Recent cold spell (Houston, Pearland: theatres, living, legal)

[jek74]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I dealt with this kind of c.... one too many times

Nana is not going to like that.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by jek74

Well, I know Evanston gets referred to as a suburb, but it's really a city. Northwestern is there. It has a huge downtown area because of the university. And it sits right on the border of Chicago and it's in Cook county. To compare Pearland to Evanston is kind of silly. I would compare Evanston to Austin or College Station or even Lubbock, but not Pearland. I would compare Pearland to Naperville. But that's me. Yes, the Chicago burbs have PACE buses and they SUCK! I have used them and while they are better then nothing, they are only marginally better then nothing.

All I'm saying is all those items you listed are in the loop in Houston. Yes Houston's loop is insanely large, no argument there. It's certainly not walkable. I never nor will I ever make a walkable argument for Houston. But on culture I will. Houston has an enormous theater district, probably 50 different languages spoken, every religion under the sun, and probably every major country. The food diversity is better then Chicago in terms of ethnic cuisine, heck most people say it's better then NY. And there are far more parks and green spaces in Houston then Chicago.

I'm going to reach out on a limb here as I've done a few times and suspect politics plays at least a "small part" here. I only bring this up because I absolutely believe this plays a large role whenever I hear people from Chicago or NY or Boston or even SF who move here and long for their home and then try to bring up the culture issue. I would bet a dime to a dollar you are a liberal. Most Evanstonians are. I'm simply making a statistical reference here being that Obama carried 87% of the vote in Evanston. And perhaps TX and certainly Pearland is way too conservative for you. Nothing wrong with this btw, one of the reasons I left Chicago I'm embarrassed to say was because of the left wing gestopo there. It just got overwhelming to me after 9 years. I suspect you feel that way about Houston. Just a suspicion though on my part.

Pearland actually has quite a large liberal population. There are, of course, conservatives, but there are many liberals here too. The lines to vote in the Democratic Primary in Pearland were quite long in 2008. While I saw some Romney signs here this election, there were Obama signs as well. Pearland is diverse politically which is not a bad thing, imo.

Note, this is my kind of liberal:

https://my.barackobama.com/page/even...onebank/gswpcs

While only 41% of the vote went to Obama statewide, I would bet that Pearland was a bit more to Obama, though Romney probably won the vote.

As for Evanston and being liberal, I admit that is true in general. As for Evanston and Oak Park being cities, both have a similar population to Pearland. The Chicago suburbs also have commuter rail into the city which none of the suburbs here have. Naperville is nice, but it is too far away from the city for me. Even in Naperville, though, I can take the Metra downtown and it takes about an hour. I have not ridden the PACE in those suburbs, but I have ridden them in Willmette, Winnetka, Evanston and Glenview and did not find them to be that bad. I would not want to be standing out in the cold for buses though which is why I prefer the trains.

I've never been to Austin, College Station or Lubbock. I suspect of those, I might like Austin a bit. The other two are unknowns.

Note, I have been known to walk miles along the lakefront in Chicago. Houston has no lakefront and the beaches are too far. I don't know if I could walk in the loop from Discovery Green to the Museum District or not as I have never tried. Are there decent walking paths that would get me from one to the other? The distance is fine, but I don't see any good walking paths. It looks like there might be bike paths. It's only 3 miles, but says an hour walking and I have no idea if there are sidewalks.

As for the person who thinks I am mean-spirited because I do not like living here.. different strokes... I will move away when I can. Right now I cannot do that.

[jek74]

So Nana, I was right about your politics. Nothing wrong with that btw. I just find that almost to the person, when a liberal moves down to Houston from up north they tend to feel the way you do. When a conservative or independent moves down here from the north, they have no desire to go back. I'm sorry, I see this time and time and time again.

And please Nana, do not call Pearland a city. It has a town square OK. Evanston has a skyline for christ sake. They are NOT the same. This is WHY Evanston is walkable. If it were a pure suburb, there would be no where to walk to! LOL.

The closest burb to Evanston is probably the Woodlands. We actually have three satelite college campuses up here. We have a small skyline. A bustling downtown area and a walkable downtown. So one could make an intelligent comparison between the Woodlands and Evanston. But not Pearland Nana, not Pearland.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by jek74

So Nana, I was right about your politics. Nothing wrong with that btw. I just find that almost to the person, when a liberal moves down to Houston from up north they tend to feel the way you do. When a conservative or independent moves down here from the north, they have no desire to go back. I'm sorry, I see this time and time and time again.

And please Nana, do not call Pearland a city. It has a town square OK. Evanston has a skyline for christ sake. They are NOT the same. This is WHY Evanston is walkable. If it were a pure suburb, there would be no where to walk to! LOL.

The closest burb to Evanston is probably the Woodlands. We actually have three satelite college campuses up here. We have a small skyline. A bustling downtown area and a walkable downtown. So one could make an intelligent comparison between the Woodlands and Evanston. But not Pearland Nana, not Pearland.

Pearland has almost 100,000 residents. So does Evanston. Wilmette which has much less has a walkable downtown though it is not as bustling and is much smaller. Glenview, IL has 45,000 residents and has a walkable town center. It's a matter of priorities. I like walking as opposed to driving. People here are dependent on their cars. Of course, Glenview got its town center only recently when the Glenview Naval Air Base was closed.

The Pearland Town Center is a mall and it is really not a walkable mall. They laid out the streets with parking because people don't walk and because the heat makes it hard to walk around.
Glenview's town center has a couple of parking structures (several stories) and then streets made for walking. It is smaller than the Pearland Town Center though.

Pearland has some nice parks, but for the most part I have to drive to get to them because even if they are close enough, there are no easy ways to walk. For example, I have walked from my house to the Target near 288. I cannot, though, walk to the Town Center without taking my life in my hands for the short distance where I must cross under 288. The distance is NOT the problem. The lack of a walking route is.

[jek74]

Originally Posted by nana053

Pearland has almost 100,000 residents. So does Evanston. Wilmette which has much less has a walkable downtown though it is not as bustling and is much smaller. Glenview, IL has 45,000 residents and has a walkable town center. It's a matter of priorities. I like walking as opposed to driving. People here are dependent on their cars. Of course, Glenview got its town center only recently when the Glenview Naval Air Base was closed.

The Pearland Town Center is a mall and it is really not a walkable mall. They laid out the streets with parking because people don't walk and because the heat makes it hard to walk around.
Glenview's town center has a couple of parking structures (several stories) and then streets made for walking. It is smaller than the Pearland Town Center though.

Pearland has some nice parks, but for the most part I have to drive to get to them because even if they are close enough, there are no easy ways to walk. For example, I have walked from my house to the Target near 288. I cannot, though, walk to the Town Center without taking my life in my hands for the short distance where I must cross under 288. The distance is NOT the problem. The lack of a walking route is.

Nana, please listen to me. Stop quoting population numbers. Pearland could have 100 million people. It's not walkable so stop comparing it to Evanston. Evanston is a town. That is WHY it's walkable. It could have a population of 5k or 5 million. Houston has 3 million people and it's not walkable. I'm trying to discuss the difference between a real town and a large suburb with houses. This is why I was frustrated that you keep making this comparison of Pearland with Evanston.

[RCH99]

Originally Posted by jek74

Nana, please listen to me. I'm trying to discuss the difference between a real town and a large suburb with houses. This is why I was frustrated .

Dude. You've been stinking up this forum with this dribble for way too long. already.

[jek74]

Originally Posted by RCH99

Dude. You've been stinking up this forum with this dribble for way too long. already.

I didn't know you were required to read this forum. You have a choice you know.

[RCH99]

Originally Posted by jek74

I didn't know you were required to read this forum. You have a choice you know.

jerk74, please listen to me...

[nana053]

Originally Posted by jek74

Nana, please listen to me. Stop quoting population numbers. Pearland could have 100 million people. It's not walkable so stop comparing it to Evanston. Evanston is a town. That is WHY it's walkable. It could have a population of 5k or 5 million. Houston has 3 million people and it's not walkable. I'm trying to discuss the difference between a real town and a large suburb with houses. This is why I was frustrated that you keep making this comparison of Pearland with Evanston.

Chicago is a city and it is walkable.

[jek74]

Originally Posted by nana053

Chicago is a city and it is walkable.

Nana, you are not getting my point. My point was you are comparing living in a housing burb like Pearland with a dense urban area like Evanston. Move into the loop and you can enjoy all the culture you want. Just admit it, there are "other" reasons why you want to move back up north. Culture is not one of them.