Which major Texas city will become minor? (Houston, Dallas: living, cost of living)

[Sunderpig2]

Originally Posted by ReppingDFW

They could raise an army and take it by force.

Galveston has much more going for it than the slums of houston, and has the distinction of being around longer. Galveston is also much more united as a city. And if there were armies formed (ludicrous thought), Galveston would be more successful. Too many in houston sit on the arses all day. The island folks are heathier and more active.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by Texas Liberal

I disagree a little bit about the 1900 hurricane. It did set the city back, but the city was only slightly smaller in 1910 than it was in 1900 and posted strong gains up to the 1940's. What ultimately brought about Galveston's decline was competition with Houston.

San Antonio finds itself in a similar position today vis a vis Austin. The two are competing for the same niche, and Austin is winning.

RIIIGHT. You have zero knowledge of what you are talking about.

No one does logistics or heavy industry in Austin. It is not on any East-West interstate. There is only one major railroad connection. Few major power plants And the greenies shut anything down. Just look at the fiasco apple went through.

San Antonio has major auto plants and suppliers, railroad hubs, major heavy industry, clothing manufacturers, machine tools, and some major data centers, too. And tens of megawatts of power generation. And its within hours of the major gulf ports. Let's not forget major military presence as well. And its the shipping gateway to Mexico. Its also the number one market for the spanish speaking retailers.

Other than that Austin has it all!

I would think that Austin with its "*********" attitude to business has the most to lose as Texas continues to grow. It is getting a bad rep and people are looking at Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio as a result.

[MikeyAusmus]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Galveston was never a "major city" to begin with.

At its peak population in 1960 there were only 67,000 people.

Now, 52 years later there are still over 47,000 people on the island.

This averages out to approximately 385 people leaving each year so its not that bad, but not good either.

Back in 1900 Galveston was THE premier city in Texas! Its population was roughly the same as Houston and Dallas in 1900. Because of the 1900 storm all hopes of Galveston becoming a growing major city in Texas were completely washed away. Due to this fact, 110 years later, the city only has 10,000 more residents than it had back in 1900. If the 1900 storm would not have happened, Galveston would have kept growing like a wild fire. But being that the 1900 storm happened, it gave the Port of Houston a real shot at becoming THE port in Texas (which it certainly did) and was responsible for kick-starting a population boom in Houston that still hasn't ended. The Port of Galveston just couldn't maintain its competitive edge causing further population decline.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by Sunderpig

The most likely scenario is Houston going down. Maybe a Cat. 5 hurricane doing widespread damage, and also setting off explosions from the many chemical plants in the area. The result being a crumbled wasteland with toxic residue everywhere Even in that situation there'd still be dummies wanting to live there (here), but the population could be greatly reduced.

I'm sure you salivate at that possibility!

The east side of town, already the lesser populated, would just be much less so. The population would move more west, which it already is anyway. Other areas of the US would be indirectly affected in a very bad way because of the decrease in refinery capacity, shipping, etc.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by Sunderpig

Galveston has much more going for it than the slums of houston, and has the distinction of being around longer. Galveston is also much more united as a city. And if there were armies formed (ludicrous thought), Galveston would be more successful. Too many in houston sit on the arses all day. The island folks are heathier and more active.

Unfortunately Galveston has some slummy areas too.
As far as your healthier comment, do you even have any data to back that up...

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by Sunderpig

It would be impossible for Houston to annex Galveston. Among many other reasons, Galveston is already incorporated as a city (it's not an unincorporated area). There's no legal way for Houston to change that

You clearly can't read huh, I said the annex thing as a joke, but I was slightly serious about a merging , which has happened in US history , when two city have decided it was in their economical best intrest

[ReppingDFW]

Originally Posted by Truth713

You clearly can't read huh, I said the annex thing as a joke, but I was slightly serious about a merging , which has happened in US history , when two city have decided it was in their economical best intrest

What about the cities between Houston and Galveston? Would they merge with Houston as well?

I know it's all hypothetical and stuff, but it would be weird having non-continuous boundaries.

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by ReppingDFW

What about the cities between Houston and Galveston? Would they merge with Houston as well?

I know it's all hypothetical and stuff, but it would be weird having non-continuous boundaries.

hmm yeah I often forget about those cities ,which is odd cus league city is bigger than galveston in population

[Nairobi]

Dnftt

[marcopolo2000]

I wouldn't call them "major" cities by any means but once the oil industry goes bust, I see Midland/Odessa falling off. Besides work, I can't see why anyone would want to move or live there.