Web/print copy editor, Houston Chronicle

Nailed it. Dallas is the epitome of image-is-everything thinking. Houston is a much better place if you don't like pretentious peolple.

Houston makes Dallas look like the Sahara. The summer temperatures get higher in Dallas than in Houston, but that's because Houston's relative humidity doesn't allow the temperature to get as high. I went to college near Dallas and hated the climate. I grew up in a more humid environment and didn't realize what moisture in the air meant to my breathing. Dallas' dry climate will wreak havoc on anyone used to high humidity because it dries you out so bad. Don't expect it to rain between May and Halloween.

 

I worked down there for three years in the early/mid 90s. Houston looked much better in the rear view mirror than it did when I lived there, mostly because I was broke, tired and probably a little hung over when I left.

That said, Houston is hot. Miserably hot. Unbearably hot. One summer the mercury hit 100 degrees for 23 straight days. This isn't Vegas heat, boys and girls. This is the 30-pound hot towel of wet heat. Traffic is brutal. Get ready to drive a lot. A good hard rain will flood half the town. And Texas 220 through Pasadena and Deer Park is a vision of hell.

But there's a ton to do there, it's not all that expensive and the Chron seems to have figured out the Web. Plus Houston is an absolutely wonderful news town. All sorts of crazy stuff goes on there.

 

I think you mean 225, don't you? But your "vision of hell" description is on target. And it's not just that. The air has been proven to be extremely and dangerously unhealthy in that area. The Chron did a story on people there who were suffering from severe health problems.

There are some real advantages to living in Houston -- the affordable housing, the plethora of things to do, the dynamic sports environment -- but I was simply commenting on the word "gorgeous" to describe Houston, which is something I've NEVER heard before.

As for the weather, I'm a warm-weather person, so it doesn't really bother me. In fact, the summers here are no different than the ones in southwest Florida, where I lived for five years. That's absolutely steam-bath stuff -- 95 degrees with high humidity every day. The thing a lot of people don't understand about Houston is that it is not all that nice in the winter. There are at least 8-10 freezes per winter. And there are a surprising number of days on which the high temp doesn't even get out of the 40s.

 

My history with Pasadena/Deer Park/Channelview/Baytown is mostly passing through them, as fast as I can, to get out of that eyesore part of town.

But I do escape the close-up view of refinery row by staying on I-10. I take it, 225 takes you through the heart of all that?

Also, did you hear about them building that huge new subdivision down near Pearland off Beltway 8 right next to a huge, nasty, landfill? That's east Houston in a nutshell.

 

What is not to like about Houston weather? There are at least two nice days in the fall and on a good year, at least three in the spring. That's almost a full week of pleasant weather.

 

Look on the bright side. If you have a Cat-5 hurricane bearing down on you and a good map, you can drive from Houston to the Metroplex on nothing but farm-to-market roads and miss all the fun on the 45.

 

Nice catch, Webo. U.S. 220 (aka Battleground Avenue) comes right through Greensboro. Texas 225 is the road I was thinking about. I think the chemical/oil/paper fumes did a number to my ... ah ... uh ... *snaps fingers* ... short-term memory.

Yes, 225 goes through the heart of Houston's refinery/chemical row. Lyondell, Citgo, Phillips (the one that blew up in '89) and Shell were the biggest players when I was there. If you don't blink while driving west on that road, you can see the roof of the Pasadena Citizen as you cross North Shaver.

Couple of links:
A guided tour of this "industrial delight" (w/ pics): http://www.texasfreeway.com/Houston/photos/225/225.shtml
The reason to keep driving through to Baytown: http://www.texasexplorer.com/hartmanbridge.htm

 

Plus, that good map can help you choose west of 45 (through such burgs as Marquez, Groesbeck, and Mexia), or east of 45 (through the thriving metro areas of Crockett, Palestine, and Athens). Central Texas one way, East Texas the other.

 

The good news is there will soon be a Buc-ee's on I-45 to break up the monotony of the evacuation...

 

Any word on this position from people in the know?

 

Traffic doesn't need to be all that bad if you live close in. You can have all you need not far away. Renting inside the loop doesn't have to be expensive.

Don't know any specifics about this position, though. The website is nice, but it seems to come at the expense of making the paper better. Then again, maybe the paper is an afterthought at this point.

 

I find that every part of Houston can be completely independent of other parts. Aside from the Westheimer shopping area and downtown, most every part of town, including the burbs, have the same stuff. Same chain stores in the malls, same chain restaurants, etc. So if you live in, say, Spring, you'll never "need" to go to Memorial City Mall because the Woodlands, Deerbrook and Willowbrook all have malls with the same stuff.

I suppose it's true with neighborhoods/suburbs in most large American cities. However, I feel a much more drastic shift in the feel of neighborhoods in New York, New Orleans, Austin, Dallas, etc., than Houston.

That's not a knock on Houston, I'm just saying...

And the point of all this is to elaborate on your point. There's not really much reason to travel around town a whole lot in Houston because what you have in your neck of the woods is pretty much the same as what they have in the next neck of the woods (the Galleria area, River Oaks and downtown being glaring exceptions). You been to one Panera Bread or Chipotle, you been to them all.