Just got back from my Weekend in Houston, looks like I am staying put in the North-East............. (Austin: pollution, wealthy)

[Premont]

You have birds in Mass? We don't have those in Texas.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by Homer12

For some I guess maybe it does nothing, I would bet those same folks never had anything to look at.

Today I have mountains and Country, sitting on my front portch relaxing with a beer is very enjoyable, all I hear is birds and nature. Originally I was from Long Island, my parents had a home in Montauk, the Sunsets off the water is nothing you could ever get "Used" to, it was amazing.

It makes a HUGE difference IMO.

How can you not want a good view and nice scenery? That is what I could never in my life understand.

Originally Posted by d2mini

There are many beautiful places in the USA.
The northeast has a lot of them.

Houston on the other hand is fugly, no doubt about it.
Some areas are just less fugly than others.

Speaking of sunsets though... I have to admit we do get some awesome ones. Too bad they set over fuglyness.

I guess people don't care about "ugly" because people from the northeast keep moving here. Moving firm study: People leaving Northeast and Midwest for south, west | NJ.com

[jdw7337]

well, Houston isn't that great of an area. you have to drive about an hour out of town to find the acreage and at that point you're either in the forests or on the bay. power lines are a fact of life and billboards are just on our highways anyway. The east and west sides are extreme on the industrial development for port & distribution purposes.

Some places just aren't for certain people, it's just a fact of life.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by mm57553

I am from the Philadelphia 'burbs and lived in Houston and now in Austin. Let me tell you that neither are close to the Northeast. True, the Woodlands has more trees, but I would hardly define it as hilly or forested.

Technically I live in far West Austin (aka The Hill Country). Honestly, Hill Country is laughable. My old driveway was steeper than these hills. And Austin is NOT a big city. There is not a lot to do here - no good museums, no zoo, etc. At least Houston does have that going for it.

But one thing you may have figured out by now is that Texans will never admit that there is anything less than fabulous about their state.

But Western MA doesn't have any good museums or zoos either.

The OP should have compared Western MA to a small town in the Hill Country, like say Fredericksburg. That would have been a fairer comparison. Comparing Houston to a small town in the Northeast is like comparing a small town along the coast of Oregon to NYC for instance. Sure, NYC is going to be a lot uglier than a picturesque town on the Oregon coast, but to be frank, who really wants to live there? I personally would be bored sick living in Western MA. I've visited there before, in fact I toured UM Amherst when I was about to go to college and decided against it because it was in the middle of nowhere. Now a Boston suburbs to Houston suburbs comparison would be a little fairer, but still...

I think the OP just needed to rationalize not moving out of his little comfort zone in Western MA. Yes, Houston will not have the scenery of Western MA but does Western MA have pro sports, a beach within 45 minutes, the exciting nightlife of Houston, etc...

This was not an apples to apples comparison and we all know it, and I'm not even a big Houston fan. That being said, I believe Austin would have come out beating even his Western MA area in the pretty department...

[cBach]

Originally Posted by eric3781

I get out plenty. I've been to Dallas, Austin, College Station, The Woodlands, Channelview, Galveston, San Antonio, Midland, Fayetteville, and Tyler. All over this great nation of ours, see?

What do you want to be my travel agent?

So you've never left Texas then? what a shame.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by houstonlibrarian

How many times do you need to look at that shoreline before it gets old?

I am honestly making an effort to put myself in other peoples' shoes here.

What does looking at a mountain and a lake on the way to work do for you? It's not that I don't appreciate beauty. It's not that I don't think by most anyone's standards that Denver is much more scenic than Houston.

In the grand scheme of things, what does being more scenic do for me?

I can understand not wanting to live in pollution like LA or the east side of Houston. I get that part of it.
The flat, mundane, Katy area that has little pollution.
How is that any worse than a house in Denver that has a mountain nearby?

Unless you specifically like to snow ski. again, I can see if that is the case that Houston is not for you.

For simply looking at scenery though, why does that help your quality of life? Help me understand.

A scenic view is very important to me. When I see lush greenery and hills/lakes/the coast, I get instantly relaxed. Seeing billboards/freeways/power lines makes me nervous and uneasy.

I like Austin because it's scenic yet it's much warmer than the Northeast. It was 75 degrees on my deck yesterday evening. I was able to sip a beer while I was on the swingset in shorts and a t-shirt. I don't think you can do that in MA until April or May at the earliest...

Houston is a good place for indoor oriented workaholics. You can afford a nice house for your family but to be honest, there's not a big outdoor enjoyment factor like Austin has. Because there is not a priority for outdoor living, having big yards is hard to come by. Here in Austin, I could face a greenbelt with hundreds of acres accessible from a gate on the rear of my property, with hiking and biking trails galore. Houston would never have that.

But to be fair, the OP was not doing an apples to apples comparison. A person that likes a rural area will not like an urban area and vice versa.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

I guess people don't care about "ugly" because people from the northeast keep moving here. Moving firm study: People leaving Northeast and Midwest for south, west | NJ.com

Yup, there's a lot more to making a decision on where to live besides visual appeal.
If you think Houston is pretty, you obviously haven't seen the rest of the country or even other parts of Texas (ex. Austin).

[sxrckr]

Come on! Stop pretending like Austin doesn't have freeways, powerlines, billboards, ugly signage, stripmalls, and similar pitfalls Houston and other high growth areas of Texas have as well. Austin has these, just on a smaller scale than Houston. Likewise, Houston also has greenbelts, parks, trails, just more hidden among the huge city but they do exist! I love the Hill Country and am from central Texas, but let's not fool ourselves, the scrubby short trees, and vegetation isn't as lush as Houston's tall trees and lush vegetation, as Houston is more wet. Austin is only really hilly on the west side, and even that does not compare in beauty to the more lush and seasonally changing landscapes of rural New England. It always sounds like your experience with Houston is limited to drive throughs on the freeways back to NOLA.

Originally Posted by cBach

A scenic view is very important to me. When I see lush greenery and hills/lakes/the coast, I get instantly relaxed. Seeing billboards/freeways/power lines makes me nervous and uneasy.

I like Austin because it's scenic yet it's much warmer than the Northeast. It was 75 degrees on my deck yesterday evening. I was able to sip a beer while I was on the swingset in shorts and a t-shirt. I don't think you can do that in MA until April or May at the earliest...

Houston is a good place for indoor oriented workaholics. You can afford a nice house for your family but to be honest, there's not a big outdoor enjoyment factor like Austin has. Because there is not a priority for outdoor living, having big yards is hard to come by. Here in Austin, I could face a greenbelt with hundreds of acres accessible from a gate on the rear of my property, with hiking and biking trails galore. Houston would never have that.

But to be fair, the OP was not doing an apples to apples comparison. A person that likes a rural area will not like an urban area and vice versa.

[David Dollar]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

Come on! Stop pretending like Austin doesn't have freeways, powerlines, billboards, ugly signage, stripmalls, and similar pitfalls Houston and other high growth areas of Texas have as well. Austin has these, just on a smaller scale than Houston. Likewise, Houston also has greenbelts, parks, trails, just more hidden among the huge city but they do exist! I love the Hill Country and am from central Texas, but let's not fool ourselves, the scrubby short trees, and vegetation isn't as lush as Houston's tall trees and lush vegetation, as Houston is more wet. Austin is only really hilly on the west side, and even that does not compare in beauty to the more lush and seasonally changing landscapes of rural New England. It always sounds like your experience with Houston is limited to drive throughs on the freeways back to NOLA.

Austin is clean, there are no mounds of garbage and debris, there are hills and natural beauty, there are cooler looing buildings and businesses, etc.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by d2mini

Yup, there's a lot more to making a decision on where to live besides visual appeal.
If you think Houston is pretty, you obviously haven't seen the rest of the country or even other parts of Texas (ex. Austin).

Never said Houston was pretty. But I would rather live here and have a job, then live some were "pretty" and be broke. Now if you can afford to live some where with nice scenery then more power to you. Trust me if I could afford to live the way I wanted to in Miami, I would be out of here in a heart beat. And I'm native Houstonian.