Places Long Islanders could move too. (New York, Long Beach: 2009, big house, neighborhood)

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by AK123

Most Polluted: Short-Term Particle Pollution
#1 Pittsburgh
#2 Los Angeles
#3 Fresno
#4 Bakersfield
#5 Birmingham
#6 Logan
#7 Salt Lake City
#8 Sacramento
#9 Detroit
#10 D.C./Baltimore

Most Polluted: Year-Round Particle Pollution
#1 Los Angeles
#2 Pittsburgh
#3 Bakersfield
#4 Birmingham
#5 Visalia
#6 Atlanta
#7 Cincinnati
#8 Fresno
#9 Hanford
#10 Detroit

Most Polluted: Ozone
#1 Los Angeles
#2 Bakersfield
#3 Visalia
#4 Houston
#5 Fresno
#6 Sacramento
#7 Dallas
#8 New York City
#9 D.C./Baltimore
#10 Baton Rouge

According to Forbes:

Houston is #8 on the list of 10 Worst Cities For Commuters. (NYC is not on there at all, although NYC appears on other lists and Houston does not.)

Houston is #5 for length of commute on the list of America's Worst Commutes.

Slightly different from what you found:

Ten Most Polluted U.S. Cities (Ozone Rated Only)
1. Los Angeles (Long Beach, Calif., Riverside, Calif.)
2. Bakersfield, Calif.
3. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
4. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
5. Merced, Calif.
6. Houston (Baytown, Huntsville, Tex.)
7. Sacramento (Arden, Calif., Arcade, Calif., Truckee, Nev.)
8. Dallas/Forth Worth
9. New York (Newark, N.J., Bridgeport, Conn.)
10. Philadelphia (Camden, N.J., Vineland, N.J.)

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by AK123

Interesting. But, I find it rather naive to diss what you don't know (sounds like you've never been?)

Well, I think I've addressed everything in this thread. I'm not trying to be a braggart. Just hate seeing all these silly misconceptions and stereotypes. Houston is a nice place, and I think it's really underrated. Just one viewpoint.

But LI is nice too. You guys shouldn't hate on it so much.

I don't think it's totally misconceptions and stereotypes, but of course, I understand you want to stick up for the major city in your area.

I don't see Houston as a place many Long Islanders would like. My cousin likes it fine, but she grew up in Florida, so she is used to the extreme heat and humidity. Plus she is not your typical "working stiff" so she does not have to endure horribly low pay, etc. She actually had something interesting to say about a LI'er who moved there and joined her company. He was teed off that the middle-class communities were integrated and he could not find an "all" or "almost all" white community in his price range. (And I used to tease her about being a "redneck!")

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by dman72

I love the North Fork as much as anyone, but the sheer scale of things on the West Coast makes just about everything on the East Coast a joke. The drive through Western NC is pretty breathtaking, but it still doesn't compare to driving past Mt. Shasta in Northern CA.

The North Fork is great, but it doesn't compare to California Wine Country.

My friend is CHP and lives near Mt Shasta (in fact, he has a view of it from his bedroom window.)

The pictures he has sent of his area are very sandy with some green -- it has something of a high desert feel. His post covers the northernmost portion of the state, and he has told me some tales about the snow and traveling from his area into Oregon during the winter that makes even my worst VT experience sound like it was nothing.

Some other photos were breathtaking; I can only imagine that they did the areas a disservice. That written, there is a terrific problem with gangs in CA -- heading north; crystal meth -- lots of bored people living in the mountains and foothills. His particular area is 'affordable' so when you run checks on sex offenders -- it's full of them.

The proverbial California Sword of Damocles -- the San Andreas fault -- and not knowing whether the big one was going to hit, has me convinced that CA is a nice place to visit, but.....

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by AK123

Interesting. But, I find it rather naive to diss what you don't know (sounds like you've never been?)

Well, I think I've addressed everything in this thread. I'm not trying to be a braggart. Just hate seeing all these silly misconceptions and stereotypes. Houston is a nice place, and I think it's really underrated. Just one viewpoint.

But LI is nice too. You guys shouldn't hate on it so much.

You're absolutely right, I don't know anything about Houston except for it's love of mixing codeine and sprite together and my hatred for Lance Berkman.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

As per the article you posted below on Houston, Sugar Land appears to be quite different from Houston itself and its only connection to Houston is that it is geographically nearby (approx. 20 miles). Sugar Land is much more affluent. That is where you live and that is where your expertise lies. How connected are you to the city we are actually discussing, which is Houston? Do you commute to Houston everyday? If so, how long does it take? Are there decent paying jobs available in Sugar Land or do the affluent people there have to go to work in Houston or are they retirees with money they saved?

Good questions.

Sugar Land is probably one of the more affluent suburbs. But there are plenty of areas of Houston that are much more affluent than Sugar Land.

I have lived in the city of Houston, in a few different areas.

When I was working in the Texas Medical Center I did commute into town for work. I have friends spread out all around town, so know most areas well.

Sugar Land does have large companies and jobs, though if I were to guess, most residents are probably commuting into Houston for work. A $300k home in Sugar Land would probably be upwards of $1mil in the part of Houston I really like (Memorial), for the same house.

The main reason we're in Sugar Land is because of my spouse's job. If we both worked in Houston, we'd likely live in Houston.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by dman72

I love the North Fork as much as anyone, but the sheer scale of things on the West Coast makes just about everything on the East Coast a joke. The drive through Western NC is pretty breathtaking, but it still doesn't compare to driving past Mt. Shasta in Northern CA.

The North Fork is great, but it doesn't compare to California Wine Country.

Agreed...yes in its enormity but no in its beauty and charm.
The Atlantic beaches in season trump anything I encountered along PCH.

Ill take Montauk over Santa Cruz and Sag Harbor over Monterey in a heartbeat.

I really had a MUCH deeper appreciation for LI after spending time in California.


We got it pretty good here.

crooks

[dman72]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Agreed...yes in its enormity but no in its beauty and charm.
The Atlantic beaches in season trump anything I encountered along PCH.

Ill take Montauk over Santa Cruz and Sag Harbor over Monterey in a heartbeat.

I really had a MUCH deeper appreciation for LI after spending time in California.


We got it pretty good here.

crooks

I don't really like SC that much, to tell you the truth..but that cool Ocean breeze coming off the Pacific in Santa Monica..face it dude..we've got nothing like that here. It's unreal. OF course, I stepped over about 20 junkies to experience it, but.....

[AlexisT]

SoCal really does nothing for me.

NorCal would (though the climate in SF proper and up the coast is pretty blah), but the level of pseudo-intellectual pretension in the Bay Area would kill me.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by dman72

I don't really like SC that much, to tell you the truth..but that cool Ocean breeze coming off the Pacific in Santa Monica..face it dude..we've got nothing like that here. It's unreal. OF course, I stepped over about 20 junkies to experience it, but.....

Thats some dirty assed cold water dude.
Ill pass on Junkie Pier.

Ill take Montauk in season hands down

crooks

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

SoCal really does nothing for me.

NorCal would (though the climate in SF proper and up the coast is pretty blah), but the level of pseudo-intellectual pretension in the Bay Area would kill me.

Don't you think we've got the same thing in New York? Mission District vs. Northwest Brooklyn, that'd be an easy pick for me.