Sunday, July 05, 2020

Better understanding what makes Houston special

Just a few short items this week mostly around a common theme of what makes Houston special:
"I love the ugliness of Houston, but I know that’s far from all this city is. I can’t wait to get to know the community that has already felt welcoming and warm and to experience the food, music, museums, parks and more. Houston is far, far more than its outward appearance. 
Until then, I’ll appreciate the comforting ugliness and continue my mission of trying all the take-out I can. Houston already has the best food in Texas, hands down."
"In Houston, African Americans enjoy high political representation, homeownership, historically black universities and several black newspapers – all of which empower the community, Conyers said. 
“If people can negotiate and communicate, they don’t need protests,” he said. 
Stein agreed that leadership in Houston has played an important role – and not just in city government. 
“The black leadership in these communities tends to be church-centric, very much built into the churches. That’s not what you see in the North and Northeast,” he said. “And the second is, it’s an older population… and to a large extent, these are people who followed Dr. King’s nonviolence.” 
Stein also credits less racial segregation than in other cities and its low density as factors that help keep Houston relatively peaceful in times of social unrest."
"The article is right, Houston isn't about the city, it's about the people. What most people outside of Houston don't understand is what that means. Houston is an attitude, a drive, a motive. Houston thinks forward, never back. The most generous, open people you will ever meet. Houston is not a destination, it's a journey."
  • WSJ: The Coming Urban Exodus - Failing progressive governance is making daily life too chaotic and stressful in many U.S. cities.  A warning for Houston, where we're already seeing population shifting out of the city and county.
  • Scott Beyer, Market Urbanist: Three Ways the Government Blocks Urban Density - Limits on height, floor-area ratio, and dwelling units per acre have tremendous societal costs. Luckily Houston has very few of these. Excerpt: 
"All these rules and more strip creativity and artistic flair from the city development process. Ultimately they raise rents preventing our cities from densifying, robbing the nation of wealth, productivity, and the opportunity for more people to live in economically vibrant urban settings. They’re perhaps the costliest regulations we have in the U.S., and, at least to me, make for our biggest domestic policy mistake."

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5 Comments:

At 3:14 PM, July 06, 2020, Blogger George Rogers said...

An art installation at River Oaks District

 
At 9:08 AM, July 07, 2020, Anonymous Mike said...

Houston journalism cliches:
1. Houston is so ugly.
2. But it has so many types of food!
3. And there's so much diversity.
At some point we need to break out of this. It's on the same level as "Chicago is really cold," "L.A. is really spread out," or "New York is fast-paced." Just played out, trite observations that aren't interesting. Challenge to editors: Avoid the cliche. Publish pieces about Houston without these cliches.

 
At 9:25 AM, July 09, 2020, Blogger George Rogers said...

Houston needs an image and the cliches help provide that.

 
At 3:37 PM, July 09, 2020, Anonymous Mike said...

George, you think "Houston is Ugly" helps give Houston a good image?

 
At 4:51 PM, July 09, 2020, Blogger George Rogers said...

The problem is the Airports are in the hood and that means that the first impressions driving out from the airports are not good. So it's better to have a low expectation coming into the city and surprising people that come than have an unrealistic expectation of beauty coming in. Houston is actually one of the prettier cities in the world, but because of the lack of icons and annexation the pretty parts are drowned out by the rest of the city.

 

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