Houston vs. the South

[Micah 16]

Well, let's just say I was inspired by the American Vs European Architecture thread.
Anyway, let me introduce you to Houston. It's the creator of the world's-modern-completely-glass architecture. Most of the buildings you will see were built during the 70s and 80s, and you will (In my opinion) be awed that some of these buildings look like they were built recently, but no... most of them (As I said) were built in the 70s and 80s which proves Houston was ahead of its time because of the oil boom in the 70s and 80s. Houston is America's center for transporting and storing oil and is the world's creator of aerospace technologies (NASA anyone?).

Full credit goes to RGV, HoustonTexas, Texas#1 & Westerngulf on Skyscraper.com

First. Let's take a look at Houston's sprawl. Since Houston has no zoning laws for skyscrapers, there is a trail of skyscrapers for miles and miles from downtown in all directions except for maybe the east side of Houston. 

































There on the left is the world's first roof-covered stadium.





The next pic looks like another city... doesn't it? Nope, that's just the Houston Medical Center alone.




Here is downtown Houston... (Finally!)













































Night pics!









And lastly... (A bit unrelated)
Galveston Beach... south of Houston:





Edit: Also, please show your own photos of Houston as well! There is soooo much I didn't include! Photos from the Galleria to the Woodlands to Greenspoint to even METRORail. These are the only photos I'm showing, so feel free to add your own.

[sc4portugal 10]

Look's nice Houston, don't know why but i'm amazed. I wound't rally wan't to go there beacause the death penalty rate in TX really freaks me out. (no offence, of course).

[ccecill 52]

Yup. Minus the rednecks, traffic, and Good ol' boys, Houston is AWESOME!

I SO want to move there.

[Micah 16]

Perhaps I should turn this thread into a "versus" like all the other threads? Perhaps "Houston vs. other Texas cities"? After all, Dallas and Houston have always been rivals. 

Edit:

Minus the rednecksquote>

Actually, more than half the population of Houston is of Mexican heritage.

[Micah 16]

Well, I decided to turn this into another "versus" I suppose. They are fun to get different aspects of two different cities. But this time, I decided to do it versus a whole region. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to do this, but I'll give it a shot. If only I could get some people from Dallas to post in here.

[ilikehotdogsalot 308]

I personally think Houston is awesome, I really like cities with less strict laws about skyscrapers, I don't like cities with skyscrapers just in one section of the city. It looks like a very nice, fun place to live

[ccecill 52]

Houston > The South (except Atlanta and Charlotte)

[DFire870 2]

Even though I live in Dallas, I know next to nothing about the city and the metroplex, as I'm only going to school here for a year. Then I'll be transferring down to Austin.

Anyhow, I've visited Houston, and I like Austin a lot more than Houston. Houston is just way too big for my tastes, and Austin is pretty much the right size. Although, I can't say the traffic in Austin is better than the traffic in Houston -- at least in Houston the freeways are all connected. -_-

I love the different neighborhoods in Austin, and the parks are so nice and large.

[ACEfanatic 7]

Bleh. Between Houston, Charlotte, and Atlanta, the south has churned out so much bland PoMo...

I find the saying on that fountain mildly ironic. Building forever implies constructing your city of rock and stone, not glass and steel.

-ACE

[Frankie_Grove 33]

Houston looks very nice although they should get some zoning laws before it ends up like Corusant from Star Wars I wouldn't mind living in Houston..driving through you'd see a different skyline every time, lol. However I do not like the Houston > The South thing..that ain't even cool... And Atlanta still remains my favorite, but the cities are similar in the fact that they have unique acitecture. Nice pics Micah

[DEM77 1]

I've lived in Houston my entire life, all 29 years of it so far. It is by far one of the most architecturally intriguing cities on the planet. Lack of zoning has led to one of the most unique city profiles around although we pay for it here with odd looking neighborhoods (a flower shop next to 2 older homes next to a car wash behind a donut shop around the corner from an apartment complez, you get the idea). We have at least seven major business centers (Downtown, The Galleria, The Texas Medical Center, Greenway Plaza, Westchase & The Energy Corridor, Greenspoint, The Woodlands) along with quite a few second tier building clusters (NASA/Clear Lake, Midtown/Museum District, Sugar Land).

All of this development was fueled by the boom days of the 70's and 80's but what you all may not know is that most of our outlying business centers were developed primarily to function as "cities within the city". They are wholly independent of each other. They have their own shopping, residential, and transportation access. Granted, Houston is a "spoke & wheel" freeway city as opposed to a grid pattern such as Los Angeles so our tower clusters have stayed close to and followed along most major freeways. Whereas in Chicago, you have one massive downtown area stretching for miles and miles, Houston's is spread across hundreds of square miles but is not nearly as dense.

You mentioned that you would like some sort of comparison with Dallas. Being that The Little D or the "Glass Ranch" as we Houstonians like to call it does boast some impressive architecture as well, it is definitely worthy of comparison. Downtown Dallas stretching up past McKinney/Lemmon is the first and most recognizeable group. The next area of note is the Stemmons Freeway (I-35E) corridor just Northwest of downtown. There are some towers scattered along I 635 North and US 75 North including Dallas' Medical Center but the next best stretch of buildings is along the Dallas North Tollway north of I-635. It begins with the Dallas Galleria (nice, but Houston's blows this one out of the water) and stretches for miles Northward. Most of these buildings are not very tall but they sport some of the newest and most cutting edge architecture around.

Beyond Dallas, Irving has the next biggest cluster of towers including Las Colinas (the famous fountain showing the horses galloping through water is here). Some new buildings are springing up at Legacy (Dallas North Tollway & 121 in Frisco) and points West. Arlington has a few mid-rise buildings and with the advent of the new Cowboys stadium, more will likely come. Fort Worth's downtown area is a fraction of the size of Dallas' but has some interesting features of its own. One of the tallest towers took a direct hit from a freak urban tornado some years ago and sat dilapidated for years before finally being hollowed out and rebuilt. Fort Worth has been more successful than Dallas at retaining and preserving its architectural history but Fort Worth has also not experienced the development boom enjoyed by its bigger brother 30 miles East. Fort Worth's older downtown area has been preserved decently but they did bulldoze Hells Half Acre (warehouses and rail yards) back in the 60's and 70's to develop the Tarrant County Convention Center and the Fort Worth Water Gardens among other things.

In summary, Dallas' entire downtown skyline is pure eye candy. Who doesn't love the Blue Diamond building (did you know the original plans called for more than one of those to get built?), Reunion Tower with its spherical outline, or any of the other towers like Crescent Court and the old Magnolia Building? Houston's isn't all that shabby either what with Pennzoil Place (still a classic), the two former Enron towers, and of course all the other wonderful towers designed by the greats like Cesar Pelli, Phillip Johnson, and I. M. Pei. No, its not Chicago or New York, but Houston is probably #3 on that list and Dallas isn't very far behind.

In terms of modern architecture, Houston has the edge in quantity of buildings but Dallas and surrounding areas might have the edge in quality. Houston has a most imposing downtown profile and most of the basic shapes, colors, and lines are represented. We've got 3 towers at or near 1,000 feet while Dallas only has one. We've got the makings of a much more active downtown scene than does Dallas. Once the Main Street light rail line was built here, it paved the way for a whole bar and night club strip to be developed in concert with new mid and high rise lofts and condos. Dallas has a much more extensive light rail system that hubs in downtown but it is not as active after hours. Dallas' West End Marketplace seems to have fallen on some hard times recently but it may have changed since I last visited. Most of the night scene is in Deep Ellum just east of downtown Dallas and off the rail line for now. Houston's other night scenes are in the Galleria area along Westheimer & Richmond.

In terms of development, Dallas and the rest of the Metroplex is about 1 million people and several hundred square miles ahead of us. Their suburbs sprouted up much the same way ours did, along the freeways. The two cities are similar in that most of the suburban development occurred North and West of downtown. Houston does have an increased amount of development to the Southwest and Southeast though. Dallas' suburbs are MUCH bigger and have basically surrounded the city of Dallas itself cutting it off from expansion Northward and Westward. Most of these places like Plano, Carrollton, Irving, Grand Prairie, and Arlington grew up big in the 70's and 80's. Houston's suburbs in contrast are somewhat limited in size because of Houston's once aggressive method of annexation. Most of the unincorporated areas of Harris County and surrounding counties are not suburban cities, just collections of neighborhoods. Our biggest suburban cities are Sugar Land, Missouri City, Baytown, Pasadena, and a big group of cities to the Southeast along Galveston Bay.

The long range planning for population award definitely goes to Dallas although their freeways are way behind ours in terms of capacity, especially I-30 and I-35E. US 75 was one of, if not the worst stretch of roadway in the country about 15 years ago but it has since been widened and is actually aesthetically pleasing to drive. Most of Houston's freeways are anything but nice to look at what with the never ending sprawl of strip malls and billboards bombarding your eyes for miles on end. Don't get me wrong, Dallas has its fair share of this blight too but for some strange reason, I seem to notice it less when I'm going through there. One last note about the freeways, while Dallas seems to have a never ending row of cookie cutter stack interchanges along I-635 and some genuine "Malfunction Junctions" (I-35/I-30 in downtown), it is also starting to enter the big league with stacks like the High Five (I-635-US 75). Houston has had these kinds of stacks for over 15 years along Beltway 8/Sam Houston Tollway) to go along with our inner core of stacks along I-610 and in downtown. I get chills driving into either of these downtowns as the 5 lane freeway swoops into and then just alongside each city's showcase of towers.

To go along with the urban planning vein, most of Dallas' main thoroughfares are at least 3 lanes each way while Houston still has a ways to go. Most of Houston's streets are two lanes each way with esplanades. There is room to add a third lane but the older pavement usually has to be ripped up and redone first due to our gumbo clay soil and our ridiculous water table. It's not as bad as New Orleans soil and water tables but its close enough. In terms of transportation, Dallas has a huge leg up on us with its light rail and commuter rail systems. They got the benefit of matching Federal funds and a friendly contingent in Congress whereas we got an inept transit agency with a hap hazard plan, tepid local support, and a long list of enemies in congress including the now departed Tom DeLay (yay!). Our metro area is perfect for a good short and long range complementary rail system a la Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Do not forget who runs this town however. Big Oil, developers, and the highway lobby have so far successfully beaten back or vilified any rail plans but the tide may be changing. We've widened most of our freeways about as big as they can get and the ones that haven't been fixed will be fixed soon. We do have rail right of way to use but we also have a slap-dash development pattern along most of it so rail will have to come hand in hand with development.

I hope this has been informative to everyone. This is my first major contribution to SimTropolis but this thread just grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. Ironically enough, I will likely be moving away from Houston later this year to another metro area that may soon have its architectural "day in the sun". I'll be relocating to Phoenix by Labor Day. Phoenix is an up-and-comer that isn't much to look at vertically today but may soon grow upward. C'mon, with nearly 4 million people, their tallest building is only about 40 stories. You know that will change soon and I will have a front row seat to see it all!

[hawkpride147 1]

ok i just found this thread and it is a little old but i am from dallas so i will take the challange...but i will include fort worth and all the surroundings as micah did with the surrounding cities of houston. i have to go to work but when i return pics from dallas/fort worth will be posted.

[KinFreon 0]

If anyone makes anything from Houston, there should be the Compaq Center, er, the Lakewood Church. It'd be an awesome "House of Worship".

[hawkpride147 1]

ok here i am with DFW's response to the "challenge"

Night Life:

Sundance Square in Downtown Fort Worth

Deep Ellum in Dallas

The Historic Stockyards just north of Downtown Fort Worth

Sports Franchises:

The Dallas Mavericks (aka the Mavs), Dallas Desperados and the Dallas Stars play at American Airlines Center in the new Victory Park District.

The Texas Rangers play at Ameriquest Field In Arlington (formerly The Ballpark In Arlington).

The Dallas Cowboys currently play at Texas Stadium in Irving and will move to "Jerry World" (the actual name has not been decided) in Arlington.

Convention Centers:

Fort Worth/Tarrant County Convention Center

Reunion Arena

Dallas Convention Center

The Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention Center

Airports:

DFW Airport

Dallas Love Field

Colleges:

TCU

SMU

North Texas (UNT)

University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

Tarrant County College District

Dallas County College District

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Attractions:

Six Flags over Texas

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor

Victory Park

Southlake Town Square (I know there are others but this was the first one and started the whole town center movement plus it is the one I go to all the time)

Dallas West End

Bass Hall in Fort Worth

Mega Churches:

Fellowship Church

Prestonwood Church

Potter's House

Gateway Church

Landmarks:

Six Flags

Sundance Square

The Historic Stockyards

Fountain Place in Dallas

Dallas' Historic West End

Victory Park

Deep Ellum

The State Fair Grounds with the ferris wheel.

4 Interstate Highways (5 if you count the I-35 split)

I-20 runs east/west through south Dallas and south Fort Worth

I-30 runs east/west central Dallas and central Fort Worth

I-35W runs north/south from just south of Denton through central Fort Worth to just north of Hillsboro

I-35E runs north/south from just south of Denton through central Dallas to just north of Hillsboro

I-45 runs from central Dallas through southeast Dallas down to Houston

2 Loop Interstate Highways

I-820 - Fort Worth

I-635 - Dallas

I am currently missing all my pics but I should have visited most of these sites again by the end of the week. so pics then.

[josefmayor 8]

Its so weird that Houston has several buildings that look similar to Tampa buildings.

Our Arenas look similar, there is abuilding above that looks like our Bank of America Building. Not to mention the Novare Group's 360 compared to our just completed Sky Point Tower. Houston has some beautiful skyscrapers I did not know that it was a good lookin' city.

My dad is from Oklahoma and taught me that Texas sucked, but he was wrong. lol!

[Gnargenox 6]

Great post DEM77! Another Houston native here (already clicked subscribe to this thread).

If I can find the time I will drive around taking pictures of my favorite Houston spaghetti bowl highways, some of which include sunken highways with railroad lines crossing them and triple stacked elevated highways. Examples include: I-45 over I-10 over Buffalo Bayou and the Pierce elevated and then on the other side of downtown; Highway 59 right next to the George R Brown Convention Center headed south towards 288. Those places are a thrill to drive through while looking up and since we like to drive at 75mph on average, it can be a real rush. One other note about driving in Houston; Slow traffic keeps on the left side and passing traffic takes the right hand lane. Also if you see someone ahead of you turn on their turn signal or blinker, you should stand on the gas pedal full force and pass them instead of letting them over.

Houston's skyline has been ranked fourth-most impressive in the United States when ranked primarily by height, being the country's third-tallest skyline (after Chicago and New York City) and one of the top 10 in the world; however, because it is spread over a few miles, most pictures of the city show only the main downtown area. Houston has a system of tunnels and skywalks linking buildings in downtown. The tunnel system also includes shops, restaurants, and convenience stores.

In the 1960s, Downtown Houston comprised of a modest collection of mid-rise office structures, but has since grown into one of the largest in the United States. Downtown was on the threshold of a boom in 1970 with 8.7 million square feet (870,000 m² of office space planned or under construction and huge projects being launched by real estate developers with the energy industry boom. A succession of skyscrapers were built throughout the 1970s—many by real estate developer Gerald D. Hines—culminating with Houston's tallest skyscraper, the 75-floor, 1,002-foot-tall (305 m) JPMorgan Chase Tower (formerly the Texas Commerce Tower), which was completed in 1982. It is the tallest structure in Texas, ninth-tallest of building in the United States and the 29th-tallest skyscraper in the world. In 1983, the 71-floor, 970-foot-tall (296 m) Wells Fargo Bank Plaza was completed, which became the second-tallest building in Houston and Texas, and 11th-tallest in the country. As of December 2001, downtown Houston had about 40 million square feet (4,000,000 m² of office space, including 28 million square feet (2,800,000 m² of class A office space.

Centered around Post Oak Boulevard and the Galleria, the Uptown district boomed during the 1970s and early 1980s when a collection of mid-rise office buildings, hotels, and retail developments appeared along Interstate 610 west. Uptown became one of the most impressive instances of an edge city. The highest achievement of Uptown was the construction of the 899-foot-tall (274 m), Philip Johnson and John Burgee designed landmark Williams Tower (known as the Transco Tower until 1999). At the time, it was believed to the be the world's tallest skyscraper outside of a central business district. (Seeing in the pictures above). The Uptown District is also home to other buildings designed by noted architects—such as I. M. Pei, César Pelli , and Philip Johnson. In the late 1990s, there was a mini-boom of mid-rise residential tower construction, typically about 30 stories tall (also shown above). In 2001, Uptown had 23.8 million square feet (2,210,000 m² of office space.

While all the pictures shown above give a pretty, crisp and clean appearance of Houston, the lack of zoning laws leave many vacant, rundown or really out of place squalled areas. Especially downtown. I'll try to get some photos of those too. In some of the pictures previously posted, you can't see it, but if you were above those buildings and looking down, half of the ground area would be vacant lots. Property value is astronomically high. On the south side of downtown and right outside of the second ring road called Beltway-8 (a tollway owned by the King of Spain) there's just empty farmland with only grass and longhorn steer. That area is called Pearland, but lately is noticing a huge building boom (residential) thanks to the great economy we've enjoyed since going to war. By the way, Loop 610 is the inner loop. From Pearland you can see almost all of the South Houston sky line and still be standing in cow paddies.

South Houston is another incorporated city within Houston - another example of odd zoning laws. Other inner cities include Humble (silent 'H'), Pasadena, Clear Lake, Bellaire, Jacinto City, and Galena Park to name a few. Houston would really be a whole region in Simcity and includes Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. The city of Houston, proper, covers an area roughly 600 square miles (1,560 sq km). The Port of Houston ranks number one in international commerce in the U.S. Houston is also called "space city", which I think sounds ridiculous. I prefer "H-town" or maybe "Clutch City"

All of our highways have nicknames too. So, on the radio traffic reports you can easily get confused. For example I-45 is called the North Freeway. While there are actually four highway spokes headed north, I don't know why they picked that one for that name. Highway 59 is called the EastTex, supposedly because it goes up through the east side of Texas all the way to Canada. I believe it will soon be renamed Highway 69 and go from Mexico to the North Pole. Speaking of nicknames, Greenspoint is referred to locally as Gunspoint and the Willowbrook Mall is called the Killerbrook Mall. Also anyone living north of I-10 is considered a Yankee.

For this thread I can compare Houston to Austin, as my family lives there and I visit often. I'm actually going there tomorrow so will take beaucoups of pics. First difference that stands out to me is how in Austin, slow traffic drives on the right and passing traffic drives on the left, just like the rest of the civilized world (not including countries that drive in the opposite direction and make you shift gears with your left hand). There are two highways that I know of in Austin, running parallel to each other but not connected, making it a very linear city. They are the Mo-Pac Expressway on the west side and I-35 slightly east of downtown. Here the I-35 freeway narrows down from four to two lanes and is also a sunken highway, while the other two lanes headed each direction become elevated. Again creating a three tiered look with cross streets going over the lower and under the upper lanes. It's something that could conceivably be made with the NAM and alot of terraforming which is something I would like to try. My future pictures will help you see what I mean.

I can't comment much about architectural similarities or differences between the two cities. Austin, being the state capital has always remained fairly small as do most other state capitals. I think most hippies from the 60's decided to retire there and have added alot of charm. The city motto is "Keep Austin Weird". On the other hand, it goes without saying that Houston is Americas energy capital, making it a haven for big business and towering skyscrapers filled with cowboy hat wearing and boot scootin' energy brokers and oil barons.

Houston was able to absorb most of the population of New Orleans after the tragic Katrina storm and ensuing flood. I'm proud to say we were able to do so. It has put a slight strain on the city, but that is only what I hear on the news. Houston though is still my favorite city, even after having the good fortune to see cities like London, Moscow, Singapore (a close second fav, if I was allowed to chew gum in public), Athens, Rome, Istanbul, Portugal, Hong Kong, Cairo, Paris, Berlin, Munich, LA and NY City etc.. If I move to Austin I will miss it here. I once heard Houston is like the friendly fat girl you can't stand and Austin is the pretty popular girl you want to meet, but once you do meet her you really miss the fat chick.


---------------------------------------------------

Edit: According to the U.S. Census 2000, the racial makeup of the city was 49.27 percent White, 25.31 percent Black 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. Thirty-seven percent of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The Hispanic population in Houston is increasing as more immigrants (illegal or otherwise) from Latin American countries look for work in Houston. The city has the third-largest Hispanic population in the United States. It is estimated that about 20% of the city's population or around 400,000 immigrants reside in the Houston area illegally. (One out of every five people). This influx of immigrants is partially responsible for Houston having a population younger than the national average.

Houston also has large populations of immigrants from Asia. In addition, the city has the largest Vietnamese American population in Texas and third-largest in the United States. Some neighborhoods with high populations of Vietnamese and Chinese residents have Chinese and Vietnamese named street signs. Houston has two Chinatowns—the original located in Downtown and the more recent one developed is along Bellaire Boulevard in the southwest area of the city. The city also has a Little Saigon in Midtown and Vietnamese businesses located in the southwest Houston Chinatown.

And while Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S. it is only ranked 18th in murder rates, but that was before Katrina. 21% of the 312 homicides in 2006 have been classified as Katrina-related, meaning either the victim, suspect or both evacuated to Houston after Katrina.

[Zelgadis 638]

Hmmm... Houston vs. the south eh?

Houston's not bad. I was all over Texas when my parents were thinking of moving there (they didn't). But I do prefer Austin and San Antonio.

But my favorite southern city would have to be Lexington, Kentucky. Oh sure, call me biased. But its unique quality is that most of Lexington is comprised of the University of Kentucky, which is huge. There are therefore lots of college students and that means lots of funky establishments per capita. Music scene is great too. Lexington is also reputed to have the highest percentage of gay men of any city in the US (Yup, more than SF). 30% by some estimates. Two of the reasons for this are University of Kentucky and Transylvania University, which is the place to go to school if you are gay and have money. My kinda place.

ISF

[XxTrillvillexX9 1]

Lucky Dallas has Fort Worth to boost its population. As of the 1st of January this year (2007), the Dallas-Fort Worth CSA had 6.1 million residents, while Houston's had 5.4 million residents. I like how Houston annexed land around the city to avoid being landlocked. Dallas is in position to become Detroit South.

[hawkpride147 1]

dallas is becoming detroit of the south. heck companies are moving to dallas from detroit

[Metropolii 0]

I really love Houston. I lived there for ten years and went to Rice there before moving up to OKC in the nineties after college. OKC and Austin, two pretty similar places, are nice and all, but just the craziness and vastness of Houston always inspired me. For the record I despise Dallas, and that has nothing to do with the to-the-death rivalries of Dallas and Houston. OKC and Tulsa have an even tougher rivalry and I like Tulsa more than the city I'm living in right now, to prove that I don't buy into rivalries so much.

But Dallas just isn't as exciting and urban as Houston. Houston, after all, is basically what you would get with OKC or Austin (a little better known) infused with NASA, the nation's 6th busiest airport, and the World's 2nd busiest port. Houston is a lot cooler and trendier than people give it credit for being.

Originally posted by: DFire870 Even though I live in Dallas, I know next to nothing about the city and the metroplex, as I'm only going to school here for a year. Then I'll be transferring down to Austin.

Anyhow, I've visited Houston, and I like Austin a lot more than Houston. Houston is just way too big for my tastes, and Austin is pretty much the right size. Although, I can't say the traffic in Austin is better than the traffic in Houston -- at least in Houston the freeways are all connected. -_-

I love the different neighborhoods in Austin, and the parks are so nice and large.quote>

[texstar20 0]

I live in Dallas and just got back from Houston. I love the mix of skyscrapers in Houston, and definately love the Williams Tower or whatever it's called now. Just looking at it from the Southwest Freeway is awesome because it is so out of place, but kicks ass (plus it's a great beacon at night to find your way around). Dallas has a lot of nice skyscrapers, but they need to get into modern times and start building some all glass 60-70 story skyscrapers!

[Frankie_Grove 33]

Originally posted by: Gnargenox

Houston's skyline has been ranked fourth-most impressive in the United States when ranked primarily by height, being the country's third-tallest skyline (after Chicago and New York City) quote>

Houston is not third, Houston's tallest ( JP Morgan Chase Tower) is at 302 meters, (1,002 ft.). However, Atlanta, GA's tallest (Bank of America Plaza) is at 312 meters, (1,023 ft.) Los Angeles, CA's tallest (U.S. Bank Tower)  is at 310 meters (1,018 ft.). Therefore, in the United States, the tallest cities in order are:

1. Chicago, IL

2. New York City, NY

3. Atlanta, GA

4. Los Angeles, CA

5. Houston, TX

Therefore, Houston is NOT 3rd..it is 5th

Oh and..I still hate the Houston is better than the South thing

Originally posted by: Gnargenox

and one of the top 10 in the world; quote>

Wrong again (sorry, but it seems you got this info from Wiki? In that case it is likely wrong) Houston is #13 for tallest cities of the World, there are many taller cities than Houston. However, in terms of quantity of tall buildings Houston may have an edge.

[DW Rutledge 1]

we have a saying in texas -

if i owned hell and houston, i'd live in hell, and rent out houston.

[Deathamphetimine 2]

Well, I only drove through Houston and stayed in DFW, but Houston drivers are BAD, really BAD. People in DFW would let you into traffic or let you merge in front of them. Houston drivers would run you off the road if you let them. So my vote goes to Dallas/ Ft Worth over Houston. Houston seems to be the LA of the south in terms of smog, traffic and lack of a decent mass transport system, but LA has an edge in zoning laws. Houston symbolizes the whole idea of urban planning on the Gulf coast, or the lack of it. There are quite a few places in Tampa I could be standing in a cow field and see downtown. Orlando is just as bad, and if not for the development line in Miami-Dade along the everglades, So Florida would be the same. Jacksonville, Atlanta, all the same way. Dallas does seem to be much better in terms of Mass Transit and zoning laws, but not really being from Texas, I cant say. But in all reality, on quality of life terms, the question should be DFW vs The South. But Houston does have some awsome skyscrapers. Man, im rambeling here......

[Stratosphere_2020. 0]

Houston is ok, some good things going on in the city. But I like Atlanta better.