COMMENT OF THE DAY: HERE FOR THE MONEY “I think coming to Houston to work and make money is a great thing – let’s face it, we don’t have mountains, the weather is horrible (except for when it’s not), and the beach is too far away to be much of a draw. No one is going to come to Houston because of the city’s natural beauty – they will come here because there is no better city in the US to pursue the American dream. What exactly is wrong with that? Last time I checked, most of us do have to make money to survive – there is no shame in having to earn a living. Houston fosters an [entrepreneurial] spirit bar none. Personally, I think that is great. You can keep your East Coast, blue-blood cities and your reformed Southern Aristocracy – I’ll take good old fashioned, pull yourself up by the bootstraps raw capitalism any day. Y’all so down on Houston need to go back and re-read some of the quotes on http://www.houstonitsworthit.com. There are thousands of reasons why people do love Houston – and not all of them have fallen under the bulldozer of Perry Homes.” [LT, commenting on Comment of the Day: Battle Hymn of the Inner Loop]
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Drinking the Kool Aid. Mmmmmmmm.
I’ve lived in cities considered more desirable than Houston. Waiting tables and earning chicken scratch to support an idealized urban lifestyle SUCKS. And despite what a lot of Heights residents think, Houston offers plenty in terms of culture and character.
I moved to Houston 6 years ago and have found it to be a dynamic, diverse and interesting city. The city’s immigrant, Asian, Latino and black cultures are vibrant and thriving. Unfortunately that means very little to urbanists. To them, if you can’t walk to a corner coffee shop past pretty buildings, your city is shit.
I was born in the East End and have lived in the Heights for over a decade. Newcomers in the Heights suffer from a disorder called “liberal elitism run amouck ism”
One symptom is to live in the Heights for the cultural mix and send your kids to HISD schools that are not in the Heights.
Another is to be liberal and to care about animals and the downtrodden of the world while hiring the immigrants that stand on the side of the road and paying them pennies for manual labor.
A sure sign that you do not have the disorder is the ability to recognize your behavior and laugh at yourself.
This whole discussion makes me laugh. If you don’t like Houston, leave. Fine with me. Go back to your cramped brownstones with “character.” Been there, done that.
Houston was created upon the vision of simply being yourself.
The rules of other places can’t and shall not always be applied.
amen brother
I agree – Houston is a wonderful place to make money. I show my gratitude by paying my taxes on time and being a good neighbor and law-abiding citizen. I will do so for 15 more years, wish my neice well when I give her my house, enjoy my retirement in beautiful Hingham, MA and always think fondly on Houston for partially making it possible.
Houston lucked out in that it held on to the oil industry, even after a major bust that had the Houston real estate landscape looking much like what we are seeing in parts of Fl, NV and CA. The energy industry is now king again, and we are all lucky that the City did not hedge its bets on dot coms, financials or casino gambling.
And the energy industry did not chose Houston because there was no zoning or because their executives could knock down bungalows in the Heights. The energy industry chose Houston because it was where the oil was. Refineries were built in Houston because it was a good location for them, not because it was cheap to do a strip mall on FM 1960.
Yet, Houston’s good fortune has been warped into a specious argument that Houston is successful because it shuns anything that might be good for citizens quality of life, but that would impede a developer’s bottom line. Thus, instead of using our oil riches to construct a better and more liveable city, we think that any attempt to keep a developer from dropping a highrise or big box retailer in a residential neighborhood would send the energy industry packing and turn Houston into New Detroit (yes, I am dropping a Robocop reference–the Wortham does make for a good city hall). What is really remarkable is the insecurity and self hatred that permeates Houston. With all the money that flows through this city, we should be entitled to a well planned urban core that isn’t a lazy attempt to replicate FM 1960 whenever some industrial facility leaves behind a big lot. We should be entitled to preserving what very little is left of our history. We should be entitled to more greenspace and place to ride bicycles, walk and run without risking becoming a hood ornament on someone’s Ford Explorer. Yet, any suggestion of anything other than completely unfetter, Ayn Rand would blush, capitalism is seen as something just short Stalinism. Come one Houston. You lucked out and landed what should be a cash cow for the next few decades. Have a little self-esteem. It is ok to want something better for yourself. That won’t scare away the energy industry.
Open your eyes my friend.
The urban core is fine and full of green space.
You argument makes no sense at all.
Houston/Detroit comparison is flawed. Detroit is in the shape it’s in because everyone there fought to maintain the status quo – the auto makers, the unions, and the politicians.
Whenever someone says we’re ‘entitled’ to something, I wonder who is supposed to be paying for it. Is it the evil corporations who must donate to things to expunge the sin of being profitable?
Hallelujah Hellsing, I will be going home to Assawompset Pond in Middleborough/Lakeville for retirement in 20 years. Moved here when Mass. Crashed in the early 90’s, love Houston, for the heat, no showing snow for years to come, for The flatness, no rockslides and easy biking, for not being Boston/NYC, just as many shows and restaurants. I do miss the transit though.
Oh Please used word “entitled” too many times not to be from the communist crowd. The entire point of Houston is that if YOU want something done, you can do it YOURSELF. On a separate but related note… Houston cannot and should not become a “walkable” city, the climate does not support it. You can alway tell the person who “walks to the corner store” because you can smell them 20 feet away.
Yeah, I agree. But, all the same, I still think Houston sucks, big time. Good place to make money but a lousy place to raise kids, enjoy the outdoors. If money is not the driving force there is no good reason to live here.
As far a Detroit goes. The reason that it is in such shape is because the auto companies agreed to pay high school graduates doctors wages to bolt bumpers onto Pontiacs. That make no sense at all. Now they are paying for such foolishness.
As far as raising kids goes, when I was in school in Austin I found Houston kids to be the most, how do you say, normal kids from Texas. Austin kids took the cake as the most ill adjusted. A lifetime of being told they were from the coolest, hippest city in the state left them thinking they were more interesting than they actually were.
Personally, I’m excited about raising kids here. Houston’s a city where culture and diversity are readily available (and affordable) to the masses. We don’t have the cultural elitism that a lot of cities have. No matter how hard people try to thrust it on us.
Not to derail a thread with pimping, but my old elementary alma mater is having their 62nd carnival on Saturday October 30 and it’s still a wonderful HISD school! Poe Elementary on the corner of North Blvd. & Hazard
Coming from San Diego, I think Houston is a great place to live. As long as you live in the right area. Personally I love Montrose and enjoy it much more than San Diego (weather aside of course). It’s very ‘walkable’ (Montrose) with tons to do. I could even see raising a kid here.
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And if Montrose wasn’t my thing, Houston is great for raising a big famimly in a big house with a super low cost of living in an almost always warm (okay, often muggy hot) climit.
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When I first started coming to Houston (for work), I thought it sucked… But that was when I was staying — even living for a while — outside the loop. It seemed ugly and dead.
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Point being: Houston is a great city. You just gotta live in the right part of it. However there are drastically different parts of the city to satisfy most peoples needs.