LA similar to Houston?

[jr6035]

Not one similarity. I'm from Texas. Not even close. No mountains. Nasty humid. Concrete jungle. And don't even think of going to the beaches near there.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

You people are obsessed with us.

Dallas people are obsessed with LA as well. It's not just Houston.

[Texamichiforniasota]

Originally Posted by jr6035

Not one similarity. I'm from Texas. Not even close. No mountains. Nasty humid. Concrete jungle. And don't even think of going to the beaches near there.

I'm from Houston originally, but have lived in LA for many years now. The only similarities that I can come up withis both are diverse, but Houston has a bigger African American presence and LA has a bigger Asian American Presence. Both are car dependent, but Houston much more so, and so is pretty much every city in the US besides Chicago and the Boston-Washington Cooridor, so I don't know that that should count for anything. The spawl is different, LA is a dense sprawl, Houston is more similar to most other low-density sprawling cities in the US.

Bonus to OldKlebAlumini for using his or her very first post to bump a thread that had been dormant for almost a decade.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Originally Posted by OldKlebAlumini

Grew up in Houston, lived in...

Why the freak are people responding to a 9 year old topic?

[OldKlebAlumini]

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

Why the freak are people responding to a 9 year old topic?

Why not? Lots of forums have perennial threads that get revived from time to time, even city-data has more than a few of those. In fact, in many forums it is preferred to post in an older thread rather than creating a new thread on the same topic, starting a new topic would inspire the same umbrage you're showing here over posting to an old thread. Go figure. Forums that don't wish for older threads to get revived lock threads after a period of time and/or inactivity, but city-data doesn't do this. Perhaps the better question might be why does it seem to bother you so much that people are responding to a 9 year old topic?

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by jr6035

Not one similarity. I'm from Texas. Not even close. No mountains. Nasty humid. Concrete jungle. And don't even think of going to the beaches near there.

I think L.A. basin and the SFV and SGV floors are completely paved--you can see it from space. It's hard to see Houston from space, though, due to the trees--and they don't catch fire every year during the inevitable wildfires!

As for the beaches, I still wouldn't want to swim in the toxic Santa Monica Bay. Malibu was founded to stop the county from building a first-world municipal sewage system. Dockweiler Beach had the needle, condom, and tampon discharge a few years back.

The people are similar though. Both are pretty laid back compared to the rest of the state.

Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker

Dallas people are obsessed with LA as well. It's not just Houston.

DFW and S.F. Bay Area are also mirror opposites of each other, being extremist havens for the right and left, respectively. They are both uptight; P.C. in the Bay Area, Evangelical dogwhistles in DFW. For instance, a Dallas teen has developed an app that filters out curse words from music.

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/08/03/...utube-cursing/

Dallasites would be horrified at the protest signs and profanity being shown/heard on live TV involving--curse words--piercing their "good Christian" eyes and ears! L.A. and Houston were pretty cool with it.

[arsenaultcason]

Originally Posted by OldKlebAlumini

Grew up in Houston, lived in LA for several years, now back in Houston. I think there are more similarities between the two cities than freeways and urban sprawl. Even as far back as 1994, major motion pictures were using Houston as a stand-in for LA (The Chase - and not just for freeway scenes) . And from my perspective in the last quarter century Houston has only gotten more similar to LA. As I've been driving around reacquainting myself with my hometown the last few years, I'm struck by how certain stretches of road here remind me of LA, mostly in a more generic way, like the Sharpstown area, or West Gray between Shepherd and Taft, the Highland Village area, even a lot of parts of the Westchase. There are also parts that remind me more specifically of parts of greater LA. For instance, the original parts of Bellaire remind me, not of Bel Air, but of Arcadia for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. Parts of River Oaks actually remind me of Bel Air. For the record, Pasadena, TX is NOTHING like Pasadena, CA, it's more like Wilmington, CA. EaDo has an LA feel to it now. I think a lot of the cityscape similarities are due not just to freeways or urban sprawl, but both cities grew up fast in the post-war era, so lots of the architecture is similar - lots of mid-Century neighborhoods in Houston with ranch-style/California rambler houses. Also because of the warm climates with mild winters, lots of use of palm trees in public space planting.


Beyond just the cityscape, there are a lot of cultural similarities. Houston is pretty close to LA in percentage of foreign-born residents. It, like LA, has a large hispanic population which has influenced the overall culture, food scene, and even look of many areas. Houston also has large East Asian enclaves. I was somewhat dismayed to find our original Chinatown just southwest of Downtown to have shrunk to a shadow of itself and become regentrified during my time away, as had the Little Saigon between Downtown and the Medical Center, but my disappointment turned to elation when I found that the former residents and businesses of those areas had moved out west to an even bigger and better "New Chinatown" along Bellaire Boulevard straddling the Beltway. And I discovered Koreatown along Long Point. I had forgotten how great Houston's art museums are, especially the Menil. And so many great restaurants, too. There is so much I thought I would miss about LA when I moved back here, that I have been pleasantly surprised to find is available here in Houston now. Though there is a lot outside of LA proper that I miss in Houston - like being able to run up to Santa Barbara for the weekend, the boating was better in California, though its a lot cheaper and more accessible here in Houston, the mountains, though have rediscovered the Hill Country. Certain parts of the Hill Country do remind me of Southern California outside LA, including Austin area once you get near the lakes. And the wine trail near Fredericksburg.

I get that this is an old thread but I just wanted to add that The Woodlands in the Houston metro area is quite similar to the LA suburb of Lake Forest in Orange County. Some people say it’s Irvine but Lake Forest is more similar in size and also has more trees than Irvine, although Irvine has more amenities. But I think if anything Irvine is more like Klein maybe? Although Klein is an incorporated area and it’s basically a bunch of subdivisions grouped up and considered one large city. Maybe it’s more like Cypress? (the Houston suburb not the LA suburb). Also I think in a way Corona reminds me of Conroe. Both are similar in the sense that they used to be irrelevant lower middle class towns a few decades ago but quickly got a lot of new upper middle class developments.

[timtemtym]

I spent 20 years in Houston then 10 in LA. I moved back to Houston with my partner due to family issues last summer and we just couldn't do it. We moved back to LA a few months back and California is now home.

Houston is a very different vibe. Drivers are slower but angrier, shootings are always the top 3-4 stories on the news, and politics smack you in the face quite often. Everywhere I presented my California ID, I got questions and comments. At the driver's license office there, I had to hear a long lecture from the lady about how crazy and dumb California is. They are obsessed with the comparisons.

If we had kids and wanted a nice suburban area, we probably would have been ok settling down there, but it just wasn't right for us and didn't feel like home.

Houston has always had an inferiority complex. It's a great city with amazing parks and some beautiful master-planned communities. It is an affordable place to get started from nothing and make something of yourself. But for this stage in my life, it just wasn't right and I hated almost every day we were there, especially during the winter storm when we had no electricity or heat for three days. That was hell and it's what really made the decision to leave.

On the plus side, our home there appreciated enough in one year to pay the realtors costs and break even. We had an offer at asking price in a matter of days, so we can't complain too much.

[jr6035]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

I spent 20 years in Houston then 10 in LA. I moved back to Houston with my partner due to family issues last summer and we just couldn't do it. We moved back to LA a few months back and California is now home.

Houston is a very different vibe. Drivers are slower but angrier, shootings are always the top 3-4 stories on the news, and politics smack you in the face quite often. Everywhere I presented my California ID, I got questions and comments. At the driver's license office there, I had to hear a long lecture from the lady about how crazy and dumb California is. They are obsessed with the comparisons.

If we had kids and wanted a nice suburban area, we probably would have been ok settling down there, but it just wasn't right for us and didn't feel like home.

Houston has always had an inferiority complex. It's a great city with amazing parks and some beautiful master-planned communities. It is an affordable place to get started from nothing and make something of yourself. But for this stage in my life, it just wasn't right and I hated almost every day we were there, especially during the winter storm when we had no electricity or heat for three days. That was hell and it's what really made the decision to leave.

On the plus side, our home there appreciated enough in one year to pay the realtors costs and break even. We had an offer at asking price in a matter of days, so we can't complain too much.

You would be better off in Austin. They're more accepting of Californians. Anywhere else in Texas, no. And for good reason.