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I lived in Miami. I have more experience with Florida than I do with Texas. But coming from the warm waters of the Caribbean, I have experience and knowledge in this. The waters in and around Florida are noticeably colder.
props to you my friend. They are over in SF complaining how they can't get any decent home over 600 square feet for less than half a million, so they move to Houston and the same amount of money got them a 3000 sq feet house with money left over to take 4 vacations a year, and all they do is complain that there is nothing to do. well take your sorry ass back to SF where there is lots to do and live in your cramped house, or stay here, and enjoy your big house with extra money to go on vacations and shut the hell up. The reason why you require lots of things to do in SF is because the COL is so damn high you can't afford to go anywhere.
If you have noyyt noticed, cities with walkable areas and fun things to do are overpriced, high strung hell holes. Leave my Houston alone, I don't want it becoming anything like Manhatten or SF. I like being able to leave SF or Manhatten when it gets too much. I am glad that not every city in the US is like that, and people have the choices
1. Solid fairly diversified expanding economy
2. Affordable and above average salaries
3. Variety of food
4. Most international in TX (more so than Dallas and Austin)
5. Good museums and arts scene
Bad:
1. Pedestrian unfriendly and spreadout (no real city feeling). Suburbs culture.
2. Unsophisticated night life (if you compare to NY, Miami, and L.A.)
3. Plain ugly for the most part (exceptions are Rice area, River Oaks, and parts of Montrose)
4. No pleasant surroundings and little to do on the weekend in terms of outdoors
5. Backward people's mentality about walking/public transport (you must be poor if you don't drive!). If you drive a scooter you must be gay.
"From a YOUNG PROFESSIONAL'S point of view" and having lived/beento many large cities, I think you're pretty on the money. Most of my young single friends consider Houston inside the loop and Galleria. Even memorial doesn't count for them, and forget about Champions and Katy....whereever there's a Factory outlet, we young ones consider that rural. I don't know that Houston pay above avg salaries, I sense that maybe it's less than NY, MA, CA, etc, but I do agree that life is overall more affordable even with less pay. I think dining scene here is great!
As for the negatives, we don't have as much immediate outdoors stuff to do but most cities don't either b/c of their geographic location. However, if you are willing to drive a little, there are good places to camp, hike,bike etc. Pick up a FREE TX travel guide book from www.traveltex.com. There's also memorial park, discovery green and all the events that go thru there.
The comment about scooters cracked me up, it's kinda true.
1. Solid fairly diversified expanding economy
2. Affordable and above average salaries
3. Variety of food
4. Most international in TX (more so than Dallas and Austin)
5. Good museums and arts scene
Houston is cheap in both good and bad way. You get what you pay for.
I don't think food scene is that diverse. Mainly Tex-mex and medium quality ethnic food. Not a single Michelin star rated restaurant or anything worth mentioning outside Texas border. Same for arts scene, nightlife or clubs/radios. Traffic is absolutely horrible with no alternatives. Population is very conservative and religious.
But well, it's cheap here. If you are young professional focused on making good $$ or some carrer progress (think Medical center), it's perfect here. If you are not much into rat race and want some quality of life, you'd better look around Colorado/NY/Outside US.
1. Kayak or canoe Buffalo Bayou
2. Hike/backpack Sam Houston National Forest, Huntsville State Park, etc.
3. Road bike anywhere
4. Mountain Bike Memorial Park
5. Run/walk Memorial, Hermann, George Bush parks or Rice U or Buffalo Bayou
6. Golf Hermann or Memorial public courses
7. Disc golf at parks all over Houston
8. Water sports at rivers, lakes, bay, gulf, etc.
9. Hunting
10. Fishing
11. Bird watching
12. Tennis, basketball, football, softball, kickball, etc.
13. I don't need to go on
The most important thing to a young professional is having a job. Houston has a lot more opportunities than most places in the US. That's why people keep moving here. It's not because of the mountains or the beaches or the pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.
However, just because Houston isn't dense as a whole doesn't mean there aren't walkable/bikeable areas. If you live anywhere "inside the loop" (which is really the areas around and in between downtown, the Heights, uptown, and Rice U) you are able to own or rent a relatively nice living situation and can walk/bike to plenty of parks, restaurants, and bars.
However, none of that matters if you don't know people. Most of the people that don't enjoy Houston are those who don't really know anyone here because they've come here for work. It's very easy to complain about a city when you're bored. I'm not saying this is the OP's situation, but there definitely seems to be a trend of lonely people bashing Houston.
I had a friend who was miserable in a great area in San Diego for 3 years until he finally started to meet some people. After that he thought San Diego was the greatest city in the US. Go figure. Houston has everything we need for happiness. We just need positive attitudes and friends to share our experiences with.
1. Solid fairly diversified expanding economy
2. Affordable and above average salaries
3. Variety of food
4. Most international in TX (more so than Dallas and Austin)
5. Good museums and arts scene
Bad:
1. Pedestrian unfriendly and spreadout (no real city feeling). Suburbs culture.
2. Unsophisticated night life (if you compare to NY, Miami, and L.A.)
3. Plain ugly for the most part (exceptions are Rice area, River Oaks, and parts of Montrose)
4. No pleasant surroundings and little to do on the weekend in terms of outdoors
5. Backward people's mentality about walking/public transport (you must be poor if you don't drive!). If you drive a scooter you must be gay.
Well good for you, kiddo. Go live in SF or Boston or NYC.
Me? I lived in NYC (upper west side, Manhattan) when I WAS a Young, Upwardly-Mobile Professional.
Now, I'm middle-aged and I don't WANT to go live in an exceedingly dense city.
As others have said, comparing Houston to other cities is comparing apples to kumquats. Guess what else about Houston? We're not in a dry lake bed/desert surrounded by mountains (Phoenix). Snow sports are not big here; we don't sell that many Subaru Outbacks and I've not seen a ski rack in ages (Denver). Ice fishing will never catch on here (Minneapolis).
One reason I'm not posting as much on this forum as I used to is: I'm tired of this same argument over and over and over and over and over.
If you want a highly dense, urbanized city where jobs are still plentiful for yups, move to NYC and have done with it.
NYC is the real deal. Not provincial like Boston. Not spread out and car-centric like LA (and not nearly as fake as LA, either). All 4 seasons represented. Coney Island. Fire Island. 2 MLB teams, 2 NFL teams. Hockey. The world's largest dog show. Real, live skyscrapers. Subways make urban travel uber-easy (inexpensive, too). (My mother used to have nervous kittens worrying about my riding the subway. I told her, "Mom: 8 million people a day ride the subway in New York. Yes, there's about a fatality a week (usually somebody gets on the tracks). 8 million x 7 = 1/56,000,000 chance of me dying. Better odds than Little Rock.).
NYC has restaurants out the gazoo, fabulous museums you could spend a lifetime exploring, the best opera company in the world, one of the greatest symphonies in the world, one of the finest ballet companies. It has more art galleries than Paris. You haven't lived till you've taken in High Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, or done evensong at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue (Episcopal). The fireworks over the East River for the 4th of July are the largest display in the world; 8 million people line the banks of the river to watch.
The New York Times (which is best enjoyed at Zabar's while drinking coffee "regular" and having lox and bagel with a schmear) is the "Newspaper of Record" for the greatest country in the history of human civilization. It can be delivered to your apartment daily, or you can just pick it up at one of the hundreds of newsstands.
Central Park is one of the finest urban parks in the world.
You can get up-close and personal with some of the world's brightest stars on (and off, and off-off, and off-off-off) Broadway.
John's Pizza. Grotta Azzurra. Ollie's Noodle Shop (Mandarin). Korean. Thai. Iranian. Iraqui. Saudi. Argentinian beef. Exotic shellfish. Fabulous Kosher Deli's on every corner (literally). Put another way: If you are 21, and you eat at a different restaurant every meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), you will die of old age before you can hit all the restaurants in New York City.
Fresh flowers from around the world delivered every single day.
3 huge airports with departures for "the entire world". Nonstop.
A functioning train system.
New York "Power Lunch": 2 Hot Dogs from a street vendor, mustard, relish, and a regular Coke.
(Speaking of drinking, New York has some of the best tap water in the world, per every published report. But, if you prefer alcohol, New York has enough bars (all types) to keep anyone happy).
Gorgeous, available young women in amazingly fashionable clothes. Handsome, dashing, available young men likewise. Your choice, whichever floats your boat.
24-hour EVERYTHING. In the immortal words of the immortal Huey Lewis: "Where else can you do half a million things---all at a quarter of three?"
New York is paradise for young urban professionals. I ought to know, for I did it.
Why don't you just go there and leave poor old ugly, broken down, pitiful, humid, car-centric, suburban Houston in your dust? (and come back to see us when you grow up).
Well good for you, kiddo. Go live in SF or Boston or NYC.
Me? I lived in NYC (upper west side, Manhattan) when I WAS a Young, Upwardly-Mobile Professional.
Now, I'm middle-aged and I don't WANT to go live in an exceedingly dense city.
As others have said, comparing Houston to other cities is comparing apples to kumquats. Guess what else about Houston? We're not in a dry lake bed/desert surrounded by mountains (Phoenix). Snow sports are not big here; we don't sell that many Subaru Outbacks and I've not seen a ski rack in ages (Denver). Ice fishing will never catch on here (Minneapolis).
One reason I'm not posting as much on this forum as I used to is: I'm tired of this same argument over and over and over and over and over.
If you want a highly dense, urbanized city where jobs are still plentiful for yups, move to NYC and have done with it.
NYC is the real deal. Not provincial like Boston. Not spread out and car-centric like LA (and not nearly as fake as LA, either). All 4 seasons represented. Coney Island. Fire Island. 2 MLB teams, 2 NFL teams. Hockey. The world's largest dog show. Real, live skyscrapers. Subways make urban travel uber-easy (inexpensive, too). (My mother used to have nervous kittens worrying about my riding the subway. I told her, "Mom: 8 million people a day ride the subway in New York. Yes, there's about a fatality a week (usually somebody gets on the tracks). 8 million x 7 = 1/56,000,000 chance of me dying. Better odds than Little Rock.).
NYC has restaurants out the gazoo, fabulous museums you could spend a lifetime exploring, the best opera company in the world, one of the greatest symphonies in the world, one of the finest ballet companies. It has more art galleries than Paris. You haven't lived till you've taken in High Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, or done evensong at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue (Episcopal). The fireworks over the East River for the 4th of July are the largest display in the world; 8 million people line the banks of the river to watch.
The New York Times (which is best enjoyed at Zabar's while drinking coffee "regular" and having lox and bagel with a schmear) is the "Newspaper of Record" for the greatest country in the history of human civilization. It can be delivered to your apartment daily, or you can just pick it up at one of the hundreds of newsstands.
Central Park is one of the finest urban parks in the world.
You can get up-close and personal with some of the world's brightest stars on (and off, and off-off, and off-off-off) Broadway.
John's Pizza. Grotta Azzurra. Ollie's Noodle Shop (Mandarin). Korean. Thai. Iranian. Iraqui. Saudi. Argentinian beef. Exotic shellfish. Fabulous Kosher Deli's on every corner (literally). Put another way: If you are 21, and you eat at a different restaurant every meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), you will die of old age before you can hit all the restaurants in New York City.
Fresh flowers from around the world delivered every single day.
3 huge airports with departures for "the entire world". Nonstop.
A functioning train system.
New York "Power Lunch": 2 Hot Dogs from a street vendor, mustard, relish, and a regular Coke.
(Speaking of drinking, New York has some of the best tap water in the world, per every published report. But, if you prefer alcohol, New York has enough bars (all types) to keep anyone happy).
Gorgeous, available young women in amazingly fashionable clothes. Handsome, dashing, available young men likewise. Your choice, whichever floats your boat.
24-hour EVERYTHING. In the immortal words of the immortal Huey Lewis: "Where else can you do half a million things---all at a quarter of three?"
New York is paradise for young urban professionals. I ought to know, for I did it.
Why don't you just go there and leave poor old ugly, broken down, pitiful, humid, car-centric, suburban Houston in your dust? (and come back to see us when you grow up).
Welcome back, Malvie.
However, now I want to vacation in NYC after that post - I haven't been in a few years. I am over-due. Then I will come back home to Houston.
You are referring to places which are not even in Houston! Not to mention, a young professional won't find a cookie cutter suburb worth driving to.
Link as much as you like, people should know there are no mountains, hills, or decent beaches anywhere around. This place is not California or Florida. There is nothing to do on the weekends outdoor if you don't play golf.
One more good thing for Houston. You can fly to South Florida for cheap in 2 hours.
There's memorial park and herman park. You can also kayak on the bayous. Galveston is a 45 min. drive from downtown. Plus, with all the California folk moving here, I've noticed road biking has picked up around parts of downtown/midtown...especially the Allen Parkway area. There are polo fields in Memorial Park. Discovery Green has free yoga sessions in the morning when its cool outside.
There's plenty of out door fun to be had on the weekends...you just have to go looking for it...
There's memorial park and herman park. You can also kayak on the bayous. Galveston is a 45 min. drive from downtown. Plus, with all the California folk moving here, I've noticed road biking has picked up around parts of downtown/midtown...especially the Allen Parkway area. There are polo fields in Memorial Park. Discovery Green has free yoga sessions in the morning when its cool outside.
There's plenty of out door fun to be had on the weekends...you just have to go looking for it...
Bayous and Galveston....You talk about it like it's Fort Lauderdale and its canals. Come on!!!
Well good for you, kiddo. Go live in SF or Boston or NYC.
Me? I lived in NYC (upper west side, Manhattan) when I WAS a Young, Upwardly-Mobile Professional.
Now, I'm middle-aged and I don't WANT to go live in an exceedingly dense city.
As others have said, comparing Houston to other cities is comparing apples to kumquats. Guess what else about Houston? We're not in a dry lake bed/desert surrounded by mountains (Phoenix). Snow sports are not big here; we don't sell that many Subaru Outbacks and I've not seen a ski rack in ages (Denver). Ice fishing will never catch on here (Minneapolis).
One reason I'm not posting as much on this forum as I used to is: I'm tired of this same argument over and over and over and over and over.
If you want a highly dense, urbanized city where jobs are still plentiful for yups, move to NYC and have done with it.
NYC is the real deal. Not provincial like Boston. Not spread out and car-centric like LA (and not nearly as fake as LA, either). All 4 seasons represented. Coney Island. Fire Island. 2 MLB teams, 2 NFL teams. Hockey. The world's largest dog show. Real, live skyscrapers. Subways make urban travel uber-easy (inexpensive, too). (My mother used to have nervous kittens worrying about my riding the subway. I told her, "Mom: 8 million people a day ride the subway in New York. Yes, there's about a fatality a week (usually somebody gets on the tracks). 8 million x 7 = 1/56,000,000 chance of me dying. Better odds than Little Rock.).
NYC has restaurants out the gazoo, fabulous museums you could spend a lifetime exploring, the best opera company in the world, one of the greatest symphonies in the world, one of the finest ballet companies. It has more art galleries than Paris. You haven't lived till you've taken in High Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, or done evensong at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue (Episcopal). The fireworks over the East River for the 4th of July are the largest display in the world; 8 million people line the banks of the river to watch.
The New York Times (which is best enjoyed at Zabar's while drinking coffee "regular" and having lox and bagel with a schmear) is the "Newspaper of Record" for the greatest country in the history of human civilization. It can be delivered to your apartment daily, or you can just pick it up at one of the hundreds of newsstands.
Central Park is one of the finest urban parks in the world.
You can get up-close and personal with some of the world's brightest stars on (and off, and off-off, and off-off-off) Broadway.
John's Pizza. Grotta Azzurra. Ollie's Noodle Shop (Mandarin). Korean. Thai. Iranian. Iraqui. Saudi. Argentinian beef. Exotic shellfish. Fabulous Kosher Deli's on every corner (literally). Put another way: If you are 21, and you eat at a different restaurant every meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), you will die of old age before you can hit all the restaurants in New York City.
Fresh flowers from around the world delivered every single day.
3 huge airports with departures for "the entire world". Nonstop.
A functioning train system.
New York "Power Lunch": 2 Hot Dogs from a street vendor, mustard, relish, and a regular Coke.
(Speaking of drinking, New York has some of the best tap water in the world, per every published report. But, if you prefer alcohol, New York has enough bars (all types) to keep anyone happy).
Gorgeous, available young women in amazingly fashionable clothes. Handsome, dashing, available young men likewise. Your choice, whichever floats your boat.
24-hour EVERYTHING. In the immortal words of the immortal Huey Lewis: "Where else can you do half a million things---all at a quarter of three?"
New York is paradise for young urban professionals. I ought to know, for I did it.
Why don't you just go there and leave poor old ugly, broken down, pitiful, humid, car-centric, suburban Houston in your dust? (and come back to see us when you grow up).
Then you have Miami which is NY in the tropics with beaches and hotter women.
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