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Looks like the city. If there wasn't a concrete barrier, maybe they could have planted some trees like other freeways. You don't only have to have feeders to get looks like that.
Very true. I still despise feeders though. Or the fact that everything is located on feeders.
Worldyman does a good job of highlighting the positives of Houston which I agree with. I don't know where he got the idea that I found Houston to be lame, I just mentioned that I can see the great potential and that it needs to publicly invest.
And a lot of the spots he mentioned like on Richmond are questionable places in rather sketchy areas. I prefer to stay mostly in the loop and avoid the crime and DUI police swimming like sharks.
I also don't appreciate comparing the nightlife in Houston, which I've always thought was amazing, with West LA, the OC and Pasadena. These places are fun and eclectic but they're not the hubs of nightlife. LA's night life and Houston's are two totally different sharks. Houston is a mix of Vegas and New Orleans with a sprinkle of Austin. It's rowdy, all out, turbo charged and a tad sleazy. LA is chilled, laid back and more like Austin. I prefer Houston's to be honest. Not only because the nightlife is crazier but the people make it the best. The town is really social and down to do anything. LA is cliquish. You arrive with your crew and leave with your crew without adding on a single person.
So I don't know why the nightlife is the determining factor of quality of life. The list I had in the OP was just a list of recommendations to improve the city, not a list to bash the city. Yes, Houston lacks a quality of life. There is good and entertainment, bit the practicality of the city trumps it. You cannot seriously believe that the city offers amenities that world class cities like LA and NYC yet. That's just booster talk. Houston has the potential though to blow both cities pit of the water and the things that you mentioned are just indicators that its true.
L.A. is still, like my second or third favorite city. Much better than colonial San Diego, for my tastes, that's for sure.
L.A. and Houston have their own id's obviously, but there are a lot of overlapping similarities. San Diego looks physically like L.A. but it lacks that booming cosmopolitan vibe. Houston has much more in common with L.A. in that regard, not to mention sheer geographic dynamic.
I merely view Houston as sort of a leaner, maybe Gulf-funky version of L.A. Younger, still on the way up. L.A. is kinda unique in that it mixes some of the dense old style cities' characteristics with the new sprawl. I just believe that if we are going to live in a largely car-oriented city, Houston is actually more suitably built for that.
For example:
Westheimer and Wilshire are both yin and yang. Wilshire is a great street loaded with great eclectic commercial bounty, my favorite in L.A. It has great density and is awesome for pedestrian activity. Used to love drinking coffee near the Philippine Consulate on Wilshire. That was "my" L.A. But...as far as dealing with routine errands via automobile? Nah, that parallel parking and swinging around looking for a place to park is not really for me at all.
Westheimer offers similar extreme range of eclectic commercial bounty though it is not tight or intimate as Wilshire...or as pedestrian friendly. But it is not bad to walk along. Quite a few people do it; one must pay extreme attention crossing the streets. But as far as dealing with routine errands when you've got to drive here and there...definitely Westheimer Easy in and easy out near the shops and storefronts. But I love Westheimer and Wilshire for their own identities.
Houston has almost the same multi-ethnic representation as L.A. Houston has four Ethiopian restaurants (three are good while the fourth, Lucy, is more of a stylish lounge with mediocre food). L.A. may have twenty or more Ethiopian cafes. Maybe 15-20 Salvadoran restaurants in Houston, L.A. may have 70 or more. That is OK because sheer volume doesn't matter to me. Houston is still more livable in my book. And that is the balance. I am OK with three good Ethiopian restaurants as long as it's easier to live in Houston. On the other hand, Houston probably has more Venezuelan, Nigerian and Pakistani restaurants than L.A. It's much easier to find nehari in Houston than in SoCal, for some reason.
(We can enjoy mousakhan "Palestinian chicken" in Houston at a place called Al-Aseel which is not available in Los Angeles according to LA Weekly food writer Jonathan Gold. That dish is quite delicious and I've had it twice.)
Houston is young and still finding its way, but it reaches out in its own way already that may not always appeal to uptight urbanists. I would appreciate it too, like you, if the City could address certain issues better, in a more progressive manner...but I live here successfully in Houston. I will not dwell too much on it in a negative way.
L.A. is still, like my second or third favorite city. Much better than colonial San Diego, for my tastes, that's for sure.
L.A. and Houston have their own id's obviously, but there are a lot of overlapping similarities. San Diego looks physically like L.A. but it lacks that booming cosmopolitan vibe. Houston has much more in common with L.A. in that regard, not to mention sheer geographic dynamic.
I merely view Houston as sort of a leaner, maybe Gulf-funky version of L.A. Younger, still on the way up. L.A. is kinda unique in that it mixes some of the dense old style cities' characteristics with the new sprawl. I just believe that if we are going to live in a largely car-oriented city, Houston is actually more suitably built for that.
For example:
Westheimer and Wilshire are both yin and yang. Wilshire is a great street loaded with great eclectic commercial bounty, my favorite in L.A. It has great density and is awesome for pedestrian activity. Used to love drinking coffee near the Philippine Consulate on Wilshire. That was "my" L.A. But...as far as dealing with routine errands via automobile? Nah, that parallel parking and swinging around looking for a place to park is not really for me at all.
Westheimer offers similar extreme range of eclectic commercial bounty though it is not tight or intimate as Wilshire...or as pedestrian friendly. But it is not bad to walk along. Quite a few people do it; one must pay extreme attention crossing the streets. But as far as dealing with routine errands when you've got to drive here and there...definitely Westheimer Easy in and easy out near the shops and storefronts. But I love Westheimer and Wilshire for their own identities.
Houston has almost the same multi-ethnic representation as L.A. Houston has four Ethiopian restaurants (three are good while the fourth, Lucy, is more of a stylish lounge with mediocre food). L.A. may have twenty or more Ethiopian cafes. Maybe 15-20 Salvadoran restaurants in Houston, L.A. may have 70 or more. That is OK because sheer volume doesn't matter to me. Houston is still more livable in my book. And that is the balance. I am OK with three good Ethiopian restaurants as long as it's easier to live in Houston. On the other hand, Houston probably has more Venezuelan, Nigerian and Pakistani restaurants than L.A. It's much easier to find nehari in Houston than in SoCal, for some reason.
(We can enjoy mousakhan "Palestinian chicken" in Houston at a place called Al-Aseel which is not available in Los Angeles according to LA Weekly food writer Jonathan Gold. That dish is quite delicious and I've had it twice.)
Houston is young and still finding its way, but it reaches out in its own way already that may not always appeal to uptight urbanists. I would appreciate it too, like you, if the City could address certain issues better, in a more progressive manner...but I live here successfully in Houston. I will not dwell too much on it in a negative way.
For once your post was ok, keep working on it Worldlyman
The problem is there are few attractive stretches along any of Houston's freeways (and yes, this is my opinion, not fact). The feeders were intentionally built in a manner that permits developers to clog the entire length of Houston's freeways with ugly strip centers. If you think about the few stretches of Houston's freeways that are not unsightly (say, 59 from the Loop to downtown or 288 South), they do not have parallel feeders running their lengths.
I believe the way in which highways were built in Houston is another example which supports the OP's premise that the government has historically been a rubber stamp for commercial interests. While that is changing as Houston matures, in the case of past damages to the city's infrastructure (e.g., the proliferation of feeder roads), the cat is out of the bag. There are very few cities that have permitted this type of highway development outside of Texas, with 80% of Houston's freeways featuring feeder roads running their length: Frontage road - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
I noted above that Houston seems to be maturing. The latest freeway built (the Westpark) was not accompanied by feeders as it was built. I note there seem to be right-of-ways running much of the length, so time will tell if they are landscaped to make the roadway more attractive (as is done in many cities) or converted to feeders to accommodate the appetites of developers.
Last edited by Pine to Vine; 08-02-2013 at 08:38 AM..
Reason: correct typos
[Everything in Houston is literally geared to satisfy the industries that own it. Everything is done as a "practical" measure not to necessarily improve the quality of life for Houstonians. There is little civic engamgent too (no your HOA doesn't count). The logic in Houston really seems to presuppose the market logic; what is good for our major industries will in turn increase the standard of living thus give way to a better quality of life. This doesn't always work. The city of Houston has to develop it's own character, not just act as the administrative arm of the major industries. In Houston, politics really is the shadow of big business.
This sums it up beautifully. End thread.[/quote]
This is why I live in Austin. No keeping up with the Joneses. No corporate domination. Just sipping drinks at an outside patio overlooking a beautiful lake with friendly people around.
Say what you want about Houston, yes the people can live in large homes for cheap prices, but people in Austin know how to enjoy life. Ask a Houstonian if they are truly "happy". Most times the answer is no. Most Austonites are happy though.
How in the hell is saying publicly invest in your city to make it nicer and afford a better quality of life for the citizens "liberal"?
My guess is that you do believe the function of the city is to just operate as the administrative arm of the major industries; enforce contracts, pave the roads, protect the streets and punish criminals. Anything else is "socialism". When a city actually steps out of the shadow of big business and starts to function as it's own entity with it's own character and actually wields considerable power to affect real social change, well then that's "socialism"???
Houstonians have no concept of what it's like to live in a city where the city is actually it's own entity with it's own identity that actually plays a role in social life, not just economic and political. That's a shame. Civic engagement is so abysmal in Houston as is outreach by the city. That is why public infrastructure and works projects are horribly underkempt. That is why social services are poor.
That mindset you have that apparently the leaders share too is so narrow. Letting private business guide all growth is limited. There is only so much they can do because it's not in their interests to meet social need. This is where the local government steps in and takes over. How is that concept lost on your reactionaries? That isn't even about being liberal, that's about having common sense. That is about following the example of nearly every other major city in the country. That is why when Houstonians travel they notice a marked difference in their city vs some of the ones they visit. First thing: wow, nice roads, no grass growing in between the cracks of the sidewalk or a huge tree root uprooting it too. Wow, their libraries look like palaces compared to ours. Wow, people actually use public transport! Union? What the heck is that?
You guys just run on ideology, no facts, and anecdotal evidence. You guys boost your esteem and your city because of all the Forbes, BusinessWeek, Economist and financial rag articles that play up Houston. They do so because Houston is really good for business and to some extent it does create a decent standard of living. But then again they also tout places like China, India, and Brazil for the same things and these hotspots do create a nice standard of living; for those taking advantage of the growth. They talk nothing of the vast majority, especially the hardest hit which are living in favelas. Houston has really low social spending numbers per resident, a high crime rate and high poverty levels. That's the other side of the coin that Forbes doesn't tell you. The only answer your ilk has to say about that is, "well they should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get on the gravy train, it's ain't my fault they're lazy".
Houston has incredible potential. The best hopes in the nation for anyone wanting to just live a decent life in a major metropolitan area. Yet, reactionaries such as yourself keep it from progressing because you think that any amount of public investment is "socialism".
The sad fact is that if Houston doesn't start to change things, the very things that it touts now will cause its own demise. Fact it, eventually the cost of living will increase. Yes there's plenty of land but simply supply and demand tells us that eventually the COL will increase in Houston. Once that happens, without any civic amenities, Houston will start losing people to places that value civic amenities, for instance, places like Austin where parks galore and amenities for its citizens are placed at a premium. Already, Houston is sending more residents to Austin than Austin is sending to Houston...
Your perverted mindset of what our government is responsible for is quite grotesque. You're socialist ideas are what cause huge burdens on the tax payers and im sorry to say... It just doesnt work. As much as your twisted and perverted "dreamscape" reality of all humankind smelling flowers and frolicking under the sun in some government ran police state probably sounds great to you. It is just unsustainable. Why you ask, because the working middle class has to pay for it and frankly they would rather put that money towards themselves and their own families best interests. How is Chicago, or LA doing economically speaking? They are in horrible positions because of beautifully perverted "Big government" cleaning up the place mentalities. Houston is an economic powerhouse because its efficient and it works. LA is a sh*thole and bankrupt because its over exhaustion of taxpayer money, it could never in a million years collect, thats been spent on "giving the city a special vibe". Most houstonians dont give a rat's ass about vibes or trendy hangouts. They care about making money, positioning their families in better spots then they once were, and keeping the government the f*ck out of our business! If you like LA so much, stay there. If in fact you are coming to Houston for work (yes we do have jobs here unlike trendy LA) then keep your head pointed towards your own business and quit telling Houstonians how great LA is compared to Houston. LA is a joke and an economic ghost shell of a city. California is dying and most other states are not going to bail them out this go around.
The rich in Houston would be considered middle class by the rich in LA. I don't think you understand the kind of money some of the celebrities in LA have. LA is a nicer city with far more to do and much prettier than Houston will ever be. Get your head out of your a$$.
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