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Houston has the worst core though, even worse then Dallas. At least Dallas has uptown and other walkable neighborhoods near there like West Village. Houston really has nothing other then Downtown. The Medical center area does not impress me either. It's miles away from the main CBD. A bunch of high rises surrounded by lawns and driveways does not impress me. A MARTA system wouldn't work in Houston, but would work better in Dallas.
This is part of the reason why ATL was probably voted among the top liked cities in the South nearly doubling both Dallas and Houston, going head to head with Miami, and losing out to New Orleans. It's a much more interesting city and surprisingly has interesting neighborhoods near or in it's core. It has subway like transit in the city core so it transports large amounts of people at once. A fairly active transit system for a sunbelt city. The MLK area gets a lot of tourists and is a fairly urban area itself which will see a further revival once the streetcar is done in 2014. Midtown Atlanta is close to becoming a fully urban district/CBD, though you can argue it already is. Some say it's better then Downtown Atlanta now.
Atlanta just seems like it has done more to focus on it's core then Houston or Dallas, despite both of those cities have larger and stronger economies. Dallas is doing a decent job with Uptown, but Houston? I don't know. It may be because of the transit system already in place. MARTA is the best transit system in the whole Southern half of the U.S. easily not including D.C.
That's probably part of the reason why Houston lagged behind on the GWCC ratings as a Beta City and not an Alpha city.
You gotta be kidding me. Houston has the strongest core in terms of amenities and employment. Atl only tops it fir transportation and education. Walkable neighbors mean crap in terms of world class cities.
World class cities have the universities, the zoos, the museums, the parks, the jobs, etc in their core. DFW would rank lower than both Houston and ATL on all these categories.
The rest of your post i am not going to bother with cause yoi are just repeating what ISaid.
I'll have to give it to Houston, only because it simply hasn't stopped booming and it's crazy. Otherwise, it'd be too close to call.
It would be nice if more of the boom was in the core/ 610 loop.
The last decade has seen lots of physical/ infrastructure development in the loop but the population is still lagging..
Basically between the late 90s and now, the two University of Houston campuses have doubled in size.
We have gotten four new stadiums, three in downtown. Three downtown parks have either gotten face lifts or built completely new.
In that period we also finally got the light rail kicked off, miles and miles of bike trails have been added.
I think if they paid as much attention to downtown in the previous few decdaes as they have been paying lately, then it definitely would outpace the rest
Atlanta has Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, Cumberland, and Perimeter Center for major employment centers so what are you talking about? That 'They like to spread the wealth around' excuse doesn't work here. Buckhead's skyline alone trumps most skylines in this country.
Just wait till Buckhead Atlanta comes and Buckhead will become the new lively urban district in the city.
Ok and? I didn't say Atlanta doesn't have multiple employment areas. Nor did I mention Houston has them as well. That's not what I was getting at anyway. I was saying that Atlanta focuses on downtown and Midtown and Buckhead. While Houston focuses on the entire loop plus the galleria plus many places outside the beltway. Atlanta just doesn't plop highrises or new urban districts all over town in random places like Houston does. I do agree that Houston's employment centers needs better connectivity with transit. But that goes back to politics on why they don't have that now.
It would be nice if more of the boom was in the core/ 610 loop.
The last decade has seen lots of physical/ infrastructure development in the loop but the population is still lagging..
Basically between the late 90s and now, the two University of Houston campuses have doubled in size.
We have gotten four new stadiums, three in downtown. Three downtown parks have either gotten face lifts or built completely new.
In that period we also finally got the light rail kicked off, miles and miles of bike trails have been added.
I think if they paid as much attention to downtown in the previous few decdaes as they have been paying lately, then it definitely would outpace the rest
And this is what I'm saying. Houston has done plenty to build up the loop or the core. But only a fraction of that went into downtown. Just imagine if Kirby, the sovereign, and others the past few years went into downtown Houston. Imagine if many of those midrise apartments going up all over the inner loop was developing in East Downtown. I mean you have newly proposed Astoria that would be great for Downtown. But it's going in the Galleria.
Ok and? I didn't say Atlanta doesn't have multiple employment areas. Nor did I mention Houston has them as well. That's not what I was getting at anyway. I was saying that Atlanta focuses on downtown and Midtown and Buckhead. While Houston focuses on the entire loop plus the galleria plus many places outside the beltway. Atlanta just doesn't plop highrises or new urban districts all over town in random places like Houston does. I do agree that Houston's employment centers needs better connectivity with transit. But that goes back to politics on why they don't have that now.
Oh okay. Thought you were trying to make an excuse for Houston as to why it's urban core leaves something to be desired.
It should build from it urban core outward. Not scattered.
To be honest, if there is one city I consider world class in the South, its Miami. I say this because its got the tourist draw, its the most well known, its the economic nexus of Latin America (sans Mexico) in the US, and its know for its night life and diversity among Latin cultures.
Houston, DFW, and Atlanta I think have elements that are world class, but are not completely world class or alpha world city. All three have great amounts of diversity, excellent eating, airports that will take you to any corner of the globe nonstop, and cool neighborhoods. Of the three, I think maybe Houston comes the closest overall though (and Im going to take heat for this) I actually find it the least walkable of the three, though the city does have some really cool neighborhoods. Houston does have the biggest economic impact followed by DFW and Atlanta. Conversely, Atlanta has the biggest cultural impact and is the most popular domestically followed by DFW and Houston. In a way, I always felt like DFW is the "middle child" of the three in a lot of ways.
I live in the Dallas area and I dont know what I consider it, but I sure love living here. I also love Houston and have an affinity for Atlanta. Im not going to get caught up in semantics.
To be honest, if there is one city I consider world class in the South, its Miami. I say this because its got the tourist draw, its the most well known, its the economic nexus of Latin America (sans Mexico) in the US, and its know for its night life and diversity among Latin cultures.
Houston, DFW, and Atlanta I think have elements that are world class, but are not completely world class or alpha world city. All three have great amounts of diversity, excellent eating, airports that will take you to any corner of the globe nonstop, and cool neighborhoods. Of the three, I think maybe Houston comes the closest overall though (and Im going to take heat for this) I actually find it the least walkable of the three, though the city does have some really cool neighborhoods. Houston does have the biggest economic impact followed by DFW and Atlanta. Conversely, Atlanta has the biggest cultural impact and is the most popular domestically followed by DFW and Houston. In a way, I always felt like DFW is the "middle child" of the three in a lot of ways.
I live in the Dallas area and I dont know what I consider it, but I sure love living here. I also love Houston and have an affinity for Atlanta. Im not going to get caught up in semantics.
This post accurately describes everything. Even I don't think any of these cities are world-class. Miami is very popular, especially by Europeans. Miami Beach(Particularly South Beach) is a world-wide known neighborhood.
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