Forbes Declares Houston the Capital of the Third Coast (Dallas: apartments, house)

[swopoe]

Dallas very much reminds me a Midwestern city. I said it the very first time I visited there. My husband thought so too.

[texas7]

I think someone at Forbes has a crush on us.

[radiolibre99]

LOL, no joke. Houston was the best kept secret until this rag blabbed about it.

[RedScare]

Originally Posted by texas7

I think someone at Forbes has a crush on us.

It's Joel Kotkin. He never passes up a chance to talk up Houston. I think he lives in Ft. Bend County.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

While I agree with Forbes for the most part, I get tired of these articles constantly pumping out pro-Houston stuff. At this point it's just getting ridiculous. They clearly promote the one aspect that Houston has going for itself which is namely a big business friendly environment. Other than that Houston lacks a lot of amenities to make it the "next global city" or for it to begin to compete with the likes of NYC and LA.
I mean relying on Forbes, Fortune, The Economist, Yahoo Finance or any other financial rag is to tell you where the next boom town is, is like relying on the same people who said that the New Economy was here just before the Dot.Com bubble, the Enron scandals and the housing market crash.
Houston has transportation problems, abysmal infrastructure, the crappiest public/social services of any major city, a pretty high crime rate and an uneven economic geographical development.
I mean I know Houstonians are very proud of all the press the city has been getting but remember that these are the same rags that praise cities in Brazil, China and Russia. Cities that have a huge gap between rich and poor, the bottom living in favelas, high crime and corruption problems. So clearly, when they say Houston is great they really mostly mean the opportunities to take advantage of the big boom that only benefit the few who get in on it.

The only publication I know that tackles the Houston myths is the Houston Chronicle which tell the other side of the story. If you read both Forbes and the Houston Chronicle articles, then you can get a complete picture.

Houston has a lot going for it. I certainly believe the infrastructure will come as the city continues to economically prosper. That being said, I think two major issues plauging the city are crime and public education. If we can work together to address those issues, then Houston can grow into one of the best if not arguably the best city in the country.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

Houston has a lot going for it. I certainly believe the infrastructure will come as the city continues to economically prosper. That being said, I think two major issues plauging the city are crime and public education. If we can work together to address those issues, then Houston can grow into one of the best if not arguably the best city in the country.

Agreed. There has to be a solid bridge so that people at the lowest rung can get in on the boom.

Infrastructure will come eventually. Yes, Houston has the potential to leave LA and NYC in the dust.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Agreed. There has to be a solid bridge so that people at the lowest rung can get in on the boom.

Infrastructure will come eventually. Yes, Houston has the potential to leave LA and NYC in the dust.

I wish the people in charge felt the same way. If they did, and used their clout to make a difference, the quality of life in this metro would soar leaps and bounds.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

When did Dallas become a part of the great plains? When I think great plains I think Midwest and Dallas isn't a Midwestern city.

Actually, Dallas feels a lot more Midwestern than Southern to me. It doesn't feel Midwestern in the sense of Ohio or Michigan, but it certainly feels Midwestern in the sense of Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. Last week, I worked in Minneapolis and Fargo and since we had a three day weekend I drove from Fargo all the way to Kansas City and flew home. I'll be the very first to tell you that the topography is absolutely no different than it is in Dallas and the small towns I drove through in the Dakotas feel just like the small towns to the north and west of Dallas. The only big differences that I note are that Dallas is a lot more ethnically diverse and the accent is different, but even the former comes from being a big city.

Houston to me has always felt Southern. Likewise, it's far more diverse than Louisiana, Alabama, far northern Florida, and Mississippi, but it can relate to those areas the same way Dallas can to the plains states.

In a way it's like saying Dallas is big city Omaha and Houston is big city Jacksonville.

[Jack Lance]

Some of the more interesting points of his map to me are, for one, Houston is the only city he designates as a "capital" city that is not a headquarter city of a Federal Reserve district. Also some of his boundaries are really eccentric. For instance Denver seems to be on a border of the region he says it (Denver) is the capital of, but he includes eastern Colorado as part of the Dallas district, how does that happen? Lastly I don't think any part of Western Louisiana is more closely linked economically to Atlanta, than to Texas.

I understand that these regions are by design ambiguous, but I don't think economic spheres are that eccentric. Distance to a economic hub seems to be more important than that.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by peterlemonjello

Actually, Dallas feels a lot more Midwestern than Southern to me. It doesn't feel Midwestern in the sense of Ohio or Michigan, but it certainly feels Midwestern in the sense of Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. Last week, I worked in Minneapolis and Fargo and since we had a three day weekend I drove from Fargo all the way to Kansas City and flew home. I'll be the very first to tell you that the topography is absolutely no different than it is in Dallas and the small towns I drove through in the Dakotas feel just like the small towns to the north and west of Dallas. The only big differences that I note are that Dallas is a lot more ethnically diverse and the accent is different, but even the former comes from being a big city.

Houston to me has always felt Southern. Likewise, it's far more diverse than Louisiana, Alabama, far northern Florida, and Mississippi, but it can relate to those areas the same way Dallas can to the plains states.

In a way it's like saying Dallas is big city Omaha and Houston is big city Jacksonville.

Yeah I agree. I've said it several times on this board. There are two subregions of the Midwest. The Great Lakes and the Great Plains. These two are worlds different.