Forbes Declares Houston the Capital of the Third Coast (Austin: neighborhoods, high school)

[testmo]

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.
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.
.

so... how is any of that different than LA?

people in Texas praise LA a lot. i love california, but most of LA is total ****. if you are wealthly - upper middle class yeah it is awesome, but not much different than living in wealth or upper-middle class in Houston - short of scenery

being poor is terrible everywhere. only slightly more terrible than their equivalents in the NE

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by testmo

so... how is any of that different than LA?

people in Texas praise LA a lot. i love california, but most of LA is total ****. if you are wealthly - upper middle class yeah it is awesome, but not much different than living in wealth or upper-middle class in Houston - short of scenery

being poor is terrible everywhere. only slightly more terrible than their equivalents in the NE

In LA the gap is wide, probably wider than Houston but the city has not fallen into total disarray. It still functions.

The social and city services, as well as opportunities are night and day difference. Because of it LA is the one if the safest major cities in the country. Crime is surprisingly low relative to a city its size. There are a lot of working poor in LA and most survive through various city, state assistance, as well as federal programs.

Houston barely has any. If the State were to secede poor people would be S.O.L. They're pi$$ poor.

And on infrastructure? C'mon I don't even need to get into that.

Point is Houston cannot handle a major influx of people, especially people of lesser means.

Los Angeles has some of the most amazing public works projects in the country. Houston relies on private business to fuel most if its achievements including the arts which would starve with out corporate backing.

So no, Houston is not like LA in this regard. These are unique problems to Houston. A city with such a boom shouldn't likewise have that bad of crime rate or poverty numbers, relatively speaking. Its not Detroit or Philly or Camden, NJ.

This is NOT to bash Houston so I wish you boosters would understand that. Its to show where the holes in the constant praise put out by rags like Forbes who praise towns like Houston because the boom is largely fueled by private growth.

You know what other towns are doing fairly well? Boston and DC. Not as well as Houston but there are no Forbes front cover issues on it. Why? Because those cities are doing well because a mix set of policies that include government. Houston is relying largely on private growth with city government acting as an administrative arm. And that's the kind of experiment Forbes and other finance rags want to showcase.

The Houston Chronicle though wrote a few good pieces dissecting the Forbes praise by hinting that the growth is LIMITED in scope. The gains are going to those who get in on the boom while crime and poverty in the lower income areas remain high. Its uneven growth which will produce uneven geographical development.

Read the articles, I've posted then several times before on this site. They were on studies made by Rice professors if you need more of an incentive to read them.

I mean what gives? Its not wrong to point these things out if I'm just saying that Houston need not be so narrow minded when re-making itself into the best city in the country. Something I cannot wait for them to do.

[Htown2013]

Houston is such a weird city. I would hate to be lower middle class there? Why? Crime and crime alone. A lower middle class in Houston could probably have a relatively nicer and newer house than most places in the country, but you always have to watch your back - especially when putting your kids in their carseats. It is a very stressful way to live.

There are other cities in the country where you can be lower middle class (working class but NOT poor), and have an older, smaller, and more modest house, but it is still a relatively safe area where you can raise kids and people look out for each other.

Houston has so much potential to be truly great. We need to invest in education, infrastructure, and fight in crime both via law enforcement and prevention.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Spade

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.

I had another thought from my trip and its actually perfect that I'm posting in the Houston forum.

Many times, some people from Houston complain that Dallas is "too clean/sterile/polished/etc". Well, that's actually another thing about Dallas that is Midwestern. Omaha, Kansas City, Minneapolis, OKC, etc. are very much like Dallas in that regard. The Dakotas are the absolute cleanest states I've ever been to. Every small town was kept up to a perfection. Fargo actually reminded me of Waco. Fort Worth felt very, very much like Omaha and Kansas City.

The South and particularly the Gulf Coast isn't like that at all. Granted, there are some cities that are cleaner than others, its nothing like the Midwest.

In the end, I feel strongly that Dallas is a Plains city and Fort Worth is almost an ultimate Plains city. That, in my mind, makes the more Midwestern than Southern. Houston is a Gulf city and a Southern one at that.

[madrone2k]

One complaint I have is that people take a quote or 2 from an article in a well-known media outlet, and bandy it about as if it were a validation of their personal egos, directly from god, or whoever. In this case, it was a few words from Joel Kotkin, apparently has written articles in recent years that tout Houston in one way or another.

This behavior reminds me of something I saw going on amongst Dallas boosters, who leveraged a comment by Oprah Winfrey on the Dallas-vs-Houston topic to make themselves feel validated.

OK, i agree that it can be fun to see our (oft maligned) city get some praise in national media. But, despite that, I think we would be better off in the long run if we focused on being the best Houston we can, rather than just sitting around and bragging about what someone said yesterday.

[radiolibre99]

There are other cities in the country where you can be lower middle class (working class but NOT poor), and have an older, smaller, and more modest house, but it is still a relatively safe area where you can raise kids and people look out for each other.

Agreed. LA has a lot of these working class lower income neighborhoods that are mostly safe and family friendly. I know what you're talking about and when I first moved out here I was shocked and frightened by my area because I was expecting it to be dangerous by the way it looked but after living here and taking the locals word for it, its just a safe working class neighborhood.

Its just an older part of the city. In Houston if its not shiny, new or openly inviting then its "ghetto". At least to the people who grew up in the outter loop burbs.

Its funny cus even my perception of what us nice has changed. Last time I was back in Houston from LA I found a lot of apartments to look really nice that to me as a native Houstonian five years ago I would've thought were straight ghetto.

Older, working class is ghetto in Houston for a lot of folks.

[dreamz77584]

All these articles will eventually increase our cost of living...

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by dreamzdecora

All these articles will eventually increase our cost of living...

Too late...

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by DanielWayne

You must be real fun at parties

God forbid anybody be honest about Houston. Cry some more, Houston hobbit who can't handle hearing anything but "Houston is the greatest city ever"!!

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

God forbid anybody be honest about Houston. Cry some more, Houston hobbit who can't handle hearing anything but "Houston is the greatest city ever"!!

Houston can be one of the greatest cities ever if it takes an honest assessment of it's problems and quality of life issues and makes well thought out solutions to address those issues at their roots.