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Those who say Houston is "live and let live"...how would most in the Houston metro react if the LA adult film industry suddenly set up shop somewhere in Houston (even in an unincorporated part of town)?
The small pockets of live and let live vibe are in the inner loop areas which are what like 50 miles all around tops, maybe more? It's not that big. Trae then went into how your home is your castle and you can do what you want, as if I was talking about how liberal the HOAs are, lol!
The city is not live and let live all around. In fact it is one of the most keeping up with the joneses, everything shiny in that mixed use development town center look is praised, and where cookie cutter master planned white flight communities reign. People who live inside the loop cannot stand outer loopers and vice versa.
They know how un-inviting the outer loop is to new fresh innovative forms of expression. People still think "gay" is an insult over there, I mean c'mon.
Those who say Houston is "live and let live"...how would most in the Houston metro react if the LA adult film industry suddenly set up shop somewhere in Houston (even in an unincorporated part of town)?
It would not go over well, at all.
Bad example. You can't just up and move an entire industry like that. It had to grow organically out there. It wasn't big all at once.
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Originally Posted by Techwired
Dubya's Daddy, HW Bush wife Barbara wrote an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle pointing out that Texas ranks 47th in the nation in literacy, 49th in verbal SAT scores and 46th in math scores. In light of these horrible statistics, Barb Bush asked why Texas can afford to cut the number of teachers, while increasing class sizes, eliminate scholarships for underprivileged students and close down community colleges with all of the excess cash TX supposedly has. Gov. Rick has cut the state's education funding consistently and helped make things worse by reducing school property taxes, Perry would love to homeschool every kid from 5-18yrs of age with a bible and a whip -- Rick's disdain for public education is known throughout the state. Perry also stole 3.2 billion in federal stimulus education dollars from our kids edu fund for non-education purposes so he could strut around and boast about his balanced budget. This trend will continue as the anti-education, anti-arts, anti-science TX Ted Cruz lead tea party seems to be gaining momentum here and taking over more of this already socially backward state.
Not disagreeing with anything you said here, but this:
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One of my biggest problems with Houston is that one really has to go beyond subjectivity to complete homerism and ignorance to champion it as a great city to live.
Is pretty stupid.
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Originally Posted by Techwired
Actually I lived in West U for several years and know the entire metro area extremely well.
Anyone can say anything on the internet. Your post below doesn't really show that, so I'll try to keep it short.
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Houston looks like its been pummeled by an ugly stick from head to toe. The city of Houston is a complete basket case, along with it's socially conservative surrounding counties that completely lack any culture, vibrancy or class. Most Houstonians in general are not really very cultured or even interesting, outside of Southern culture, most of them are not well traveled, especially compared to the vast majority of residents on both coasts. They're a good amount of Houstonians who don't travel outside of Texas or the South in general, have never visited abroad or experienced anything outside of Texas. In fact many people from Houston have never been North of Plano or South of Corpus Christi.
See, this is the problem with some of you out there. You're so arrogant and think you're so well traveled and classy just because you live in LA. I hope I don't encounter too many folks like this when I move out there (because I haven't on times visited), but I most definitely will. Just an FYI, the energy industry is a pretty global industry. You should check the destination list at IAH, before spouting BS like "they aren't very cultured or even interesting.....don't travel outside of Texas". Yeah, and no one in LA leaves the Valley. They all just stay there and can't get out.
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Houston doesn't have much of a profile like other U.S. cities (L.A., S.F, NYC, Chicago) and it lacks history, character, & any real sense of itself -- The humidity in Houston from May through the middle of October is extreme and downright oppressive, it feels like you're wearing a 20 pound wet blanket over your head in the summer months especially compared to L.A. which has a almost perfect climate, minus the inland valley areas. Much of Houston's economy is based on the oil, gas and petrochemical industry, which is extremely cyclical, and if that bubble bursts, many of its transplant will put Houston in the rear view mirror for good. Houston has a huge income disparity problem, one of the worst in the nation, and the overall job growth has primarily been in manufacturing and low paying hourly wage retail or Wal-Mart type jobs -- Houston has the lowest percentage of its twenty-five and older population with a high school diploma in the country.
No, Houston doesn't have the profile of a NYC, Chicago, San Fran, or even LA. The humidity sucks here. It sucks in many places in the country. People still flock to Disney World even though Orlando has worse humidity than Houston. Grow a pair. I see old 80 year old Asian ladies doing just fine in Houston with the humidity. LA's climate is pretty awesome (Basin only of course), but I can do without the June gloom. Houston has blue collar roots. You can get a job at a refinery paying nearly $20 an hour fresh out of high school if you want.
Look, you guys talk about income disparity and all that but do you realize that LA has it worse than Houston? NYC too. Different studies have shown different things.
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The city and coastal areas around Houston reek like oil and petrochemical refineries anytime you get an onshore wind blowing in from the Gulf during the summer months -- Houston is as pedestrian unfriendly as it gets and looks and feels like a VERY ugly city that at times resembles a big third world swamp, full of dirty oil and petrochemical refineries, massive congestion, bombed out looking hoods, endless sprawl, and generic looking strip malls. A sweltering concrete mess with little natural beauty, culture or zoning regulations but number one in the amount of toxic chemicals released into water. Houston area surface roads are extremely underfunded, and full of nasty potholes, all while the city still has an abysmal, almost non existent public transportation system --even worse than L.A.
It depends on where you are. Not even in the East End, just across the freewaay from Downtown, do you smell refiniries. Only in parts of Pasadena, Deer Park, Baytown, or Texas City. You don't smell them in Galveston, Kemah, or any areas South, West, or N from Downtown. Not even a pinch. The rest of your post reads like the 1980s. You also sound like a New Yorker or San Franciscan describing LA, but I digress....
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Houston also has the distinction of regaining its title once again as "America's Fattest City" and once you leave the nicer parts of the metro, it seems that half of the place is overrun by crunked out thug gangs, while the other half is full of socially conservative right wingers, religious nuts, and Rednecks driving their jacked up Texas edition trucks decked out in Wal-Mart camo gear. Many areas on the north and east side of Houston, just 20 min outside the city are as backwards as Little Rock and as Redneck as Alabama with tons of knee-jerk ultra-conservatives, gun nuts and gulf coast trash. A good amount of voters in Houston support our crude half-wit dunce Governor, Rick Perry. Gov. Goodhair has been Governor of Texas for the past 13 years and has been elected to office three times by Texas voters. Remember that Texas is where separation of church and state is a myth and Gov. Perry loves to run the our public schools like bible camps.
Houston experiences largest growth of poor population in American metros
A lot of the poverty added was from New Orleans after Katrina. And the fattest city ranking only comes from Men's Fitness. There are plenty of other publications with different rankings and Men's Fitness' way of ranking is pretty bad. But, if that is the gospel you would like to go by, then go ahead. lmao.
Bad example. You can't just up and move an entire industry like that. It had to grow organically out there. It wasn't big all at once.
A lot of the adult film industry has moved to Las Vegas. There is also some of it in San Diego and Miami. Those are not LA. The same thing simply wouldn't be allowed in Houston and there would possibly be civil unrest if that industry moved several studios to Houston.
You may not want to believe it, that's another story.
Guys, Texas and California aren't the only two states in the U.S. If you hate Texas and can't afford to live in California or you hate California and don't want to settle for Texas or whatever the case may be, there are 48 other states you can chose to live. We live in a big, beautiful country with so much variety and so many options. Because of that, we Americans are truly fortunate.
I've learned that if some place is cheap, there's a reason why. Case in point: Tucson, AZ.
A few years ago, on a flight from FL to RI, I was sitting next to a gentleman who was traveling alone. He was visiting his sister and her family in RI, which is where he was raised and where most of his family still lived. I'm guessing this guy was in his early 50's. He told me that he hadn't lived in RI since the early 1980's. Apparently, over the course of 30 years, he moved back forth between AZ and FL, unable to decide where he wanted to hang his hat and plant his roots. Eventually, he settled in south Florida. However, he shared with me that, after all of those years of moving back and forth between between AZ and FL, he wished he just spent the extra money and lived in California.
Some things and places are just worth the extra money. That was his point.
It depends on where you are. Not even in the East End, just across the freewaay from Downtown, do you smell refiniries. Only in parts of Pasadena, Deer Park, Baytown, or Texas City. You don't smell them in Galveston, Kemah, or any areas South, West, or N from Downtown. Not even a pinch. The rest of your post reads like the 1980s. You also sound like a New Yorker or San Franciscan describing LA, but I digress....
Yeah, this I agree with. Houston is where Los Angeles was in the middle of the century. The new development inside the loop I have seen in Houston looks like it is heading in the right direction.
Now there may be issues getting as good of a transit system as Los Angeles'. With LA, the whole "it lacks public transportation" knock completely ignored the fact that LA has one of the most extensive and high-quality bus systems in the nation. From what I hear, Houston doesn't really have a high-quality bus system.
Additionally, the residents of the city were largely supportive of passing additional taxes on themselves in order to fund an extensive rail-based public transportation system - something I have a hard time believing the "libertarian" residents of Houston will so easily pass.
Lastly, Los Angeles is in California, a state that is more progressive in funding public works projects in its cities. I don't see that kind of support coming from the "private industry rules all" mindset of Texas state politics. In fact it wouldn't be shocking to see politicians from outside of Houston trying to quash public spending on these sort of projects, in the name of "smart spending".
Yeah, this I agree with. Houston is where Los Angeles was in the middle of the century. The new development inside the loop I have seen in Houston looks like it is heading in the right direction.
Now there may be issues getting as good of a transit system as Los Angeles'. With LA, the whole "it lacks public transportation" knock completely ignored the fact that LA has one of the most extensive and high-quality bus systems in the nation. From what I hear, Houston doesn't really have a high-quality bus system.
Additionally, the residents of the city were largely supportive of passing additional taxes on themselves in order to fund an extensive rail-based public transportation system - something I have a hard time believing the "libertarian" residents of Houston will so easily pass.
Lastly, Los Angeles is in California, a state that is more progressive in funding public works projects in its cities. I don't see that kind of support coming from the "private industry rules all" mindset of Texas state politics. In fact it wouldn't be shocking to see politicians from outside of Houston trying to quash public spending on these sort of projects, in the name of "smart spending".
Houston residents voted for heavy rail in the 80s but had an idiot mayor who diverted the funds to street maintenance and hiring more police. Then in the early 00s, citizens approved a light rail system, but two idiot Republican congressmen, tom delay and john Culberson blocked federal funds and have made expansion of the system hard (tho it is expanding). Traffic is going to have to get even worse before a widespread change happens and Culberson is voted out. The bus system in Houston is okay. Not frequent enough except for the west and sw sides. Houston could actually support a few heavy rail lines with the way this city is setup and the density pattern that has been happening. Houston does have an excellent weekday commuter bus system.
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Originally Posted by trancedout
A lot of the adult film industry has moved to Las Vegas. There is also some of it in San Diego and Miami. Those are not LA. The same thing simply wouldn't be allowed in Houston and there would possibly be civil unrest if that industry moved several studios to Houston.
You may not want to believe it, that's another story.
No those are just glamour locales that the adult film industry goes to. Their convention is in las Vegas annually. I don't think Boston has a huge porn industry, but I could be wrong.
Bad example. You can't just up and move an entire industry like that. It had to grow organically out there. It wasn't big all at once.
Not disagreeing with anything you said here, but this:
Is pretty stupid.
Anyone can say anything on the internet. Your post below doesn't really show that, so I'll try to keep it short.
See, this is the problem with some of you out there. You're so arrogant and think you're so well traveled and classy just because you live in LA. I hope I don't encounter too many folks like this when I move out there (because I haven't on times visited), but I most definitely will. Just an FYI, the energy industry is a pretty global industry. You should check the destination list at IAH, before spouting BS like "they aren't very cultured or even interesting.....don't travel outside of Texas". Yeah, and no one in LA leaves the Valley. They all just stay there and can't get out.
No, Houston doesn't have the profile of a NYC, Chicago, San Fran, or even LA. The humidity sucks here. It sucks in many places in the country. People still flock to Disney World even though Orlando has worse humidity than Houston. Grow a pair. I see old 80 year old Asian ladies doing just fine in Houston with the humidity. LA's climate is pretty awesome (Basin only of course), but I can do without the June gloom. Houston has blue collar roots. You can get a job at a refinery paying nearly $20 an hour fresh out of high school if you want.
Look, you guys talk about income disparity and all that but do you realize that LA has it worse than Houston? NYC too. Different studies have shown different things.
It depends on where you are. Not even in the East End, just across the freewaay from Downtown, do you smell refiniries. Only in parts of Pasadena, Deer Park, Baytown, or Texas City. You don't smell them in Galveston, Kemah, or any areas South, West, or N from Downtown. Not even a pinch. The rest of your post reads like the 1980s. You also sound like a New Yorker or San Franciscan describing LA, but I digress....
A lot of the poverty added was from New Orleans after Katrina. And the fattest city ranking only comes from Men's Fitness. There are plenty of other publications with different rankings and Men's Fitness' way of ranking is pretty bad. But, if that is the gospel you would like to go by, then go ahead. lmao.
Say what? You can't smell the refineries in Kemah, Nassau Bay, Pasadena, Clearlake etc?....that's funny because when we would take our boat out in the summer months, which was docked in Kemah, we would smell the refinery stench from June through Labor Day once we got a mile out of Kemah. And BTW I never lived in NYC, only CA - native, Seattle and TX.
I'll make it easy on you -- look at the Human Development Index by State, things like overall well-being, quality of life / standard of living, education, literacy, life expectancy, and opportunity...Texas ranks 38th yikes CA is 11th. Houston is pretty much the worst of TX, with the exception of El Paso and South TX, aka No Man's Land ---- I guess if you're coming from Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Memphis, or maybe the declining Rust belt areas of the U.S., Houston might make your eyes light up for a minute....but anyone IMO who's had broad exposure to other large U.S. cities (L.A., SF, NYC, Seattle, etc) will probably find this culturally-devoid, socially conservative sprawling city on the edge of the bible-belt somewhat hard to stomach -- hope you enjoy L.A.! carry on
Houston residents voted for heavy rail in the 80s but had an idiot mayor who diverted the funds to street maintenance and hiring more police. Then in the early 00s, citizens approved a light rail system, but two idiot Republican congressmen, tom delay and john Culberson blocked federal funds and have made expansion of the system hard (tho it is expanding). Traffic is going to have to get even worse before a widespread change happens and Culberson is voted out.
This is exactly what I am talking about. Personally, the meddlesome personal agendas of Texas' laughably partisan state-level politicians are enough to make it a place I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to live in, high job growth or not. Atlanta is another city that has this problem.
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Originally Posted by Trae713
The bus system in Houston is okay. Not frequent enough except for the west and sw sides. Houston could actually support a few heavy rail lines with the way this city is setup and the density pattern that has been happening. Houston does have an excellent weekday commuter bus system.
I don't think Houston has the density levels to support HRT. The San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles is more densely populated than the vast majority of Houston - however the ridership figures were too low to warrant a Red Line extension. If Houston gets anything, it will be a Dallas-esque LRT system.
Not to mention, have you ever seen the pricetag for a heavy rail line? No way that is every going to happen in the state of Texas.
Texans are so stubborn they swear up and down that houston is better than la i had to hear it the whole time i lived in texas. Houston sucks la is more exclusive its very expensive houston will always be cheap to live in because of the high black population.
Whoa! What in the world? New York has the highest black population and it is the most expensive city in the US. Why would having a high Black population mean the place is cheap?
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CA is 11th. Houston is pretty much the worst of TX, with the exception of El Paso and South TX, aka No Man's Land ---- I guess if you're coming from Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Memphis, or maybe the declining Rust belt areas of the U.S., Houston might make your eyes light up for a minute....but anyone IMO who's had broad exposure to other large U.S. cities (L.A., SF, NYC, Seattle, etc) will probably find this culturally-devoid, socially conservative sprawling city on the edge of the bible-belt somewhat hard to stomach -- hope you enjoy L.A.! carry on 
