I tried to ride on the road, I just got run off by rednecks in rusted t-top trans ams heading back to the double-wide.

[C2H (ComingtoHouston)]

Originally Posted by El Mac

I guess it all depends on what you define as "activities". Most of those things you describe don't fit the bill.

You can do all those things in Texas and just right outside of Houston. Houston has a forest north of the city where you can go hunting,fishing, bike trails, camping and other nature type things you mentioned. Maybe not the steep hills of mountainside like in Colorado, but you can go to big bend park in West Texas for much of that. You can also do kayaking/canoeing in Houston's bayous. San Antonio's New Braunfel's area is known for doing those things like White Water rafting and more. Yeah Texas has mosquitos just like the majority of the entire southern region. Although not as many as TX or the South, but don't think Colorado doesn't have them either. I remember... at band camp... we all used to get bit the hell out of down in Alamosa.

And Postal, for someone who supposedly lived in S/A, sounded like you didn't get out too much. There's plenty of areas known for biking and riding hilly terrain. San Antonio sits very close to the hill country part of Texas.

[Postal]

Originally Posted by C2H (ComingtoHouston)

And Postal, for someone who supposedly lived in S/A, sounded like you didn't get out too much. There's plenty of areas known for biking and riding hilly terrain. San Antonio sits very close to the hill country part of Texas.

I got out plenty. Have you ever actually ridden in the area? Their idea of mountain biking is dry rocky creek beds. Not very fun. What really got me was the *******s trying to run me off the road every time I tried to ride. As for the hill country. I shouldn't have to drive an hour every time I want to ride my bike. That's just impractical.

If you like TX that much, keep it. I never want to go back again. It ranked only slightly higher than Biloxi, MS, which is the worst place I've ever lived.

[El Mac]

I've been there, done that...all of it you mention. It doesn't come close.

Don't get my wrong, I am a died in the wool Texan. Born and raised and will most likely be buried there in the family plot. There is a certain amount of Texas that never leaves the blood. Having said that, once you leave it, you realize its a mental thing or genetic, not sure which. But you can be in Texas, no matter where in the world you are...to include some of the most God forsaken ***tholes in the world.

If you want to get real technical, the vast majority of Colorado WAS Texas up until 1845 when the US cut a deal with Texas to enter the Union (probably a huge mistake). I don't think Texas fully believed it up until around 1850.

At any rate, Kayaking a bayou doesn't come close to kayaking real white water. Trout fishing with no one for miles around doesn't come close to bass fishing. And while the Hill Country is a damn special place, it doesn't have mulies or elk.

If you are into diversity, traffic, humidity and concrete - you will definitely love Houston. Its a great place to be from, ;-)

[C2H (ComingtoHouston)]

I like Texas and I like Colorado. I lived in Colorado Springs for 20 years. It just seems like people from often try to make Texas out to be worse than what it is. And yes, i'm still young (27) and right now the options of activities in Texas are more to my liking. Colorado Springs and Colorado's activities are fun but are family-oriented. I've seen it all in Colorado since i was a kid when i did a lot of my growing up there. The only place i could live in Colorado right now is Denver.

[C2H (ComingtoHouston)]

El Mac, i appreciate the History lesson but your arguments are losing steam. It wasn't an issue whether what color water you can kayak in its an issue of whether its there for you to do it. If you don't want to do it in the Bayou's there's other places in TX. Colorado has some of the cleanest air and water in the nation and alot of places don't measure up. But one thing for sure, TX has all the geography from flat, forest, hill country to mountains. It may not have as big as mountains but there's still mountains where alot of that stuff you mention that's in Colorado, is right in Texas.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by C2H (ComingtoHouston)

It may not have as big as mountains but there's still mountains where alot of that stuff you mention that's in Colorado, is right in Texas.

Surely you don't mean Guadalupe, do you? Or the Franklin "Mountains" in El Paso? Sorry, C2H, Texas may have a lot of wonderful things, but mountains are not one of them.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by El Mac

...
At any rate, Kayaking a bayou doesn't come close to kayaking real white water. Trout fishing with no one for miles around doesn't come close to bass fishing. And while the Hill Country is a damn special place, it doesn't have mulies or elk.

If you are into diversity, traffic, humidity and concrete - you will definitely love Houston. Its a great place to be from, ;-)

One is more for people who like outdoor activities, and the other is more for people who want to live in a very large city (4th largest after Chicago) for all the the big-city amenities like world-class culture/arts (2nd largest theatre district after NYC, 3rd largest number of working artists in the country), the economy (2nd largest number of Fortune 500 companies after NYC, and the world's largest medical center), fabulous restaurants of every kind, and a great diversity of people and (indoor) activities. Although it does have a bay and nearby beaches for water types (3rd largest number of pleasure boats in the country). It's really as simple as that. It may not have mountains, but it has a lot more than just humidity and concrete, and some of you really seem to have forgotten that (or simply don't realize).

[C2H (ComingtoHouston)]

Originally Posted by tfox

Surely you don't mean Guadalupe, do you? Or the Franklin "Mountains" in El Paso? Sorry, C2H, Texas may have a lot of wonderful things, but mountains are not one of them.

Ok then they're really really tall rocks. LOL.

Like i said, they don't compare wth Colorado's but they're still mountains. I was really talking about Big Bend area. Am i gonna have to post some pictures?

Originally Posted by JJP

Houston may not have mountains, but it has a lot more than just humidity and concrete, and some of you really seem to have forgotten that (or simply don't realize).

No JJP, it's called bashing something they know little about to uplift where they are at. Simple as that.