Is Houston a world class city (Dallas, Paris: to live, restaurant, vs.)

[Spade]

Originally Posted by fnh

Y'all, this video is long but oh so relevant to this discussion.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxykI30fS54

Yeah this was discussed on here. Other than him hating Houston, I don’t find much I disagree with.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Yeah good reference to LA. It’s one thing to not have a world class public transportation system (such as LA). But it’s one thing to not be doing much to improve.

The Silver Line would be game changer but there’s one problem: it’s not connected to the light rail. If you could reliable right of way separated transit from downtown, TMC, UH, Rice etc to the Galleria, this would be a big step forward. But you can’t. And they are working on connecting the systems but it will be a few years before this happens.


https://www.metrorouteatlas.net/citi...ps/Houston.png

The University line is finally back on the table and they just hired AECOM for engineering it. And extending the red line to Hobby and a north side BRT to IAH.

Once these projects begin to roll in… we still won’t be close to LA’s level but atleast the improvements begin rolling in for a better move forward. When you’re in a bad spot that’s one thing but to stand still in that spot is the worst.

Yep. It’s a start at the least which is all you need. LA had a same start and progressed from there. They figured out that you can’t only asphalt yourself out of a problem especially when there are 12 million people living there. Doing nothing and you deserve the future you get.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by Spade

Yeah this was discussed on here. Other than him hating Houston, I don’t find much I disagree with.

It wasnt a very fair comparison. He took his experience in Willowbrook as all of Houston.

[LocalPlanner]

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.

PS seems to focus on white-collar workers and those with $ to go out for entertainment. The most important function of public transit is to help folks get to work and necessary services, especially those for whom car affordability is a challenge. Houston has made a lot of improvements in this regard, but still has a long way to go. Public transit is never going to be as convenient in most cases as you own car (except when traffic and parking really sucks, which it sometimes can in Houston, if not as much as elsewhere), but a world-class place doesn't offer exceptional barriers like transportation to those who arrive poor and want to work their way up.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Every World class City I’ve been to, had rail transportation between their airport and downtown
Houston doesn’t have it

It should be way down the list. Having good public transit for local workers is much much more important. This isn't even arguable. How long did it take for NYC to get good rail to its airports?

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

I think Miami is definitely world class. But I agree with your second paragraph other than that.

What makes Miami world class? Before you answer, nightclub and fashion culture don't cut it.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

What makes Miami world class? Before you answer, nightclub and fashion culture don't cut it.

Correction: don’t cut it for you. In what Miami has to offer which is good beaches, shopping and entertainment, it’s best in its class. Houston has amazing shopping some of the best in the country. But Miami is up there with NYC and Paris in this regard. South Beach is one of the most desirable places to visit in USA. Old Havana is a destination cultural and architectural place people desire to see. Miami is a haven for real estate investors (both for good and bad reasons). I would call that world class. If you don’t, I understand but I disagree.

[Spade]

I personally think Miami comes up a bit short myself. It has world class entertainment, shopping, beaches but doesn't stack up well in economy, education, and public transit ( I think Houston's LRT has higher ridership than Miami's HRT). It does have an underrated art scene though. It checks some boxes but not enough. Like Houston.

[mkwensky]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Correction: don’t cut it for you. In what Miami has to offer which is good beaches, shopping and entertainment, it’s best in its class. Houston has amazing shopping some of the best in the country. But Miami is up there with NYC and Paris in this regard. South Beach is one of the most desirable places to visit in USA. Old Havana is a destination cultural and architectural place people desire to see. Miami is a haven for real estate investors (both for good and bad reasons). I would call that world class. If you don’t, I understand but I disagree.

Miami is also seen as "world class" by a lot of the world, especially in South America, and that counts for something.

[LocalPlanner]

While so much about the term "world class" is subjective, I also am not sure what I see about SF and LA that people claim elevates them to NYC / London / Tokyo level. LA has shopping (I guess) and the entertainment industry, which is admittedly influential, but what else there is so top-tier that it's better than Houston / DFW / Atlanta / Chicago / Seattle / Boston / DC etc.? And SF is only influential / truly top tier in biotech and, maybe more importantly, eco-consciousness / social justice virtue signaling (which is also admittedly highly influential). Its tech industry is just a subsidiary / beneficiary of innovation that comes from Silicon Valley down the Peninsula. Outside of intentionally hyper-cutting edge expensive restaurants, affordable and relevant to very very few, what else is it influencing or setting the standard for? It's known for having underwhelming and often dysfunctional public transit despite being a city that really needs it. Its reputation seems to live off the legacy of the 1960s counterculture and its role as the primary gay capital of the planet in the 1970s/80s.

I will give LA the distinction of world-class foreign import infrastructure, equaled by few others if any (Rotterdam?), despite it being overwhelmed at the moment.

Sure both LA and SF are popular tourist destinations, but so are Orlando and Venice. Maybe if you consider them as bigger metros - especially combining SF with the whole Bay Area including SV - they're more elevated above the secondary U.S. tier in terms of "world-class"-ness.