When will Phoenix surpass Houston as the 4th largest city? (Scottsdale: crime, living)

[sirwinston73]

I didn't read all the replies here - too many - but my reply is "who cares?"

What does it matter which city is bigger?

Houston and Phoenix are two very different places offering two different lifestyles. If I had to choose, I'd choose Houston, if only because it's so much friendlier than Phoenix. A good friend of mine left Phoenix for Houston for that exact reason, then wound up leaving Houston because it was too redneck. He's now in Austin and perfectly happy. No Houston rednecks and no Arizona snobs either ... the perfect combination.

Again, who cares which is bigger ... that has no reflection on the quality of life ... in fact, it could be a negative, because in today's world, cities grow rapidly due to the availablilty of cheap banal living vs. real quality of life.

[Master Shake]

Originally Posted by joninaz

I don't know the situation in Houston. Is there still a lot of room to build?

Just like Phoenix proper, Houston proper has pretty much filled out to the official city boundaries and is surrounded by suburbs – although Houston has a much bigger downtown.

However the greater Houston area has endless amounts of free (unrestricted – no reservation) land to continue growing new suburbs, which of course leads to atrocious freeway traffic and very long commutes. And we think Phoenix traffic is bad!

[irwin]

I would say that Houston is probably one of the most underrated cities in the country while Phoenix is probably one of the most overrated cities in the country.

Houston, although it has its problems, is years ahead of Phoenix in terms of public transport and walkable neighborhoods. It also has a lot more unique restaurants and shopping. The architecture is also a lot more varied and thus more interesting. Of course, all of this is within the 610 Loop; outside that loop it's basically the same as Phoenix (and every other sprawling suburb) miles of strip malls and endless chain stores and restaurants. Finally, Houston has a MUCH better economy than Phoenix; higher pay, higher profile, and more potential for advancement.

Neither city is perfect and both share a lot of the same problems. I just think Houston has finally started to do something about its problems while Phoenix seems to continue down the same path with only minor alterations.

[uconn99]

Phoenix really has no main industry, maybe housing! Just look at the lack of fortune 500 companies in the area. Geez, Hartford, Ct has more fortune 500 companies than Phoenix.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by irwin

I would say that Houston is probably one of the most underrated cities in the country while Phoenix is probably one of the most overrated cities in the country.

Houston, although it has its problems, is years ahead of Phoenix in terms of public transport and walkable neighborhoods. It also has a lot more unique restaurants and shopping. The architecture is also a lot more varied and thus more interesting. Of course, all of this is within the 610 Loop; outside that loop it's basically the same as Phoenix (and every other sprawling suburb) miles of strip malls and endless chain stores and restaurants. Finally, Houston has a MUCH better economy than Phoenix; higher pay, higher profile, and more potential for advancement.

Neither city is perfect and both share a lot of the same problems. I just think Houston has finally started to do something about its problems while Phoenix seems to continue down the same path with only minor alterations.

Did you read in today's AZ Republic that we are once again going to short change the schools? Napolitano has decided it would be a good idea to use budget money elsewhere.
Somehow the state is supposed to "finance" the building of schools. Does this lady not get that one of the main reasons Arizona has a brain-drain is because educated people do not want to send their children to subpar schools????? There is onl so much room in the already crowded "good" schools!

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I sure as heck hope that Arizona retains its conservative background. Maybe if the people of Arizona would stop electing those people that are conservative in name only then the state could really get back on track. It is a great place to live. Hope it never looses its conservative populace. That would be a great shame. But then that is a story for another thread.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

I sure as heck hope that Arizona retains its conservative background. Maybe if the people of Arizona would stop electing those people that are conservative in name only then the state could really get back on track. It is a great place to live. Hope it never looses its conservative populace. That would be a great shame. But then that is a story for another thread.

CONSERVATIVE????

This is not a conservative city! It happens to be a very liberal city and thank goodness too! Maybe other parts of Arizona are conservative, but not Phoenix anymore~!
I think that funding our schools is of vital importance!

[waffle69]

phoenix is young, take it from indy,growth is good but it dont put u on levels with cities ur talking about. Even metropolitan area can be somewhat decieving. Indy example. I think Indy by city population rank is around 14,15th. By metro area 32nd give or take. And I promise that the 32 is closer than the 15. Now lets use Phoenix. I promise you no matter what population stats u can come up with u are not as big as............. San Fransisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Detroit, Houston, Cleveland, and comon Philly? U will not live 2 c that day. I would make big arguments 4 DC, Baltamore, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, and this is the 1 u will likely like least ,..... Dallas. A whole lot of things define a metropolitan area and Phoenix and Indy r not there yet, by almost ALL measurements.....

[_Charles_]

what is wrong with being a blue collar state? is it the wages?

Blue refers to politically liberal and Democratic voting not blue collar. A politically conservative and Republican voting state is referred to as "A Red state".

[_Charles_]

As much as I love Phoenix the underlying weakness is the economy. Yes there are lots of jobs but 3/4 of them pay low wages in some cases ridiculously low. This has been a problem for years. What drives allot of Phoenix's growth has been real estate speculation and transfer payments to well heeled retirees as opposed to a core of good paying jobs. If Phoenix becomes larger than Houston it will because of the flood of baby boomers retiring over the next 20 years.