20 Cool Things About Houston (Austin, Stafford: co-op, home, university)
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Personally I think the coolest thing about Houston might been seen as a drawback for alot of people...but it would be NO ZONING!! Where else can you have a 50 story skyscraper next to a strip joint, next to a church, next to a gay bar, next to a museum, next to a restaurant, next to a park, etc.....IMO that is what makes Houston more unique than any other city, small or large!
I dont expect people to take my words as golden. I just think that it should be put out there, it just needs to be said thats all.
And as for those people that moved here and LOVE it, well thats because they are inclined to love it; they are going to make the best of it regardless of where they live. They're just optimistic and I'm sure if they were in another city they would do something very similar. They moved here because of the jobmarket, and cheaper lifestyle etc. then they look for things that are reccomended and what the general public is doing and run with it. Those people are optimistic and they will always see things like that; regardless of the truth.
I saw the OP and was appalled at how the author could have put that list together and geared it toward an exclusive demographic and then labeled it as "cool" with the undertone that everybody could just do those things and automatically fall in love with it and subsequently fall in love with the city itself.
I sure hope they don't take your words as golden...I think many of us would be in serious trouble.
People move to different places for lots of reasons, and better job opportunities would be a top reason. What's your point?
Right, nothing is unanimously cool. (I don't agree with everything on that list and I'm fine with that.) Everyone has their own opinions. Are you done stating the obvious?
I sure hope they don't take your words as golden...I think many of us would be in serious trouble.
People move to different places for lots of reasons, and better job opportunities would be a top reason. What's your point?
Right, nothing is unanimously cool. (I don't agree with everything on that list and I'm fine with that.) Everyone has their own opinions. Are you done stating the obvious?
Take your half empty glass and drink it already!
I'm sure a large demographic would find that list very tailored to their liking. They would probably be willing or have already done about 80-90% of that entire list.
Its the make-up of this demographic that bothers me. It's very bothersome that Houston has made huge improvements almost exclusively for this group and kind of left the others to fend for themselves.
Of course Memorial Park is for everyone, so is Rice Village, and Uptown.
But...
Why have they put the Museums and Theaters in such nice places like the medical center and left UH and TSU to rot in thirdward? Why are all the bars and clubs in Midtown littered with homeless people.
I agree nothing is Unanimously cool, but a large group might think that list is and subsequently found the need to publish that piece.
Why have they put the Museums and Theaters in such nice places like the medical center and left UH and TSU to rot in thirdward? Why are all the bars and clubs in Midtown littered with homeless people.
I think this posts at face value represents a fundamental lack of understanding about Houston, or its development. Do you actually believe that the Medical Center was a nice place to start out with?
You just simply have a fundamental lack of understanding about how Houston has grown in the last 40-50 years. Go look at a picture of the Astrodome area or the medical center when it was under construction if you need a point of reference. The dome was in the middle of nowhere when it was built. It was surrounded by open pasture land as far as you could see.
The medical center was no different. So, those museums came up as the area developed. UofH and TSU are older institutions. It can't be helped that some of Houston's older neighborhoods have "gone down" in some respects. Have you ever been to some of the neighborhoods on the other side of the freeway from UofH. There are some beautiful neighborhoods there, along with some very run down ones as well. Ever vistied the beautiful 60 acre campus of Villa de Matel right off Wayside? How about the Wortham golf course right there? How about some of the nice neighborhoods that back up to the Bayou and Forest Park. Some of the houses in there are very nice homes...
So, is your solution to raze those campuses and move TSU and Uof H to Sugarland to be around a more affluent crowd and to get them out of the 3rd Ward?
As for midtown, again you have it all backwards. Those bars and clubs in mid-town are part of an attempt to revitalize that area which was already full of homeless folks long before the first clubs or bars opened up there in the last 10 years.
Downtown and mid-town had NOTHING to offer after dark for 20-30 years. There were a few iconic spots like the Last Concert Cafe that you could go to, but by and large the palce was a ghost town after dark. After 5 O'clock Downtown and mid-town became ghost towns.
I used to come through that area at night on the weekends many times, and you could look down a street at night and see from one end of downtown to the other and not see a single car or person. Downtown at night often times looked like a scene from one of the end of the world horror flicks. About the only thing you'd see were the skaters from the Urban Animals crossing downtown from time to time.
The problem is a somewhat limited POV. You act like you seem to think it was a concerted effort to place certain "things" in certain areas. ITs quite the contrary. Its the way those areas evolved or de-evolved.
Downtown and mid-town are 180º from where they were from as little as 10 yrs ago.
Now, am I a Lyle Lovett fan. Nope... Don't really care for songs about Penguins. But there is a part of the music culture who does like him. But, I can appeciate why someone would think the items listed are cool. Its not a slap in the face to any demographic. Just because you don't think its cool doesn't mean it isn't. If you have you own list, then feel free to post it up on FB just like the OP.
I think this posts at face value represents a fundamental lack of understanding about Houston, or its development. Do you actually believe that the Medical Center was a nice place to start out with?
You just simply have a fundamental lack of understanding about how Houston has grown in the last 40-50 years. Go look at a picture of the Astrodome area or the medical center when it was under construction if you need a point of reference. The dome was in the middle of nowhere when it was built. It was surrounded by open pasture land as far as you could see.
The medical center was no different. So, those museums came up as the area developed. UofH and TSU are older institutions. It can't be helped that some of Houston's older neighborhoods have "gone down" in some respects. Have you ever been to some of the neighborhoods on the other side of the freeway from UofH. There are some beautiful neighborhoods there, along with some very run down ones as well. Ever vistied the beautiful 60 acre campus of Villa de Matel right off Wayside? How about the Wortham golf course right there? How about some of the nice neighborhoods that back up to the Bayou and Forest Park. Some of the houses in there are very nice homes...
So, is your solution to raze those campuses and move TSU and Uof H to Sugarland to be around a more affluent crowd and to get them out of the 3rd Ward?
As for midtown, again you have it all backwards. Those bars and clubs in mid-town are part of an attempt to revitalize that area which was already full of homeless folks long before the first clubs or bars opened up there in the last 10 years.
Downtown and mid-town had NOTHING to offer after dark for 20-30 years. There were a few iconic spots like the Last Concert Cafe that you could go to, but by and large the palce was a ghost town after dark. After 5 O'clock Downtown and mid-town became ghost towns.
I used to come through that area at night on the weekends many times, and you could look down a street at night and see from one end of downtown to the other and not see a single car or person. Downtown at night often times looked like a scene from one of the end of the world horror flicks. About the only thing you'd see were the skaters from the Urban Animals crossing downtown from time to time.
The problem is a somewhat limited POV. You act like you seem to think it was a concerted effort to place certain "things" in certain areas. ITs quite the contrary. Its the way those areas evolved or de-evolved.
Downtown and mid-town are 180º from where they were from as little as 10 yrs ago.
Now, am I a Lyle Lovett fan. Nope... Don't really care for songs about Penguins. But there is a part of the music culture who does like him. But, I can appeciate why someone would think the items listed are cool. Its not a slap in the face to any demographic. Just because you don't think its cool doesn't mean it isn't. If you have you own list, then feel free to post it up on FB just like the OP.
I've read this whole long essay, and although I havent been in Houston for the last 30-40 years and seen it grow, I doubt that i'm alone in that.
I'm just questioning a few things that make Houston the way it is, like instead of putting bars and clubs in Midtown in order to revitalize it, why not put Museums and Theatre's instead, which make more sense because museum arent usually visited during the Night making it much safer, than a night club in the same area? I just cannot heed to the fact that Rice University is in the more affluent side of town, and was "developed" while UH and TSU while being established after Rice U. were in the "Un-devoloped" side of town.I certainly hope its not because of the make-up of the student body.
Is it because Devolopers just decided to devolop on one side of the town?
Do devolopers really have that kind of power?
I sure hope not.
I've read this whole long essay, and although I havent been in Houston for the last 30-40 years and seen it grow, I doubt that i'm alone in that.
I'm just questioning a few things that make Houston the way it is, like instead of putting bars and clubs in Midtown in order to revitalize it, why not put Museums and Theatre's instead, which make more sense because museum arent usually visited during the Night making it much safer, than a night club in the same area? I just cannot heed to the fact that Rice University is in the more affluent side of town, and was "developed" while UH and TSU while being established after Rice U. were in the "Un-devoloped" side of town.I certainly hope its not because of the make-up of the student body.
Is it because Devolopers just decided to devolop on one side of the town? Do devolopers really have that kind of power? I sure hope not.
This is where Houston gets semi-normal. Ever heard of a place called the Theater District or the Museum District? Oh wait, that's not your scene! I forgot...
I think we can all agree Houston's urban planning (or lack thereof) is a mess (and actually convenient at the same time), but apparently someone out there kept one eye open during Urban Planning lectures.
If you haven't noticed, developers in Houston wield a significant amount of power, especially when compared to other cities....
You can't tell me you are learning all this stuff for the first time! Then again...
Last edited by theSUBlime; 03-13-2009 at 03:43 PM..
Location: where nothin ever grows. no rain or rivers flow, TX
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30 cool things about Houston
1. i saw 2 street performers the other day
2. no muslim-christian warzones
3. no break-dance gang encounters (like beat-it video)
4. no crows flocking near windows
5. no italian mob wannabes
6. no puddle splashing models in rain boots
7. the office AA playah is from NOLA *snicker*
8. i have not seen thugs/gang in an official jersey shirt
9. retired old people dont look/act like millionaires with their retirement money
10. (special thanks to) the vietnamese for supplying other foods of other nationalities
11. AA chicks are actually very hot here.
12. no angry racoons under your car
13.
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker;)
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Reputation: 1794
Quote:
Originally Posted by EEstudent
I've read this whole long essay, and although I havent been in Houston for the last 30-40 years and seen it grow, I doubt that i'm alone in that.
I'm just questioning a few things that make Houston the way it is, like instead of putting bars and clubs in Midtown in order to revitalize it, why not put Museums and Theatre's instead, which make more sense because museum arent usually visited during the Night making it much safer, than a night club in the same area? I just cannot heed to the fact that Rice University is in the more affluent side of town, and was "developed" while UH and TSU while being established after Rice U. were in the "Un-devoloped" side of town.I certainly hope its not because of the make-up of the student body.
Is it because Devolopers just decided to devolop on one side of the town?
Do devolopers really have that kind of power?
I sure hope not.
Your questions don't have simple answers. JR0d attempted, but you really have to do some research of your own to get your questions answered. To understand Houston present, you have to understand Houston past, and the events and people that shaped what it is today. The city didn't just sprout up out of nowhere.
Personally I think the coolest thing about Houston might been seen as a drawback for alot of people...but it would be NO ZONING!! Where else can you have a 50 story skyscraper next to a strip joint, next to a church, next to a gay bar, next to a museum, next to a restaurant, next to a park, etc.....IMO that is what makes Houston more unique than any other city, small or large!
That is a VERY attractive feature to me as well. I hate the concept of having to drive to business districts and residential districts having NOTHING whatsoever to walk to, etc.
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