Why all of the disgusting looking traffic signals here? (Houston: vacation home, university)

[CDeb]

Maybe overtaxing businesses so the signals and other infrastructure can look really pretty is the reason why the job market in CA sucks.

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by Blawp

I'm from California and there they don't use span-wire traffic signals. In Houston they're everywhere and aesthetically third-world. Lots of above-ground power lines too. Makes many parts of the city look quite cheap.

Why would they have such weak infrastructure here in a hurricane zone?

Luckily they have some decent looking public works around the medical center and downtown, but most areas of the city are pretty unwelcoming.

I wish I didn't live here, but unfortunately, due to the job market I suppose I'm stuck here until a company situated in a better part of the country, or even state, starts needing someone like me.

Now, why would you come on here and say nasty things? I mean, I love California, but I can name two dozen things off the bat that I hate about it (let's start with smog, which makes ours look light; 24/7 traffic jams on the 405; millions more cars than the area will actually HOLD, the ugliness that is the area around downtown LA (or much of the "Inland Empire", which looks suspiciously like Texas....). I can go on and on.).

The thing is, every place has charm if you look, and every place has some things that need improvement. Personally, I LIKE Houston's chaotic look. If an area is too "pristine" (like Las Colinas in Dallas), over-planned, over-executed, then it's sterile and void of life (I used to live and work in Las Colinas, hated it, couldn't wait to move back to the "real world".).

But hey, a friend of mine's father was giving the two of us advice one time (he had taken us out to lunch on the occasion of our 16th birthdays, which occurred within a week of each other). "Boys," he said, "Here's my advice: figure out what you want to do, and where you want to do it, and then go there and do that thing. Don't be deterred; don't "settle"; don't take the "safe" route. If you want to be an acrobat in the circus, go find a circus and badger them into training you. If living in a New York penthouse is your goal, then don't let anything deter you. Whatever you want, go there and do that thing." I thought it was pretty good advice.

So if you want to go back to California, don't settle for anything less. Go back to California and live where you want to live.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by CDeb

Maybe overtaxing businesses so the signals and other infrastructure can look really pretty is the reason why the job market in CA sucks.

Ok, that was good.

Jeez. Life is short. Don't sweat the small stuff. If the small stuff bothers you that much, maybe you need a change. I've lived in a neighborhoods where the lines were buried. And you know what? when the lines had a problem, they came in and dug up everyones fence lines, ripping out trees and taking down fences....and it was up to the owners to put it all back because it was on the easment.

I'd rather just have them climb a pole and re-run the wires, leaving my 60 year old trees alone thank you.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by Blawp

I'm from California and there they don't use span-wire traffic signals. In Houston they're everywhere and aesthetically third-world. Lots of above-ground power lines too. Makes many parts of the city look quite cheap.

Why would they have such weak infrastructure here in a hurricane zone?

Luckily they have some decent looking public works around the medical center and downtown, but most areas of the city are pretty unwelcoming.

I wish I didn't live here, but unfortunately, due to the job market I suppose I'm stuck here until a company situated in a better part of the country, or even state, starts needing someone like me.

Agree, they are ugly. Aesthetics has never been the priority in Houston. People just want to make money. I guess they get used to the Nasty.

[crbcrbrgv]

Seeing that California's new slogan may very well wind up being, "California. At least we have attractive traffic signals" I don't see where the OP has room to complain.

[rigas]

Originally Posted by Blawp

I'm from California and there they don't use span-wire traffic signals. In Houston they're everywhere and aesthetically third-world. Lots of above-ground power lines too. Makes many parts of the city look quite cheap.

Why would they have such weak infrastructure here in a hurricane zone?

Luckily they have some decent looking public works around the medical center and downtown, but most areas of the city are pretty unwelcoming.

I wish I didn't live here, but unfortunately, due to the job market I suppose I'm stuck here until a company situated in a better part of the country, or even state, starts needing someone like me.

maybe trying to make california LOOK SO PRETTY is why the whole state is bankrupt!

texas is very "cost effective" and we like it that way.

[TexasCatherine]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

Seeing that California's new slogan may very well wind up being, "California. At least we have attractive traffic signals" I don't see where the OP has room to complain.

That made my day. Too funny.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by CDeb

Maybe overtaxing businesses so the signals and other infrastructure can look really pretty is the reason why the job market in CA sucks.

Originally Posted by rigas

maybe trying to make california LOOK SO PRETTY is why the whole state is bankrupt!

texas is very "cost effective" and we like it that way.

Great quotes, both of you!

Houston (and most of Texas, for that matter) is an efficient city. Cost of living is low, taxes not onerous, easy to get around. It ain't the prettiest place to live, but it works!

You got a job here, right? So why are there jobs here, but not back home?

Life is almost always a trade-off.

[westres1]

Cya! if you dont like it you are welcome to move on!

[jaw_24]

I live where many of the local lines are buried and it seems like we're always having problems that A) Centerpoint can't seem to track down or B) are due to someone digging where they aren't supposed to. This is compared to living in West Texas, 30 overhead miles from the nearest substation, and we only had problems when lightning or a large bird hit a line and threw a switch.

Wasn't there a discussion after Ike about how if all the power lines were buried, then the cost and time of finding and repairing the ones that still got disrupted would be higher than just repairing all the overhead ones that got knocked down during a storm (and are much easier to spot)?