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No Dallas and Houston are often degraded by the romanticizers, I'd say the above would be proof of that
that's not true. Dallas nor Houston is romanticized on here. Now, there are those that live in these cities that love living in them. But they aren't "romanticized nearly as much as they are degraded and berated on CvC in general.
That actually IS the normal American family these days- go to any metro area in America- once you get past the urban core of each city, you have miles upon miles upon miles of suburban type single family homes that are just as the other poster described, inhabited mostly by families with cars. Any small town, any small to medium city, and any major city outside the urban core is that way- which equals the vast majority of the American population.
And to put in my two cents on the overall discussion, I would say Austin, Dallas, and Houston. Very overrated, they just don't live up to what people seem to say about them online. Add to it the miserable heat for over half of the year and the lack of any natural scenery and I just don't get the attraction. Someone mentioned being locked indoors for 6 months in Seattle- but I feel the same way about the late Spring/Summer heat in Texas- I would never be able to get out of the house during that time of the year due to that heat.
I agree with you about the American Dream VS. the Woody Allen pipe dream that some users depict of NYC on these forums. But I feel that Austin has some very nice natural scenery compared to Dallas and Houston.
That actually IS the normal American family these days- go to any metro area in America- once you get past the urban core of each city, you have miles upon miles upon miles of suburban type single family homes that are just as the other poster described, inhabited mostly by families with cars. Any small town, any small to medium city, and any major city outside the urban core is that way- which equals the vast majority of the American population.
And to put in my two cents on the overall discussion, I would say Austin, Dallas, and Houston. Very overrated, they just don't live up to what people seem to say about them online. Add to it the miserable heat for over half of the year and the lack of any natural scenery and I just don't get the attraction. Someone mentioned being locked indoors for 6 months in Seattle- but I feel the same way about the late Spring/Summer heat in Texas- I would never be able to get out of the house during that time of the year due to that heat.
I live in Houston, and I would love to move to Seattle. I could handle the rain, but I would probably wish it got a little warmer every once in a while. The scenery is beautiful. Houston's weather sucks, no doubt about it. I find that weather sucks just about everywhere though. New York and Chicago and Boston are too cold, Seattle rains a lot, Miami and New Orleans and Houston are hot and muggy. California may have great weather, but they have a fire season, and every year it seems that homes end up in the path of these fires. That doesn't even take into account earthquakes, which are probably about as threatening as hurricanes since the big ones don't happen all that often.
There is no perfect place. I would love to live somewhere where there are mountains or other interesting topography, but I love the people around here. People are the best assets of Houston, Dallas, and Austin, but you'd have to live here to understand that. I'm used to heat and humidity, so it really doesn't bother me.
I live in Houston, and I would love to move to Seattle. I could handle the rain, but I would probably wish it got a little warmer every once in a while. The scenery is beautiful. Houston's weather sucks, no doubt about it. I find that weather sucks just about everywhere though. New York and Chicago and Boston are too cold, Seattle rains a lot, Miami and New Orleans and Houston are hot and muggy. California may have great weather, but they have a fire season, and every year it seems that homes end up in the path of these fires. That doesn't even take into account earthquakes, which are probably about as threatening as hurricanes since the big ones don't happen all that often.
There is no perfect place. I would love to live somewhere where there are mountains or other interesting topography, but I love the people around here. People are the best assets of Houston, Dallas, and Austin, but you'd have to live here to understand that. I'm used to heat and humidity, so it really doesn't bother me.
Seattle sits on a major fault line that can create 9.0 earthquakes potentially.
Seattle is also close to Mt Rainier, an active volcano that can blow up and unleash a catastrophic lahar wave which will obliterate everything in it's path, as well as lay ash upon the region.
... But at least we'll have a beautiful view of it when it does happen!
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Houston
There are bizarre Houston is a top five best city fanbase. It's quite a horrid city that is built around cars. Hot, concrete and highway orientated, and doesn't have the density to create a quality city.
Next two would be Dallas (though few boast about it) and Atlanta.
There are bizarre Houston is a top five best city fanbase. It's quite a horrid city that is built around cars. Hot, concrete and highway orientated, and doesn't have the density to create a quality city.
Next two would be Dallas (though few boast about it) and Atlanta.
Countless people before you have given the same weak description of Houston on this forum. Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and many other cities in the sunbelt are nowhere near romanticized on this forum.
Eh I would say MOST sunbelt cities are looked upon favorably on here. Houston and Dallas tend to get beat up because of people clinging to stereotypes about Texas, and refusing to see changes in any place that doesn't fit their media appointed comfort zone.
Seattle is lovely and gorgeous; it's also wildly expensive.
I think one thing people fail to take into consideration is that the much-hyped $15/hr wage here has the spending power of - oh- $10/hr somewhere else. That is to say, it doesn't go far at all.
My fear is that people will move to Seattle without doing their research. EVERY SINGLE DAY people post wanting to know where they can find apartments for less than $1000/mo. Well, they exist ... but not in the city itself. You're committed to commuting if you live in this area, and that's a fact.
Going to have to say it again, Manhattan is not New York City.
MANHATTAN IS NOT NEW YORK CITY
I know what I just did was obnoxious, maybe even cliche, but it has to be said. For the people who are trafficking this post, even if they just glance at it, you have to know MANHATTAN IS NOT NEW YORK CITY.
I can't believe we are 10 pages in, and the only gentleman or lady who really took the time to point this out was emathias.
These arguments about how you have to be a millionaire CEO to live in New York City makes zero sense. If no one could afford to live in NYC other than the rich, than NYC wouldn't be the most popular city by a significant amount. You think 20 million people who live in NYC (and yes, 20 million, 8 million is just city proper, which is a silly way to look at things, but the point would still stand even if we used proper population) are all rich? You think the vast majority of them would not be described as middle class?
Again, Manhattan is not New York City. Manhattan is a part of New York City. Most people who live in New York City proper live in QUEENS, not Manhattan. The second most popular borough in New York City is Man...nope, it's BROOKLYN.
Queens is suburban even though it is in NYC, so yes, you can have a house, a lawn and 2 cars there (which is a silly standard for middle class, because in NYC there are people who do not use cars even if they can afford it due to a high level of public transportation).
Brooklyn is urban, but you can certainly have apartments like the one in Seinfield without it costing "millions" of dollars (also, Seinfeld debut'd over 20 years ago, aside from it being fictional, New York City real estate has changed a lot since then).
Then there is Staten Island, which isn't as cool as the others, but certainly very affordable. The Bronx has a lot of bad areas, but you certainly don't need to be a millionaire to live there (though it has very high class neighborhoods).
Then of course there are the outskirts, which is where I live (on the border of Queens). I hop on the train and I get all the benefits of Manhattan when I go out during the weekend, I don't have to be a "millionaire" to do that, all I need is a few dollars and 18 minutes of my time to get into Manhattan.
And Manhattan isn't even really the "hip spot" anymore. I mean don't get me wrong, majority of people still go there for entertainment, but Brooklyn is starting to become more of the cool area since Manhattan has kinda gotten sterilized or perhaps too mainstream.
Again, Manhattan is not New York City. Stop thinking New York City is just Wallstreet and Timesquare. It is a gigantic city, Manhattan is just 1/5th of New York City. It's not like New Yorkers need Manhattan to have fun either, because Brooklyn is a very fun area (it would be one of the best cities if it were to go independent again), and Queens is an awesome place to live and there is a lot to do there too (compared to most cities in America, obviously not compared to Brooklyn or Manhattan).
As for the argument that people cannot afford to take advantage of all the culture NYC has to have. I don't understand that one at all. Yes, if you go to a museum, go see a rockband, go to an opera, go to a basketball game, go to Broadway, go bar hopping, go to a poetry club, go to a nice restaurant - if you do that every day, for the rest of your life, yes you will go broke - how is that any different from any other place in the world? The average family can indeed enjoy themselves on the weekend if they so chose, at the very least do something once a month if they want too.
Most people who do not take advantage of NYC's culture is either due to laziness, disinterest or just ignorance of what there is to do - money probably is not the key problem.
its all perspective--- to the mugger any police action is over police reaction.
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