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.
0 votes for SA, Austin, and Dallas
2 for Houston
I take it that this forum isn't a big fan of Texas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RocketSci
People only get 1 vote for "most beautiful" in the US. Anyone not voting for one of the current top 7 or so isn't being honest, or is severely delusional.
Of the top 7, I have never been to Honolulu, but I was most struck by the Portland area, more specifically the Columbia River gorge and the waterfalls, the lush green hills and valleys, etc. Of the others, in order, Seattle, San Francisco, and LA. NYC should be getting more votes, as the metro has much much more going on than just the city. Loved the trips up the Hudson.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turnerbro
I actually think Austin and San Antonio are underrated in this category.
I agree with Rocket.
Every city and area of the country has at least some beauty. But if you can vote for only one, how can someone vote for Houston over one of the West Coast cities? I live outside NYC and while the NYC metro does have alot of natural beauty there is no way I could vote for NY over Seattle. That would be extreme homerism.
Hmm, Houston metro over Austin or San Antonio? Maybe they are thinking of the coastline but even then. What do Texans think?
I would agree Tulsa is more beautiful than OKC, but both have nice neighborhoods. OKC has the stronger central city. The two are close in population and compete on many levels. That said, they are the only two OK cities that have any real relevance. Though Stillwater gets some interest due to Oklahoma State University. Lived in OKC for awhile in the mid-80's, and kind of liked it. The weather was certainly interesting, snow moving into tornado season. Always on guard with what was happening in the sky!
Every city and area of the country has at least some beauty. But if you can vote for only one, how can someone vote for Houston over one of the West Coast cities? I live outside NYC and while the NYC metro does have alot of natural beauty there is no way I could vote for NY over Seattle. That would be extreme homerism.
Hmm, Houston metro over Austin or San Antonio? Maybe they are thinking of the coastline but even then. What do Texans think?
The Hill Country scenes in Austin and San Antonio are quite interesting. They provide a very good combination of limestone topography and green vegetation — then the springs offer a somewhat similar vibe to the cenotes of Mexico (Yucatán Peninsula). Both are smaller cities, which are often overlooked when it comes to these types of bloated polls — notice the entire block of cities from VA Beach to Memphis doesn't have a single vote.
The votes for Houston are probably an artifact emanating from the overall subtropical/tropical influence seen in the coastal South. It's the combination of high rainfall and warmer winter climate, which produces lusher, more evergreen vegetation compared to much of the land farther north and/or west — broadleaf evergreens, like huge live oaks, magnolias, spanish moss, not very common across this country. Peninsular Florida is the most pronounced for these factors, greater as you head farther south — hence Miami doing quite well on this poll, with Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville having less votes.
NYC has the image of "concrete-jungle" because a lot of depictions are focused on urban areas. But as showed earlier this thread, there are nice areas of nature and topography in the nearby surrounding area. Ironically, the high-density responsible for "concrete-jungle" sentiments actually helps in preserving the surrounding natural environment such that there is more pristinity — you even see how clean-cut and organized things with the juxtaposition of Central Park inside the city.
Last edited by kemahkami; 12-11-2021 at 03:39 PM..
I would agree Tulsa is more beautiful than OKC, but both have nice neighborhoods. OKC has the stronger central city. The two are close in population and compete on many levels. That said, they are the only two OK cities that have any real relevance. Though Stillwater gets some interest due to Oklahoma State University. Lived in OKC for awhile in the mid-80's, and kind of liked it. The weather was certainly interesting, snow moving into tornado season. Always on guard with what was happening in the sky!
The landscape between I-35 and Stillwater at least starts to get interesting as the land noticeably starts changing from ruler flat and treeless to a few short ridges where the CrossTimbers start to thrive on. Then once in Stillwater, since it's in a small valley, you can't see as far distant as you can in ruler flat Enid.
The weather is still bad, if not worse, in Oklahoma City.
If beautiful means a combination of natural beauty and aesthetic beauty as well as a lack of blight. Austin has some gorgeous parts, but theirs a bit too much, meh in the city for me to put it as most beautiful. American cities in general are some of the least focused on Beauty, to the point were if measured across a city, a decent amount of Third World cities look better.
I would say overall, Dallas has generally looked better than Austin, but then a lot of it is hidden behind trees, like I-45 going into Dallas from Houston the blight doesn't look as bad as it probably is. While I-35 through Austin, even in nice areas has some questionable scenery. If I-35 looked, better, I would probably have given it to Austin out of the Texas cities.
Houston has some nice parts but the Eastern half of the city has some of the ugliest streetscapes in the United States not associated with extreme poverty. I will say poor Texas neighborhoods in general do not look that disastrous, although some inner ones do. Largely due to the age of the housing some of the older neighborhoods that struggle today look relatively great.
I've also seen videos of parts of Chicago and it doesn't look that bad either. New York on the other hand could look downright dilapidated in a middle class neighborhood, and I think this is largely due to the age of the buildings there.
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.
