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Old 10-21-2015, 01:59 PM
 
Location: Beautiful Northwest Houston
6,263 posts, read 7,418,889 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cBach View Post
After the hurricane of 1900, Houston leaders did all they could to make sure Galveston would not regain its previous status as most important city in Texas. They succeeded, but they had to perpetuate a myth that Galveston is horrible and that all growth should happen west and north in Houston.

Talk to some BOI (Born on the Island) Galveston natives and they'll explain.
My father was a BOI Native Galvestonian and although I'm sure back in the first couple of decades of the 20th century that was probably a accurate assessment. However in the present day the animosity between Houston and Galveston is "Gone with the Wind" so to speak. These days it is the political and commercial interest of the inland metros of Texas most namely DFW and Austin that are perpetuating the "myth" (and I do agree it is a myth) that Galveston is somehow a liability in some way and not worth considering as a amenity of living in the Houston/Galveston area. Whatever disparaging you hear out of Houstonians are individuals that may fear development in the Galveston area may subtract from their capital opportunities, or they identify with cultural centers outside of the area, but this is a very small portion of the Houston populace.

Galveston is a huge part of living in the Greater Houston area and any Houston booster needs to understand this. We are binary (Houston/Galveston) and good for each other....

Last edited by Jack Lance; 10-21-2015 at 03:02 PM..
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Old 10-21-2015, 02:22 PM
 
34,620 posts, read 21,452,651 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Lance View Post
We are binary (Houston/Galveston) and good each other....
Absolutely.
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Old 10-21-2015, 08:05 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
12,059 posts, read 13,790,915 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PedroMartinez View Post
Absolutely.
Houston could market Galveston's tourism and both would benefit.

Imagine if instead of Galveston's Mardi Gras it was Houston/Galveston Mardi Gras.
Imagine if instead of "Galveston is 4th largest cruise line passenger port"
it was "Houston/Galveston is 4th largest cruise line passenger port"

If both areas combined, both would benefit.

People talk about the "beaches in Los Angeles". Except for Venice Beach and San Pedro Beach most of the time visitors are at Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, etc...

LA area has the Santa Monica pier, Houston area has the Kemah Boardwalk and the Pleasure Island Pier in Galveston.

Schlitterbahn Galveston needs to expand though, it's quite small.

There are better selections of hotels on Galveston now though.
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Old 10-21-2015, 10:11 PM
 
Location: Katy,Texas
6,441 posts, read 4,009,654 times
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Galveston is roughly 46 square miles, I can imagine a dense urban area of 500,000 people on the island, and I imagine all of Galveston County becoming the Suburbs of both Houston and Galveston and getting to about 1 million people, with Santa Fe, La Marque and Texas city using their structure of grids to their advantage and having suburbia around a dense grid int he center of the city. I also imagine expansion of I-45 and multiple bridges connecting the 5 or so large islands that make up the Galveston Area, also a Gigantic seawall that itself like the Great Wall of China is a tourist destination and not just a place to protect Galveston, I also Imagine Liberty County with 400,000, Chambers County with 300,000, Harris with 6.5 million, Brazoria with 600,000, Fort Bend with 1.5 million and Montgomery with 900,000 , Also Waller now Joins the Metro area with 300,000 Growth from Katy. This is my fantasy for a Houston with 11.1 million people and albeit more spread oout it will have high speed rail, connecting the important nodes and most of the suburbs would be like Sugar Land/ Baytown and The Woodlands and would have a clearly outlined center and control a larger area instead of forming new communities, kind of like Dallas except Houston is still the dominating city. Their would be tram that connected the entire inner loop, 99 would be finished, and Galveston would have a Loop starting in Brazoria then going through liberty and chambers and part of Harris county and back tp Galveston county as their would be the Galveston side of the metro and the Houston side kind of like with Fort Lauderdale and Miami, which would consist of the Coastal and Inland Metro.
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Old 10-21-2015, 10:54 PM
 
Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
2,535 posts, read 3,257,715 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Lance View Post
My father was a BOI Native Galvestonian and although I'm sure back in the first couple of decades of the 20th century that was probably a accurate assessment. However in the present day the animosity between Houston and Galveston is "Gone with the Wind" so to speak. These days it is the political and commercial interest of the inland metros of Texas most namely DFW and Austin that are perpetuating the "myth" (and I do agree it is a myth) that Galveston is somehow a liability in some way and not worth considering as a amenity of living in the Houston/Galveston area. Whatever disparaging you hear out of Houstonians are individuals that may fear development in the Galveston area may subtract from their capital opportunities, or they identify with cultural centers outside of the area, but this is a very small portion of the Houston populace.

Galveston is a huge part of living in the Greater Houston area and any Houston booster needs to understand this. We are binary (Houston/Galveston) and good for each other....
A closer ... like across the Bay/Straight from each other world.... Where a Houston/Galveston TRUE UNION would have been..... soooo much better. More like a Miami/Miami Beach. But .... 'twas not to be. But at least NOW HOUSTON WANTS GALVESTON TO CLAIM, EMBRACE AND ACCEPT AS A ASSET in its Metropolitan reach..... Back in a day.... it Turned its back on the coast and Galveston....

It surely wants today.....to be seen as a Sub-Tropical Coastal City. With Galveston.... it can. Well sort of.
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Old 10-22-2015, 12:13 AM
 
Location: Beautiful Northwest Houston
6,263 posts, read 7,418,889 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steeps View Post
A closer ... like across the Bay/Straight from each other world.... Where a Houston/Galveston TRUE UNION would have been..... soooo much better. More like a Miami/Miami Beach. But .... 'twas not to be. But at least NOW HOUSTON WANTS GALVESTON TO CLAIM, EMBRACE AND ACCEPT AS A ASSET in its Metropolitan reach..... Back in a day.... it Turned its back on the coast and Galveston....

It surely wants today.....to be seen as a Sub-Tropical Coastal City. With Galveston.... it can. Well sort of.
What's this crap about Houston turning its back on the coast. Its just the way it worked out.

There is a reason there is limited amount of development on the Gulf coast and southern eastern seaboard with the exception of Houston and the Florida cities, and it has nothing to do with somehow turning our backs on Galveston.

Houston and Galveston have a great symbiotic relationship these days. Galveston provides Houston with a great recreational getaway and Houston provides Galveston with customers. Galvestonians like George Mitchell and Tillman Fertitta have contributed a great deal to the development of the entire Greater Houston area. So cut this crap like its still a hundred years ago and the two cities are still competing to be top dog in the state. That game is over and has been for a very long time before any of us were born.
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Old 10-22-2015, 09:06 AM
 
Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
2,535 posts, read 3,257,715 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Lance View Post
What's this crap about Houston turning its back on the coast. Its just the way it worked out.

There is a reason there is limited amount of development on the Gulf coast and southern eastern seaboard with the exception of Houston and the Florida cities, and it has nothing to do with somehow turning our backs on Galveston.

Houston and Galveston have a great symbiotic relationship these days. Galveston provides Houston with a great recreational getaway and Houston provides Galveston with customers. Galvestonians like George Mitchell and Tillman Fertitta have contributed a great deal to the development of the entire Greater Houston area. So cut this crap like its still a hundred years ago and the two cities are still competing to be top dog in the state. That game is over and has been for a very long time before any of us were born.
I never said Houston and Galveston had some Rivalry? But perhaps you just noted it once did? I merely understand history of how the Great Hurricane disaster that destroyed Galveston. Scared investment in that city and Coast. Therefore investment went more inland to Houston.

But IF the Hurricane was NOT the disaster it was. This Houston/Galveston metro would have been a coastal city more like a Greater Miami/Miami Beach..... That would have been interesting to have seen.

But after the disaster. Galveston did still rebuild but did not become more then the Resort it is. More investment went inland to Houston. Merely the metro has grown toward Galveston now too.

You seem to have admitted earlier in Houston's growth it DID turn its back on the Coast for a reason... yes the Great Hurricane. But I NEVER said Houston turned on Galveston or were rivals.....

Now Houstonians seem to want to be seen as a coastal city or not? There is merely are reasoning's for both.

I merely can note.... why history says. How the two cities grew separately but today see they are together in general as a much larger one entity of the Greater Houston/Galveston Metropolitan Area.

Houvestonland ..... I jest
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Old 10-22-2015, 09:44 AM
 
Location: Beautiful Northwest Houston
6,263 posts, read 7,418,889 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steeps View Post
I never said Houston and Galveston had some Rivalry? But perhaps you just noted it once did? I merely understand history of how the Great Hurricane disaster that destroyed Galveston. Scared investment in that city and Coast. Therefore investment went more inland to Houston.

But IF the Hurricane was NOT the disaster it was. This Houston/Galveston metro would have been a coastal city more like a Greater Miami/Miami Beach..... That would have been interesting to have seen.
NO ! Houston had already established itself as a commercial center in its present location well before that hurricane of 1900. Even if the seawall had been built in time for the 1900 storm or had that storm not been as severe Houston was still on a pace to bypass Galveston. In 1900 Houston's population had already grown larger than Galveston's. The reason there wasn't any commercial development on the Mainland side of Galveston is that that land is a low lying swamp that is better suited for beach houses and wildlife preserves. Not because Houston strategically thwarted attempts to build closer to the coast.

Quote:
Originally Posted by steeps View Post
But after the disaster. Galveston did still rebuild but did not become more then the Resort it is. More investment went inland to Houston. Merely the metro has grown toward Galveston now too.

You seem to have admitted earlier in Houston's growth it DID turn its back on the Coast for a reason... yes the Great Hurricane. But I NEVER said Houston turned on Galveston or were rivals.....

Now Houstonians seem to want to be seen as a coastal city or not? There is merely are reasoning's for both.

I merely can note.... why history says. How the two cities grew separately but today see they are together in general as a much larger one entity of the Greater Houston/Galveston Metropolitan Area.

Houvestonland ..... I jest
Its not that Houston wants to be seen as a Gulf coastal city, Houston is a Gulf coastal city and yes its ties to Galveston cement that designation even more firmly.
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Old 10-22-2015, 11:33 AM
 
Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
2,535 posts, read 3,257,715 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Lance View Post
NO ! Houston had already established itself as a commercial center in its present location well before that hurricane of 1900. Even if the seawall had been built in time for the 1900 storm or had that storm not been as severe Houston was still on a pace to bypass Galveston. In 1900 Houston's population had already grown larger than Galveston's. The reason there wasn't any commercial development on the Mainland side of Galveston is that that land is a low lying swamp that is better suited for beach houses and wildlife preserves. Not because Houston strategically thwarted attempts to build closer to the coast.

Its not that Houston wants to be seen as a Gulf coastal city, Houston is a Gulf coastal city and yes its ties to Galveston cement that designation even more firmly.
My Opinion was Houston is a City today by.... not on the Gulf Coast. It GREW to have a Metropolitan reach to the Coast and have Galveston in that Metropolitan reach today. The Inlet and DREDGED Shipping Channel did have clear access to the Coast and Gulf.

Philadelphia is on the Delaware River that below Philly and Metro reach quickly it enters the Chesapeake Bay and then Atlantic. Philly has Main Shipping Ports. But is Not a Coastal city. Downtown Philly is a Hour or bit more to even the New Jersey Shore at 62-miles. Philly's Metro reach also goes to Atlantic City . MY OPINION and some facts.

Downtown Houston is 50+miles to the Gulf and hour drive.

The following is NOT my Opinion. But I accept it as facts and I never said Houston was NOT a city or with growth before the 1900 hurricane. But like I read in History after the storm. I MADE NOTHING UP....

Attention and growth moved far more to Houston AFTER Galveston's destruction and Oil discovered asseverated it. These are just 2 publications noting it. Others Publications I first read details I do not remember where and census populations.

Houston population 1900.
http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEV...PN3.3Q3i6.lyd4- census said 44,633

Galveston population 1900.
Historic Texas County Population census said 44,116

Quoted from Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Houston

On September 8–9, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 savagely tore apart the city. After the incident, investors were afraid of its location, and invested in Houston instead. The oil discovery a Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas in 1901 prompted a new industry to be developed in Texas.

In 1900, after Galveston was struck by a devastating Hurricane efforts to make Houston into a viable deep-water port were accelerated.

Despite attempts to draw new investment to the city of Galveston after the hurricane, Galveston never fully returned to its previous levels of national importance or prosperity. Development was also hindered by the construction of the Houston Ship Channel , which brought the Port of Houston into direct competition with the natural harbor of the Port of Galveston for sea traffic.

Though the storm stalled economic development and the city of Houston developed as the region's principal metropolis, Galveston economic leaders recognized the need to diversify from the traditional port-related industries. Then Oil was discovered.

Quoted from Economist's View: The Galveston Hurricane of 1900

Prior to the Hurricane of 1900, Galveston was considered to be a beautiful and prestigious city and was known as "the New York of the South." Only the nation's wealthiest were allowed to live there. Many people say that had it not been for the hurricane, Galveston would today be one of the nation's largest and most beautiful cities. However, development shifted north to Houston, which was enjoying the benefits of the oil boom. The dredging of the Houston Ship Channel in 1909 and 1914 ended Galveston's hopes of returning to its former state as a major industrial center.
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Old 10-22-2015, 11:55 AM
 
Location: Beautiful Northwest Houston
6,263 posts, read 7,418,889 times
Reputation: 5041
Quote:
Originally Posted by steeps View Post
My Opinion was Houston is a City today by.... not on the Gulf Coast. It GREW to have a Metropolitan reach to the Coast and have Galveston in that Metropolitan reach today. The Inlet and DREDGED Shipping Channel did have clear access to the Coast and Gulf.

Philadelphia is on the Delaware River that below Philly and Metro reach quickly it enters the Chesapeake Bay and then Atlantic. Philly has Main Shipping Ports. But is Not a Coastal city. Downtown Philly is a Hour or bit more to even the New Jersey Shore at 62-miles. Philly's Metro reach also goes to Atlantic City . MY OPINION and some facts.

Downtown Houston is 50+miles to the Gulf and hour drive.

The following is NOT my Opinion. But I accept it as facts and I never said Houston was NOT a city or with growth before the 1900 hurricane. But like I read in History after the storm. I MADE NOTHING UP....

Attention and growth moved far more to Houston AFTER Galveston's destruction and Oil discovered asseverated it. These are just 2 publications noting it. Others Publications I first read details I do not remember where and census populations.

Houston population 1900.
http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEV...PN3.3Q3i6.lyd4- census said 44,633

Galveston population 1900.
Historic Texas County Population census said 44,116

Quoted from Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Houston

On September 8–9, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 savagely tore apart the city. After the incident, investors were afraid of its location, and invested in Houston instead. The oil discovery a Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas in 1901 prompted a new industry to be developed in Texas.

In 1900, after Galveston was struck by a devastating Hurricane efforts to make Houston into a viable deep-water port were accelerated.

Despite attempts to draw new investment to the city of Galveston after the hurricane, Galveston never fully returned to its previous levels of national importance or prosperity. Development was also hindered by the construction of the Houston Ship Channel , which brought the Port of Houston into direct competition with the natural harbor of the Port of Galveston for sea traffic.

Though the storm stalled economic development and the city of Houston developed as the region's principal metropolis, Galveston economic leaders recognized the need to diversify from the traditional port-related industries. Then Oil was discovered.

Quoted from Economist's View: The Galveston Hurricane of 1900

Prior to the Hurricane of 1900, Galveston was considered to be a beautiful and prestigious city and was known as "the New York of the South." Only the nation's wealthiest were allowed to live there. Many people say that had it not been for the hurricane, Galveston would today be one of the nation's largest and most beautiful cities. However, development shifted north to Houston, which was enjoying the benefits of the oil boom. The dredging of the Houston Ship Channel in 1909 and 1914 ended Galveston's hopes of returning to its former state as a major industrial center.
It's fine and dandy to reminisce about what might have been. I personally believe that Galveston had, has, other limitations that kept it from being the predominant mega city that Houston became other than one hurricane. The island itself is incapable of sustaining a great amount of growth. I think if things had gone just perfectly for Galveston it still would have peeked out at 200k population tops. Houston just has too many advantages that would support unrestricted growth
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