Is Houston a world class city (The Woodlands, Allen: homes, buying, luxury)

[Chi-town]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

I wasn’t talking about the Asian community as a whole I was talking specifically Chinatown Houston vs Chinatown Chicago, NYC etc. Chinatown Houston is more sustainable to support growth because of the suburban set up, lot availability, Land availability and price. This is a benefit it has for its location. As a whole, it’s a different story as you pointed out.

As he/she mentioned, many of Houston’s attractions aren’t centrally located and this causes it to be less convenient especially for visitors. But there are some benefits that come with it. Seismique for example is a great trendy new art museum that’s almost in Katy. But it would be hard to find that space in the Museum District for a start up.

I saw Chinatowns yes. Still the NICE % growths were Asians in general. Proves still GROWTH and to say. Chi Chinatown is dying, is waaay premature at worst. Also movement just south of Original Chinatown. A tidbit of history. Before Chicago's current Chinatown was where it is. It was within south border of the Loop Chicago. Some remnant buildings there snd migrated where it is. NYC's traditional Chinatown gentrifying. Still has NEW migrations and new immigrants choose blocks in-city in the Borough's other than Manhattan.

Heck if any city knows MIGRATIONS. It is Houston. Even to Suburbs.

What Chicago's Chinatown had, is it was it outside of downtown and most properties were not listed thru traditional real estate. Many kept more private sales to other Chinese.

This map from a last year's link shows bright read - Old traditional Chinatown on the map.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/N0...uzwH7n0mgrFPUn

The red southward are neighborhoods cheaper it is growing into. Even if the Old traditional Chinatown does gentrify more non-Asian. My point is its movement to neighborhoods to its immediate South are a fact of in-city expansion. NYC's into Brooklyn and Queens vs Traditional one of Manhattan. NYC as many areas even outside the city. It is its own Beast. What was left of Chicago's old Little Italy. Was basically absorbed as the U IC campus and gentrified also. That is by Chinatown also.

Full link.

Chinatown: A Divided Growth Agenda

NYC's moves into other Borough's and Chicago's now showing the spread to neighborhoods just South cheaper also.

The link points out the 62 Acre clean slate of land once rail in the South Loop just South of mighty Willis (Sears) Tower and just north of Chinatown and along the Chicago River. It is a 10-20+yr development of a new high-rises/Skyscrapers neighborhood called the 78. A plot Amazon checked out and we know who got the split Second campus. Being DC/Nashville. Chicago's 78, billed as a mega-project among others near downtown. WILL connect the Loop Chicago with traditional Chinatown. So stress for gentrification is there. Stress upon the North never ends.

No one is denying Houston's growth and of immigrants to Chinese/Asians. I merely WANTED to point out movement in NYC and Chicago is not dying. Unless Asian immigration stops.

There is NO replicating urban dense NYC ever in Houston or suburbs. Chicago's form it could. Still, Chicago's near South or West side. Has some of the oldest traditional old Chicago housing left. Yet the denser part of the city is the Northside.

Only its close-knit form Houston has some done in its inner-loop. Still many are as developments with nice HOA fees even as single homes. Houston also is its own beast and its growth need not match the North legacy cities and will not.

We have been thru this WORLD-CLASS term in the City vs City forum. Just way too broad and general a term. Where as GLOBAL is a bit more limiting as it is NOT USA CITIES VS USA CITIES and dying North and booming South.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Chi-town

I saw Chinatowns yes. Still the NICE % growths were Asians in general. Proves still GROWTH and to say. Chi Chinatown is dying, is waaay premature at worst. Also movement just south of Original Chinatown. A tidbit of history. Before Chicago's current Chinatown was where it is. It was within south border of the Loop Chicago. Some remnant buildings there snd migrated where it is. NYC's traditional Chinatown gentrifying. Still has NEW migrations and new immigrants choose blocks in-city in the Borough's other than Manhattan.

I did in no way shape or form say it’s dying. I said less room to grow. Big difference.

[gwarnecke]

Originally Posted by Dopo

All I know is that if I arrive to the airport of a city
And my only option to go to downtown is renting a car or taking a taxi
I would never call that city “World class”

Try taking the Piccadilly Line from Heathrow during the morning rush hour and dragging your luggage through packed tube stations to transfer at least once to reach your destination in east London - and then tell me that is a superior experience to taking a taxi/Uber into Houston from IAH.

(btw, don't say "you could just take a taxi in London", because if it's rush hour, traffic will be so miserable that the tube is still the better option)

[Bos2Iah]

Originally Posted by Jeohnny

Is Houston a world class city? I hear from some that it is and from some that it isn't because of lack of good transit and walkable neighborhoods etc. What do yall think. Please put emotions to the side and answer with logic whether you like houston or not. Is it a world class city if so why and if not why not?

It is a world class city minus the outrageous costs that u see in north east or ny or cali where i have lived. The lack of public transportation may have to do with the dumb elected “texas” representatives .it is very different to texas in many aspects. .As others mentioned uber and lyft has revolutionized the transportation. Any part of the city you are never over an hour to the airport.

Lacks scenery but the lower costs compensates for that.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by SanJac

Only people on C-D want to function without a car. For some reason public transit is romanticized on C-D, but not in the real world. It’s nice to use on occasion but not for everything.

I think more people in the real world prefer it than you think. I don't hear anybody here in Houston romanticizing about being stuck in traffic and having 35 to an hour commutes every day for work. Especially considering traffic and sprawl is one of Houston's biggest negatives.

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

I never understood the idea that a city needs to have a highly-developed public transportation system in order to be "world class" and/or have a high QOL.

Instead of asking "does a city offer a fancy public transportation system", one should ask "does a city's transportation paradigm allow residents to reach their destinations with a minimum of fuss and expense." In this regard, I'd say that Houston doesn't do too badly. Our traffic can be heavy during rush hour, but overall it's not terrible for a city its size. HOV/HOT lanes offer drivers helpful alternatives. The decentralized nature of our business districts and amenities mean that you likely don't have to be a millionaire to live reasonably close to work. If you do work downtown, you can take a direct P+R bus that likely drops you off within a few blocks of your office. If you're going anywhere but downtown or the Washington Corridor, you don't think about parking before you leave, because they'll be abundant parking wherever you're going.

Contrast this with other, denser "world class" big cities - every trip involves a mini-calculation of bus/train schedules, transfers, parking availability/expense, congestion charges, etc. Plus, when the next pandemic hits, you're dependent on public transportation. No thanks. And forget about having a detached house with a nice yard anywhere near your work unless you're a millionaire.

I sincerely hope that the COVID-19 pandemic encourages the curators of these "world class" lists to rethink their weighting of public transportation/density in a city's attractiveness.

When you're as car centric as Houston is you do factor in a lot of things before you get in your car. First of all relying so heavily on your car has his own expenses and headaches. It's more expensive to own a car than to rely on public transportation. You deal with the stress of aggressive drivers and simply being stuck in traffic. Also if you want the "convenience" of getting to your destination quicker than you'll have to pay to get on the toll. So in Houston there's plenty of fuss and expense that comes with the territory. It's literally one of the things most natives and transplants complain about Houston.

With that said Houston imo is not a world class city. It has some world class amenities but there's a vast difference in truly world class cities like NYC and LA than in Houston.

Frankly USA don't have too many truly world class cities. Chicago and SF could possibly fall in that category. Boston and DC would probably be it and that's a big maybe.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

btw, don't say "you could just take a taxi in London", because if it's rush hour, traffic will be so miserable that the tube is still the better option

At least they have the option,
in Houston, you will be stuck in traffic in a taxi

[gwarnecke]

Frankly I have little sympathy for those who complain about a long commute in Houston, given that every business district except downtown and maybe the Galleria and Med Center offers reasonably-priced housing with decent schools within a 15-minute drive or so (and downtown and the Galleria are the two business districts in Houston that actually do offer decent public transportation options, via the P+R and BRT systems).

(just to give one such housing example - I used to live in the Energy Corridor, and homes zoned to 10/10 elementary school started under $300k, with all of the oil co offices 5-10 minutes away)

It will be interesting to see how COVID and working from home affect home buying decisions. Our company is currently coming into the office 1-2 days a week and looks to be doing so for the foreseeable future. A commute that would be untenable 5x a week might not be so bad for many, 1-2 days a week. Will likely be good news for Bridgeland, Cinco, Riverstone, The Woodlands, and other nice but far-out burbs.

Finally - some people hate driving, but plenty of people enjoy driving, and that's true even in dense European and NE cities with traffic and parking headaches. The fact that their traffic is so bad is proof that, for many residents, driving is the most-convenient or enjoyable option. These same folks would consider Houston's traffic/parking situation to be a dream by comparison.

[utche96]

World class city? In some respects maybe especially in terms of cost of living, shopping, food, and medical. However, it's ugly as hell and the weather is unbearable for 5 months of the year. Very few good options for mass transit. I don't think anyone would ever mistake Houston for a tourist destination. That said, I would prefer living in Houston to San Fran or NY. People in Houston are more friendly and you can actually build your savings here.

[Need4Camaro]

I’d say Houston could probably hit the mark if it had better mass transit, better beaches and more in the way to protect against flooding.

[Bos2Iah]

Apparently many think houston s traffic is worse hasnt been to many other cities. I can get to IAH in 45 mins and start at 4 pm for a 6 pm flight. Not once ihave missed a flight. No where i have had that luxury.