How active is downtown houston? (San Antonio, Anton: restaurant, nightlife, parking)

[stoneclaw]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

This is on a regular day in Atlanta. No events or anything. Weather isn't even that great. Not even in the central parts of downtown like Five points or Peachtree Center.

Sorry but your pic looks like a regular downtown Houston day Monday through Friday from 8-5.

And i almost fell out of my chair laughing about the NYC comparison. The only thing i really think makes Atlanta seem like NYC is the MARTA. But keep on the lookout, Houston's finally getting on track with its METROrail expansion. Just need to connect it out west to and to the suburbs.

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Let's be real though. Downtown Houston is dead. I was surprised considering the metro area is much larger then Atlanta's, yet Atlanta's downtown has 10x the activity as Houston.

This is on a regular day in Atlanta. No events or anything. Weather isn't even that great. Not even in the central parts of downtown like Five points or Peachtree Center.




I don't remember Houston being anywhere near that active. Even Dallas is more active then Houston.

Hate to say it, but yeah.

dude that looks no diffrent than main st during lunch hr rush

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by stoneclaw

Sorry but your pic looks like a regular downtown Houston day Monday through Friday from 8-5.

And i almost fell out of my chair laughing about the NYC comparison. The only thing i really think makes Atlanta seem like NYC is the MARTA. But keep on the lookout, Houston's finally getting on track with its METROrail expansion. Just need to connect it out west to and to the suburbs.

I was making the comparison that Atlanta feels that much more vibrant then Houston. The thing that helps Atlanta though is because of Georgia State University. Having 30k+ students constantly streaing between classes in downtown really ups it's vibrancy.

Originally Posted by Truth713

dude that looks no diffrent than main st during lunch hr rush

Yeah, but this isn't even the main thoroughfare through Atlanta.
You have to actually be here though to know what I'm saying. Atlanta in downtown does feel more vibrant then Houston did when I went.

[Nairobi]

You might be able to fool others here, but I've lived in Atlanta, and your comparison of each city's downtown is ridiculous, to say the least. Atlanta does have more foot traffic and activity downtown, but not nearly to the extent that you've suggested.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

I was making the comparison that Atlanta feels that much more vibrant then Houston. The thing that helps Atlanta though is because of Georgia State University. Having 30k+ students constantly streaing between classes in downtown really ups it's vibrancy.



Yeah, but this isn't even the main thoroughfare through Atlanta.
You have to actually be here though to know what I'm saying. Atlanta in downtown does feel more vibrant then Houston did when I went.

When's the last time you've been to Houston honestly? Houston is growing so fast scenes IMPROVE and CHANGE in a matter of months. And that's not even an exaggeration. In a matter of months.

[stoneclaw]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

I was making the comparison that Atlanta feels that much more vibrant then Houston. The thing that helps Atlanta though is because of Georgia State University. Having 30k+ students constantly streaing between classes in downtown really ups it's vibrancy.

I'm sure. But Houston also has the University of Houston downtown which is undergoing a lightrail expansion connecting the northern part of the university to the already existing rail line. There was talk a few years ago about adding dorms to the campus, but the existing foot traffic isn't too shabby either. And when the southeast and east light rail lines get completed, it will connect downtown with the even bigger main University of Houston campus along with the new Dynamo BBP compass stadium.

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Yeah, but this isn't even the main thoroughfare through Atlanta.
You have to actually be here though to know what I'm saying. Atlanta in downtown does feel more vibrant then Houston did when I went.

Main Street is not even the busiest thoroughfare in downtown Houston at lunch either. It can actually be found all over, especially in the tunnels.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by stoneclaw

Main Street is not even the busiest thoroughfare in downtown Houston at lunch either. It can actually be found all over, especially in the tunnels.

The tunnels are a mixed blessing. During the long and humid summers as well as on rainy days, it is great to be able to go underground for lunch and shopping errands. The downside, however, is that the tunnels are not open after hours and on weekends. I think the CBD would have been more vibrant without the tunnel system, as the businesses would have been located at at street level, and such accessibility would have resulted in many of them experimenting with remaining open on nights and weekends. As it is now, so many of Houston office towers only feature elegant but dark and empty lobbies at street level. I see this relative paucity of accessible retail at street level as a big contributor to DT Houston's 9 - 5 culture.

[worldlyman]

Originally Posted by marcopolo2000

Well clearly the OP thinks otherwise; thats why they are inquiring about Houston's downtown. I'm not sure why you and a couple of others are taking offense to the fact that Houston probably isn't what the OP is looking for when it comes to urban living downtown.

Thread-wise, I've already addressed the OP that downtown Houston isn't what he or she is looking for.
//www.city-data.com/forum/houst...houston-2.html

But as is obvious, there are these insinuations that Houston must be some type of inferior city because it does not have a mass touristy downtown. I am only expressing Houston's downtown in a larger context.

[worldlyman]

Wife and I have been going to downtown on weekends during the day the past few weeks.

And it is not the ghost town it's made to be.

It's cool to eat at a place like Bombay Pizza (I still prefer Frank's) then walk over to Minuti Coffee for dessert on a Sunday afternoon. Sit out in Bombay's patio, yeah, we see skaters, cyclists, strollers and hurried folks running to catch either the METRORAIL or 82 bus out to Westheimer over off Walker.

There is a mix of people catching/changing transit, people wanting an urban vibe out to have some beer in those patio bars like Flying Saucer or Molly's. During the weekend, Discovery Green is reasonably crowded. The Sundance Cinema and surrounding eateries are busy at Bayou Place. Fact.

I see downtown in five substantial sections:

-Houston Pavilions with a couple cool bars on Caroline St.
-Bayou Place/Theater District
-Main St.
-EaDo
-Tunnel System

There is an appreciable amount of people milling around downtown for one reason or another.

(It was great to take the METRORAIL during St. Patty's Sunday after a downtown meal, get off the station near Greyhound then do the short walk to Midtown. Now there was some great St. Patty's bar crawl action in Midtown...)

Of course, it isn't a mass touristy or totally multi-use downtown. But in the greater context of Houston which has so MANY options...downtown is still a good one when I want to walk around looking up at skyscrapers after grabbing a bite to eat. It's a good option when I want to feel some urban wind effects at night while walking from Bayou Place to Hearsay Lounge. Yeah, and there's still decent foot traffic.

Yet, we in Houston still have our collection of colorful bungalow and cottage bars just outside of a downtown setting if we don't feel like doing the skyscrapers/wide sidewalks/alleys. Not many of those other centralized, uniform block cities have our options as far as settings and diverse streetscapes (I doubt you'd find a backstreet gem of a funky eccentric little bar crawl like Taft/Fairview in New York or Chicago or even L.A.).

[worldlyman]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Let's be real though. Downtown Houston is dead. I was surprised considering the metro area is much larger then Atlanta's, yet Atlanta's downtown has 10x the activity as Houston.

This is on a regular day in Atlanta. No events or anything. Weather isn't even that great. Not even in the central parts of downtown like Five points or Peachtree Center.




I don't remember Houston being anywhere near that active. Even Dallas is more active then Houston.

Hate to say it, but yeah.

Downtown Houston is "dead?" That's patently false as I've pointed out here.

Does downtown Atlanta have a high-powered Theater District? Does it have Robert Redford's Sundance Cinema?

I'd much rather have the configuration of Bayou Place with the adjacent bayou walk below rather than some Underground mall. (I must say I did enjoy those global soft drinks over at the Coca-Cola museum).

Atlanta doesn't have as many business districts as Houston. Doesn't have a beefy commercial sprawl like Houston. (Buford Highway trying to compete with Houston's myriad regions of New Chinatown, Little Korea, Veteran's Memorial Asian area, old Little Saigon, Mahatma Gandhi District, etc,)

That's a major reason why there's more foot traffic in Atlanta than Houston. But there is still substantial foot traffic in downtown Houston, enough to disqualify it from being a "ghost town", no matter what goes on in any other city. There's hardly any foot traffic in downtown Tampa or downtown Phoenix compared to Houston. So what.

I've been to downtown Atlanta more than a few times...and more pedestrians don't impress me. It totally lacks Houston's futuristic "Blade Runner" vibe. Houston's breathtaking futuristic skyscrapers and Main St. layout with just a few pedestrians are MORE lively to me than some bland-looking downtown Atlanta with more quantitative foot-traffic.