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  • Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Sep 14, 2019
    154
    26
    Irvine, CA
    IMO, Fort Worth is the best large city in Texas. Downtown is great, The Stockyards are fun, the Museum district is nice.

    San Antonio is a fun city to visit. I like to stay on the Riverwalk.

    Houston is probably the worst city in Texas.


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    I love the Stockyards man. Easily my favorite place in the Dallas area.
     

    Dad_Roman

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    Apr 1, 2018
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    Teague
    Houston is big, spacious.....kinda like LA. (like Brains said)

    Im FROM Houston. Spent my first 25 or so years there so I admit that not having to use a map is a big plus and I am also USED to the long drive from one side to the other.

    That being said, I always stay in Clear Lake (across from NASA) at the Hilton. Basically no crime, no traffic, no homeless, no big city issues. Now I admit its a looong drive in to Minute Maid Field for a world Series game and much further to the Galleria, Katy etc. but I dont mind the trade off.

    Course now that my kid has his home in Pearland I stay there.

    Lotsa food places and a lot of secrets there. Cant go wrong with the local Pappa's chain for BBQ, Seafood, Steak, Mesican whatever your wanting.

    Goode Company on Kirby has always been a local favorite. (biased, I grew up in that area)

    All the info mentioned above is recent and on point for sure.

    .
     
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Sep 14, 2019
    154
    26
    Irvine, CA
    Dallas is horrible. I think the weather (except for tornadoes) and traffic are worse in Houston though.


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    Dallas became a huge shithole between the first and last time I visited. How the hell they put in so many ugly buildings, radical leftists, Mexican flags, and more graffiti in a one year period really blew my mind.
     

    benenglish

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    7   0   0
    Nov 22, 2011
    23,933
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    Spring
    Houston is probably the worst city in Texas.
    Beauty really is in the eye of the beer holder.
    It's funny how people react to places. I love Houston but I'll admit that it can be off-putting to novices.

    The traffic, for example, is always cited as being terrible. However, once you understand it you can overcome most obstacles. There are usually three ways to get everywhere you want to go. Locals will pull up the Houston Transtar map, study it for 30 seconds, and pick a route alternative that won't drive them crazy.

    What I love about Houston is that it has just as much interesting stuff as other places but it's all sort of thrown around the city. The situation tends to reward the locals and discourage tourism. To explain that, this...
    About all I've ever seen about Houston is no zoning rules.
    ...is really important. For most of its life, Houston has been run, politically for sure and economically in great measure, by real estate developers. They have dictated how the city grew. They have no interest in historic preservation, for the most part, and just want to go a little ways further out, buy an old farm, and convert the acreage to a new subdivision. They make their money on selling housing to residents, not concentrating all the good stuff in a downtown tourist park.

    The result? Houston is the very definition of urban sprawl. The land area covered is huge even though an aerial view would show lots of empty chunks. Heck, when Google Maps came online, I was living in Spring, situated between Houston and The Woodlands to the north. Most people driving through on Interstate 45 would see that it's just one continuous city from downtown to well north of The Woodlands. It wasn't. Google Maps clearly showed three large marijuana fields between my house and the freeway.

    My point? Good stuff (insert your own definition of "good stuff") is all over the place. You just have to be willing to find it. There are amazing things tucked away in odd places that make the city a wonderful place to visit. You just have to do a bit more research in advance, compared to more touristy places, or have a local show you around.

    BTW - About that lack of zoning. There are private enterprise solutions to that problem that have been a part of Houston for many decades. It's true that in the older parts of town you can see odd juxtapositions. However, nowadays the frequency with which a house in the middle of a neighborhood gets knocked down so that someone can install a used car lot has been reduced to near zero.

    Those older, sometimes jarring, juxtapositions? They give the city character and make it fun.
     

    SQLGeek

    Muh state lines
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    4   0   0
    Sep 22, 2017
    9,591
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    Richmond
    Now I admit its a looong drive in to Minute Maid Field for a world Series game

    I'm going to pick on your comment a bit because I hear this a lot.

    "Oh man X is so far from X"

    I just don't get that local attitude here. For how big Texas and Houston is, locals can't be bothered to drive across the street sometimes. ;)

    Maybe my perception is skewed some how but any of the burbs to downtown is just no big deal for me minus the usual traffic.

    Heck, we've taken afternoon trips from Richmond to Baytown to see friends and people I've talked to are shocked we didn't make it an overnight trip.
     

    SQLGeek

    Muh state lines
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    Sep 22, 2017
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    Richmond
    The traffic, for example, is always cited as being terrible. However, once you understand it you can overcome most obstacles. There are usually three ways to get everywhere you want to go. Locals will pull up the Houston Transtar map, study it for 30 seconds, and pick a route alternative that won't drive them crazy.

    You touch on a big point here.

    I'd rather deal with Houston traffic any day of the week than the SF Bay Area. Sure, Houston traffic can be bad but you have some options to get to different places. I'm pretty sure if I ever drive in the Bay Area again I will have a stroke.

    But this is getting off the (light) rails a bit.

    My advice is come visit Houston and see for yourself.
     

    benenglish

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    7   0   0
    Nov 22, 2011
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    Spring
    Houston has it in spades for good food though, in every style and ethic background or fusion you can't even consider.
    I used to spend a little time at a work site in the Galleria with a Mexican-Vietnamese fusion food truck nearby. Man, I miss those tacos! For a variety of good food, I'll put Houston up against any place I've been.
    Racism and intolerance may exist, but you pretty much have to want to find it.
    A big thumbs-up to that. I've run across more than I found tolerable but I think that was because I spent so much time around low-class folks who thought I looked like someone who would join them in their prejudices. That sounds bad until I compare it to my experiences in much of the rest of the continental U.S. where I've encountered racism and intolerance right out in the open and much more pervasively.

    Houston is often cited as the most diverse city in the U.S. I don't know about that but I do know that most of the people here have learned to get along with each other. They're too busy making a living to care about skin color.
     

    Dad_Roman

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    Apr 1, 2018
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    I'm going to pick on your comment a bit because I hear this a lot.

    "Oh man X is so far from X"
    Not at all, I should have been clearer.

    Your absolutely right. Lived there. Used to driving and know how to get around so I dont mind it.

    What I meant (unsaid) was I would prefer to stay in Clear Lake 20ish miles away as opposed to staying at the Hilton or Hyatt in downtown right across the street from the World Series...:green:
     

    benenglish

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    What I meant (unsaid) was I would prefer to stay in Clear Lake 20ish miles away as opposed to staying at the Hilton or Hyatt in downtown right across the street from the World Series...:green:
    Personally, I like the downtown hotels. However, I've worked there enough to be comfortable haunting the extensive tunnel system. There's a whole city under the city and during daylight hours it's plenty interesting. I've also spent so much time in those hotels at conferences and meetings that they seem kinda second-homey to me.

    I guess this all goes back to my contention that Houston is great but you have to scratch the surface quite a bit to really appreciate it.
     
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