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You stated that you've been in Houston since 1976. You mean to tell me you've had no opportunities to leave in 33 years? That tells me that you probably just habitually complain and do nothing about it. As for you leaving town, I'll believe it when I see it happen.
Wrong, I have only been wanting to move for about two years
Houston is a bit of a cultural wasteland to most. Of course there are pockets of ethnic activity going on but it can't compare to many other cities in the US that are much smaller than we are even in that category (see: Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, etc etc etc).
Yeah, we have Mexican food but so what? Pretty much every other large city in the nation does also...and it's not like Mexican food consists of complicated cooking techniques that you can't replicate anyway. We have a lot of restaurants but so does every other city of considerable size. Our restaurants are nothing special AT ALL...I mean, you have Mexican restaurants, a bunch of chains, Chinese buffets, and overpriced sushi places filled with hipster kids and people dressed up like they're going to a club.
Our night life is terrible. Our music scene is absolutely shameful for our size.
We have museums and theatres but, honestly, how many of you people actually go to those places? I can go to the museum once every couple of years but it isn't exactly my idea of a fun evening.
There is absolutely no natural beauty here....at all. Galveston is not only plagued by very uninspiring views and ugly water, but also by crackheads and alcoholics wandering all over the places. In my opinion, the only place where there is any natural beauty in the BROAD, general area is Livingston...but that is too far to go to often.
Downtown is pathetic for a city of our size. It is absolutely dead after people get off of work and on the weekends. It is even dead during the weekdays except for a bunch of people silently going to lunch from their offices. There are no street performances, no activities, no life......
Our city is EXTREMELY stressful since you have to spend a lot of time on highways full of speeding drivers and intense traffic. I am not so lazy that I would mind walking. The problem is that it's impossible to walk anywhere of importance (or interest) here unless you live in a very few select areas. I hate driving. I hate our drivers. I hate our traffic. I would love to be able to WALK places like I could in other cities. Not only would this be healthier, but our city would have much more life such as street food vendors, performances, and just people together, spending time outside. To me, that would be a great thing.
There's a reason why virtually NO tourists come to Houston: because there's really nothing special here...at all. They always opt to go to either Austin or Dallas if they are in Texas. I hate Dallas but Austin actually has natural beauty that you can really enjoy...like lakes, caves, hills, great bike trails. What do we have? Memorial and Hermann parks.....Whoopie!!!
I hate this city and I don't want to live here. Unfortunately, it's tough to just pick up and move. About the only thing this city has going for it is the cost of living and the Medical Center...but that's not too important to me since I don't spend a lot of time hanging out in hospitals.
Actually, I have to disagree with you about Houston being a cultural wasteland. It's quite the opposite and I do believe that it has an impressive cultural presence (art districts and so on).
My big qualm with Houston is really the weather. If not for that I could live there and be quite happy.
Houston is a bit of a cultural wasteland to most. Of course there are pockets of ethnic activity going on but it can't compare to many other cities in the US that are much smaller than we are even in that category (see: Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, etc etc etc).
Houston is the most ethnically diverse city in the South.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Yeah, we have Mexican food but so what? Pretty much every other large city in the nation does also...and it's not like Mexican food consists of complicated cooking techniques that you can't replicate anyway. We have a lot of restaurants but so does every other city of considerable size. Our restaurants are nothing special AT ALL...I mean, you have Mexican restaurants, a bunch of chains, Chinese buffets, and overpriced sushi places filled with hipster kids and people dressed up like they're going to a club.
Chinese buffets? Ever been to Chinatown where you can eat some authentic Chinese food prepared by actual Chinese cooks?
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Our night life is terrible. Our music scene is absolutely shameful for our size.
The nightlife isn't that bad if you know where to go. Houston is a Hip Hop city so naturally that is mostly what you're going to hear on the radio stations & in the clubs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
We have museums and theatres but, honestly, how many of you people actually go to those places? I can go to the museum once every couple of years but it isn't exactly my idea of a fun evening.
What is your idea of a fun evening?
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
There is absolutely no natural beauty here....at all. Galveston is not only plagued by very uninspiring views and ugly water, but also by crackheads and alcoholics wandering all over the places. In my opinion, the only place where there is any natural beauty in the BROAD, general area is Livingston...but that is too far to go to often.
How is the scenery in Livingston different compared to say Humble or Conroe? Galveston's water is brown because of silt that pours into the Gulf from Galveston Bay. The further south or out to sea you go, the clearer the water becomes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Downtown is pathetic for a city of our size. It is absolutely dead after people get off of work and on the weekends. It is even dead during the weekdays except for a bunch of people silently going to lunch from their offices. There are no street performances, no activities, no life......
Were you aware of Houston's extensive underground tunnel system?
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Our city is EXTREMELY stressful since you have to spend a lot of time on highways full of speeding drivers and intense traffic. I am not so lazy that I would mind walking. The problem is that it's impossible to walk anywhere of importance (or interest) here unless you live in a very few select areas. I hate driving. I hate our drivers. I hate our traffic. I would love to be able to WALK places like I could in other cities. Not only would this be healthier, but our city would have much more life such as street food vendors, performances, and just people together, spending time outside. To me, that would be a great thing.
You should really check out Discovery Green Park if you hadn't already.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
There's a reason why virtually NO tourists come to Houston: because there's really nothing special here...at all. They always opt to go to either Austin or Dallas if they are in Texas. I hate Dallas but Austin actually has natural beauty that you can really enjoy...like lakes, caves, hills, great bike trails. What do we have? Memorial and Hermann parks.....Whoopie!!!
Tourists go to Austin & Dallas...since when? San Antonio is the largest tourist destination city in Texas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
I hate this city and I don't want to live here. Unfortunately, it's tough to just pick up and move. About the only thing this city has going for it is the cost of living and the Medical Center...but that's not too important to me since I don't spend a lot of time hanging out in hospitals.
Whats stopping you from finding a job somewhere else & moving?
There's a reason why virtually NO tourists come to Houston: because there's really nothing special here...at all. They always opt to go to either Austin or Dallas if they are in Texas. I hate Dallas but Austin actually has natural beauty that you can really enjoy...like lakes, caves, hills, great bike trails. What do we have? Memorial and Hermann parks.....Whoopie!!!
And tourists are flocking to.... Dallas??? To see what? A museum about the assassination of one of our greatest presidents (worth it once it your life) or an '80s TV show (JR who?). What else?
Seriously, none of these cities are tourist destinations. Who wants to live in a tourist trap town anyway?
And tourists are flocking to.... Dallas??? To see what? A museum about the assassination of one of our greatest presidents (worth it once it your life) or an '80s TV show (JR who?). What else?
Seriously, none of these cities are tourist destinations. Who wants to live in a tourist trap town anyway?
I can honestly say I've lived in Texas all 29 years of my life & have not once vistited, nor cared to visit either one of those places. JFK got shot in Dallas some 40 odd years ago, big deal. I've seen it replayed on TV enough to last me the rest of my life.
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,840,335 times
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Is this a joke?
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Houston is a bit of a cultural wasteland to most. Of course there are pockets of ethnic activity going on but it can't compare to many other cities in the US that are much smaller than we are even in that category (see: Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, etc etc etc).
What are you talking about? Houston's theater district is 2nd in size only to NYC's Broadway district. Houston ranks 3rd in fine arts museum space. Two Chinatowns. Houston ranks 3rd or 4th in foreign consulates. One of only a handful of US cities with permanent year around symphony, opera, theater, and ballet. The Museum of Natural Science is 3rd or 4th most visited in the US. Festivals all the time. Plenty of home-grown stuff too, like Art Car Parade. Houston ranks way up there in number of working artists living here. There was just a thread in another forum with a ranking of top 10 cultural tourism cities, and guess what, Houston was on the list.
What other culture is missing? Or, are you one of those who mixes up culture with historical sites?
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Yeah, we have Mexican food but so what? Pretty much every other large city in the nation does also...and it's not like Mexican food consists of complicated cooking techniques that you can't replicate anyway. We have a lot of restaurants but so does every other city of considerable size. Our restaurants are nothing special AT ALL...I mean, you have Mexican restaurants, a bunch of chains, Chinese buffets, and overpriced sushi places filled with hipster kids and people dressed up like they're going to a club.
Interesting. Is that why Forbes ranks Houston the #6 best restaurant city in the country (only one in the state), and Wine Spectator and Esquire rank it even higher than that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Our night life is terrible. Our music scene is absolutely shameful for our size.
It's been a while since I've been on the scene, but when I was there was plenty to do and see. It was just more spread out than preferred. Is there room for improvement? Sure. But it's not "terrible."
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
We have museums and theatres but, honestly, how many of you people actually go to those places? I can go to the museum once every couple of years but it isn't exactly my idea of a fun evening.
I love that stuff. It's culture, and it's available here. If you don't like it fine, but don't lie and call it a cultural wasteland.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
There is absolutely no natural beauty here....at all. Galveston is not only plagued by very uninspiring views and ugly water, but also by crackheads and alcoholics wandering all over the places. In my opinion, the only place where there is any natural beauty in the BROAD, general area is Livingston...but that is too far to go to often.
Galveston is not that bad. Crackheads wandering? Livingston? Don't you think, maybe, Lake Houston is closer than Livingston?
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Downtown is pathetic for a city of our size. It is absolutely dead after people get off of work and on the weekends. It is even dead during the weekdays except for a bunch of people silently going to lunch from their offices. There are no street performances, no activities, no life...
There are festivals often. You must never look for them. Something usually going on at Discovery Green every weekend. And what about the sports games?
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
Our city is EXTREMELY stressful since you have to spend a lot of time on highways full of speeding drivers and intense traffic. I am not so lazy that I would mind walking. The problem is that it's impossible to walk anywhere of importance (or interest) here unless you live in a very few select areas. I hate driving. I hate our drivers. I hate our traffic. I would love to be able to WALK places like I could in other cities. Not only would this be healthier, but our city would have much more life such as street food vendors, performances, and just people together, spending time outside. To me, that would be a great thing.
That's Texas for you. And a lot of other places. It's not a problem unique to Houston.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
There's a reason why virtually NO tourists come to Houston: because there's really nothing special here...at all. They always opt to go to either Austin or Dallas if they are in Texas. I hate Dallas but Austin actually has natural beauty that you can really enjoy...like lakes, caves, hills, great bike trails. What do we have? Memorial and Hermann parks.....Whoopie!!!
Houston gets lots of visitors. Look up some numbers.
And I posted this previously in the thread, but Austin's beauty is limited to its west side only. And right now, most of the city is brown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy
I hate this city and I don't want to live here. Unfortunately, it's tough to just pick up and move. About the only thing this city has going for it is the cost of living and the Medical Center...but that's not too important to me since I don't spend a lot of time hanging out in hospitals.
I thought this was why people choose to live in Houston, not why people choose to visit Houston.
"Touristy" =/= "livability." New Orleans and Miami are great to visit, but I wouldn't want to live in either place. Same goes with pretty much the whole of California.
Houston is a bit of a cultural wasteland to most. Of course there are pockets of ethnic activity going on but it can't compare to many other cities in the US that are much smaller than we are even in that category (see: Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, etc etc etc).
Yeah, we have Mexican food but so what? Pretty much every other large city in the nation does also...and it's not like Mexican food consists of complicated cooking techniques that you can't replicate anyway. We have a lot of restaurants but so does every other city of considerable size. Our restaurants are nothing special AT ALL...I mean, you have Mexican restaurants, a bunch of chains, Chinese buffets, and overpriced sushi places filled with hipster kids and people dressed up like they're going to a club.
Our night life is terrible. Our music scene is absolutely shameful for our size.
We have museums and theatres but, honestly, how many of you people actually go to those places? I can go to the museum once every couple of years but it isn't exactly my idea of a fun evening.
There is absolutely no natural beauty here....at all. Galveston is not only plagued by very uninspiring views and ugly water, but also by crackheads and alcoholics wandering all over the places. In my opinion, the only place where there is any natural beauty in the BROAD, general area is Livingston...but that is too far to go to often.
Downtown is pathetic for a city of our size. It is absolutely dead after people get off of work and on the weekends. It is even dead during the weekdays except for a bunch of people silently going to lunch from their offices. There are no street performances, no activities, no life......
Our city is EXTREMELY stressful since you have to spend a lot of time on highways full of speeding drivers and intense traffic. I am not so lazy that I would mind walking. The problem is that it's impossible to walk anywhere of importance (or interest) here unless you live in a very few select areas. I hate driving. I hate our drivers. I hate our traffic. I would love to be able to WALK places like I could in other cities. Not only would this be healthier, but our city would have much more life such as street food vendors, performances, and just people together, spending time outside. To me, that would be a great thing.
There's a reason why virtually NO tourists come to Houston: because there's really nothing special here...at all. They always opt to go to either Austin or Dallas if they are in Texas. I hate Dallas but Austin actually has natural beauty that you can really enjoy...like lakes, caves, hills, great bike trails. What do we have? Memorial and Hermann parks.....Whoopie!!!
I hate this city and I don't want to live here. Unfortunately, it's tough to just pick up and move. About the only thing this city has going for it is the cost of living and the Medical Center...but that's not too important to me since I don't spend a lot of time hanging out in hospitals.
Man, you sounded depressed. Get out more and enjoy the city for what it's offering. Don't be so negative on everything. Just look at it this way...if something that you can't change or can't do within your ability, then don't be so negative about them. Just take it for what it is. There is nothing you can do about it unless you can find yourself out onto I-45 north, then I-35 north...all the way up north. Or rethink again about the Medical Center. It's important!
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Is this a joke?
Houston's theater district is 2nd in size only to NYC's Broadway district. Houston ranks 3rd in fine arts museum space. Two Chinatowns. Houston ranks 3rd or 4th in foreign consulates. One of only a handful of US cities with permanent year around symphony, opera, theater, and ballet. The Museum of Natural Science is 3rd or 4th most visited in the US. Festivals all the time. Plenty of home-grown stuff too, like Art Car Parade. Houston ranks way up there in number of working artists living here. There was just a thread in another forum with a ranking of top 10 cultural tourism cities, and guess what, Houston was on the list. 
Or, are you one of those who mixes up culture with historical sites?
