Can Houston really be considered a cheap city anymore? (West: college, living in)

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Kiovo

Because you critique the middle class all day long and it's all fine and dandy but as soon as someone mentions the word poor you jump all over them calling them an elitist.

Maybe its because I do think that *gasp* a lot of poor people are victims and they're unfairly scrutinized with middle class morality. Not all the time but nine times out of ten the misconceptions are elitist in nature and scope.

[Kiovo]

And I think nine out of ten middle class families are great hardworking people that are the backbone of this country!

But I understand now, we can't talk about certain classes or races because it's bad, but other race(s) and class(es) it's fair game.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Kiovo

And I think nine out of ten middle class families are great hardworking people that are the backbone of this country!

But I understand now, we can't talk about certain classes or races because it's bad, but other race(s) and class(es) it's fair game.

And clearly another misnomer is that the middle class is this great backbone that keep the American social order together. Good lord the middle class chauvinism is great in your rants. I believe that most Americans aren't really in this catch all "middle class" per se, but are largely working class and their interests line up more with the working poor then managerial types, small business owners, professionals and others that heavily rely on the top brass and can be as reactionary as any right wing radio host.

[Kiovo]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

And clearly another misnomer is that the middle class is this great backbone that keep the American social order together. Good lord the middle class chauvinism is great in your rants. I believe that most Americans aren't really in this catch all "middle class" per se, but are largely working class and their interests line up more with the working poor then managerial types, small business owners, professionals and others that heavily rely on the top brass and can be as reactionary as any right wing radio host.

You make so many assumptions about every class except for the poor, or as you like to call them the "working class". You grew up upper middle class in Katy, I grew up poor in the city of Houston. So as much expertise as you flaunt about Katy and the people that live there, why can't I do the same about the poor living in Houston?

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Kiovo

You make so many assumptions about every class except for the poor, or as you like to call them the "working class". You grew up upper middle class in Katy, I grew up poor in the city of Houston. So as much expertise as you flaunt about Katy and the people that live there, why can't I do the same about the poor living in Houston?

The poor are the least represented, the most suppressed and the most scapegoated.

And I generally tend to talk about a subset of the middle classes that are politically active, not the the class in general. I may have my opinions about them but overall I stick to basically their political, social and economic assumptions about the poor and how they use them as scapegoats for our national problems while ignoring that that cause could be coming from the upper echelons instead.

I mean what is it that you want to generalize about the poor that hasn't come out of some ridiculous radio host like Neal Boortz? Do you make the same inane arguments like the I-Phones in the ghetto line? How poor people need to stop complaining about necessities like health care because they can afford to buy the latest I-phone?

Most of the general assumptions I make about the class I grew up in is because there is a strong political and social movement dedicated to scapegoating the poor as moochers and shiftless that caters to their frustrations.

I laugh at the upper middle class engineer or managerial type who reads Atlas Shrugged and thinks the book and the character John Galt is about him and that if his class went on strike this nation would be history. LOL. How he and his co-horts are the only ones that really worked hard while everyone else just lacked the gumption and how he would succeed even more if the government would get off his back and stop feeding the moochers.

[Kiovo]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

The poor are the least represented, the most suppressed and the most scapegoated.

And I generally tend to talk about a subset of the middle classes that are politically active, not the the class in general.

And I generally talk about a subset of the poor that don't work and think it's the government's job to take care of them, not the class in general.

Most scapegoated? If we're talking recent, I would say it's the 1%'s that have been blamed for everything.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Kiovo

And I generally talk about a subset of the poor that don't work and think it's the government's job to take care of them, not the class in general.

Most scapegoated? If we're talking recent, I would say it's the 1%'s that have been blamed for everything.

That's because the one percent, or better yet, the one percent of one percent, have the most wealth and have the highest concentration of social, economic and political power in this country. Are you this daft? C'mon!

Poor people have NO power yet they get scapegoated the most. Not just the poor but apparently to right wing millionaires teachers get "aid too much" and are in filthy union that protect their "laziness".

The subset of the poor you speak is so marginal, so minuscule that it barely registers as any real social ill. It's just a cop out for people like you to not see the real social problems this nation faces. The lazy shiftless mooching poor person on the dole that is causing a major economic drain is a MYTH.

Based on the articles a previous poster posted on another thread about this same subset of upper middle class reactionaries, my suspicions are confirmed. They themselves vocalize their elitism in plain sight and act as though they're holding the keys to America's future. That type of brazen attitude is very very common among that class of right thinking people.

That is the difference Kiovo.

[trekbiker]

Hi radiolibre99:

You don't know me because I'm a new poster here, but I am a long time lurker. I feel your posts have a recurring theme, which I will not repeat because you've already made your points quite clearly to everyone in the Houston forum.

While I do agree with some (but not all) of what you're saying, and there is indeed some truth behind your reasoning, the repeated daily posts of the same theme can get a little bit annoying to say the least. I'm not trying to start a flame war here, only to point out that, at the risk of going out on a limb by speaking for others on this forum: we do hear you loud and clear.

[IBANK]

Originally Posted by algaerithm

Houston's peers in size are Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Dallas, etc. Houston is not any cheaper than any of those places.

The only way to consider Houston cheap is to compare it to the most expensive cities in the country, like Manhattan or San Francisco.

People like to say Houston's cheap because it has cheap suburbs. Well, nearly all of its peers have cheap suburbs as well. People also like to compare Houston to LA, but LA has nearly twice as many people, so they're not as close peers as people like to claim.

Let's face it. Houston has not one but two star industries: oil and medicine. You have to make over $450k/year here to be in the top 1% of income earners. There are over 50,000 millionaires in the city. Such a city is not going to be cheap if you want to live in the established neighborhoods in the city limits.

Exactly!

[IBANK]

Originally Posted by LizzySWW

Houston isn't cheap inside Beltway 8 for families who want:

-great neighborhood schools for elem, middle & high (great schools for most people I know = less than 15% low income, over the top PTA's, nationally awarded schools)
-very safe neighborhoods (no nearby low income apartment complexes)
-attractive neighborhoods

The entry price for the above criteria is about 700k for a 50+ yr old, small, outdated home and will probably be on a "bad" street. This is why our suburbs are so popular. Most of my friends in the suburbs are in homes in the 400 - 800 range and would love to be able to afford to live in the city but are priced out given the above criteria.


Examples of homes in the lower price points with great schools/attractive homes/safe neighborhoods:

A dangerous street for kids/pets: 12815 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77024 - HAR.com

This is a mega cut thru street: 12467 Woodthorpe Ln, Houston, TX 77024 - HAR.com

Unlivable home on very busy street: 329 Bunker Hill Rd, Bunker Hill Village, TX 77024 - HAR.com

Exactly!