3 Best/Worst Things About Houston? (Dallas, Austin: property taxes, hoa, mcmansions)

[jfre81]

Lack of zoning helps keep everyone mixed up. Go to a Fiesta Mart somewhere inside the loop and tell me which ethnicity held the majority among the people in there. In most cases you can't, although results vary depending on where you are.

So yeah, you have a "Chinatown" but it is going to have East Asian people of all national origins there. There's no "Little Havana" but there are Cubans here. My zip code (77025) is something like 18% "Asian or Pacific Islander" and a few speed limit signs given in km/h are seen as well as mph, but like most of the city it's just a big melting pot (for my uncreative lack of a less-cliche term). In a lot of ways Houston's diversity is even more integrated and dispersed into everywhere than NYC's or LA's, and somehow it isn't because everyone is entirely assimilated with one another. Maybe it's just because human beings aren't really as different from one another as we traditonally tend to think.

Houston has the third-largest concentration of foreign consulates in the US, many of which are in the Montrose, River Oaks and Upper Kirby areas.

[ayannaaaliyah]

Originally Posted by jfre81

You did not get a temporary?

What a piece of paper? No, I kept my out of state, I can't travel with a piece of paper................

[ayannaaaliyah]

Originally Posted by Wysiwyg

Best?
1) all new neighborhoods are good. nice to see a fresh start for everyone
2) 'art' and other other ethnic/gay/etc festivals arent really being forced to me to see (kinda a good thing sometimes)

Worst?
1) INSECTS, INSECTS, INSECTS. never had 6 stings in a 2" square of my skin before, that was swollen for a whole month. I didnt even feel them bite
2) Beater cars and work trucks. I've seen whole neighborhoods flooded with cars, mostly beat up cars and trucks. even saw hauler trucks(no cargo) parked on the tip of 'culdesac'. driveways and streets are filled up, theres almost no point for landscaping the frontyard. I also see too many cars stalled in the highways
3)200K house doesnt get you away from the construction crew neighbor - the guy with the beatup truck, whose whole family normally curse and chat at 95db... the person in your neighborhood that regularly brings more company worktrucks, (fugly) playa rides and construction crew in shaggy (not work) clothing and parties in the garage. definitely the family that gives HOAs reason to exist
4) still quite a white world. the all-talk american guy would not last very long in NYC firms, where diversity is not a charitable/friendly act but an advantage . in houston, the ethnic person still owes the american slacker - kind of attitude persist. kinda like nascar, skill and technological advancement is really not THAT important
5) Chinatown is not really chinatown. I miss those *real* chinese SHADY looking tea houses. houston chinatown is really vietnamese town - big difference here because its the chinese that is more inclined for grandeur, excesses and 'business feng sui' that makes a chinatown a beautiful chinatown
6) stuck in traffic in full blast summar heat going 45south(NASA area construction). sometimes in a car with no AC - I'm still mustering up the courage to do this again
7) exit ramps suck - basically the car exiting has to intersect paths with the cars merging in. this pretty much stalls a whole lane (or 2) and disrupts flow in the major highways. also flyover exist ramps are one lane - not good because chuggling/dying cars and overloaded trucks will most likely quit running here.
8) bit too mexico. there should be a mexico-town and maybe remove big signed tacquerias from 'chinatown', 'korean-town', 'india-town' lol

I agree #4, #7, #8

#2 & #3: seems like you need to move into a community with an HOA, that sucks.....

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by EugeneBKLYN

Worst:
Amount of illegals

And out-of-staters.

[jfre81]

Your out-of-state license should be honored for 60 days here. You should get your license before then. If not you can be issued a temporary (piece of paper, but if you get pulled over and it's not expired it is as legitimate as a Texas DL - you might possibly get asked to show another photo ID but you should have on hand).

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

And out-of-staters.

They don't bother me. As long as they don't drive like jerks and make an effort to learn the city enough so they're not always cutting all the way across from the leftmost lane to exit wherever they need to. Especially since if they miss their exit they more than likely can take the next exit and work themselves toward wherever they were going if they know what they're doing.

Houston key maps are your friend - buy one - and Google Maps is your friend too, although it can be difficult to pull up when you're not home - unless you have something cool like a wi-fi laptop. The hybrid satellite/road map is especially nice and some things (like several of the downtown towers) are labeled as well as visible from overhead. Once you learn your way around, learn traffic tendencies and alternate routes to your preferred one to get from one place to the other, this is not really a difficult city to get around. It's not NYC, and that's a good thing. If I want NYC I'll go there and find a place to squat in (since I can't afford the rent there.)

[ayannaaaliyah]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Your out-of-state license should be honored for 60 days here. You should get your license before then. If not you can be issued a temporary (piece of paper, but if you get pulled over and it's not expired it is as legitimate as a Texas DL - you might possibly get asked to show another photo ID but you should have on hand).

I understand all of that, however my issue was that the Texas DMV is antequated. Again, you cannot travel with a piece of paper and they told me that I would have to "physically" relinquesh my out of state license to process my application for a TX license. As I stated before, I can't travel (fly that is) with a piece of paper and won't risk it either based on them telling me that I can (homeland security is a b*tch)!

I just can't understand how the DMV here is so out of touch with new age technology especially with TX being so close to the border and the illegal immigrant population, you would think that they would have at least the DMV system in line with all other major cities across the country They're just now exploring the option of updating the system and making it online and instant by using digital photographs.

I suppose when they get there, I'll go in and become an "official" Texan

[jfre81]

Ok....I've never actually moved (back) here flying, so this really sounds like Homeland Security red tape more than anything. So in that case, Texas' DMV is antequated because you are caught in a bureaucratic catch-22.

We had a similar Homeland Security-related headache trying to use an ATM card to purchase money orders for our rent (we paid for a six-month lease in full upfront) but they have put restrictions on how much you can purchase with an ATM card from your own bank account with your own money. It's scandalous.

[Bike4Life]

Best:
Skyscapers to look at since there are no mountains
Local bars/pubs that we won't tell you
Housing that meets your lame budget

Worse:
Lousy on bicycle paths, NYC ranks 3rd in USA!
Too many searing hot concrete
McMansions + Egos = Exburbs

[ayannaaaliyah]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Ok....I've never actually moved (back) here flying, so this really sounds like Homeland Security red tape more than anything. So in that case, Texas' DMV is antequated because you are caught in a bureaucratic catch-22.

We had a similar Homeland Security-related headache trying to use an ATM card to purchase money orders for our rent (we paid for a six-month lease in full upfront) but they have put restrictions on how much you can purchase with an ATM card from your own bank account with your own money. It's scandalous.

Yeah like when I was 16, I moved to Illinois with my grandparents for a year. Took the driving test, license on the spot. I moved back to DC after graduating, had an Illinois DL (1987), went to DMV, they swaped DL on the spot, no waiting. Moved to FL in 1994, went to DMV, they checked DC DMV database to verify no suspensions, etc...........20 min I walked out with a FL Drivers license. Husband went to GA for a job assignment with his FL license, went to GA DMV, checked FL DMV database to verify - 15 min. he had a GA license on the spot. Move to TX, still have out-of-state license - no online verification capabilities and still using film to do photos