Leaving Houston this week - Honest assessment of Houston for newbies (Channelview: university, subdivisions)

[Chicken_of_Bristol]

Originally Posted by jerbear30

All those sweet non-union jobs in manufacturing the south has been getting over the past 20 or so years are a direct result of unions. There is a great deal of corruption in unions--more than I, a union advocate, would like to admit. Nevertheless, they are necessary in a capitalist society unless we want to return to the "robber-baron" society.

Hate to break it to you but there is a lot of corruption in the United States, period. That is especially true in states like Texas (as opposed to states like Minnesota).

Check out the story of Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim and how he was handing out $10,000 checks on the floor of the Texas Senate to Senators who voted to gut the state's workers compensation law. The sad thing was that this was apparently entirely legal in Texas. This is simple bribery.

Are we Nigeria, Iraq or our neighbor to the South? No. But we are much more corrupt that places like Finland, Denmark, New Zealand or our neighbor to the North.

[radiolibre99]

That is especially true in states like Texas (as opposed to states like Minnesota).

The thing is that Texas isn't technically a "corrupt" state. California is a corrupt state. In Texas the corruption is legal. That's the difference. Companies and politicians do not need to go under the table too much because the law is already on their side.

I think technically, and these were stats I checked a long time ago, but Texas is one the "least" corrupt states. Of course we all know why. Texas doesn't need corruption when you know the law will favor you anyways.

[Chicken_of_Bristol]

Whether it is legal or not doesn't change the fact that it is corrupt.

[StuckInTexas]

Originally Posted by ToyYot

At least the guy in Alaska had the balls to move rather than just sitting around complaining.

Ooohh...it rains a bit too much for me here.
Ooohh...the average number of sunshiny hours per day aren't quite enough for me here.
Ooohh...there's too many nasty flying thingies here for me.
Ooohh...it rained alot here once
Ooohh...I lost power five years ago and it was uncomfortable for me.

Really, quite pathetic.

I love rain, what I hate is floods.

This is hilarious, it rained a lot here once?
Really, no, it I remember more than 10 floods since I was born here. There were 3 catastrophic ones, just wait until you experience one yourself and you listen to the horror stories of peoples pets drowning, houses floating away, cars flooded, etc...

I remember 8-10 plant explosions / fires / chemical leaks (a couple serious explosions killing many people)... I am moving, but that is another topic. I've never seen as many bugs here as anywhere else, but I can deal with that.

Actually, I've experienced 7-8 long-term power outages since living here, Alicia, several Tropical Storms, and the last couple hurricanes. 2-3 day power outages are common, but a few can last more than a week.

There is nothing special about Houston, but in this forum there are people that want / wish to believe they live somewhere special, they cannot accept in their own mind that where they live is NOTHING special so they have to make up stories about how great it is. As I said before, there are good things about Houston, but lots of bad things.

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by StuckInTexas

I love rain, what I hate is floods.

This is hilarious, it rained a lot here once?
Really, no, it I remember more than 10 floods since I was born here. There were 3 catastrophic ones, just wait until you experience one yourself and you listen to the horror stories of peoples pets drowning, houses floating away, cars flooded, etc...

I remember 8-10 plant explosions / fires / chemical leaks (a couple serious explosions killing many people)... I am moving, but that is another topic. I've never seen as many bugs here as anywhere else, but I can deal with that.

Actually, I've experienced 7-8 long-term power outages since living here, Alicia, several Tropical Storms, and the last couple hurricanes. 2-3 day power outages are common, but a few can last more than a week.

There is nothing special about Houston, but in this forum there are people that want / wish to believe they live somewhere special, they cannot accept in their own mind that where they live is NOTHING special so they have to make up stories about how great it is. As I said before, there are good things about Houston, but lots of bad things.

again you cant accept that there are people who dont feel the way you do... why should you care.. you want to convince people they should hate being here..who made you a authority of places to live

[StuckInTexas]

I don't care about how people "feel" about where they live, I am just pointing out negatives.
I'm not the world's authority, but I've had a travel job for the past 10 years and have been in every city in the US (almost).

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by StuckInTexas

I don't care about how people "feel" about where they live, I am just pointing out negatives.
I'm not the world's authority, but I've had a travel job for the past 10 years and have been in every city in the US (almost).

I love that part..I have traveled alt.. so you are the only person with a passport.. ??? Your not the only person who has traveled dude.. in fact odds are you not even the most traveled....

There are over 289 cities in the US.. that is only counting the cities with population at or just below the 100,000 mark. So I really doubt it

..Thats find when you point out negative. but people like you come here and want to argue with anybody who does not want to see Houston, or Texas the way you do...
Example; Guy from NYC says i like Houston
Someone like you: Houston sucks dude it ugly and flat
NYC guy: Perhaps but for what I pay in NYC I can get a three bedroom here
Someone like you: Thats about all Houston offers
NYC guy: I would,nt say that I came here for the job but now I would rather live here than move back
Someone like you: Why it sucks dude it so damn Hot and Boring
NYC guy: I have never been bored here I find plenty to do
Someone like you: Yeah if you are willing to drive all over creation
NYC guy: no not really dont own a car but I get around pretty good in the loop
Someone like you: Which just shows how much Houston sucks, when it mass transit is compared to places like NYC

Like he dos not know NYC has a better mass transit, your mind refuses to accept that anybody outside of Texas can acually like Texas better than city X.. So for every glowing thing he says about it you will seek out the negative.. He says he like Eado you go into how inferorir it is to area X in city Y. and on and on

[radiolibre99]

Woah, that was a lot of venting. I guess people expect a lot of out the "best city in America" according to Forbes.

Houston lacks the quality of life package most other cities offer but its working on that. What it does offer is a practical way of living for all and access to the inner loop which is by far just as good if not better than living in any other major metro area. That includes NYC, LA and Chicago.

[3shipguy]

Houston can make all these changes to improve quality of life. But the one thing it can't change is the weather. To me, that alone will never allow Houston to be the best city to live in the whole US of A. Can't eat outside without the threat of mosquitoes joining you for dinner. Even in the winter, I still get bit by these nasty buggers.

[StuckInTexas]

Originally Posted by Truth713

There are over 289 cities in the US.. that is only counting the cities with population at or just below the 100,000 mark. So I really doubt it

I said almost, and yes I would estimate having been to 80%+ of those cities.

I like NY City even less than Houston (though some parts of NY state are ok), but that's another topic. I do not like the NE in general, though NH and Maine are pretty nice (and Boston isn't too bad), but it is a bit too cold, and the rest of the NE coast is an over-priced, overcrowded hectic area... Philadelphia and DC are the two worst cities in the NE IMO... Farther south towards the NC coast, now that is a much nicer place, but lots of hurricanes.

The best cities are in Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, and California (though not LA, prefer San Diego, San Jose, or any of the eastern cities like Redding). The west is just nicer, colder yah, but nicer all around. Oklahoma actually has some ok places if it weren't for the Tornado threat. New Mexico is ok but I don't particularly like the cities, though parts of the ABQ suburbs are nice. The problem in most of those places are the income taxes, but Arizona's is not that high and their property tax is much lower than Texas (1/3rd), so unless you live near Phoenix, or unless house prices keep recovering at a ridiculous pace, if you bought your house in the past 3 years in AZ, you are generally living much cheaper than in Texas.

Tucson and farther north to the Prescott area are far nicer than Houston, and many cities in Arizona blow Houston away, and cities like Portland-OR, Medford or Bend, OR as well. Oregon has too high income tax, but if we are SPEAKING of the quality of living, these all blow away Houston.

They have very little crime, generally better weather, less pollution, better scenery, and just attract a nicer "higher-class" type people overall IMO.

Houston used to have a great road system when it was 4 million people total including the metroplex, but now freeways like 45 do not have enough lanes for the number of people here. The city has gotten too big, and the 59 to 610 to I-10 to 290 on the west side is now just absolutely ridiculous. Traffic was always bad in that corridor, but now it is approaching NY or LA levels. There is a reason some freeways in LA have 6-8 lanes, Houston will need to do the same very soon.

One of the worst cities in the US is Bakersfield, CA (so there are exceptions), and I'd "ALMOST" rather live in Bakersfield, CA than Houston. At least Bakersfield is near some nicer areas and cities.

Austin is better than Houston, NW Dallas is nicer than MOST of Houston (though a lot of Dallas reminds me of Houston), heck I even prefer Abilene or El Paso over Houston. None of the cities in Texas are all that great, but if I had to pick one, it might be El Paso. People think crime is bad in El Paso, but look it up, almost none on the US side.

EL PASO:


Houston: