17 Comment

• Spoonman. July 27, 2012 at 9:12 am

  Using “number of young adults” as a metric of “cool” ignores that that can be from two, at least, sources – attractiveness to young professionals and lots of low-wage immigrant laborers. Houston probably has both.
• Purdueenginerd July 27, 2012 at 10:23 am

  Houston is cooler than Austin, Philly, Chicago, NYC, San Fran, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington DC?

  Sorry, I chuckled at that article…
• nacho July 27, 2012 at 11:49 am

  maybe if you read the criteria that places Houston at the top before sheepishly chuckling, then you would understand its rating….but, I guess since your views reign supreme over all others, then please tell us what puts those cities you named above Houston, specifically in those categories
• Walt July 27, 2012 at 1:52 pm

  @nacho – Using numbers to determine what is “cool” is a waste of time. One of the critera used in the article was the number of pro and college sports teams in the city. Ok, fine, but do you really think the Astros are as “cool” as the Yankees, Cubs, or Red Sox? Yet quantity wise, they each count as 1 and are considered equal. The same goes for museums. Is the MFAH really as cool as the Met? This exercise could be done for any of the catagories Forbes used to rank the cities and Houston would come up short on almost all of them. So while Houston may be the coolest when you count numbers, its certainly not the coolest when you’re looking for the coolest things around.
• Roy July 27, 2012 at 2:42 pm

  Purdue,

  Well I don’t know about those other cities, but Houston is objectively cooler than Philadelphia. Philly is almost the definition of uncool.
• Purdueenginerd July 27, 2012 at 2:50 pm

  @nacho

  I chuckled because it’s ridiculous to call Houston cooler or more hip than half those cities. I did read the metrics, and it is a poor methodology of determination. Net migration and umemployment are examples of bad metrics, young people arent moving here because Houston is a cool place to be, theyre moving because they need to put food on the table.

  Lets be real here for a moment, Houston is leaps and bounds better than it was just 10 years ago but can anyone with a straight face actually say Houston is cooler than New York City? Like Broadway vs Theatre district? Midtown vs SoHo? Museum of Fine Arts vs the Metropolitan Museum of arts? I love Houston and I enjoy living here, but like I said before lets be real here…

  also, chill out a bit… I never insinuated my opinion reigned over everyone else.
• Sara July 27, 2012 at 3:07 pm

  Roy,
  Have you ever been to Philly?
• Purdueenginerd July 27, 2012 at 4:15 pm

  @roy

  Ya, I guess I liked Philly because of all the history… But I suppose that’s objective. I see your point though haha.
• Eddie July 27, 2012 at 4:19 pm

  Don’t need some bogus list to tell me what the coolest cities in America are. Houston is definitely not on my personal list. Once the job markets open back up in the real “cool” cities across the US, Houston will go back to being its mediocre self.
• mel July 27, 2012 at 5:02 pm

  It’s ok to [heart] Houston! :-)
• kjb434 July 27, 2012 at 6:28 pm

  Let the idiotic and childish self loathing of Houston begin.

  The only basis for calling Houston uncool is based upon a load of stereotypes from urban hipsters that actually think they know what cool is.
• elultimo July 27, 2012 at 10:37 pm

  As a recent Dallas transplant (don’t groan), I have grown rather fond of the chaos, clutter, and general entropy that is Houston. With two small kids and a nettlesome Asian wife in tow, I may not be supremely qualified to comment on the hipster/single scene, but give this place some points for dialing down the pretense and and having some ‘character’ bars like Leon’s Lounge just a few easy tram-stops away.
  And ditto to you, kjb434, that hipster/vintage thing is way overdone.

  Go Cowboys.
  (now feel better about hating me)
• Bethsheba July 28, 2012 at 9:46 am

  Really?
• Chief July 28, 2012 at 10:11 am

  I’ll take any positive publicity this city gets. In actuality it may not be the coolest city but I still love it for what it is and for its potential.
• Cody July 28, 2012 at 10:22 am

  I’ve done a lot of traveling, and if I take the midtown/montrose/rice/museum district areas as a whole, I think this area of Houston is “cooler” than most any other city I’ve been to.
  .
  Now HOUSTON as a whole? Houston is HUGE and most if it (IMO, and sadly) sucks and is very “uncool” (however you might want to define it)
• ScottIU July 28, 2012 at 11:55 am

  Don’t go too hard on Purdue. He’s used to the little brother role.

  IU>PU
  Bloomington>West Lafeyette
• firstngoal08 July 29, 2012 at 12:23 pm

  I’m completely fine with this ranking and methodology. Based on a consistent approach of evaluating all cities, Houston was a national leader. I think that is “cool.” Houston is a great place to LIVE… and after LIVING in other major cities… find this city to offer all the things I need and desire in a major metropolitan area. Foremost, as the article clearly states, is professional opportunity. Cities are inherently economic engines and places of commerce — and this city has offered me far more opportunity than any other. Did I prefer the weather in San Diego? — absolutely! Did I like the history and character of Georgetown? — you bet!! With that said, I love LIVING in Houston and VISITING all these other great cities. Try being a school teacher or a firefighter and LIVE in Boston, Chicago, or San Francisco. It is impossible without sharing housing or residing very far away in distant suburbs. So, for me, Houston is a “cool” place to LIVE at this stage of my life…. and I’m most appreciative of what this city offers.