10 Reasons Why Houston is an Up-and-Coming Destination (Center, Santa Monica: house, taxi)

[radiolibre99]

Of course we are homies. I was just saying that the public parks could be better developed.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Yes, like I said "quality of life" has to be "earned" in Houston.

But I agree with a previous poster, Houston's public infrastructure is 3rd worldish by comparison to other major cities. People complain about LA but even though some of the public buildings may be old they're still worlds apart in structure and code, and style. Public works buildings like libraries for one look really good. The social and city services, while bloated and there's red tape are abundant and amazing. Everyone complains but no one will vote to get rid of anything here. They know its better than having nothing.

For the Houston boosters, they still haven't figured out that most of the Texas praising is also a big PR campaign by conservative interests to wage this ideological battle on the best policy to run the country. CA is the scapegoat while Texas is the model.

Houston has a lot of excellent elements about it, the stats aren't lies but there is another side to the story that these financial rags don't explain to ppl. The other half dealing with the **** poor services, lack of health insurance, poor infrastructure, low wage job growth, poverty up, etc.

The boosters seem to dismiss this aspect because the only thing that matters is what's benefitting the middle and upper middle; the high skilled labor and professionals. Everyone else is just lacking gumption according to them.

That doesn't jive with most Houstonians I believe, most people think infrastructure is just roads and bridges. Just take a trip to the Houston Municipal Court to see how **** poor that facility is. It's not as bad as other cities but abysmal for a city like Houston.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

That doesn't jive with most Houstonians I believe, most people think infrastructure is just roads and bridges. Just take a trip to the Houston Municipal Court to see how **** poor that facility is. It's not as bad as other cities but abysmal for a city like Houston.

That's exactly my point. When I say infrastructure I mean the whole city: public buildings, roads, freeways, etc. When I bring this up to people in Houston they name one or two lame cities to compare as if that helps. They know I mean that for a city its size and for all the wealth in Houston, how could a bourgeoning city have such crappy infrastructure and poor city services?

Don't get me wrong. I'm aaa Houston booster too. I love Houston, its people and the vibe, but I'm not naive to think that its selling short its boom by not publicly investing in things that most major cities have. The city has problems and its a result of the uneven economic development the city has accumulated. A city cannot rely private growth and super pro business policies for too long.

I'm sure the politicos in city hall know this and understand it well. Eventually they will let up.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by HouTXmetro

Radiolibre is on fire today!!!! I love your post in this thread.

Yes he/she is. I don't find much to disagree with at all.

[radiolibre99]

Thank you again guys. But where are the super boosters? I figured someone would've chimed in with some counter argument.

[Johnhw2]

I lived in Houston for decades before moving to Plano when I retired. I did not find Houston perfect nor any other place. If Houston had perfect weather and significantly better infrastructure everyone would want to live there, which would really screw the place up! I like the great job and big city opportunities in Houston combined with the down home friendly people without an attitude that is Houston today. I like Houston as it is....albeit it growing and surging forward with its own quirky ways.

[radiolibre99]

No doubt. What makes Houston amazing isn't just the economic boom. It's the professionalism, the big city opportunities, WITHOUT the big city pretentiousness. It's still a humble city for the most part and very friendly and open.

Now of course if Houston's infrastructure and city services were increased more ppl would flood into Houston, but the alternative is worse. People will still flood in because of the diverse economy and strong job market. The problem is that a lot of the jobs are low wage service sector, the COL may be low but that just increases suburban poverty.

The best route is to increase opportunities to bridge this gap between these two classes by giving people a chance to go to trade school and get in on the higher skilled labor market. Increase social services, more money on education and for Pete's sake better infrastructure and transit.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

No doubt. What makes Houston amazing isn't just the economic boom. It's the professionalism, the big city opportunities, WITHOUT the big city pretentiousness. It's still a humble city for the most part and very friendly and open.

Now of course if Houston's infrastructure and city services were increased more ppl would flood into Houston, but the alternative is worse. People will still flood in because of the diverse economy and strong job market. The problem is that a lot of the jobs are low wage service sector, the COL may be low but that just increases suburban poverty.

The best route is to increase opportunities to bridge this gap between these two classes by giving people a chance to go to trade school and get in on the higher skilled labor market. Increase social services, more money on education and for Pete's sake better infrastructure and transit.

Aren't the local school districts and Colleges and Universities supposed to do that ? Are you saying the City of Houston should subsidize people to attend those schools ? If the job opportunities are here then why wouldn't somebody else pay to train people for those jobs?

I agree that better infrastructure and transit should be city, county regional & state priorities

[Kiovo]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Many people in Houston, especially the upper middle that benefit the most from the good economy, don't feel as though Houston needs "quality of life". They think that you make your own quality of life with your job, choice of neighborhood and lifestyle. They think its ridiculous that the city should spend money to give you quality. It's too much money and would scare business away according to them.

So once again, it's the government's job to give us our quality of life? Why all this dependency on the government?

I'm all for making the city better and I love Houston. It has always been a realistic destination for people wanting to make it, the problem lays in the native Houstonians who take this city and it's opportunities for granted.

There's been a lot of ideas on this thread but no actual suggestions on how it can be done. This probably isn't popular, but I actually like how NYC has a city tax and even if you don't live in the city and just work there, you still have to pay it. A lot of people work in Houston but don't live in the city of Houston, myself included.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Kiovo

So once again, it's the government's job to give us our quality of life? Why all this dependency on the government?

I guess you built your own streets and park in your neighborhood
Same people that use your argument are also 100% in favor of zoning laws (the opposite of what they claim to support)