I know it’s de rigeur to rag on Houston, and rightly so—among other things, the megalopolis is famous for its freeways, mosquitoes, mind-numbing heat, pedestrian and bike-unfriendliness, and pollution. But as a native, there are plenty of things about Houston I’ll go down fighting to defend. Over the last week, I got reacquainted with some of them.
ADDENDUM: 1a) Not really a “does” but an “is”: Diversity. Houston’s racial breakdown: 49.27 percent White, 25.31 percent Black or African American, 0.44 percent Native American, 5.31 percent Asian, 0.06 percent Pacific Islander, 16.46 percent from other races, and 3.15 percent from two or more races. 37 percent of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Seattle’s? s 67.1% white, 16.6% Asian, 10.0% African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.9% Pacific Islander, 2.3% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races. 6.3% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race.
1) Outdoor dining. To all those who object that outdoor dining spaces are “impossible” in Seattle because of our lousy weather, I present Exhibit A to the contrary: Houston, where you can find outdoor dining most of the year despite weather that goes from 70 and sunny to torrential downpours to 110 in the shade in the blink of an eye. (Outdoor misting systems were invented for Houston summers—the same way sidewalk umbrellas and propane heaters were invented for Seattle falls). Just about every street in Houston is dotted with tons of cute outdoor dining spaces like the one below (the Empire Cafe on Westheimer). If they can do it, why can’t we?
2) Light rail. Yes, overall, Houston’s transit system sucks. Yes, it’s useless if you’re going to the suburbs (where my parents live, there literally is no bus service, and the closest park-and-ride is many miles away). But damned if they didn’t manage to get light rail on the ground sooner than we did—and despite the concerted efforts of right-wing extremists (e.g. Tom Delay) the likes of which we’ve never seen in Seattle. And the kicker is, it’s been so successful, they’re expanding it.
3) A Real Museum District. Say what you will about Houston’s lack of zoning, its museum scene kicks our museum scene’s ass. In the 1.5-mile area that makes up the city’s designated Museum District (also within walking distance of awesome Hermann Park and the beautiful Rice University campus), there are nearly 20 world-class museums, from the tiny-but-storied Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum to the massive Museum of Fine Arts to the meditative Rothko Chapel to the Museum of Natural Science, home of the fascinating Cockrell Butterfly Center. The gorgeous (and free!) Menil Collection is one of the nation’s great modern art museums, with a collection of Cornell boxes (one of which is pictured below) that I never tire of visiting.
4) Cheap real estate. Yeah, yeah, national economy, who wants to live in Houston, blah, blah, blah. Compared to Seattle’s hyperinflated real-estate market, Houston’s a bargain. For example, that classic 1930 2-bedroom bungalow on a 5,000-square-foot lot in the Montrose neighborhood (Houston’s equivalent of Capitol Hill, only bigger and with better stores and gay bars) pictured below will set you back all of $270,000.
5) Great Food. I’m not just talking about Tex-Mex and barbecue (photo, actually of barbecue in Elgin, by Flickr user joshbousel), although just about any place in Houston obviously has Jones and Azteca beat. According to Houston Chronicle restaurant reviewer Ken Hoffman’s estimate, Houston has around 10,000 restaurants—more per capita than any city in the world. I couldn’t hit close to that many, but I did like the bacon-wrapped, chorizo-stuffed dates at T’Afia, the fajitas and soupy beans at El Jardin, the grilled double pork chop with pork belly at Shade, the Cuban tacos at El Rey, and the barbecued brisket at Pizzitola’s. And if I can find a willing dining partner when I go back, I really, really want to try everything at Feast, which Frank Bruni just wrote up (glowingly) for the New York Times.
I’m not saying everything about Houston’s great, or that I’d recommend living there. The drivers are crazy, the weather sucks, it’s polluted, and a car is a must. But to those who think of it as a backwater, I highly recommend visiting some time. I’ll even give you recommendations.
look. only people from houston are actually allowed to talk about how much it sucks.
i like how all the responses have not been about countering her argument but mostly lame attempts at being snarky. maybe that is something else houstonians do better?
1. sorry but if there is one thing to actually be proud of, it is the houston art scene. forget the museum district. that’s cool and all, but there’s much more to it than that. while the museum of fine arts isn’t AS great as many large city museums, they get some good shows but more importantly it’s what is out of the mainstream art scene that really does it. (local artists or not.) it’s top notch in all of texas and way up there nationally.
2. light rail. really, seattle doesn’t have one? that surprises me. no, where the light rail is wasn’t easy. the major part of that one line is in such an area. it does go through the only 2 way street in all of downtown houston. houston maybe a sprawl but that doesn’t mean that centrally it can’t be just as difficult to build something like that. for that reason has had it run into many problems while trying to expand. the biggest street that connects downtown houston to its “capitol hill” and then to the galleria is only two lanes on each side and they’re super narrow and falling apart and buses will drive down the street in both lanes. (6 miles) the one street that actually could benefit the most from a rail line will never get one because of that and there being no other means of expanding that street.
3. not everyone in houston is a homophobe and that ratio is greatly reduced once you get inside the loop. hell, harris county went blue this election! (not that homophobes can’t be democrats too.) but they’re everywhere in the world. there is a good gay scene in houston if you’re a guy. but yes, once you go outside the loop, worry. but why would you want to?
4. yes there is a good wine selection. there is an amazing liquor store chain (spec’s) that has everything that is allowed into the state of texas. you can go in there almost everyday and there will be a wine tasting or sample foods.
5. murder rate – you are also not on the border of a country that funnels in some of your drugs from all of south america. your neighbors are canadians, of course your murder rate is low! houston has mexico on the south side an louisiana/new orleans on the east of it with a us highway going right through the middle of the city from LA to wherever the hell i-10 ends…somewhere on the east coast? but wtf cares? in perspective, murder is RARE!
6. whomever said houston is not as good as san antonio or dallas has obviously never actually lived in texas for more than a year. (austin i can agree with you.)
i hope i dont see more articles like this. the best thing about houston is that EVERYONE HATES IT. it keeps out douchebag hipster assholes, the kind of people that flock to Seattle, Austin, and New York. houston has none of those because everyone thinks it’s a shithole. please please, let them think it. it is so nice and free and wonderful because of it. so much art and music and food all left to enjoy in a city that completely lacks pretention. it is a wonderful place (i’m talking inside the loop, not that that sprawling katy bullshit) with awesome people and amazing times.
uhhh i mean no, it totally sucks, dont ever go there. “austin is the only good city in texas.” yes that’s it. go to austin!
I LOVE both Seattle and Houston. Both are polar opposites. In this case, opposites do attract. Houston offers the visual diversity in the people around me that I need in order to live my life transparently. Seattle gives me the stunningly beautiful urban environment I crave. A few years ago, when traveling to Seattle for business, I had made an off-the-cuff comment on how bland the people in Seattle were compared to Houston. I even went one step closer in naming Seattle as being to white!!!! As an Irish-American, native Chicagoan, I was meet with gasps and looks of taboo. I need colors in my day to day life. My favorite time of the day is waiting on the rail in the morning on my way to the office downtown. I get to start my day literally by experiencing the world. The plethora of languages spoken, the textures and colors of the clothing worn, the fragrances of individual perfumes and oils smattered with the smells of exotic foods being carried for lunch later, all set the stage for a perfect start of my day. For me Houston is Seattle, Buenos Areas, Hong Kong, Kosovo and Nairobi in a blender.
“Not really a “does” but an “is”: Diversity.”
Which explains its god awful high crime rate too.
Once the state of Texas pulls out, you will need a passport to visit Houston. Just saying.
“A car is a must”. WRONG. I live in Montrose without a car. I can bike and walk wherever I need to go, or take the bus/light rail. If I had to live in the ‘burbs, I would move out of Texas.
YALL JUST SCARED OF TEXAS.
Wow, the ignorance in these posts is amusing, at best.
First of all, you don’t have to have a car, depending on where you live and work. I have a car, but for my day-to-day living, I don’t need it. I can take the light rail or my own two feet anywhere I need to go. It’s much easier to have a car, but lots of people don’t, and not just because they can’t afford one.
If you haven’t been to Houston in the last 5-10 years, your ideas of it are probably wrong. That includes you, #1, who seems to think all Montrose has is head shops. I’m pretty sure most of those, actually, are gone.
If you think Katy is Houston, you obviously have no real idea about Houston’s geography or culture. People in Houston joke about people in Katy. And don’t mistake the city itself with the suburbs. They are so different.
If you think the restaurant scene in Houston is all pork and beef, you are sorely misinformed. And sadly, you are missing out on some fabulous food.
Finally, if you think Houston is a bunch of conservative hicks, you need to stop believing the stereotypes. You also need to take a look at the last few election results, where you’ll see that we are becoming a blue city, and we have a Democrat for mayor and an openly-gay city controller, among other moderate or liberal politicians. Most of don’t own horses either, or cowboy hats.
Yes, the cockroaches and mosquitoes are huge, but quite being a wuss.
Yes, the summer’s are hell. No defense there. But the AC works great just about every where you go.
You’ll notice I haven’t insulted Seattle once, because I haven’t been there. Maybe the rest of you should follow suit.
As a Houstonian, I also concur there is a great art scene – low cost of living for a metroplex of this size factors highly when you consider the low income levels of most artists.
We have The Orange Show – a giant folk art shrine to the Orange built by a semi-deranged postal worker over several decades (and now highly sought after performance art space and base of operations for the Art Car parade). What does Seattle have?
we have a really stupid looking music museum thing…..
I am happy to be one of so many who couldn’t leave Houston quickly enough. Crow all you want, Houstonians, but there’s no polishing a turd. When you can move your city out of the swamp and lose about 30 pounds per capita, then you can talk.
Seattle is better at being wimpy and faggy
if you look hard enough you can find some pretty good ‘tang in seattle.
Beer Can House
Houston 1, Seattle 0
Seattle has way more hipsters with dumb hairdos and those retarded unflattering skinny toothpick-chickenleg jeans, and Seattle has way more ugly chicks.
yeah wut is up with all these dudes wearing oshkoshbgosh pants? i don’t get that.
#6 thing that Houston does better than Seattle? Gang bangs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_(po…)
I can’t get the episode of South Park, where everybody is sniffing their farts, out of my head.
I’ve been to Seattle a few times and it’s nice, but too cold and rainy for me to want to live there. I know you guys have to pretend to like that so… ok, I’ll give you that.
Yr comments are funny but a little off-base. Kinda like if I (a Houstonian) based my impression of Seattle on the movie Singles. Actually, I’m picturing all of Y’ALL sitting around a coffee shop patting yourselves on the back after writing insults about Houston, and singing I’M GOING HUNNNNNGRYYYY YAHHHHH!!
20 years in Seattle (Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Ballard); 2.5 years now in Houston (Montrose, The Heights). Know what? I’m having fun. It’s an anarchic mess studded with jewels. Food? I only miss the shusi in Seattle; otherwise, I can eat veggie (even vegan), hit the organic co-op; start my mornings at a cafe (Catalina) that incredibly outdoes any in Seattle; have about 10 times the number of Vietnamese and Indian joints; and even get a killer Ethiopian fix. The one thing I do miss is the Sound; then again, less than an hour’s drive down the road here & I’m kicking sand on the Gulf of Mexico. The opressive heat & humidity from May through October is intense, but so are the amazing rains and fantastic lightning. And it’s more than made up for by the fact that the weather from November to May is pretty much paradise. You just have to learn to do a 180-degree flip of your seasonal mindset.
10 years in Seattle and now 1 year in Houston. Houston is a much more livable city. Seattle is like a fabulous first date that turns into an up and down courtship that turns into a bad marriage.
I really hate these articles that try big up Houston as if it were a scrappy but lovable mutt. Makes Houston sound like a Special Olympian. Houston is a shithole, yes, but it’s an unfairly over-maligned shithole.
houston is a shithole but seattle is a wimphole
Can I get some Punk, Garage Rock and rockabilly in Houston?
i have no anti-texas agenda but the arguments do not hold much water.
racial statistics are interesting but does not a better make.
if you can’t see the difference that the weather makes to outdoor dining it is not worth arguing with you.
we are obviously getting light-rail so where’s the dig? a bus system that will take me home even though i don’t live near a track seems kinda better to me.
real estate in a place you don’t want to live is not a good deal. there are cheap houses in nebraska too.
if you can’t find awesome food in seattle you are not looking or can’t afford it. either way it sounds like a personal problem.
i wanted to be convinced too!
Add not-to-be missed Houston sites: North Avenue, not far from the Rice campus, where for block after block, the long, twisty branches of old live-oak trees planted in the median strip form a canopy over the streets on the side. The New York Times’ Texas-based reporter called North Avenue the most beautiful residential street in the United States and I wouldn’t argue.
You’re right about the great food. You steered away from BBQ but Jim Goode’s place on Kirby cannot be forgotten. I never visit Houston without stopping for a plate of Goode Company ribs. Seattle’s faux barbeque is bush league by comparison.
Houston is a jungle shithole with a bunch of crazy, ignorant people and cockroaches creeping it up. Yet, for all that, the people strike me as much more genuine than the people in Seattle and much more confident about who they are. Plus, the opera there is much, much better than in Seattle, the people who go to the opera are alot less proud of themselves for it, and they have enough confidence in their ability to judge the relative merits of different performances and artists that they don’t give standing ovations to everything.
I much prefer Houston’s weather to Seattle’s… chilly weather, short days and nonstop misty rain for much of the year versus a beautiful, sunny winter and spring and hellish summers peppered with awesome thunderstorms and the calming hum of cicadas? The second please…I can take the heat.
I can’t believe how ignorant people in Seattle are about Houston. I would take a couple of months of high heat in the summer over the cold rainy crap that is Seattle’s weather. You have no idea how good we have it from October through May.
You were right on with those points. On the museum scene you missed the Buffalo Soldier’s Museum and the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Both add greatly to Houston’s museum scene and cultural diversity.
Thank you for your post about some of Houston’s pluses! As a transplanted midwesterner, I’ve been in Houston 17 years and can’t imagine living where there is real winter ever again. I take great pride in the fact I do not own an ice scraper, insulated boots or a parka. Houston’s offered my kids more educational and athletic opportunity than I could ever imagine and the cost of living just can’t be beat!
Having lived in both places as well as in other major cities, Houston gets a worse rap than it deserves. I hardly even eat meat and I think Houston has amazing food (from Japanese to Italian to French to whatever you want).
The best part about Houston is the lack of pretentiousness. I mean, you have people that are major Texan pride people, but I don’t really care about that. I’m talking about the fact that people care more about who you are than how much money you have, what your job is, etc. You’ll have multimillionaires eating and shopping right next to those with not much money.
Don’t forget that Houston has more space devoted to the major performing arts than any city other than New York (major symphony, ballet, opera, etc.).
Having lived in both places as well as in other major cities, Houston gets a worse rap than it deserves. I hardly even eat meat and I think Houston has amazing food (from Japanese to Italian to French to whatever you want).
The best part about Houston is the lack of pretentiousness. I mean, you have people that are major Texan pride people, but I don’t really care about that. I’m talking about the fact that people care more about who you are than how much money you have, what your job is, etc. You’ll have multimillionaires eating and shopping right next to those with not much money.
Don’t forget that Houston has more space devoted to the major performing arts than any city other than New York (major symphony, ballet, opera, etc.).
Hello from Houston.
I have lived in several parts of the US, and spent a lot of time traveling. Houston has a lot of flaws, to be sure – but I love it, and I’m no unsophisticated redneck.
Our greatest asset is that whatever you are into, whatever lifestyle or hobby or activity you’d like to try, you can find like minds here, along with ways to explore it. We have a world-class symphony and ballet, highly respected theater, and a healthy local music scene with plenty of funky and underground venues. We do have several wonderful art museums, and are also home to a rich art world of our own.
And cultural institutions. Want to know more about the faith of Jainism? Why listen to wiki, when you can get it from the horse’s mouth? This is also why we have such an excellent variety of excellent food – because world cuisines are offered by people who grew up with it. Our international community represents a huge portion of the globe.
Southern hospitality is a reality, and historically precedented here. Yeah, we’ve got a lot of redneck assholes. But the best of Texas -which we also sport- is a truly beautiful thing that you’d do yourself a great service to learn more about.
I will contradict one other pro-Houstoner here on one point – Houstonians give a standing ovation to EVERYTHING. It’s one thing I’m rather embarrassed about…
I just moved to Seattle a year ago from Houston and have not been warm since!!! It is cold and rainy here!! I’ll take the heat over the cold anytime!!! That good ole southern hospitality!!
I moved to Seattle from Houston a year ago and haven’t been warm since!! I’ll take the heat over cold and wet anytime!!
No way a bungalow in Montrose in that good of shape sells for $270,000. I know this is dated 2009, but in 2012, that bungalow now goes for $370,000 – $400,000 with mediocre schools.
I moved from the midwest to Dallas and lived there for 6 years. About 6 months ago my wife and I moved to Houston. There is no comparison between the two. Houses in Dallas are in way better condition. People actually care about their lawns. Homes in the inner loop are idiotically expensive for how tiny they are and what horrible condition they are in. The “no zoning” is without question a failed experiment. Granted, their are nice, deed restricted areas, but for the most part it looks like random developers puked garbage along the potholed, horribly maintained roads. The only thing that Houston has on Dallas is that the people in Houston are generally more laid back – but with being laid back, they let their homes, yards, and bodies go to crap.