Gosh H-town, you could be the best city in the country..... (Houston: low income, best cities)

[radiolibre99]

....if you just gave in a little to the "liberalism" you're so afraid of. It isn't even a matter of being "liberal", it's just a matter of common sense stuff that most cities adhere to.

1.) Fix your streets and increase spending on infrastructure.
2.) invest in better public transportation, it's not "socialism".
3.) invest more in the arts instead of leaving it all to generous donations from mega companies, It's always funny to attend things in the Houston area and see that 90% of the stuff is sponsored by oil companies, construction, or medical corporations.
4.) Need more public spaces. In comparison to California, I felt like I was tresspassing everywhere. Tell the city to buy some land. Texas is literally a fiefdom.
5.) I would hate to be poor in Houston because I've noticed that you guys lack considerable social services. If Texas were to secede, poor people would screwed.

These were just some casual observations. I do not mean to totally discount Houston. In contrast, I found Houston to be a really lively, over all social town. You can literally walk into a bar or club and meet people, exchange numbers and make friends. That's a plus.
The cost of living is amazing for a major metropolitan area. My good friend rents a cool little bungalow in the Heights and enjoys life to the fullest for half the cost of something I rented in Boston. He has a lawn, two bedrooms and SPACE. The food is world class. Loved it.

The jobs are plenty, which is a +++. The wages aren't that bad either unless it's retail but that is the same everywhere. The job growth really extends mostly to skilled labor and professionals. Again it would really suck to be poor in Houston working retail and next to no services the city or state offers.

Other than that the city is amazing. It would be an even more amazing city if you guys would just liberalize a little. Trust me, you won't turn in to CA.

[annie_himself]

Flame war. By the way, Houston is kind of headed in that direction. On with the flame..

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

....if you just gave in a little to the "liberalism" you're so afraid of. It isn't even a matter of being "liberal", it's just a matter of common sense stuff that most cities adhere to.

1.) Fix your streets and increase spending on infrastructure.
2.) invest in better public transportation, it's not "socialism".

Public transportation = Redistribution of wealth. What's the point of making all that money if I can't use my car as a force field to keep away the poor? That's socialism.

[radiolibre99]

Public transportation = Redistribution of wealth. What's the point of making all that money if I can't use my car as a force field to keep away the poor? That's socialism.

I did notice incredible ingrained racism and middle class chauvinism against poorer people in Houston. It's not as blatant as what the media plays off but when you encounter it, you encounter it in major doses. Like this guy up here ^ who I am sure is just egging me on, but I would not put it past someone in Texas to literally think like this.

There are just some serious reactionaries in Texas. More so than I've ever seen in any other state. I am sure Houston is not all like this but it's surprising to see how vocal they are.

I bet there were a bunch of pro-Zimmerman rallies in Houston.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

Flame war. By the way, Houston is kind of headed in that direction. On with the flame..

Not trying to start a flame war but if Houston is headed that way then it's on it's way to being one of the best cities in the country (if can also maintain it's rather low COL).

[Oildog]

Museums and theatres are not sponsored by large corporations in other cities???

Why do we need better public transit, its worked fine when I've used it.

Being low income anywhere is not fun. At least some things are more attainable here because of the low cost of living.

[swopoe]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

I did notice incredible ingrained racism and middle class chauvinism against poorer people in Houston. It's not as blatant as what the media plays off but when you encounter it, you encounter it in major doses. Like this guy up here ^ who I am sure is just egging me on, but I would not put it past someone in Texas to literally think like this.

There are just some serious reactionaries in Texas. More so than I've ever seen in any other state. I am sure Houston is not all like this but it's surprising to see how vocal they are.

I bet there were a bunch of pro-Zimmerman rallies in Houston.

Let me guess. You think there were no pro-Trayvon ones, right? Geez.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by swopoe

Let me guess. You think there were no pro-Trayvon ones, right? Geez.

No I am sure there were, but the fact that there were pro-Zimmerman rallies is a little unique.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Not trying to start a flame war but if Houston is headed that way then it's on it's way to being one of the best cities in the country (if can also maintain it's rather low COL).

You can't be the best city in the country and have a low COL. I said it's kind of heading that way, public transit is facing immense opposition.

Originally Posted by Oildog

Why do we need better public transit, its worked fine when I've used it.

I know I sure hated sitting in rush our traffic on 45 and the west loop. Houston needs commuter rail, period. It also needs a more developed light rail system to go along with the METRO.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Oildog

Museums and theatres are not sponsored by large corporations in other cities???

Why do we need better public transit, its worked fine when I've used it.

Being low income anywhere is not fun. At least some things are more attainable here because of the low cost of living.

I meant most of the events I've attended in other cities the main promoter and designer was the City with some co-sponsors. Almost all the events I attended in Houston were sponsored by some major corporation.

Not that it was any worse, but that having your core development come from mostly private business seems rather limited to me. That is just my opinion.

Public transit in Houston is worse than in LA. That rail that wirls around Main is not something I would call innovative.

Yes being low income sucks but the low cost of living translates to a lot of your poor living bottom of the barrell. Ghetto is really ghetto in Houston. For a functioning city, the ghetto areas can be compared to cities that have gone kaput like Camden, NJ and Detroit.