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One major thing I hate about Houston is all the wannabe rednecks that move in and around the city. That whole "culture" is annoying . I still can't comprehend why you would move near Houston if you have s problem with minorities. But on the flip side, LA is full of constant liars, bull****ters snd fake people. At least people in Houston "keep it real".
Yes, Houston keeps it "way" real. Lol. With its hip trendy yet still strip mall shopping areas, wannabe food truck culture and dont get me started on the facade type "city centers".
Can't speak too much to LA. But Houston isn't exactly genuine and "real", it has a tear down and build something shiny and new mentality. And of course the public is attracted to these areas like flies, or sheep.
Jumped on this thread a little late.
Good thing about Houston is that it does have a little bit of everything. It has the Heights/Montrose area, where you can get a sample of something that feels like a genuine neighborhood. And if you're more into just eating then going to a bar to drink, theres that in those city centers. Want a high end museum? You can do that, you want to just tailgate on a Sunday and drink beer all day? Texans tailgaters is some serious biz(their actual team is trash, an essay could be written about the Texans and the other hapless Houston pro teams, but the experience is still good). Want some high end restaurants? We've got a couple of top 100 places in the country (disproportional to the size of the city, but we got a couple). Or want a hole in the wall joint? theres those aplenty. Want to go to a lake and jet ski? Or perhaps catch a theatre play? You can do that in the same day! Just dont go to the beach, it truly does suck.
Dont give two sh*ts about any of that and just care about how big your house is and what your yearly salary is? Join the thousands of transplants every year that move here for that very reason. Many dont move to Houston for the experience like one would in NYC, LA, or Chicago. The transplants move here to make bank and brag about the $/sq. ft. that they got on their new McMansion, or they came from a much smaller/dilapidated city and simply want an upgrade on the cheap.
Is Houston a mecca of entertainment and tourism? No. Is Houston a city people consider for a fun getaway? Nope. Is Houston anything pretty to look at? Hell no. Can't tell you the amount of people(myself included) that are getting out of town for NYE, there are simply better places to have a good time. Houston is changing that, with new parks and public transportation, but its at a snails pace, compared to how the city is building and growing. I agree with RadioLibre, things need to happen faster, people are looking to Houston as a major city in the country and the world, the local government needs to step up and stop playing second fiddle to the private developers that run this city. The pro business mentality is great, but the all business mentality that has been dominant the past decade needs to change.
Last edited by OducksFTW!; 12-06-2013 at 09:44 AM..
Talking about the people hence me saying people. I could care less about strip malls and yuppy food trucks. Live in LA for a year like I did and you'll appreciate Houstonians not lying and bull****ting you about any and everthing.
Yes, Houston keeps it "way" real. Lol. With its hip trendy yet still strip mall shopping areas, wannabe food truck culture and dont get me started on the facade type "city centers".
Can't speak too much to LA. But Houston isn't exactly genuine and "real", it has a tear down and build something shiny and new mentality. And of course the public is attracted to these areas like flies, or sheep.
Oducks (by the way your uniforms are laughable) you contradict yourself in one sentence. You express disdain for our strip malls but then do the same for the development type meant to counter them (city/town centers). Houston simply doesn't have the attractive older building stock other cities have to do "authentic" (as if) trendy development. Either it has been torn down or it never existed in the first place - for example, we just never built a whole bunch of neat brick multi-story industrial factories or warehouses that can be converted to more interesting uses. We don't have multiple blocks of traditional pedestrian-oriented commercial space. It is what it is. But you're criticizing both the lack of that property type and the attempts to provide an alternative. This makes you come across as just being needlessly whiny.
Oducks (by the way your uniforms are laughable) you contradict yourself in one sentence. You express disdain for our strip malls but then do the same for the development type meant to counter them (city/town centers). Houston simply doesn't have the attractive older building stock other cities have to do "authentic" (as if) trendy development. Either it has been torn down or it never existed in the first place - for example, we just never built a whole bunch of neat brick multi-story industrial factories or warehouses that can be converted to more interesting uses. We don't have multiple blocks of traditional pedestrian-oriented commercial space. It is what it is. But you're criticizing both the lack of that property type and the attempts to provide an alternative. This makes you come across as just being needlessly whiny.
People forget that Houston really grew in the latter part of the last century, and after the Galveston Hurricane, Automobile, Oil Discovery, and Air Conditioning.
While I share some of OldDucks sentiments he is forgetting that Houston is a relatively "new" city and doesn't have the ability to promote that eclectically older vintage feel of other major cities with a more established history.
It has to tear down and build again but I do think that it could construct more alternatives to the gaudy town center development that seems to dominated the new construction. I mean most of them all have the same stores and even the same stores that are in the mall across the freeway! So in that regard I do think that Houston could afford to be a litle more diverse and think outside the box before all of our strip malls with the same six stores turn into gaudy town center multi use development centers with the same six stores and a couple more from the mall across the street. I know it's mostly the major retailers that can afford the leasing space, but attract other retailers not in Houston to set up shop here.
But I would share ODucks sentiment that Houston as a culture is super attracted to the shiny and new. I mean to an unbelievably ridiculous level and cannot for the life of it see anything rewarding in the vintage. If it's not shiny, new, modern, or has that modern western limestone look with the metal lone star handing from the side, it's not considered nice. The level of keeping up with the jonses and Dallas redux is ridiculous in the city. I am going to Houston this Xmas to visit family and I am dreading some of the people, not all, but a lot that have given in to this 50k millionaire mindset that they're ballin' out of control because they own a new truck and cheap house in the styx or a cheap loft they're renting in the inner loop.
The lack of amenities, out door activities, lack of public spaces being developed, etc just lead to the main bread and butter of Houston being about job and what you can accumulate with that job.
Oducks (by the way your uniforms are laughable) you contradict yourself in one sentence. You express disdain for our strip malls but then do the same for the development type meant to counter them (city/town centers). Houston simply doesn't have the attractive older building stock other cities have to do "authentic" (as if) trendy development. Either it has been torn down or it never existed in the first place - for example, we just never built a whole bunch of neat brick multi-story industrial factories or warehouses that can be converted to more interesting uses. We don't have multiple blocks of traditional pedestrian-oriented commercial space. It is what it is. But you're criticizing both the lack of that property type and the attempts to provide an alternative. This makes you come across as just being needlessly whiny.
Houston might not have large neighborhoods of old time residential boroughs and hamlets like cities up North, but it has some. It has far more than people know about, and would have far more if developers weren't hell bent on the tear down and rebuild model. You even admit and label refurbishing and improving upon something from an old neighborhood as "interesting" and "attractive".
I agree, there isn't the building stock like some other major cities, but what has Houston done to keep, improve, and refurbish what little they did have? I do like the Heights and Montrose(as i've mentioned before) which are prime examples of how we should preserve history throughout the city going forward. Or is the business before everything mantra too entrenched in the conscience of our local government and public to do anything?
PS: Our uniforms are sometimes ugly, but a lot of times they are stellar, at least most of the nation thinks so. And they are cutting edge, what new uniforms Oregon is using are usually a precursor to what College and even Pro uni's will eventually look like.
Houston might not have large neighborhoods of old time residential boroughs and hamlets like cities up North, but it has some. It has far more than people know about, and would have far more if developers weren't hell bent on the tear down and rebuild model. You even admit and label refurbishing and improving upon something from an old neighborhood as "interesting" and "attractive".
I agree, there isn't the building stock like some other major cities, but what has Houston done to keep, improve, and refurbish what little they did have? I do like the Heights and Montrose(as i've mentioned before) which are prime examples of how we should preserve history throughout the city going forward. Or is the business before everything mantra too entrenched in the conscience of our local government and public to do anything?
That's true. I am sort of concerned that the neighborhoods like the Heights and Montrose and all along there will just be converted to that style.
Houston might not have large neighborhoods of old time residential boroughs and hamlets like cities up North, but it has some. It has far more than people know about, and would have far more if developers weren't hell bent on the tear down and rebuild model. You even admit and label refurbishing and improving upon something from an old neighborhood as "interesting" and "attractive".
I agree, there isn't the building stock like some other major cities, but what has Houston done to keep, improve, and refurbish what little they did have? I do like the Heights and Montrose(as i've mentioned before) which are prime examples of how we should preserve history throughout the city going forward. Or is the business before everything mantra too entrenched in the conscience of our local government and public to do anything?
PS: Our uniforms are sometimes ugly, but a lot of times they are stellar, at least most of the nation thinks so. And they are cutting edge, what new uniforms Oregon is using are usually a precursor to what College and even Pro uni's will eventually look like.
I don't deny that up through the 1980s Houston tore down most anything "old" and didn't make an effort at converting it to cool stuff. That started changing in the 1990s though. But by then, even old stuff that might have made for interesting conversion was often just so deteriorated at that point, it wasn't feasible to rehab it - the process becomes more expensive as the structure ages.
And keep in mind that Houston was an early adopter of strip malls. River Oaks Shopping Center dates to the 1930s, the much-maligned strip mall at Montrose and Westheimer to the same era. We started doing the stuff you dislike earlier than most places. So that constitutes a large share of our older building stock anyway. When it comes to single family houses, we do have more of those from the pre-WWII era, and in some neighborhoods the free market has chosen to restore them. But you can't expect the overall market to embrace an old house that, for most, no longer meets modern housing needs and preferences.
Many dont move to Houston for the experience like one would in NYC, LA, or Chicago.
ROFLMAO!!!!!!
Yeah, the hundreds of thousands of people working in the slaughter houses, manufacturing sweat shops and textile sweat shops of early Chicago and NYC were there for the "experience" of working in horrible conditions and packed in conditions. People flocked to New York and Chicago for JOBS.
LA boomed because it supplied a quarter of the world's oil supply.
These cities boomed due to jobs not due to tourism or a great theater district.
As cities gain population and wealth, the "experience" gains traction. Houston already has grown up when it comes to museums, theater and the culinary arts. Things like our parks, public transportation and other amenities will eventually catch up, and we have seen great improvement over the years.
I found this link in another thread. It shows Houston tied at 12th in the country for number of oversees visitors. It also shows the number of visitors increased by 12% between 2011 and 2012. Maybe proof that Houston is an up and coming destination ?
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