Job Relo to Galveston - Need advice on where to live? (Houston: restaurants, license plates)

[War Beagle]

Originally Posted by Schumacher713

Galveston is a dump.

Gotta agree with this. Our professional conference was held in Galveston recently and it truly is a pit. The beaches are horrendous. They were particularly bad because there were 5-8 foot tall piles of seaweed all over the place. The whole city smelled like a fart. I know the seaweed isn't usual, but the beach is still horrible even during normal times. I genuinely felt pity for the people that had saved up to take their families on vacation only to experience that. I saw two families headed back to Colorado and I can't imagine how disappointed/angry they must have been.

The city itself is also a dump. It is a mix of abandoned industrial buildings, uncared for residential areas and abandoned shopping centers. It's just not a nice place in the least and the residents seem to have very little pride in their city.

Originally Posted by fnh

Schumacher, really? To say that the entire island of Galveston is a dump is a bit of an overstatement, don't you think? Galveston has historic charm, something Houston generally misses.

The touristy areas that people generally think of when they think of Galveston are dumpy compared to most other island/tourist areas I have visited. That's only my opinion though. Galveston sort of seems like what Cuba might be like - mostly run down and dilapidated with a few pockets of affluence (minus the natural beauty, of course).

[texas7]

A friend who just moved to Galveston from Pearland said that she was surprised at how much she really likes it there. She finds Galveston residents to be nicer in general than in Houston. And she says people don't seem as racist there - she said that blacks and whites seems to generally be nicer/friendlier to one another there. I don't really know what her experiences were in Houston to help her form that opinion though.

[Svensk08]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

Gotta agree with this. Our professional conference was held in Galveston recently and it truly is a pit. The beaches are horrendous. They were particularly bad because there were 5-8 foot tall piles of seaweed all over the place. The whole city smelled like a fart. I know the seaweed isn't usual, but the beach is still horrible even during normal times. I genuinely felt pity for the people that had saved up to take their families on vacation only to experience that. I saw two families headed back to Colorado and I can't imagine how disappointed/angry they must have been.

The city itself is also a dump. It is a mix of abandoned industrial buildings, uncared for residential areas and abandoned shopping centers. It's just not a nice place in the least and the residents seem to have very little pride in their city.



The touristy areas that people generally think of when they think of Galveston are dumpy compared to most other island/tourist areas I have visited. That's only my opinion though. Galveston sort of seems like what Cuba might be like - mostly run down and dilapidated with a few pockets of affluence (minus the natural beauty, of course).

Since so many of you on this forum find nothing positive about Galveston, I sincerely hope you never have to go there again for any reason whatsoever.

Some may not remember, but the entire city of Galveston was devastated by Hurricane Ike in 2008. What you see there was what survived the wind and a horrendous tidal surge flood. Did you happen to notice the historic high water markers on buildings there? Many homes, businesses and tourist attractions were damaged to the point that insurance could not begin to cover the costs of their restoration. Some residents and business owners simply boarded up what was left and opted not to return. And, of course, much of Galveston's reconstruction was slowed by the Great Recession.

I'll appreciate Galveston for what it is -- a Texas Gulf Coast city with a rich history and a survival instinct -- instead of comparing it to the crowded seaside tourist meccas in Florida, Mississippi and on the east coast.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

Gotta agree with this. Our professional conference was held in Galveston recently and it truly is a pit. The beaches are horrendous. They were particularly bad because there were 5-8 foot tall piles of seaweed all over the place. The whole city smelled like a fart. I know the seaweed isn't usual, but the beach is still horrible even during normal times. I genuinely felt pity for the people that had saved up to take their families on vacation only to experience that. I saw two families headed back to Colorado and I can't imagine how disappointed/angry they must have been.

The city itself is also a dump. It is a mix of abandoned industrial buildings, uncared for residential areas and abandoned shopping centers. It's just not a nice place in the least and the residents seem to have very little pride in their city.



The touristy areas that people generally think of when they think of Galveston are dumpy compared to most other island/tourist areas I have visited. That's only my opinion though. Galveston sort of seems like what Cuba might be like - mostly run down and dilapidated with a few pockets of affluence (minus the natural beauty, of course).

What pathological impulse is it that makes some people just have to dump on Galveston even when it is totally off-topic ? This is a thread about a woman who is relocating to Galveston and needed advise on where to live. This woman has been to Galveston and understands what it is like and not only chooses to live there but is highly enthusiastic about it.

The empirical observations and opinions of people who live in dumps of their own making are irrelevant to the OP. It especially amazes me that people who live in pits themselves would have the unmitigated gall to make such vitriolic, and hyperbolic statements.

[millie61]

[quote=War Beagle;35480199]Gotta agree with this. Our professional conference was held in Galveston recently and it truly is a pit. The beaches are horrendous. They were particularly bad because there were 5-8 foot tall piles of seaweed all over the place. The whole city smelled like a fart. I know the seaweed isn't usual, but the beach is still horrible even during normal times. I genuinely felt pity for the people that had saved up to take their families on vacation only to experience that. I saw two families headed back to Colorado and I can't imagine how disappointed/angry they must have been.

The city itself is also a dump. It is a mix of abandoned industrial buildings, uncared for residential areas and abandoned shopping centers. It's just not a nice place in the least and the residents seem to have very little pride in their city.



The touristy areas that people generally think of when they think of Galveston are dumpy compared to most other island/tourist areas I have visited. That's only my opinion though. Galveston sort of seems like what Cuba might be like - mostly run down and dilapidated with a few pockets of affluence (minus the natural beauty, of

So you have actually been to Galveston when the seaweed isn't there ?
You have lived there ?
We recently moved here the people are so friendly everywhere you go
The island might be run down in parts but if you took the time to look you would have seen that rebuilding is going on everywhere
Have you ever been to Cuba ? Or for that matter outside of the US ?

[War Beagle]

Some of you get too upset about the expression of opinions. I'm just some guy on the internet. If people like living in or visiting Galveston, then great.

And yes, congrats on getting the house you wanted.

[fnh]

Congratulations, Gidget, on getting the house!

Obviously Galveston isn't everyone's cup of tea, and thank goodness for that. Ah, the island life. Enjoy!

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

Some of you get too upset about the expression of opinions. I'm just some guy on the internet. If people like living in or visiting Galveston, then great.

Did the OP ask for your opinion of Galveston? Did the people who scheduled your "professional" Conference not know what Galveston was like when they choose to meet there? Where your other colleagues as revolted by the Island as you? Did these tourist that were alleged Coloradans really not know where they were going?

If you feel your opinions are really so meaningless why do you bother posting them? You took the time to post a fairly detailed diatribe trashing Galveston, are people really supposed to just let that dangle out there without any reply? I don't think so.....

[millie61]

Jack lance well said

[War Beagle]

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

Did the OP ask for your opinion of Galveston?

No, but I'm glad I gave it because your responses have been well worth the time I took typing it out.

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

Where your other colleagues as revolted by the Island as you?

From what I overheard, yes. I'm sure there was at least one person there that liked it but I didn't encounter that person.

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

Did these tourist that were alleged Coloradans really not know where they were going??

You might be on to something. I bet they were using phony Colorado license plates on their SUVs.