Houston mindset (Dallas, The Woodlands, Katy: house, transfer, theater)

[Truth713]

My stance is the reason why downtown is not a hot spot 24/7 like NY or L.A , CHi is that its just not ingrained into our collective mindset. Downtown can be popping when there is actually something to do, a band,a festival, parade, etc, but you will never see the throngs of people on the street like you do in the other big cities, and that may not be such a bad thing. Houston has many hot spots around the city itself, which actually appeals to me, because going to the same areas all the time gets boring to me. I think people would get more a sense of a connected city if the damn people would expand the metro rail !!. They bashed the metro rail and said it would be a waste of money and no one would ride, it now averages 45,000 riders a day. Image if you linked the rails to all of the out lining suburbs and other major centers of the city ?Another thing that hurts houston is that it sucks at promoting itself, by the time you find out about a show or even t it has already passed, example did anyone one know that discovery green has a movie in the park once a week Movies - Discovery Green Houston, Texas USA - Discovery Green. I live here and did,nt. Most people have no clue to whats inside the parvillion(I did,nt for a long time). In this regard we should hire promters from dallas. I hate to admit it but dallas excels at promoting itself, both to others and its own people. I had past by the pavillions a hundred times coming thur downtown for work, and while I had seen the sign, their was nothing that stood out that said good time come up this way, not flyers at bus stops,not t.v commericals, nothing, I only learned about it because I had to stop in books a million one day to find a book I was looking for and wonder where all the people keep keep disappering into

[City Love]

What pavilion are you referring too?

I don't know much about the way Dallas promotes it's city sponsored events. But I do agree that Houston needs to do a better job at it. There are always tons of events going on, and unless you really look or hear about it from a friend, it's rare that you hear about it any other way.

Just this past weekend on Friday, the city had a holiday lighting event that was on the news. We go every year, but had forgot about the event until they announced it on the 6pm news. We went and it was packed! No where to park and traffic was horrendous. We left after 30 minutes of traffic and went to the Heights for a Christmas event there. My point is that the city could of planned for it much better with a small shuttle service or maybe having the news mention where to park, or having signs on the street for parking. But they didn't. Plus the event was only from 6-8pm. Why not 6-10pm which allows for people to come in late because of traffic.

[Lost_In_Translation]

It hard to reverse years of business district only mindset. In Manhattan, they have similar mindset to compete against with their downtown and trying to get people to live there as opposed to the upper west and east sides. Downtown is getting better though and it will just take a while for people to come back, probably when its affordability is alot better than the surrounding areas.

[TimBomb]

I agree 100%

you can give these a quick glance every now and then (nothing much but atleast you know whats up)
http://www.visithoustontexas.com/visitors/events-list
http://www.visithoustontexas.com/visitors/attractions/

[BCEagles01]

In Boston people go downtown to both work and shop. Tons of stores and the like downtown. South Station being the business district.

In Houston my question is with no public transportation,namely a true subway system. Who is going to drive downtown and pay crazy prices to park ? Plus other than the stadiums, I don't see many stores downtown that most people in the burbs can just drive to at Katy Mills,The Woodlands,Willowbrook or whatever mall.

With suburbs surrounding the city ina ll directions, the city is actully perfect for a subway or rail system system. In Boston all the actual lines run to every part of the city North,south,east,west. The commuter rail takes you out to the suburbs. North Station located on the northside of downtown-commuter rail to the north burbs and onward to New Hampshire and South Station southside of downtown ,commuter rail to the south burbs and Rhode Island. You can either walkm between the two or the regular subway will connect you,free transfers.

Even with the stadiums downtown. As someone who isn't a native to here, I still ask 10-11 years later...what is there downtown ? In most of those cities people don't drive downtown either. They take the subway or major rail service. I find the streets and parking downtown to be a headache.

I just don't see major subway/rail service to connect the city when most people here can go to their local mall or shopping center.


Just my POV.

[City Love]

Originally Posted by BCEagles01

In Boston people go downtown to both work and shop. Tons of stores and the like downtown. South Station being the business district.

In Houston my question is with no public transportation,namely a true subway system. Who is going to drive downtown and pay crazy prices to park ? Plus other than the stadiums, I don't see many stores downtown that most people in the burbs can just drive to at Katy Mills,The Woodlands,Willowbrook or whatever mall.

With suburbs surrounding the city ina ll directions, the city is actully perfect for a subway or rail system system. In Boston all the actual lines run to every part of the city North,south,east,west. The commuter rail takes you out to the suburbs.

Even with the stadiums downtown. As someone who isn't a native to here, I still ask 10-11 years later...what is there downtown ? In most of those cities people don't drive downtown either. They take the subway or major rail service. Who wants to pay crazy prices to park down there ?

I just don't see major subway/rail service to connect the city when most people here can go to their local mall or shopping center.


Just my POV.

I think Houston's downtown isn't really trying to attract the suburb crowd. I think it's fighting to stay relevant within the inner loop, good job at that, I think. They are also doing a good job at attracting new venues and businesses. The suburbs is mostly big box type of stores. The House of Blue's center is really neat. The theater district is there as well. Discovery Green is always nice and it will soon have 3 major stadiums once Dynamo stadium is complete. The problem with downtown is that it was built as a business district and not until recently have their been attempts to change that.

Just like typical Houston, there's doesn't seem to be a real entertainment or shopping center. Downtown is all business during the day, and in the evening it turns into "light" entertainment in regards to actual people count. Parking is free on most city streets in the evening, event parking can range from $5-$20.

[vegankris]

I got really lucky and before we even actually moved into our home, we met some great people at the Eastwood National Night Out event who knew someone who seems to know about EVERYTHING going on in Houston. In my opinion, there has been much more to do than we have been able to enjoy so far. But, a lot of the events are not necessarily *mainstream*. I think with our close location to downtown we are able to take advantage of more things than your average Houstonian who lives further out. I say this because so far we have used the bikes to get to nearly every event, therefore taking away the hassle of parking.

[irishlover]

Why should people want to go downtown? Just because other cities have a downtown with more shops/activities, why should Houston? Just to mimic these cities? Living in Dublin Ireland where public transit is much better than Houston it was still a major hassle to go in to "town"...ride a cramped bus, often times having to stand. Stop 10 times on the way in to pick up more smelly, cold people and an hour later you are there poured out onto crowded streets. Sounds appealing, right? I personally love how Houston's multiple shopping/entertainment districts have popped up here and there....nothing here feels that crowded to me and I think that's great. I can always park my own car, usually for free, and I'm not standing shoulder to shoulder with a million other people. Why should we all want to be jammed into a cramped and crowded downtown?? Can you imagine getting on a bus or subway in July in Houston...how many sweaty and smelly people you would be sharing your ride with?? No thanks.

That's one of the benefits to Houston's brilliant lack of zoning...business "districts", if you will, have developed according to demand, not where City Council boxes them in. I think it's great and I wish more cities would take a no-zoning approach.

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by irishlover

Why should people want to go downtown? Just because other cities have a downtown with more shops/activities, why should Houston? Just to mimic these cities? Living in Dublin Ireland where public transit is much better than Houston it was still a major hassle to go in to "town"...ride a cramped bus, often times having to stand. Stop 10 times on the way in to pick up more smelly, cold people and an hour later you are there poured out onto crowded streets. Sounds appealing, right? I personally love how Houston's multiple shopping/entertainment districts have popped up here and there....nothing here feels that crowded to me and I think that's great. I can always park my own car, usually for free, and I'm not standing shoulder to shoulder with a million other people. Why should we all want to be jammed into a cramped and crowded downtown?? Can you imagine getting on a bus or subway in July in Houston...how many sweaty and smelly people you would be sharing your ride with?? No thanks.

That's one of the benefits to Houston's brilliant lack of zoning...business "districts", if you will, have developed according to demand, not where City Council boxes them in. I think it's great and I wish more cities would take a no-zoning approach.

Like I said I prefer muti places , I find one area center to be boring, and you end up at the same clubs ,looking at the same people you saw last week.. but I do think better railing service would breath even more life into both downtown and the other centers, When I go out for a good time - I dont have a set time Im coming home, so I may decided to hit a bar downtown, then eat in mid-town, then another bar in uptown. a connected rail system would go along way toward helping all of houston centers. Just like a bullet train to galvaston would have helped both houston and galavaston..I lost count of the number of weekend I have thought about going to the beach then dismissed the idea, becasue of gas prices or I just dont want to contend with the traffic

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation

It hard to reverse years of business district only mindset.

I tell you who can do it = The media.

I've been in Houston for 9 months and I still haven't seen anything at all on the news saying that there's going to be X event in Discovery Green.
Instead, they rather spend 1/2 hour talking about "who's on 1st place on the polls in Iowa"