Galleria vs Midtown (Houston, Sugar Land, Pearland: house, living in, groceries)

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by David Dollar

Driving down Westheimer I really don't notice many office buildings. Also, big box stores with huge parking lots are very suburban in nature.

Then you must be blind then, because there are many office buildins in uptown.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by David Dollar

See Vegankris's post.

I don't need to see vegankris post about riding bikes around the bayou. I work downtwon and frequent midtown often, and the only time we go down there is to hit up the bars. There is nothing else to do around there.

[H'ton]

Originally Posted by westhou

I grew up in the suburbs (Cypress) and now live Uptown and I can tell you there is nothing suburban about Uptown. It's not Manhattan, but it's also not Pearland. The best way to describe Uptown is to call it an upscale business district.

I grew up on the north side and Westheimer always had a FM 1960 feel to me. Granted it is much nice, ritzier, and there are more buildings but the truth is that Westheimer is closer to the pedestrian scale and layout of a 1960 than it is to downtown Houston.

It is a glorified suburban thouroughfare with multiple suburban type high rises. High rises do not make a place urban- their connectivity to the urban environment is what makes them urban. An example is Rice Hotel downtown. There are no such buildigns in Uptown.

Hopefully, teh Post Oak line will change things a little.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by David Dollar

Driving down Westheimer I really don't notice many office buildings. Also, big box stores with huge parking lots are very suburban in nature.

How do you not notice all the office buildings? I can see the office buildings from miles away on Westheimer so it baffles my mind that you can't see them when you're on Westheimer in Uptown. If you're trying to prove your point about Uptown being suburban by saying you don't see any office buildings there than you have majorly failed.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by H'ton

I grew up on the north side and Westheimer always had a FM 1960 feel to me. Granted it is much nice, ritzier, and there are more buildings but the truth is that Westheimer is closer to the pedestrian scale and layout of a 1960 than it is to downtown Houston.

It is a glorified suburban thouroughfare with multiple suburban type high rises. High rises do not make a place urban- their connectivity to the urban environment is what makes them urban. An example is Rice Hotel downtown. There are no such buildigns in Uptown.

Hopefully, teh Post Oak line will change things a little.

Ok...Uptown looks just like 1960. It's been a few weeks since I drove down 1960 but last time I was there I failed to see a business district that could be placed in the top 20 in the United States. But I guess because there are some shopping centers in Uptown that automatically means it's just like 1960 because they have shopping centers too.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

Then you must be blind then, because there are many office buildins in uptown.

H'ton is right. That does look just like 1960

[houstonfan]

Nothing remotely suburban about Galleria exept for the few pockets of expensive homes on the periphery, but homes do not make it suburban. In fact, many tourists mistaken uptown for downtown when they pass by. It is quite walkable in most areas, as evidenced by the many shoppers and tourists. There's joining sidewalks from Westpark to Memorial and 610 to Fountainview.

[heightsian]

Midtown over Galleria. Galleria is nicer but is a pain in the butt to navigate at any time of the day and forget about crossing the street as a pedestrian. Midtown is still up and coming, but it's relatively safe; just practice common sense, i.e. don't leave valuables in your car, lock your apartment, don't walk alone at night...

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

Nothing remotely suburban about Galleria exept for the few pockets of expensive homes on the periphery, but homes do not make it suburban. In fact, many tourists mistaken uptown for downtown when they pass by. It is quite walkable in most areas, as evidenced by the many shoppers and tourists. There's joining sidewalks from Westpark to Memorial and 610 to Fountainview.

Somebody who's actually been to the gallaria area and not just the mall.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

Then you must be blind then, because there are many office buildins in uptown.

That's Post Oak, not Westheimer. There aren't many sizeable office buildings directly on Westheimer in comparison to the stretch that parallels Post Oak and 610.

Originally Posted by houstonfan

Nothing remotely suburban about Galleria exept for the few pockets of expensive homes on the periphery, but homes do not make it suburban. In fact, many tourists mistaken uptown for downtown when they pass by. It is quite walkable in most areas, as evidenced by the many shoppers and tourists. There's joining sidewalks from Westpark to Memorial and 610 to Fountainview.

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

Somebody who's actually been to the gallaria area and not just the mall.

Uptown is 100% suburban. The only part that can get a pass is Sage south of Westheimer. Where are the many shoppers and tourists?! I believe you truly don't know what urban is, Uptown is the epitome of urban planning failure that could have created a much better and livelier district. Which part is walkable? Nothing is built to pedestrian scale and is built up to the street.