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I count diversity as part of the cultural offerings. Not the only factor but definitely a factor. Why? Because if enough of a population lives in a city/town, then there will be cultural offerings that reflect it
Culture and diversity go hand in hand.
A more diverse city by definition will have the better cultural scene because culture is the way of life of different groups of people. The more different groups of people you have in large numbers the better the cultural scene will be.
People think of culture as something snobbish. Like Dressing up for fancy plays or the symphony. That is just a miniscule factor in culture. For a middle of the country city Houston has a pretty sizable Caribbean festival. Think of all the different Hispanic cultural institutions in Houston. Food is part of culture too.
Denver is great culturally for a top 20 metro but Houston is great for a top 10 metro. And the competition for top 10 is far more competitive. And again it's the rush diversity that keeps Houston competitive because in terms of just high culture Houston would not be able to compete with the likes of DC, SF or Boston but the overall diversity certainly keeps it there.
Denver does do well in the 15-20 metros. When you compare it to Baltimore, St Louis, Tampa and Minneapolis it compares well, but I don't see it dominating that group to the point where I would say it is comparable to one of the big 10 metros.
I like Denver, in not going to hate on it, but it is more of a niche type metro. Young, white, hype, outdoorsy people (majority of posters here) are going to love it. Houston on the otherhand if more of a well rounded cultural blend which is more my speed. I love beautiful landscapes and being outdoors, but the number one factor for me is diversity. So big diverse cities like Houston, Dallas, Miami... will always be my choice over City Data darling Niche cities like Denver, Austin or Nashville. Those are places that in my opinion are great for visiting but I am much much simpler in the things I look for in my daily life.
When I lived in San Antonio just going to the grocery store was a challenge to me. You would think that everywhere has grocery stores and they all carry the same things. But no, even big box stores like Walmart cater to the background of their residents. They are not going to stock items that the people who live their won't regularly buy. In addition, cities like Houston have so many different grocery stores specializing in Jamaican/Caribbean, Vietnamese, other Asian, African and Latin American goods that simple things like grocery shopping is different there.
Again biases will cause people to put down Houston and downplay is strengths, but Houston is a very well rounded city that I would definitely feel very comfortable living in.
A more diverse city by definition will have the better cultural scene because culture is the way of life of different groups of people. The more different groups of people you have in large numbers the better the cultural scene will be.
People think of culture as something snobbish. Like Dressing up for fancy plays or the symphony. That is just a miniscule factor in culture. For a middle of the country city Houston has a pretty sizable Caribbean festival. Think of all the different Hispanic cultural institutions in Houston. Food is part of culture too.
Denver is great culturally for a top 20 metro but Houston is great for a top 10 metro. And the competition for top 10 is far more competitive. And again it's the rush diversity that keeps Houston competitive because in terms of just high culture Houston would not be able to compete with the likes of DC, SF or Boston but the overall diversity certainly keeps it there.
Denver does do well in the 15-20 metros. When you compare it to Baltimore, St Louis, Tampa and Minneapolis it compares well, but I don't see it dominating that group to the point where I would say it is comparable to one of the big 10 metros.
I like Denver, in not going to hate on it, but it is more of a niche type metro. Young, white, hype, outdoorsy people (majority of posters here) are going to love it. Houston on the otherhand if more of a well rounded cultural blend which is more my speed. I love beautiful landscapes and being outdoors, but the number one factor for me is diversity. So big diverse cities like Houston, Dallas, Miami... will always be my choice over City Data darling Niche cities like Denver, Austin or Nashville. Those are places that in my opinion are great for visiting but I am much much simpler in the things I look for in my daily life.
When I lived in San Antonio just going to the grocery store was a challenge to me. You would think that everywhere has grocery stores and they all carry the same things. But no, even big box stores like Walmart cater to the background of their residents. They are not going to stock items that the people who live their won't regularly buy. In addition, cities like Houston have so many different grocery stores specializing in Jamaican/Caribbean, Vietnamese, other Asian, African and Latin American goods that simple things like grocery shopping is different there.
Again biases will cause people to put down Houston and downplay is strengths, but Houston is a very well rounded city that I would definitely feel very comfortable living in.
As someone who is pro Houston and think Houston has more culture to offer than Denver I can see how some people will still choose Denver over Houston. Again I think Houston is a tier above Denver but Denver has just enough and the area is less chaotic than Houston where I can easily see why some would prefer Denver to Houston.
With all of Houston's cultural offerings, most Houstonians live a good ways from all the unique cultural institutions. Like if I live in the burbs (which most Houstonians do) I have to drive through rough aggressive traffic just to get to those places. Commute might be less of a hassle in Denver's metro on top of the fact that they do have public transportation to ease the load from getting to point A to B. Houston's public transportation isn't as convenient.
Also while I do appreciate the diversity in Houston(It's one of it's major strengths) I can see how people would be turned off by the environment these diverse offerings are set in. I know lots of people who prefer walkable ethnic enclaves instead of ethnic designated strip centers. It's not the most romantic looking setting. Now Denver doesn't have those ethnic enclaves period but one might go, "Yeah Houston has diversity but not how I like it packaged."
Btw, I'm not suggesting Houston's diverse offerings are all in strip centers but that there's a lot of them that are though.
Not to mention Houston's extreme weather throughout the summer and hurricane season. Denver's overall vibe might just be a little more easy going, laxed, liberal and in close proximity to peaceful beauty. Like I said before, culturally Houston offers more but Denver has enough plus the other things I mention where I can see people passing on Houston.
What suburbs are you living in?
Most of my family and friends live in South West Houston and the offerings there are RICH!!!
The area has about 2M people and probably 2M more to the immediate South and to the west.
Yes Houston is big and you have to drive far for most things but in terms of groceries everything is right there.
They're will some in the further flung northern burbs that are far from the rich cultural offerings, but I thought you lived in Fort Bend? If you live in Fort Bend and think there are not a ton of options all around you then you are not living Houston right. I highly disagree that MOST Houstonians live far away or find trouble experiencing the cultural offerings. Getting to and from work may be a work out but every activities are not in the same boat.
As for as strip centers that is a city data dislike. Make a poll and that type of shopping experience would lose 90% to 10%, but in real life people have no problems with strip centers. A nice walkable area is great for picking up a few items, but in today's lifestyle where people do the bulk of the shopping once or twice a week, the strip center is perfect. How many of the nice new walkable shopping centers gets built in the rapidly growing parts of the US? Compare that to how many strip centers are being built? I would say 9 strip to 1 walkable.
Even in Denver the new shopping centers are heavily strip centers.
As for extreme weather, Denver has it too. I have been to Denver in June and there was snow on the ground still. Houston has extreme summers Denver has extreme winters. Which makes the strip centers far more useful than the walkable ones. People are lazy. They love the convenience of parking 5 feet away from the store entrance and then running in.
Finally as far as you being pro Houston, I think you are more critical than pro. You are VERY hard on the city, but you support it sometimes. Maybe 60-40 critical.
As someone who is pro Houston and think Houston has more culture to offer than Denver I can see how some people will still choose Denver over Houston. Again I think Houston is a tier above Denver but Denver has just enough and the area is less chaotic than Houston where I can easily see why some would prefer Denver to Houston.
There are lots of reasons one would choose Denver over Houston. I can certainly see that.
But no I dont think the cultural amenities are close.
There are lots of reasons one would choose Denver over Houston. I can certainly see that.
But no I dont think the cultural amenities are close.
Agreed. And even on the presentable note, while Denver is certainly more uniform than Houston, it’s not a huge walkable paradise or anything close to it. Denver is a place where living without a car is possible only if you like and work near transit but you also sacrifice having your own transportation to visit people.
Many of parts Denver (aka where most people live) share Houston’s danger of crossing the street.
With all that said, Denver’s walkable zone is larger than Houston’s but covers a minor percentage of the the metro.
What suburbs are you living in?
Most of my family and friends live in South West Houston and the offerings there are RICH!!!
The area has about 2M people and probably 2M more to the immediate South and to the west.
Yes Houston is big and you have to drive far for most things but in terms of groceries everything is right there.
They're will some in the further flung northern burbs that are far from the rich cultural offerings, but I thought you lived in Fort Bend? If you live in Fort Bend and think there are not a ton of options all around you then you are not living Houston right. I highly disagree that MOST Houstonians live far away or find trouble experiencing the cultural offerings. Getting to and from work may be a work out but every activities are not in the same boat.
As for as strip centers that is a city data dislike. Make a poll and that type of shopping experience would lose 90% to 10%, but in real life people have no problems with strip centers. A nice walkable area is great for picking up a few items, but in today's lifestyle where people do the bulk of the shopping once or twice a week, the strip center is perfect. How many of the nice new walkable shopping centers gets built in the rapidly growing parts of the US? Compare that to how many strip centers are being built? I would say 9 strip to 1 walkable.
Even in Denver the new shopping centers are heavily strip centers.
As for extreme weather, Denver has it too. I have been to Denver in June and there was snow on the ground still. Houston has extreme summers Denver has extreme winters. Which makes the strip centers far more useful than the walkable ones. People are lazy. They love the convenience of parking 5 feet away from the store entrance and then running in.
Finally as far as you being pro Houston, I think you are more critical than pro. You are VERY hard on the city, but you support it sometimes. Maybe 60-40 critical.
It depends on what you're trying to do. If you live on the Northside, you won't experience much on the south side of the city/metro.
You think people prefer strip malls because that's what dominates the sector. People don't flock to Chinatown in Houston to hang out at the strip malls.
There is pretty much never snow still on the ground in June, it doesn't even stay in the foothills for long. That's about as rare as a big hurricane is.
Denver has pretty mild winters actually, it's known for that. And no, people in Denver are definitely still active in the winter and ride bikes to work. Bars are hopping and outdoor patios have heaters.
It depends on what you're trying to do. If you live on the Northside, you won't experience much on the south side of the city/metro.
You think people prefer strip malls because that's what dominates the sector. People don't flock to Chinatown in Houston to hang out at the strip malls.
There is pretty much never snow still on the ground in June, it doesn't even stay in the foothills for long. That's about as rare as a big hurricane is.
Denver has pretty mild winters actually, it's known for that. And no, people in Denver are definitely still active in the winter and ride bikes to work. Bars are hopping and outdoor patios have heaters.
No one flocks to strip malls period. It is not a vacation destination. They go to strip centers to get what they want and it's convenient.
Denver has them to.
Snow in June should be rare. It's the summer. But it still happens. Seen it with my owns eyes and for people who do not like cold my point is it happens. But here is an article about late May snow this year https://www.9news.com/article/weathe...c-96b7dce10ab0
Houston has bad weather in the summer, Denver has bad winters. Why does everything have to be the extreme absolute? People still are active in summer in Houston too. I never said people stop cold in the winter in Denver as I'm sure you are not stating that Houston shuts down in the summer.
Again its preference. Some like it hot, some lie it cold. I'm never one to assume that my likes are everyone else's. I may suggest that the OP coming from DFW wouldn't have that much trouble adjusting to Houston's climate but I leave it up to the OP to decide which he prefers or if weather is even that high up on his priorities list.
Would you guys agree that Denver is more like Austin and Houston is more like Dallas?
I would say that Denver is most similar to Austin of the cities in Texas, but its more like a combo of Austin and Dallas. Its got that corporate side to it as well. The city that reminds me most of Austin is Portland, OR. Austin and Dallas are both more diverse than Denver or Portland though.
Of all the cities I know of that remind me of Houston, its Long Beach, CA. Realistically, Houston is what would happen if you crossed Los Angeles and Lafayette, LA.
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