Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Urban Feel
People
Better life
Entertainment
Architectures
Economy
Safest
Downtown
Suburbs
Future possibilities
Job
Public transportation
Shopping
Open mindness
Schools
weather
People : Houston
Better life : Houston
Entertainment : Houston
Architectures : Marseille
Economy : Houston
Safest : Houston by far Downtown : ?
Suburbs : Houston
Future possibilities : Houston
Job : Houston Public transportation : Houston Shopping : Houston
Open mindness : Houston
Schools : Houston
Weather : Houston
I much prefer Houston over Marseille as well, but you are definitely going overboard. Houston is lacking in public transportation compared to Marseille; Houston has good bus lines, and an expanding light-rail system (equivalent to European Tram), but Marseille has all that, plus developed rapid-transport. Eventually, such systems will come to Houston, but for now, Marseille wins soundly in that department.
Downtown, in terms of pedestrian activity, will definitely go to Marseille; the city just caters far more to the pedestrian than Houston at this point, which is more car-oriented. However, Houston is making big strides towards becoming more pedestrian-oriented.
As far as shopping, both cities are quite strong in that department, depending on what one is interested in. I'd imaging Marseille would have more of the storied, botique-style stores than Houston.
For entertainment, both cities perform well, depending on the scenes one is interested in.
Apart from what I stated above, I agree with the rest of your ranking, and would give it to Houston as well.
I live in Houston but in terms of crime any city in France makes Houston look like the hood, I wouldn't venture into the Northern burbs of Marseilles but their were 24+ murders in 2012 city proper of 850,000 and it was labeled murder capital of Europe by media(Western Europe probably). In Houston proper 216 murders with 2.2 million people in 2012 which are police chief said was an incredibly low number, 2006 (376 murders in Houston (Mostly due to the chaos from a natural disaster that brought a ton of displaced people) of course since most happened from family members/acquaintances killing family members/acquaintances to gangsters killing gangsters and Houston is 600 miles+ large while Marseilles (I read an article that 15 or more of those 24 murders in Marseilles were gang related) about 100 square miles, your chances of getting randomly shot are probably extremely similar and of course low as if you stay out of bad areas of both cities.
Besides maybe pick pocketing and other property crime, and maybe the nice areas aren't as safe as in Houston since the city is a lot more dense, Ghetto areas are closer to non ghetto areas) I wouldn't say Houston beats Marseilles in safety, I mean to be honest some years we have more murders than France, has total.
One thing I didn't like about France is the amount of graffiti as my home country graffiti wasn't used to mark territories as we didn't have the typical street gang culture of gangs claiming an area. So when I came to the U.S and experienced a little more I began to associate excessive amounts of non bubbly graffiti but instead scrawled as an area with a gang issue and I was usually right so going to France seeing walls in the nice neighborhoods, with graffiti all over them was extremely unsettling at first, but then I got used to it.
I much prefer Houston over Marseille as well, but you are definitely going overboard. Houston is lacking in public transportation compared to Marseille; Houston has good bus lines, and an expanding light-rail system (equivalent to European Tram), but Marseille has all that, plus developed rapid-transport. Eventually, such systems will come to Houston, but for now, Marseille wins soundly in that department.
Downtown, in terms of pedestrian activity, will definitely go to Marseille; the city just caters far more to the pedestrian than Houston at this point, which is more car-oriented. However, Houston is making big strides towards becoming more pedestrian-oriented.
As far as shopping, both cities are quite strong in that department, depending on what one is interested in. I'd imaging Marseille would have more of the storied, botique-style stores than Houston.
For entertainment, both cities perform well, depending on the scenes one is interested in.
Apart from what I stated above, I agree with the rest of your ranking, and would give it to Houston as well.
Yes, because Marseille is densier therefore there are more of public transportation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NigerianNightmare
I live in Houston but in terms of crime any city in France makes Houston look like the hood, I wouldn't venture into the Northern burbs of Marseilles but their were 24+ murders in 2012 city proper of 850,000 and it was labeled murder capital of Europe by media(Western Europe probably). In Houston proper 216 murders with 2.2 million people in 2012 which are police chief said was an incredibly low number, 2006 (376 murders in Houston (Mostly due to the chaos from a natural disaster that brought a ton of displaced people) of course since most happened from family members/acquaintances killing family members/acquaintances to gangsters killing gangsters and Houston is 600 miles+ large while Marseilles (I read an article that 15 or more of those 24 murders in Marseilles were gang related) about 100 square miles, your chances of getting randomly shot are probably extremely similar and of course low as if you stay out of bad areas of both cities.
Besides maybe pick pocketing and other property crime, and maybe the nice areas aren't as safe as in Houston since the city is a lot more dense, Ghetto areas are closer to non ghetto areas) I wouldn't say Houston beats Marseilles in safety, I mean to be honest some years we have more murders than France, has total.
One thing I didn't like about France is the amount of graffiti as my home country graffiti wasn't used to mark territories as we didn't have the typical street gang culture of gangs claiming an area. So when I came to the U.S and experienced a little more I began to associate excessive amounts of non bubbly graffiti but instead scrawled as an area with a gang issue and I was usually right so going to France seeing walls in the nice neighborhoods, with graffiti all over them was extremely unsettling at first, but then I got used to it.
Thank's for the informations, what's the best part to live in Houston ?
The Suburbs mostly on the Westside, Katy (Preferably South of 1-10, but some nice areas north of it also), Sugar Land great town with an almost small city feel, also the countless of other suburbs in Fort Bend County, Richmond, Missouri City in some areas, but these areas that I am naming may be up to 1 hour 30 minutes commute to downtown. Their are also the suburbs of Cypress, the Northern parts of Cypress are really nice, Jersey Village, and parts of Spring. Their are also the northern burbs Atascocita, The Woodlands (The largest Master Planned community in Texas and very aesthetically pleasing), and Kingwood but again take in min the commute for some of these places are 1-2 hours away to Downtown.
In the city their are a lot of poor areas scattered everywhere do to Houston being the largest city with no zoning, the good part about this is besides, 2-3 small areas their isn't any straight up hood areas like Marseilles's northern suburbs are supposed to be (never been, but according to some media it can compare to some U.S cities like New York which is still ridiculously safe compared to other cities in the U.S)
Some of the nice city neighborhoods are Memorial, almost every neighborhood on the west side of the inner loop like West University Place, The Heights, Bellaire, but keep in mind if you go to west in these areas or to east in these areas it will take you about 15-40 minutes driving not on the Highway but on the street for an area of middle class and million dollar homes to turn into lower class and almost ghetto like neighborhoods all on the same street. Plus these areas and some I didn't list are extremely expensive to buy a house at least compared to the suburbs. Their are also some nice Condo areas scattered across the West side of Houston.
Overall I would give it to Houston cause it size alone gives it more amenities than Marseille.
People : Depends on You. Unless you mean diversity Houston is more diverse look it up, if you don't believe me.
Better life : Houston, way cheaper than European cities in terms of House prices.
Entertainment : Houston, Museums and some of the nicest parks I have seen in the U.S. The Theater district is the second largest in the U.S after NYC, Also many stadiums for an array of sports teams, and concerts.
Architectures : Tie ( I like modern buildings)
Economy : Houston, Houston has one of the best economies in the U.S
Safest : Marseilles, but in terms of Terrorism and Property crimes Houston might be safer although Terrorism rarely happens in either cities (1 Attack a decade) and in Houston's case I am not sure we have ever had a Terrorist attack.
Downtown : Marseilles- More Vibrant/ Houston- Less vibrant, but almost no pickpocket stories (Because if you got pick pocketed in Downtown you could probably find your pickpocket by looking at the 3 people on the same block as you in Downtown) and very few wait lines for some of the best museums the U.S has to offer.
Suburbs : Houston, suburbs in Europe are usually economically challenged towns with lots of poor people.
Future possibilities : Houston, Houston has room to grow and is currently growing at an extremely fast pace, The County of Harris grew from 2.8 million in 1990 to 4.1 million in 2010, and Fort Bend a suburban county grew from 225,000 to 585,000 from 1990 to 2010 that is literally more than doubling in 20 years.
Job : Houston- This ties to the Economy being great. Unemployment: 4.6% and falling. Marseilles- 13% and also falling but slower rate.
Public transportation : Marseilles, Montpellier, France would beat Houston in Public transportation by shear number not even proportionally (exaggeration).
Shopping : Houston, if you like shopping at malls Houston has more than a dozen in the area. I don't know for Marseilles as that city might e better depending on your needs.
Open mindness : Houston, Our mayor is lesbian, and has been in office for 6+ years.
Schools : Houston, Public schools are excellent in the suburbs but the city itself most people don't want to talk about it., and Higher Education a lot more Universities than Marseilles but I didn't check the rankings to see if Marseilles universities were world renown so you can't completely trust my judgement on this one.
Weather : Marseilles, I like Houston weather better but if you want variety....
The Suburbs mostly on the Westside, Katy (Preferably South of 1-10, but some nice areas north of it also), Sugar Land great town with an almost small city feel, also the countless of other suburbs in Fort Bend County, Richmond, Missouri City in some areas, but these areas that I am naming may be up to 1 hour 30 minutes commute to downtown. Their are also the suburbs of Cypress, the Northern parts of Cypress are really nice, Jersey Village, and parts of Spring. Their are also the northern burbs Atascocita, The Woodlands (The largest Master Planned community in Texas and very aesthetically pleasing), and Kingwood but again take in min the commute for some of these places are 1-2 hours away to Downtown.
In the city their are a lot of poor areas scattered everywhere do to Houston being the largest city with no zoning, the good part about this is besides, 2-3 small areas their isn't any straight up hood areas like Marseilles's northern suburbs are supposed to be (never been, but according to some media it can compare to some U.S cities like New York which is still ridiculously safe compared to other cities in the U.S)
Some of the nice city neighborhoods are Memorial, almost every neighborhood on the west side of the inner loop like West University Place, The Heights, Bellaire, but keep in mind if you go to west in these areas or to east in these areas it will take you about 15-40 minutes driving not on the Highway but on the street for an area of middle class and million dollar homes to turn into lower class and almost ghetto like neighborhoods all on the same street. Plus these areas and some I didn't list are extremely expensive to buy a house at least compared to the suburbs. Their are also some nice Condo areas scattered across the West side of Houston.
Overall I would give it to Houston cause it size alone gives it more amenities than Marseille.
I look for the best vibe part of Houston, do you know it ?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
