Houston vs Seattle (San Antonio, Austin, El Paso: cost of, airport, bill)

[sweetclimber]

Seattle is way overhyped! I mean really, how could anyone enjoy a city where it constantly rains 10+ months a year? What has Seattle ever done for the country, starbucks? Seattle tries to act like it is such a trendsetter, but they can't even come up with an original name for the Seahawk fans (tried to steat the 12th man copyrighted name from A&M). Grunge music, haha, a bunch of drugged out losers, half of whom have died from overdoses, real classy. You have mountains near by, but how often can you go if you are so busy working. Culture, diversity are a joke. Some people on this site are just brainwashed by media hype of Seattle. Inthe same league as San Fran or NYC or even Houston, not even close, if anyone thinks so, they have been smelling that dead fish smell that prevails in Seattle too long
Cheers!

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by sweetclimber

Seattle is way overhyped! I mean really, how could anyone enjoy a city where it constantly rains 10+ months a year? What has Seattle ever done for the country, starbucks? Seattle tries to act like it is such a trendsetter, but they can't even come up with an original name for the Seahawk fans (tried to steat the 12th man copyrighted name from A&M). Grunge music, haha, a bunch of drugged out losers, half of whom have died from overdoses, real classy. You have mountains near by, but how often can you go if you are so busy working. Culture, diversity are a joke. Some people on this site are just brainwashed by media hype of Seattle. Inthe same league as San Fran or NYC or even Houston, not even close, if anyone thinks so, they have been smelling that dead fish smell that prevails in Seattle too long
Cheers!

Sounds like you really don't know much about Seattle...

[tstone]

Originally Posted by sweetclimber

Grunge music, haha, a bunch of drugged out losers, half of whom have died from overdoses, real classy.

Pfft... what popular music is 'classy'? And riddle me this - what kind of music do judgmental people tag as 'classy'? That from psychotic, classical musician 'losers' who killed themselves too? Seems all these musicians are more similar than different. I'll tell you this - there's nothing wrong with some of that heroin laced grunge! Even better with strings! Wait, wouldn't those violins & cellos make it 'classy' music?

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by sweetclimber

Seattle is way overhyped!

I'll give you that. I've been "around the block," as they say, having lived here for a little over 3 years. I've also got other places as a frame of reference to compare it to.

The biggest sell that Seattle has is its natural setting. When it was mid-priced, it was somewhat sensible to want to live there, providing you could handle the weather. Seattle is the only major city of its kind in the US...a major deep water port with hills studded with evergreen and snowcapped mountains in the distance. Portland, where most of my family lives, cannot compare. It is a river port and a more compact city. In the upper left quadrant of the country, Seattle is the major player.

C'mon, Seattle gave us Microsoft. For people 30 and under, it's about music. For everyone else, it's coffee. For me, it meant 101 miles from my front door to the customs booths at the Canadian border - I went to "Van-city" at least once a month!

The good things:
- the natural setting
- the 40 to 85 degree temp band, meaning no A/C is needed
- lots of trees in your yard

The bad things:
- it takes a lot of money to buy a decent house, at least $ 500,000 now
- you will also have to keep a handy supply of anti-depressants
- a lot of people SUCK...the most stoic, politically correct, pissy and "walk on eggshells" types I've encountered in any place I've lived...working there was like going to a morgue every day

I've been to Houston several times and, by comparison, the advantages are:
- you can buy a beautiful home WITH trees around it for a favorable price
- it is near a major (warmer) body of water you can drive to
- it's extremely diverse and probably more tolerant...any place in a warm weather zone where people have to wear less clothing to be comfortable is always less uptight, as psychological studies show

The only disadvantages I see are:
- 4 months of oppressive humid heat between 5/15 and 9/15
- no mountain back-drop

Traffic is bad in both.

At the end of the day, it's about people! There are MANY threads under SEA and PDX talking about how disagreeable people are in the Northwest. There must be a reason for that. On the other hand, I don't see many threads of that type in the Texas or Southeastern city threads.

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by sweetclimber

What has Seattle ever done for the country, starbucks?

Hasn't Starbucks made the world (or at least in America) wired? I wouldn't be proud of Microsoft either. Apple all the way!!! (And I'm typing this on a Mac! ha) Why didn't Bill Gates move to San Francisco like everyone else instead of being the oddball? Is he an oddball himself?

You have mountains near by, but how often can you go if you are so busy working.

Mount Rainer is what I don't want to keep watching out for. The Weather Channel was comparing it to Mt. St. Helens in the "It could Happen Tomorrow" series.

Inthe same league as San Fran or NYC or even Houston, not even close, if anyone thinks so, they have been smelling that dead fish smell that prevails in Seattle too long
Cheers!

Even though they are similar, I prefer SF over Seattle because it's in (Arnold's voice) CALIFORNIA BABY! (BTW I like those California laws!) San Francisco is rich in Western history. Seattle was just a stop on the way to Alaska.

[seattlerain]

Why Houstonians are so proud of their city is beyond me. As a fairly well traveled, unbiased outsider, I can honestly say there is nothing remarkable there.

Houston seems to not have a soul...hot, humid, full of concrete, asphalt, boring ugly strip malls and billboards advertising junk...

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by seattlerain

Why Houstonians are so proud of their city is beyond me. As a fairly well traveled, unbiased outsider, I can honestly say there is nothing remarkable there.

Texas is the unique state and Houston is the center of it.

Houston seems to not have a soul...hot, humid, full of concrete, asphalt, boring ugly strip malls and billboards advertising junk...

Nor does Seattle (reverse of Houston)...cold, gloomy, rainy, un-developed forest.

I could say New York City doesn't have a soul because it has the same traits you described about Houston. After all, unlike the Wild Wild West, it is part of the East Coast megapolis of dense sprawling cities and concrete that replaced the forests that once filled the spots between the cities. I would rather be a civilized person living in the East than be a settler/pioneer going West in the old days.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Texas is the unique state and Houston is the center of it.


Nor does Seattle (reverse of Houston)...cold, gloomy, rainy, un-developed forest.

I could say New York City doesn't have a soul because it has the same traits you described about Houston. After all, unlike the Wild Wild West, it is part of the East Coast megapolis of dense sprawling cities and concrete that replaced the forests that once filled the spots between the cities. I would rather be a civilized person living in the East than be a settler/pioneer going West in the old days.

Have you been to Seattle, it is far from "un-developed" forest.

Every state is unique in some way, Texas certainly doesn't have the market on being "unique"...

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by seattlerain

Have you been to Seattle, it is far from "un-developed" forest.

Actually I had to develop an opposite for concrete in your description.

Every state is unique in some way, Texas certainly doesn't have the market on being "unique"...

Have you been to Texas? You should see the Texas pride! After all, it used to be a country.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Actually I had to develop an opposite for concrete in your description.


Have you been to Texas? You should see the Texas pride! After all, it used to be a country.

You didn't answer my question, have you been to Seattle?

Yes I've been to Texas, I lived there for several years!

The "Texas Pride" does not impress me...