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In terms of comparing Houston to any city in Florida, its closest parallel would be Tampa or even Orlando moreso than Miami. While there are nicer beaches and a stronger hospitality industry presence in the Tampa Bay Area, Tampa itself is pretty industrial and blue-collar like Houston, and also has a busy port like Houston does. While this all sounds superficial on paper, the streetscapes are very similar. Dale Mabry Highway/Kennedy Blvd could just as easily be Westheimer in Westchase
I could go on, but housing styles in the two cities began to greatly diverge in the 1980s, so the newer parts of Tampa like New Tampa or Wesley Chapel or Brandon look very different from Greater Katy or Cinco Ranch or Cypress, because most newer houses in Florida are made with stucco while brick is the material most often used in newer constructed houses in Greater Houston. My main point is that these two Gulf Coast cities have a lot more in common with each other than Houston does with Miami/South Florida, but there are similarities between those cities as well.
The similarities between Los Angeles and Houston are more due to their diverse populations, and the freeway-oriented development that dominated both cities over the years. And Interstate 10 runs through both of them...There have also been historical ties between the two cities in industry (the Oil Industry had a large presence in Los Angeles up until the 1970s or so) and some cultural aspects (because of the Great Migration). Otherwise, the two cities are VERY different in a lot of ways. Terrain, weather, culture, one is a megacity on the Pacific Rim with 18 million people and almost dominates its side of the country in terms of culture (although the Bay Area definitely holds its own), while the other is a major city of 6 million people (and growing) on the Gulf Coast that has a culture all its own, but is still very much a part of the Southern US, so comparing the two is apples and oranges.
Also, unlike Miami OR Los Angeles, Houston does not have the land/development constraints that those two cities have.
Wow! Tampa does look like Houston. This just shows that the Gulf Coast has its own feel. Also, those Louisiana cities look just like Houston.
The metro area is a like a hodgepodge of feels:
- New Orleans, Tampa = ITL
- Atlanta; Birmingham; Hammond, Louisiana; Mobile/Baldwin County = North
- DFW - Katy
- Baton Rouge, Metairie = Southwest
- Orlando - SE along 45 near Baybrook
- New Orleans, Mobile, Charleston, Savannah = Galveston (if you want to include)
The metro area is a like a hodgepodge of feels:
- New Orleans, Tampa = ITL
- Atlanta; Birmingham; Hammond, Louisiana; Mobile/Baldwin County = North
- DFW - Katy
- Baton Rouge, Metairie = Southwest
- Orlando - SE along 45 near Baybrook
- New Orleans, Mobile, Charleston, Savannah = Galveston (if you want to include)
Except for the occasional familiar McMansion, I don't see any resemblance to my hometown in these pictures. Suburban Mandarin or Orange Park in Jacksonville, Carrollwood in Tampa, Longwood or Maitland in Orlando or Kenner, Metairie or Marrero in New Orleans, yes...but not the northern Atlanta suburbs. Different topography, different vegetation, different feel altogether.
Except for the occasional familiar McMansion, I don't see any resemblance to my hometown in these pictures. Suburban Mandarin or Orange Park in Jacksonville, Carrollwood in Tampa, Longwood or Maitland in Orlando or Kenner, Metairie or Marrero in New Orleans, yes...but not the northern Atlanta suburbs. Different topography, different vegetation, different feel altogether.
Except for the occasional familiar McMansion, I don't see any resemblance to my hometown in these pictures. Suburban Mandarin or Orange Park in Jacksonville, Carrollwood in Tampa, Longwood or Maitland in Orlando or Kenner, Metairie or Marrero in New Orleans, yes...but not the northern Atlanta suburbs. Different topography, different vegetation, different feel altogether.
^^This is on the money. For one thing, Houston is much flatter than Atlanta, and the rolling hills to the north of Houston are still much less varied in terrain than the foothills of the Appalachians where many of Atlanta's northern burbs are. Yes, there is lush tree cover like Atlanta, but the similarities end there. Houston shares more similarities to Gulf South and Atlantic South cities than a Piedmont city such as Atlanta or Charlotte.
Infamous Pine Hills in Orlando could just as well be plopped down in the middle of Alief in Houston and besides the differences in housing styles, I wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference
Except for the occasional familiar McMansion, I don't see any resemblance to my hometown in these pictures. Suburban Mandarin or Orange Park in Jacksonville, Carrollwood in Tampa, Longwood or Maitland in Orlando or Kenner, Metairie or Marrero in New Orleans, yes...but not the northern Atlanta suburbs. Different topography, different vegetation, different feel altogether.
I see where he's getting at with the pines, but I agree that they don't look alike. Parts of Northeast and Deep East Texas do strongly resemble the Piedmont, however, minus the abundance of poplars.
I thought it was common knowledge that Houston bared more similarities to North and Central Florida, but if we're comparing it to the two cities in the OP, I'm seeing more similarities to Miami.
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