Why do People hate Houston? (Sugar Land, Katy: to rent, theater, high school)

[JRjohnryan]

I have been online and looking at blogs and what not of good places to visit and live. It seems whenever my hometown comes up no one seems to have good words for it. I grew up in the First Colony area of Sugar Land; it's a suburb just SW of Houston so I have never acutally lived their, but is it really as bad, boring, culturaless, uneducated, and just an overall terrible city as people say it is. I'm asking, because once I graduate from Arkansas I am planning to move back there, considering it is where I grew up and where my family and old friends as well as just a great place for jobs. I'm just wondering what makes Houston so bad 'cause it seems just like a god awful place to live by these people's description. If it isn't please tell me what makes it good, where to live, eat, party, etc.

[testmo]

From my experience people that are so negative about Houston have never been here or live in the other major Texas cities. Unfortunately, there is a segment of the population in these cities that have to vilify the others and believe where they live is Mecca.

There are more cultures represented in Houston than any other city in Texas so that comment is just out of ignorance. we also have a larger theater district than other cities in the state and world class museums that others can't compare to. As the fourth largest city in the country and routinely voted the number one city for young professionals (according to several published ratings) it's not boring. There are bar heavy areas as well as more higher end museums and theaters if that is more of your thing. We do have a large population of uneducated people. You are more likely to stumble into someone that didn't finish high school than a person with a college degree. But this can be completely different depending on where you live. Overall Houston is a business/industry town. With that comes the perks and the drawbacks

Are you a razorback? Houston will have much more to do than Fayetteville and be more cultural. I'd be curious what people you are talking to and where they are from

Houston does have a lot of diversity. Not that the people you are talking to are opposed to this but many people who I hear randomly hate on Texas/Houston are actually talking about the large populations of either Blacks or Hispanics. But as you know, as a native Texan, these people are a small minority (the bigoted ones).

the coolest and hippest areas are actually in Houston and not the suburbs. Take a young person who was raised in Katy's opinion with a grain of salt. Inside the 610 loop is the best place to live for a young professional. This area is concentrated (for the south) in bars, restaurants, shopping, night life, museums, and downtown. It is also more expensive. I wouldn't want to rent a place that is less than $900 a month. My first place in the museum district was $1,100 and was pretty bare bones except for the location which made it worth it.

Areas to look into: Montrose, Museum District, Heights, Upper Kirby, West University, Midtown, Downtown, Medical Center/Rice Village, Washington strip, Galleria area (just outside 610).

everyone will tell you Houston has plenty of great places to eat whether you want a gourmet food truck, a $300 a plate meal, or some really authentic Thai food. One of my favorites Vietnamese-Cajun fusion

I don't go to clubs or bars to party persay so other people could be more helpful. Midtown, Montrose/Museum district have lots of bars. Right now, I believe, Washington Ave is still the "party" place. Although Rice Village will always be busy on Friday/Saturday nights as well

[tebor79]

Testmo summed it up well.

The haters have never truly experienced Houston.
and visiting for a few days doesn't count. Houston is not a good place to vacation.
But it is a wonderful place to live, especially if you are inside the loop or near it.

[David Dollar]

OK. I know people are about to see my name and say here he goes, but here I go. The people who say things about Houston probably say what it WAS and not what it has become. Just driving through Houston, it is ugly, dirty, ghetto, and seems like it generally lacks personality. But Houston is a place you have to get out into it. You can't get to know in a few hours, days, weeks, or months. The city grows on you. There are awesome places, but they are spread out or hard to find. Service is bad, but people are cool (although I don't think as friendly as people say). If you can't make friends here, you aren't going to make friends. If you can't find food you like here, you ain't gonna find it. Taco trucks have changed my life! There are a lot of festivals, parades, and cultural events. There are big cool parks (Discovery Green, Memorial, Herman). There are a lot of cultures here and all the things they bring. Let the people who diss Houston without knowing it stay home. We don't want them here.

[crbcrbrgv]

Originally Posted by David Dollar

OK. I know people are about to see my name and say here he goes, but here I go. The people who say things about Houston probably say what it WAS and not what it has become. Just driving through Houston, it is ugly, dirty, ghetto, and seems like it generally lacks personality. But Houston is a place you have to get out into it. You can't get to know in a few hours, days, weeks, or months. The city grows on you. There are awesome places, but they are spread out or hard to find. Service is bad, but people are cool (although I don't think as friendly as people say). If you can't make friends here, you aren't going to make friends. If you can't find food you like here, you ain't gonna find it. Taco trucks have changed my life! There are a lot of festivals, parades, and cultural events. There are big cool parks (Discovery Green, Memorial, Herman). There are a lot of cultures here and all the things they bring. Let the people who diss Houston without knowing it stay home. We don't want them here.

[OducksFTW!]

Houston is an ok place. The major thing that Houston has is jobs/opportunities and for some people that is everything. I've always believed that all the parks/theaters/sports/entertainment are all supported by the industries(Oil and Medical). Of course there are a few exceptions to that.

People move here not to have fun or to enjoy the city life, they move here to work and make money. Then they go out and look for ways to blow their money (restaurants, bars, museums, theatre etc.)

Houston is the fourth largest city and it shouldn't be a surprise for it to have all the diverse cultures, large medical center, a big theater and museum district, etc.

[HtownLove]

don't fool yourself.

the fast majority of people move to an area for jobs and to make money,

Only a small (VERY SMALL) part of the population move to an area for fun.

Ask ten people in any city in the US why they moved there and they will tell you its for a job.

so its stupid to assume that Houston is the only place that people move to for work.

Millions moved to NY for work. Irish farmers 100 years ago didn't pack up and moved to NY for its night life, they heard that they can make a better life for themselves there.

Houston has a bad rep because not only do people in other cities not know crap about it, but the residents here also don't know crap about it and help in the bad talking of the city.

Why don't you all find out more about the city so you can tell people more about its attributes than help them when they put us down?

[Texas User]

There are pros and cons to every city though.

[Dopo]

I think people hate the fact that Houston is not a fun city to visit (It is a great city to live in) compared to other cities.

[TVC15]

You know the saying...you can't please everybody.

Some people only see the bad in all things.