Houston: Greener than you thought! (Howe: drive, town, freeways)

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

There are virtually hundreds of streets in Houston that look like that. I hate it when even residents tell people that Houston is ugly. The city is not set directly on the water, or nestled in between mountains, but it is also not ugly. There are empty areas and deserted buildings along highways and stuff, but to label the entire city based on that. I don't know if it is because I hardly use 45, but I see beauty everywhere I turn in Houston.

Downtown is cleaner than most downtowns I have been in and it is surrounded by nice parks. Hermann and Memorial Parks along with Discovery Green are gems right in the middle of the city.

Houston's highways are cleaner than most and a great number of them look fairly new.

There are trees all over Houston. The buildings in Houston are rather pretty.



sure someone can dig up a picture of a decaying building in Houston but they can do the same for any city. the point is the city as a whole is not like that and residents should not encourage that nonsense

I'm glad you straighten that out.

[OducksFTW!]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

There are virtually hundreds of streets in Houston that look like that. I hate it when even residents tell people that Houston is ugly. The city is not set directly on the water, or nestled in between mountains, but it is also not ugly. There are empty areas and deserted buildings along highways and stuff, but to label the entire city based on that. I don't know if it is because I hardly use 45, but I see beauty everywhere I turn in Houston.

Downtown is cleaner than most downtowns I have been in and it is surrounded by nice parks. Hermann and Memorial Parks along with Discovery Green are gems right in the middle of the city.

Houston's highways are cleaner than most and a great number of them look fairly new.

There are trees all over Houston. The buildings in Houston are rather pretty.



sure someone can dig up a picture of a decaying building in Houston but they can do the same for any city. the point is the city as a whole is not like that and residents should not encourage that nonsense

Its true, anyone can take nasty pictures of any city and make it look like a dump, but by that same token anyone can take beautiful pictures and make a city look gorgeous like you have done(i.e. New Chrysler commercials made even Detroit look good).

I think that people find Houston ugly because it has no real natural beauty aside from the trees and small portions of the bayou. Unlike many other cities where there is some natural body of water or some geographically interesting areas. Not trying to hate just offering a reason for the "ugly" view that people have of Houston's landscape.

What buildings do you think are particularly pretty? Would you say that there aren't any buildings that are even more "pretty" in other cities ?

[AK123]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

Cities were built for convenience. All the really successful cities were built in convenient locations and the natural looking aspects enhanced. London, Paris, NY, Toronto, and many other really successful cities have nothing naturally pretty about them, people just like taking cheap shots at Houston

Exactly.
Also, Chicago was built up on a drained swamp. I usually remind people of that when I get a Houston "swamp" comment.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by OducksFTW!

I think that people find Houston ugly because it has no real natural beauty aside from the trees and small portions of the bayou. Unlike many other cities where there is some natural body of water or some geographically interesting areas. Not trying to hate just offering a reason for the "ugly" view that people have of Houston's landscape.

What buildings do you think are particularly pretty? Would you say that there aren't any buildings that are even more "pretty" in other cities ?

what are these many cities you speak off? again almost all the more successful cities (larger than a million people cities) were built for convenience of transport and not for any beautiful feature.

New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Mexico City, etc etc etc there is nothing naturally beautiful about them. It is all perception.

secondly you seem to think Houston only has one Bayou. Houston is probably the wettest big city in the US with over 20 Bayous and streams crisscrossing it.

Finally on your point on buildings I would recommend you take some time in the fall to stroll through downtown and look at the buildings there.

Take a closer look at the wonderful architecture there. Take a look at the early 1920's buildings 9Such as the cotton Exchange Building) that line main, Travis and other streets. take a look at the gorgeous Gothic buildings such as the Esperson Buildings. Take a close look at the architecture of the Merchants and Manufacturers building.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

what are these many cities you speak off? again almost all the more successful cities (larger than a million people cities) were built for convenience of transport and not for any beautiful feature.

New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Mexico City, etc etc etc there is nothing naturally beautiful about them. It is all perception.

secondly you seem to think Houston only has one Bayou. Houston is probably the wettest big city in the US with over 20 Bayous and streams crisscrossing it.

Finally on your point on buildings I would recommend you take some time in the fall to stroll through downtown and look at the buildings there.

Take a closer look at the wonderful architecture there. Take a look at the early 1920's buildings 9Such as the cotton Exchange Building) that line main, Travis and other streets. take a look at the gorgeous Gothic buildings such as the Esperson Buildings. Take a close look at the architecture of the Merchants and Manufacturers building.

At to that: New York City is very flat.

[HtownLove]

In Manhattan's defense it was flattened, but it was indeed flat to begin with.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

In Manhattan's defense it was flattened, but it was indeed flat to begin with.

Those pictures that you posted should change the minds of many people who think Houston is ugly. From the pictures, I find Houston quite attractive. It has a New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, and LA flair going on.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

Those pictures that you posted should change the minds of many people who think Houston is ugly. From the pictures, I find Houston quite attractive. It has a New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, and LA flair going on.

Houston has a lot of different looking hoods, there are some that look scary, but I would not seek out the scary part of a city and then say the whole thing is ugly

[300zxtwinturbo]

the problem is that honestly houston is rather ugly form many of our freeways, for instance I-10 east, 45 south and north, 59 north? Nothing but strip malls billboard signs and parking lots. However I think my city is actually very pretty along roads like memorial drive, elgin and westheimer, fannin, main, post oak ect ect. But to the traveler coming through the city that isn't as familiar with our city as us natives are the city could very easily be seen as ugly, other than a good skyline. I blame the billboards and strip malls the most, I think they are very ugly and nothing but an urban sprawl wasteland

[glorplaxy]

Mexico City is surrounded by mountains...natural beauty