Why is Houston so "trashy" (for lack of a better word)

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by Cheasare

Ditto!

The poster said they were near the FBI bldg near China Town/Gallery Place area so yeah that looked fine, but a short drive north on N. Captiol past the big post office and the scene would have been very different. Same thing at Hains Point, many points along New York Ave and I could go on and on.

I live in Chevy Chase now and there are parts of EW Hwy that are not so neat to say the least.

Same with VA--Rosslyn/Ballston/Clarendon corridor is fine--but there are pockets of Alexandria and Arlington (to a lesser extent) that need some attention and care.

In general one of the posters hit the nail on the head about being a tourist and actually living in an area. When we travel we usually see the nicest parts of an area and less of the grit and grime that all cities have.

Houston's major issue is the corridors from IAH along 59 and 45 into downtown are not picturesque at all--the freeways have been upgraded but the streetscapes need some serious overhauling.

C.

I worked just about 6 blocks away from china town/gallery place off of Massachusetts and took N Capitol home to Silver Spring. Such a lovely drive...

[Kenpar]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

But that's the thing...that's the impression people (tourists) get from places. They go to see all the fun, exciting attractions and the beautiful, affluent neighborhoods somewhere, and then they move there (expecting the same experience) and realize it has just as many unappealing areas as the place they left.

Unless your family lives in some unsavory area, and you go to visit them and stay with them, you'll generally leave with a positive impression, because they obviously would want you to see the cities good points and not the bad. I definitely don't hang around in SW Philly when I'm there--even my family that lives there tend to venture out into the cities more attractive parts when I'm there.

I will admit, Houston does a poor job of directing tourist attention and structuring, particularly because you have to drive through a lot of not so nice area to get to the places/things people want to see, but I feel that many prospective residents have to know what they're getting themselves into.

Wow, this is exactly what people should think when they want to move to a new place. It's exactly right. So many people say they want to move to a place based on a very brief stay. I would move to Washington, D.C. based on the parts I saw. But, I never saw any other parts. And people told me I would be disappointed, haha.

One women that was directing us around the area told us to try not and be out at night, haha. I was shocked. It was one hell of a nice area. She told me not to be fooled. "Thing's get bad at night around here". Weird.

[citycomment]

Originally Posted by RVD26

Not another one of these threads

I cheer on AustinGuy for posting this thread. It's terrific. I have heard *terrible* things about houston here and there (I'm not even from Texas or live in Texas) but then when my best cousin, and later when my brother-in-law who both lived there went on and on about how great it was, I started to become very curious about houston and have been ever since. I enjoy reading reviews about cities and when I found this site, the second city I looked up was Houston (this one I am looking up for fun. The other city I looked up because I was thinking about taking a job there.) Anyway, after searching a few of the 215? pages of thread topics, I chose this thread first. Not because I want to hear everyone who wants to trash Houston, but because the statement is immediately controversial. You will hear opinions of people who want fervently to defend Houston from such infamy, and you'll also have people jumping on the bandwagon explaining why it is that Houston may be such a pit . You get the best and the worst. I like that. Finally, this also opens up an opportunity for people to troubleshoot. For those who love Houston, they can talk about ideas of how it can be helped; of areas for improvement. Maybe sooner or later some of the specific things people bring up can actually be put into practice. Discussion is always the beginning. Good job, Austin!!!

Moderator cut: url doesn't work

[Lildevited]

Agreed. I'm from North Carolina, where everything looks nice and is planned. I'm guessing it's just bad here because of the rapid population growth and the city just want things built fast and cheap.

[LiveUrban]

Houston felt like a breath of fresh air today (coming from San Antonio)

[SoHoVe]

Originally Posted by austinguy2009

I am talking about the way it seems to have developed, as well as the art architecture etc.

Like when I was driving south on 288 to pearland, next to some ugly box store (bass pro shop or something) there are 4 hideous white plaster heads of old presidents sticking out of a swamp. No beautiful landscaping, no signage, just four heads surrounded by wasteland. What is up with that? I don't think the "artist" was trying to make an ironic statement about the quality of our leaders. Why would ANYONE with a modicum of taste think that looks good?

Speaking of art, there is hardly any public art even in the loop. Why? Cities are supposed to have public art. It gives them uniqueness. And I don't mean some mural painted by local schoolkids - I mean legit and meaningful public art.

And what about the architecture, no character to any of the big buildings, except 700 Louisiana. And all the stores are either in strip malls or bland buldings with no character. Housing is ugly too- that new mixed used building on the east side of downtown looks like a 50 story McMansion. Seriously. Doesn't the city review projects before they're allowed to o forward? Compared to the quality of housing in Chicago Austin or Dallas it's embarassing.

Even in the loop where it is quite dense, the way the city developed is appalling. Strip malls, sprawling parkin lots huge unwalkable streets, no sense of urban "neighborhood" ANYWHERE...ugh. It's like one big bland boring suburb all crammed into one space.

And where is the big walkable bar/nightlife place? Austin Dallas etc all have these areas why don't we? It's like a few bars scattered throught the city but no big district where it's concentrated. I mean this with all respect, but Ann Arbor Michigan, pop. 100,000 has a more vibrant and walkable and packed in downtown (not just relatively - in absolute terms!!) than Houston which is like 3,000,000.

I don't mean to bash the city it's jut really frustrating, and I feel that land use ordinances (or lack thereof) must be to blame at least for part of these problems. Can't we start changing this!!! It's just too depressing. We need to take pride in this damn city and not just trash it out.

Personally, I think the lack of zoning makes Houston more interesting but I realize I am in the minority on that. Obviously as you have mentioned it does present some challanges. I have to disagree about the architecture...if the Houston skyline was all in one area (as it is in most major cities) it would be quite impressive. As far as residential architecture is concerned there is a bit of everything to be found. There are some AMAZING old homes in Houston...I wish the city would do more to protect residential areas of a historic nature. I don't care for the McMansions invading established neighborhoods. As far as I am concerned if a McMansion is one's desire those buyers should head towards the burbs.
I think the sprawl, lack of zoning, and distressed areas leave many visitors with an unfair view of Houston because unlike many major cities the average person is going to drive through some sketchy/economically compromised areas to reach their destinations. They arrive at their destinations and never bother to explore the city further. They then leave with the impression that the entire city is a hell hole, which is absolutely not the case. I will admit flying into Hobby late at night and having the rental car agent tell you to absolutely not put down your windows until you hit the freeway isn't making a good first impression. I did extensively research and explore the city prior to buying. It's unique in many ways perhaps most significantly in that it isn't trying to be anything other than what it is.