Why do so many people not like Houston?

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by marcopolo2000

true

Please tell us how does Houston settle for less, and what expectations and goals should Houston strive for that it is not ?

[JL]

Back in the 80s, i lived in Texas City. It definitely had a smell of its own from the refineries, but after living there for some time, you wouldn't know it....in fact, i lived right across from the Amoco(ARCO?) plant with the stack flares coming out. My bedroom windows would be nicely heated during the winter....then i moved to Houston. A couple of years later, i would just pass by Texas City thinking how crazy it was that i lived there with that smell. Since then, i haven't returned in over 25 yrs, so who knows what it smells like now.

[jj2015]

i agree with the other comments about smells, smog and refineries.... what are people talking about? Unless you live right next to the refineries you aren't going to see or smell them. Have these people visited Beijing or Delhi? I also don't think Houston smells much at all. It's oddly void of the big city garbage smells like in NYC. Most friends I've had who have come to visit from Canada or the Northern US are so surprised at how nice it is in Houston. They're shocked to see Hermann Park, Rice, Memorial. That's not what they picture for Houston. It's not the prettiest city but it's not an utter wasteland.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by jj2015

i agree with the other comments about smells, smog and refineries.... what are people talking about? Unless you live right next to the refineries you aren't going to see or smell them. Have these people visited Beijing or Delhi? I also don't think Houston smells much at all. It's oddly void of the big city garbage smells like in NYC. Most friends I've had who have come to visit from Canada or the Northern US are so surprised at how nice it is in Houston. They're shocked to see Hermann Park, Rice, Memorial. That's not what they picture for Houston. It's not the prettiest city but it's not an utter wasteland.

These will be the same people that see the white plums coming out of a power plant and be all freaked out about this toxic pollution when in actuality, it's just steam.

I know that our chemical plants expel much more than steam, but it's the reason you see the flares; they are designed to burn certain gases being expelled. The plants are HIGHLY regulated. Sure, there are going to be smell close to the plants. Sure, there are going to be emergency and accidental releases from time to time. However, there is rarely a smell once you get a relatively short distance from them. Finally, the smell wouldn't be the reason I wouldn't live close to them. I wouldn't live close to them due to the explosion risk, release risk and the stuff in the soil that got there back before they were strictly regulated.

[fnh]

What Pedro says. I'll add that many people foolishly dismiss the east side over pollution concerns then locate themselves on the west side within a half mile of I-10, the world's largest freeway, and breathe unregulated pollution around the clock. Or they'll move to Fort Bend near the Parish power plant which emits more pollution than all of Houston's chemical plants combined. No pollution sensors must mean there's no pollution right? Ignorance is bliss.