Houston (and San Francisco) To Become America's Next Dominant Cities (Howe: buy, quality of life)

[Scientific]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Wouldn't you guys say that Houston is actually in a better spot than SF, since SF is really just a one trick pony; tech?

Houston has manufacturing, oil, gas, energy, medical, restaurants, service, ports/shipping, construction etc. It's actually in a better spot since a lot of the markets is global too, it's not just selling to the US. It's economy is so diversified I couldn't see it slowing down anytime soon. Now the biggest is energy which could be a big hit for Houston if there's any downturn but do you guys see that coming up at all? I could see a tech bubble burst before I'd see Houston hit with an energy crisis.

1/3 of this state's wealth is coming from O&G, Houston seeing the largest chunk and reaping the biggest benefits. SF being a one trick pony or not, and you forgot their tourism, it's reliance on tech is on par with Houston's imo. We're not just O&G, but it is the mammoth that feeds the other industries. Hospitals and clinics are being built left and right, as a the result of this oil boom population growth. Better jobs, mean a better insured population.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Then Houston and Texas in general will see continuous growth for a long time. The state just has to make the necessary investments in infrastructure and I see it taking over Chicago and easily becoming the US's third most important city.

Agreed. More money should be allocated to infrastructure both in the state and in Houston.

Even though I have a few issues with how rail is being implemented in our city, I feel that it's an investment that must be made. As our density increase, it will be needed more but also more expensive and harder to implement.

[Q Tip Assassin]

So I'm a transplant, fresh off the boat from Chicago. I've been lurking a little here lately in order to help get the lay of land. Anyways, I thought I'd throw in my 0.02 on some things Houston.

Beauty? In Houston?... Definitely. I just came from the "beautiful" city of Chicago, all zoned with it's businesses and citizens neatly divided by class, race, and by intersection. The beauty of Houston, to me anyways, is the lack of zoning, the skyways rising 10 stories, the haze, the shear chaotic madness of it all. Looking third world? Maybe, and it's fricken awesome, just like MX city.

It's also a beautiful thing to me to be able to tell an a55hole boss to get bent because there's plenty of work. How long that remains to be the case is up for debate, but it's a luxury most people in Chicago or other "beautiful" cities don't have.

We even have an openly gay major. How's that for beauty SF?

[radiolibre99]

Wow I miss those days living in Houston when I could just quit my job if I felt it was going nowhere and find another one within a week or two. And that was me being slow about it.

Now here in LA, another "world class" city, I'm dead afraid of listing my job and knowing how awful the hunt would be here if I were to leave.

I can't even fathom a job market being that good anymore. Is it really that sweet?

[DanielWayne]

Originally Posted by Q Tip Assassin

So I'm a transplant, fresh off the boat from Chicago. I've been lurking a little here lately in order to help get the lay of land. Anyways, I thought I'd throw in my 0.02 on some things Houston.

Beauty? In Houston?... Definitely. I just came from the "beautiful" city of Chicago, all zoned with it's businesses and citizens neatly divided by class, race, and by intersection. The beauty of Houston, to me anyways, is the lack of zoning, the skyways rising 10 stories, the haze, the shear chaotic madness of it all. Looking third world? Maybe, and it's fricken awesome, just like MX city.

It's also a beautiful thing to me to be able to tell an a55hole boss to get bent because there's plenty of work. How long that remains to be the case is up for debate, but it's a luxury most people in Chicago or other "beautiful" cities don't have.

We even have an openly gay major. How's that for beauty SF?

HAHA Yep I remember thinking that exact same not too long ago when I was getting beat up on a daily basis at a new job. I had that exact discussion privately at home, telling my better half to be prepared because I was getting tired of being raked over the coals day after frikin day.

Welcome to Tx, by the way!

[LONE STAR STATE]

Originally Posted by Q Tip Assassin

So I'm a transplant, fresh off the boat from Chicago. I've been lurking a little here lately in order to help get the lay of land. Anyways, I thought I'd throw in my 0.02 on some things Houston.

Beauty? In Houston?... Definitely. I just came from the "beautiful" city of Chicago, all zoned with it's businesses and citizens neatly divided by class, race, and by intersection. The beauty of Houston, to me anyways, is the lack of zoning, the skyways rising 10 stories, the haze, the shear chaotic madness of it all. Looking third world? Maybe, and it's fricken awesome, just like MX city.

It's also a beautiful thing to me to be able to tell an a55hole boss to get bent because there's plenty of work. How long that remains to be the case is up for debate, but it's a luxury most people in Chicago or other "beautiful" cities don't have.

We even have an openly gay major. How's that for beauty SF?

True! Houston isn't like any other city in the usa that's what's awesome about it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

[philopower]

Originally Posted by groovamos

See the above thesis is basically weak for one reason, the post left out the school systems. LAUSD is now one of the worst big city school systems ever. What happened? I attended public schools in Nashville in the 50's-60's and have fond memories of good schools, now Nashville has the most astounding private school portfolio that puts Texas cities to shame in that sector, but for one reason -- the middle class has largely abandoned Nashville public schools.

I'll tell you what happened. Our political culture happened, like in topsy turvy - so there goes the thesis on melding the two sides of the political debate and come up smelling like purple roses. Our political culture is such that we can't even discuss what happened to the big city school system, the best back in the '60's in L.A. -- or the administrators would delete our posts and maybe close the thread. Would you in a million years guess which ideology is in control of almost all the schools and colleges in the U.S. , and by default, most blogs such as this one?

I was surprised that the Houston Press came out with an honest discussion on the problem here. Quote: A female classmate of Tony's says she can't get through the stories she reads in school unless someone explains them to her. She's passed all her state tests, too. How? She says she uses classroom-taught "strategies" on her English reading test and that if she underlines and highlights enough and narrows down her options, she has a better chance of guessing right by playing the odds. She failed her math state test because of the word problems, so she employed her English strategies there on the retry attempt and passed.

"You could tell me to read a book all day; I could read a book all day; I probably don't get it."

"Guessing right". Wow. That's how you read a book huh? See, underlines in a book don't increase intelligence -- or maybe it's me that's guessing. Intelligence increases when motivational outlook and genuine, hungry curiosity about the world and culture are passed on by the family and culture. And sometimes by an exceptional teacher or school but rarely. We are in deep doo doo. We as a nation have decided that our nation's founding and its cultural underpinnings are unfair to other cultures and so we are seeing the results. We are seeing important innovative startups (Google is an example) here founded by Asian teams of entrepreneurs, because Asians have not forsaken their cultures as we have. California and Texas at least can benefit from that but it makes me sad that American born and bred talent doesn't always cut it anymore, so people like Mark Zuckerburg (facebook) are pushing for tech worker immigration. I used to resent him for this but I have read up on it lately and see now the problem from his perspective.

I'm going to throw out one more -- anyone think high school kids are not seriously distracted by the hook-up culture? You know, the culture encouraged on college campuses, endorsed by faculty and student groups and the dominant social paradigm running the media? Yeah we're in it deep.

H-Press Link:

Why Is It So Many HISD Kids Can't Read on Grade Level (& It's More Than You Think) | Houston Press

and here: Amid All the Good Things Going On in HISD, Why Is It So Many of Our Kids Still Can't Read? | Houston Press

and here: HISD Stalls in Reading on Nation's Report Card, Sees Math Gains | Houston Press

It's not the district itself that is bad, it's the demographics of the district that cause it to perform so poorly. It's the parents who just don't push education on their children. Mainly Latinos and African Americans just don't prioritize education in their households unlike Asians who push their children to their absolute peak. This is coming from a Latino who went to one of the worst high schools in the district and ended up at UT, I have some insight into this issue.

[cBach]

Oil which is the basis of Houston's economy will eventually run out. Ideas which are the basis of SF's tech economy will not. SF wins.

[philopower]

Originally Posted by cBach

Oil which is the basis of Houston's economy will eventually run out. Ideas which are the basis of SF's tech economy will not. SF wins.

Please, the same oil companies with billions in the bank are not just going to lay down and die. When oil runs out (which is noy anytime soon), they will find the next best energy source and capitalize on it.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by cBach

Oil which is the basis of Houston's economy will eventually run out. Ideas which are the basis of SF's tech economy will not. SF wins.

Development of natural resources will always be the foundation of human existence and the people who exploit those resources best will always be the boss! Houston wins, and Austin will have to find a new big brother to run errands for!