Houston vs Miami for quality of life? (Austin, Corpus Christi: neighborhood, schools)

[irwin]

Originally Posted by mpope409

How do you figure that Houston is not urban. Houston is very urban. It just goes OUT instead of UP, and old southern ruin makes it appear to be country. But it is very urban with slums and gutters all over the place. METRO is expanding, and the city is undergoing a makeover to make it more urban accessible. The only reason cities like Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia are so smushed and crammed together and feel more urban is because there's hardly anywhere else to go but up.

Just because a city has slums and gutters doesn't mean it is urban. By urban I mean a walkable city, public transport, high density, with a minimum of strip malls. Houston, although it is changing, is still a city based on the strip mall and the auto. Even in "urban" areas like Midtown you get strip malls that are catered to the car. Miami is not much better, but they are slightly ahead of Houston in this aspect of city design.

METRO may be expanding, but compared to the system you get in Moscow, it is nothing. Moscow has one of the most extensive subway systems in the world, on par with New York. In addition, it has a lot of trolleys that run along surface streets interconnecting some of the subway stops. METRO in Houston at this point essentially consists of one trolley line. They are planning for another that will be ready in like 2010. That is NOTHING compared to Moscow; not even close. Just letting the original poster know that public transport is essentially nonexistent when compared to Moscow.

[irwin]

Here is a comparison of density for the original poster:

Houston- 1,344/sq km
Miami- 4,148/sq km
Moscow- 9,684/sq km
New York- 10,316/sq km

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by irwin

Just because a city has slums and gutters doesn't mean it is urban. By urban I mean a walkable city, public transport, high density, with a minimum of strip malls. Houston, although it is changing, is still a city based on the strip mall and the auto. Even in "urban" areas like Midtown you get strip malls that are catered to the car. Miami is not much better, but they are slightly ahead of Houston in this aspect of city design.

METRO may be expanding, but compared to the system you get in Moscow, it is nothing. Moscow has one of the most extensive subway systems in the world, on par with New York. In addition, it has a lot of trolleys that run along surface streets interconnecting some of the subway stops. METRO in Houston at this point essentially consists of one trolley line. They are planning for another that will be ready in like 2010. That is NOTHING compared to Moscow; not even close. Just letting the original poster know that public transport is essentially nonexistent when compared to Moscow.

Well if that's what you meant by urban then you should have said that directly. I didn't know.

Alot of Houstonians don't like the idea of the METRO expanding, anyway. Some of us like the spread out feel. I love my car, personally.

Now, to change the subject, I assume you live here, but you don't seem to be in sync with our city's unique edge. If the closely packed and crammed cities appeal to you, why don't you just move to one of them?

[irwin]

Originally Posted by mpope409

Well if that's what you meant by urban then you should have said that directly. I didn't know.

Alot of Houstonians don't like the idea of the METRO expanding, anyway. Some of us like the spread out feel. I love my car, personally.

Now, to change the subject, I assume you live here, but you don't seem to be in sync with our city's unique edge. If the closely packed and crammed cities appeal to you, why don't you just move to one of them?

Actually I don't live in Houston, although I am from Texas and visit Houston often for business. My friend lives in Midtown Post and have stayed with him several times. I was there about a month ago.

Personally, I dislike sprawling cities like Houston. I would never live there. But that is beside the point, I was merely providing information to the original poster about Houston, as compared to Miami and (especially) Moscow. I have been to Moscow and know a little about the city; have you? That is why I was trying to provide information to the original poster. Didn't make a judgment call one way or the other, simply tried to provide info for him. I am sorry if you took it the wrong way. Why are you so defensive?

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by irwin

Actually I don't live in Houston, although I am from Texas and visit Houston often for business. My friend lives in Midtown Post and have stayed with him several times. I was there about a month ago.

Personally, I dislike sprawling cities like Houston. I would never live there. But that is beside the point, I was merely providing information to the original poster about Houston, as compared to Miami and (especially) Moscow. I have been to Moscow and know a little about the city; have you? That is why I was trying to provide information to the original poster. Didn't make a judgment call one way or the other, simply tried to provide info for him. I am sorry if you took it the wrong way. Why are you so defensive?

Not so. Only of my city, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure you're trying to sound unbias about Houston, but I can't help but sense an undertone of dislike for it. It just seems like you're advertising it negatively. As I said in the other thread, a lot of happy people live here. Several of whom are not from the south; moreover, a city like New York or Moscow fails to impress a large portion of people. Even those who have visited there. New York is very fun to me, but I would never live there. See, even as a young, single, and social person, NYC can't give me what I need.

[irwin]

Originally Posted by mpope409

Not so. Only of my city, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure you're trying to sound unbias about Houston, but I can't help but sense an undertone of dislike for it. It just seems like you're advertising it negatively. As I said in the other thread, a lot of happy people live here. Several of whom are not from the south; moreover, a city like New York or Moscow fails to impress a large portion of people. Even those who have visited there. New York is very fun to me, but I would never live there. See, even as a young, single, and social person, NYC can't give me what I need.

Fair enough. To each his own. And if you like the sprawling aspect of Houston I am not sure why you would term this as a "negative." It simply depends on your likes/dislikes. I was simply trying to point out a SIGNIFICANT difference between Moscow and Houston. I am sorry if you picked up a slight undertone of my dislike of sprawl and auto-based cities. I think there is a similar (but opposite) bias you are showing in your responses. Again, if you like sprawl and spread out cities (and there are many people who do), I am not sure why you would consider it a negative.

I attempted to simply point out the differences. Houston is a nice city. Great place for business, cheap to live, you can buy a big house for much cheaper than you can get in other cities, nice weather during the winter, people are nice, etc. But, it is different from other places. I don't see anything wrong with pointing out those differences, especially to someone thinking of moving over from Moscow!

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by irwin

Fair enough. To each his own. And if you like the sprawling aspect of Houston I am not sure why you would term this as a "negative." It simply depends on your likes/dislikes. I was simply trying to point out a SIGNIFICANT difference between Moscow and Houston. I am sorry if you picked up a slight undertone of my dislike of sprawl and auto-based cities. I think there is a similar (but opposite) bias you are showing in your responses. Again, if you like sprawl and spread out cities (and there are many people who do), I am not sure why you would consider it a negative.

I attempted to simply point out the differences. Houston is a nice city. Great place for business, cheap to live, you can buy a big house for much cheaper than you can get in other cities, nice weather during the winter, people are nice, etc. But, it is different from other places. I don't see anything wrong with pointing out those differences, especially to someone thinking of moving over from Moscow!

Well I didn't mean to sound bias. New York is fantastic. I mean, it is a great city. Houston is equally great if you're not into the totally secular lifestyle. I like having the best of both worlds. If I had no choice but to live in New York, I'm sure I would enjoy it a lot. I would just have to travel out of town frequently. And I'm sure if you had no choice but to live in Houston, you would adjust and learn to like it . C'mon lets be reasonable. Houston is behind New York, but not by much.

[mpope409]

Houston even has an Audemars Piguet, and I just found that out...lol

[irwin]

Originally Posted by mpope409

Well I didn't mean to sound bias. New York is fantastic. I mean, it is a great city. Houston is equally great if you're not into the totally secular lifestyle. I like having the best of both worlds. If I had no choice but to live in New York, I'm sure I would enjoy it a lot. I would just have to travel out of town frequently. And I'm sure if you had no choice but to live in Houston, you would adjust and learn to like it . C'mon lets be reasonable. Houston is behind New York, but not by much.

Hey, no worries. We are human and all have our biases.

Again, I think Houston has a lot going for it. Personally, I like the fact that you can buy a town home relatively close to the city for CHEAP, or at least cheap compared to what I was used to in DC, like $1.3M for a three story town home. Just out of curiosity I looked up some town homes in the Montrose area, Victorian style, like $400. That's awesome!

Again, personally, I love New York but I don't know if I could live there at this point. I love cities, but New York is just a little much for me at this point. What I really like are small, unique neighborhoods within cities. That is why I really love Washington and Boston (which is where I am going to be moving in about a month). Moving to the North End, which is a great little neighborhood in Boston, if you have ever been there. Old North Church right up the street, very Italian...can't wait to eat cannolis, chicken parm, and red wine. So bad for you, but so good!

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by irwin

Hey, no worries. We are human and all have our biases.

Again, I think Houston has a lot going for it. Personally, I like the fact that you can buy a town home relatively close to the city for CHEAP, or at least cheap compared to what I was used to in DC, like $1.3M for a three story town home. Just out of curiosity I looked up some town homes in the Montrose area, Victorian style, like $400. That's awesome!

Again, personally, I love New York but I don't know if I could live there at this point. I love cities, but New York is just a little much for me at this point. What I really like are small, unique neighborhoods within cities. That is why I really love Washington and Boston (which is where I am going to be moving in about a month). Moving to the North End, which is a great little neighborhood in Boston, if you have ever been there. Old North Church right up the street, very Italian...can't wait to eat cannolis, chicken parm, and red wine. So bad for you, but so good!

I wouldn't doubt it. What's sad is that a lot of decent places like Boston don't get much light only because it's not that big. I will keep that in mind if I ever get the chance to visit the northeast again. That's what's great about this country. Every city has something you can't find anywhere else.