Living in Greater Houston, a huge disappointment so far (Dallas: lofts, hotel)

[ParaguaneroSwag]

3 points to address.

1. About Girls being bitchy....

This is America... but to elaborate, it basically reflects where you go and who you are. There’s soooooooo many different social groups in Houston. Some women will be more bitchy than others. This varies by age, orientation, ethnicity, religion, wealth, schools they went to, and too much more to put in a list. Depending on the social group you are around, some will be more bitchy than others. I’m fortunate to have been around plenty of social group to this day so I see what goes on in many of them.

2. About downtown being dead after 6 PM

Okay, over here, the immediate area of the official borders of Downtown aren’t super lit on week nights (although Main Street is gaining momentum). But Midtown and East Downtown Have plenty going on. It may not be as good on the week days as it is on the weekends but that’s everywhere. Downtown LA isn’t “lit” on weekdays, so that wouldn’t be a problem stemming from that move. How good of a time you have going out has so much more to do with the people you go with than the place itself. Which brings me to my next point

3. About meet up groups

If you’re in desire to meet people through whatever groups, that pretty much says you haven’t found solid friends here. Which is normal especially since you just moved here. So perhaps people in your job either are unwelcoming or aren’t fun co workers. Just being honest here.

[NoClueWho]

Sounds like you didn't do one lick of research on Houston or Texas in general before you made the move, which is entirely YOUR fault (especially in the internet age)...

[Synott]

You my good sir, need to pack your belongings and leave my city if you aren’t happy with it.

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by DavePa

two of the worst offenders here.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7527...7i13312!8i6656

The new YMCA across the street. Blends in very well.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7527...7i13312!8i6656

Same copy and paste again? You already admitted on the other thread that you have never been to Houston!

These -- two buildings get my vote for the -- "Ugliest hotel and most banal new office building". One could be a former old mental hospital. The other may as well be a parking garage. Has nothing added street-level but a grey stone-clad wall.....

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7554...7i13312!8i6656

Umm...that's the previous Exxon office before they moved to the Exxon building in 1963. Very historic!

That's like me saying that the Tribune Tower is ugly and could be mistaken for a church, because the architect had no imagination but to Gothic like a cathedral. But we do have the acclaimed second-place design built here ironically. It's called the Chase Bank building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPMorg...ding_(Houston)

It features a beautiful banking hall. This is the main location for Chase in the Greater Houston area and the regional office and support departments are above the hall.

https://goo.gl/images/rVjoZd

What a improvement over the old YMCA here.....
Here the old YMCA that was around the big banal garage. Right before its demolition.
*** Could have been such a nice oasis among the banality. Sad indeed no Preservationist fought to save it? Or they lost the fight.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7536...7i13312!8i6656

That is an ugly building, unlike the old Exxon-turned-hotel you dissed. It's telling that your sense of style is lacking.

Yes Houston does great architecture ..... One guy with a briefcase fits in with the scenery quite well below.
It's brand new too.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7559...7i13312!8i6656

The Americana building was torn down in 2017:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bus...d-10949019.php

Here's a time-lapse video of the demolition:
https://youtu.be/iRFf0WOHhLQ

You might want to have an in-person visit. The camera of Google's Steetview can distort the images slightly. The curvature of the Hilcorp Building is missing on Streetview. And it's dated because there have been a number of changes since those photographs were taken 2 years ago. The Americana is one, the finishes on Capitol Tower is another.

I was pleasantly surprised that the Capitol Tower was finally built. The street view shows only the podium because the confidence in the Houston office market was lacking due to the oil recession the year before.

Meanwhile what happened to The Spire? I saw some renderings turning it into a deep swimming hole like Centennial Beach in Naperville. It's already been 12 years and it's still a big hole in the ground. Meanwhile Harris County is trying to find another use for the Astrodome!

Despite Sunbelt cities hyper-growth. A city like Chicago still PLANNED things better. Or developers knew they needed to give more to get approval to build. Even despite its issues and State of Illinois's it is in. Chicago can manage to OUTSHINE these sunbelt low-degree of planning cities. Maybe they just are different Animals and that's OK.

Houston's downtown.... could just have done soooooo much better. At least the area around the Minutemaid is getting better. The stadium itself has great architecture too. Time will tell if much fuller successes in a revamped and energized core. can be realized to match its whole metro's growth.

Chicago is a great place to work--The Loop can't beat anywhere else, even NYC! Luckily it's the suburban office market that is suffering right now, since everybody is trying to go back to The Loop even as Chicagoland's population decreases.

Living there is another story. The climate is horrible--must be the reason that you get moody from the long winters, especially last weeks' bitter cold. The lake finally froze over for many years! Guess why the Brady Bunch was not set in Chicago, but in suburban Los Angeles?

It's also a very expensive city to maintain. The L tracks should have been replaced decades ago. Instead we are treating a rusted bridge like sliced bread. The concept of a train loop is novel and innovated but letting it rust over for charm is not! Sadly State Street has been eclipsed by Michigan Avenue for some time--that's why the Loop is empty on the weekends. The only walking in the Loop is from the Metro stations to the buses that take suburbanites to Michigan Avenue or Grant Park/Museum Campus.

I would rather have the Astros play in the Astrodome again so we can have a commuter rail station like Ogilve or Union station where Minute Maid sits.

just far too much in sterile offerings and architecture that tried to be cutting-edge for a modern city into the 21st century. But so far ..... it has failed much more then succeeded. Even the hotels I'm surprised at their exteriors.

If you wanted to talk about sterile, it's the younger Daley that created the Disneyland atmosphere that appeals to tourists at the expense of the rest of the city (especially the South Side), such as the Parisian Metro touches on State Street.

[Joey7]

I can't believe these trolls are allowed to come into the Houston forum just to talk down on the city. You don't see that in other forums of cities in tx. ����

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by Joey7

I can't believe these trolls are allowed to come into the Houston forum just to talk down on the city. You don't see that in other forums of cities in tx. ����

While the OP is a troll, its perfectly acceptable to go to a city forum and express displeasure with a city so long as the intent is to engage in a dialogue in a constructive manner. The OP in this case was not doing that.

[Joey7]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

While the OP is a troll, its perfectly acceptable to go to a city forum and express displeasure with a city so long as the intent is to engage in a dialogue in a constructive manner. The OP in this case was not doing that.

Got it

[groovamos]

Originally Posted by Joey7

Got it

Yes OP posted on 11-7 about the elections in CA as if the taxes would affect him, and the on 11-10 posted about Fort Bend county as if the politics there affect him. After two challenges from yours truly cannot identify the business districts with high rise clusters and name the skyline he finds impressive.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by DavePa

Hopefully this CHICAGO BASHING MODE IS OVER. Gets tiresome as the best defense for a Houston is to lessen Chicago vs it. At least your not bashing its core.

From a previous post you replied in my saying Houston has plenty nice HOA fees as Northern cities today too. THIS IS TRUTH. The booming Greater Heights or Shady Acres where the old ranch homes r bungalow-types get bought and leveled for many times .... GOOD OLE APARTMENT BUILDINGS. Thatvis a NO in good old fashion NO HOA FEES. That was my point in that post. They are not cheaper and the taxes still high. other taxes yes lower or none existent.

No one argued decent middle-class housing squeezed less then a Chicago currently. Just a lot of anger to baggage in defending Houston. Then keep saying you love NYC better..... Great family raising Brooklyn.
Well i like Chicago better. Like the housing better, street-grid, L food, core and don't hate NYC or Houston. But do hate the Chicago bashing brought in to boast for Houston.

But i can understand if from a African-American perspective .... Houston is a better choice if not higher-educated and the salary to go with it. I lived in Chicago in the 80s. So I know the perspective then by being White.

I guess the whole point is Chicago isn't great for African-Americans vs Houston. No one says Chicago is cheaper overall either. Chicago is evolving into whatever it will be as is Houston.

But in choices over the decades and 20th century especial in development. Street-grid to housing with zoning. That city made great choices from rebuilding its lakefront to utilizing its standard alleys for its power-grid that frees fronts of their ugliness.

I still think it is ridiculas to keep then in fronts of new housing and multi-residential complexes. If on in front ..... it better be darn cheaper to me.

To be honest, I really like Chicago. I'm not a Chicago hater it's just certain things that stick out about Chicago due to my experiences that causes me to to rave about it more than other cities. But I definitely don't want to come off bashing a city with so much history and uniqueness as Chicago. I still have family that live there and will probably continue to visit since my overall experiences happen to be good.

The Houston vs. Chicago started out as one topic and became something totally different. Just the nature of message boards.

[Jana K]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

I’m a rare native. Newsflash: Most of Houston has always been a sh*t hole. There is also a big culture of stupidity here too. But my family is here and I can afford a better lifestyle here than any other place and that’s why generations stay. Sounds materialistic, and it probably is, but it is also familiar. I have moved away twice, but came back as quickly as I could despite its issues.

First of all, this city is a sausagefest. That info is widely available and due to the predominant industries here. And... all the good women here are spoken for. There is a lot of semi decent sloppy seconds out there looking for a semi decent man with a good income, and just about every likable nerd I work with (and there are many) seems to find someone worthy by age 30. So maybe take a close look at yourself. If you’re just looking to get laid, you may need to expand your search radius, go check out the blue collar bars but remember they won’t just throw the p*ssy at you like they do in SoCal or NYC. More Conservative, remember? Isn’t that what you want?? Btw I feel for you because it sounds like your work environment here is absolute rubbish. Sounds like you got sold a bill of goods there.

Customer service here is like it is because in my experience a large %age of the working poor is involved with drug dealing. The $9/hr job is just for the record. Make too much and the IRS won’t give you that earned income credit. The remaining cash is tied up in occasional extracurricular activity so they gotta keep looking over their shoulder. People here will blast me for this comment but I am intimately familiar with this. You want better service, head to the outskirts where the kids work. There are also 600,000 illegal immigrants in the city keeping their heads down & watching over their shoulder for Donald Trump to capture & send them back home. Illegals are not coddled here like in California.

The rest of the stuff I can’t help you with. Downtown Houston (and Dallas) is dead after 6, Texas beaches suck compared to SoCal, no sh*t. What else do you want to know?

Haha. Yep. What he said.