Houston's long-term future is bleak without serious mass transit and efforts to lure young professionals (Katy: buy, bankrupt)

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by tstone

JCM My theory is: The OP has established himself as somewhat of a troll, hence the riled-up responses. Just take a look at all of his posts & see for yourself.

Sure thing, tstone, I'll take a look.

My post was based on gut emotion/"wowness", so I'm sure there is/are a(n) underlying factor(s) to think about.

[TXTwizter]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

Uh... WOW!

Off topic here, but I have seriously considered a move to Houston. Most of the Houstonians I've met in person have seemed quite nice.

But, judging by the posts of this forum, never have I seen a single thread anywhere on C-D during my year here where there has been such vitriol and sarcasm. Never. Where is the Southern hospitality in Houston's cyber community? I NEVER see this on the NYC, DC, Chicago, or Seattle forums. Do people in Houston really act this way in person when they become more acquainted?

What gives?

Well most people on here are bashing Houston so naturally Houstonians are going to fight back! Most Houstonians are laid back, down to earth people who hate it when people try and say they are better than them.......check this out for good entertainment.......//www.city-data.com/forum/texas...smackdown.html

[AK123]

Originally Posted by coog78

Oh, good lord, Austin is a college town. Houston has plenty of "fun stuff" for young professionals, dramatically more than Austin could ever hope to have. You think its a coincidence the inner loop is constantly getting more dense and that's where all of the action is? If you don't think the urban core of Houston is liberal, I don't know what to tell you but you definitely should have driven through Montrose, Heights, Midtown, West University, etc before the election and saw which candidate the yard signs clearly supported. People will continue to come to Houston for great jobs. While I agree with you that we definitely need mass transit to speed up, Austin does not have a rail line, Seattle is in the baby stages of implementing theirs, and I doubt we will see an efficient system like Chicago or NYC in our lifetime. But seriously, comparing Austin to Houston is like comparing Madison, Wisconsin to Chicago. It only works if you live in Madison, otherwise it just sounds silly.

While I agree with you (I've lived in both Austin and Houston), Austin does a much better job of "getting the good word out" and promoting their supposed higher quality of life for young professionals. Austin does have the advantage of a large university, attention to aesthetics (lots of green space, building codes, zoning), and hilly scenery. Houston could also have the first two (by expanding and throwing more money at UH in particular) and adopting zoning and more regulations for aesthetics. Our current mayor seems to know this and has done a good job compared to others in the past.

Though Houston can't have Austin's hills (but at least we've got water/beaches), if the city adopted zoning (or at least more building codes and regulations to help aesthetics), made more green space, and got crime more under control (which goes along with zoning... most of the crime seems to be in areas of town where there are way too many crappy apartment complexes clumped together), it would easily be able to trump Austin IMO. Houston has the big-city amenities, diversity and big-city excitement Austin lacks. Too bad the city didn't take a hint from Austin in quality of life issues named above (though like I said, the current mayor is on the right track.)

At the same time, Austin isn't all it's cracked up to be... they have just as many problems with traffic, sprawl, ugly strip-malls, etc.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

I appreciate your rebuttal. "World class" is, to a degree, perception. ...

So by my personal and subjective definition Houston will go a long way towards evolving from a major US city to a "world class" city when the light rail system is developed in conjunction with heavy rail connections ...

I didn't consider my post a "rebuttal" and I agree that "world class" is perception, and quite subjective. My point was that we will never reach the promised land, we will always be baited with the "if we want to be a world class city we have to <insert pet project here>" line. Ten years and ten billion dollars from now we might have commuter lines to the major suburbs and we'll still have to hear the "world class" crap.

And then there's the question as to whether we even need or want to be "world class". What exactly is in it for me?

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by txguy2009

Because SOME people would be able to do it car free. I am not saying shut out people with cars.

Why are you so slow?

Then let SOME people pay for it.

Why can you not argue your points based solely on the merits and must resort to insults?

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

Uh... WOW!

Off topic here, but I have seriously considered a move to Houston. Most of the Houstonians I've met in person have seemed quite nice.

But, judging by the posts of this forum, never have I seen a single thread anywhere on C-D during my year here where there has been such vitriol and sarcasm. Never. Where is the Southern hospitality in Houston's cyber community? I NEVER see this on the NYC, DC, Chicago, or Seattle forums. Do people in Houston really act this way in person when they become more acquainted?

What gives?

Vitriol and sarcasm? Is it that bad in here? Jeez, I thought we were all just talkin'.

(And, for the record, I've seen some pretty nasty arguments on other forums. Ya know, since we're comparing and all. )

Moving onward...

[jfre81]

Vitriol? Sarcasm? I know not what you speak of.

Originally Posted by JamesLang

People come to Houston for the low cost of living and job opportunity. Other than that, most of these people don't seem to care about anything else about Houston.

You'd think if they stick around long enough they'd start caring.

Anyway, it is what it is....let's hope for $200/bbl oil so gas shoots through the roof and people start clamoring for transit again.

[Wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by DiverTodd62

Ten years and ten billion dollars from now we might have commuter lines to the major suburbs and we'll still have to hear the "world class" crap.

atleast Houstonians can add it to the whole 'we have that too' attitude about their city...
"we have a rail system" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have a gay neighborhood" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have a singles neighborhood" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have a downtown" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have a midtown" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have a uptown" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have a chinatown" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have some tourist attractions" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have a beach" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have a theatre district" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
"we have diversity and international cuisine" (kinda sorta hmm maybe like NYC)
<we have train comment here 10years from now>

[jfre81]

I just took a world class crap a little while ago. I hear you can do that in NYC too.

[Wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by jfre81

I just took a world class crap a little while ago. I hear you can do that in NYC too.

with indian food, not mexican food tho