Culture of Houston (gay, population, outside)

[cmidden]

Wordlyman was completely "on the mark!" I spent 10 years in Houston and loved every minute of it. I lived outside the Beltway 8 and took the traffic in stride. It's a cost of all the great things going on in Houston. Unfortunately, my husbands job took me from Houston - kicking and screaming! I would come back in a heartbeat!!!

[jfre81]

The sprawl is here, no doubt, but you don't have to live on the edge of it and drive into the center of it. It's a choice, pretty much. Sprawl is in every major metropolitan area, because people make that choice to live in the so-called "country" while living in the city. The Northeast is pretty much one gigantic urban sprawl from Boston to DC - once you're out of the burbs of one major city you're entering those of the next.

Houston is big, but everything you need is never too far away if you live inside or near the loop, and even in some spots well outside. That's part of the whole no-zoning thing that some people complain about. I don't have to go outside of a two-mile or so radius of where I live for my everyday needs. I may be far from the north/northeast side of the city, but I've no real reason to go over there on a regular basis.

[professorsenator]

Interested in the culture of Houston? Read this thread to get a glimpse:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/houst...ation-now.html

[tstone]

Originally Posted by professorsenator

Interested in the culture of Houston? Read this thread to get a glimpse:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/houst...ation-now.html

This could honestly be coming from anyone in Anytown, USA. Not everyone is an almighty professor-senator.

As far as the OP goes, I'm seeing a general (common) attitude of "I'm all about other races, gays & tolerance," and "I do not tolerate intolerance," and a general disdain for evangelicals. If that's the case (and please correct me if I'm wrong), but the inner loop areas mentioned here would be great, but don't stray too far. You may find yourself turning increasingly intolerant.

Although I will say the evangelicals here aren't nearly as pushy/obnoxious as the ones 275 miles to our north. I've lived here just about all my life never had any trouble. Most people here know their limits.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by professorsenator

Interested in the culture of Houston? Read this thread to get a glimpse:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/houst...ation-now.html

You did notice that not all the posts in that thread are from people in Houston, right?

Houston culture is whatever you want to find...there are so many different types of areas and people here, you can find whatever you are seeking.

[ZeroTX]

Originally Posted by AK123

Exactly. I suppose he forgot the Texas Medical Center is the largest grouping of hospitals/medical research in the world and is actually the city's largest employer.

I get tired of people using that excuse (people only live in Houston for the jobs). There are plenty of other cities with lots of jobs (especially in Texas). If Houston was so awful, it would be losing population and the companies would be moving out because they wouldn't be able to get people to relocate here. The few people I've known personally who didn't like Houston have moved on to other cities.

The city's largest single employer is Houston Independent School District.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by ZeroTX

The city's largest single employer is Houston Independent School District.

That's true - of course that isn't oil/energy-related either. But TMC is not a single entity but a group, not unlike the firms that make up the energy sector. They're not a single entity either. HISD is.

[Wysiwyg]

i'd say houston would pass your minimum requirements. the mixed culture is on the westside though, we got all of the few authentic japanese restaurants here.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by ZeroTX

The city's largest single employer is Houston Independent School District.

Just as HISD has many campuses, so does the Medical Center. Though they're not all the same company, they are all part of the same institutional group.

Texas Medical Center - Texas Medical Center Corporation

"When viewed as a single entity, the Texas Medical Center institutions are the largest employer in Houston (73,600)."

Living in the Medical Center (http://houston.about.com/od/neighborhoods/p/medicalcenter.htm - broken link)

"With over 40 different institutions, the Texas Medical Center is Houston's largest employer."

[jfre81]

HISD has many campuses, but they're run by the same entity. TMC has several institutions run by different entities. It's all a matter of how you look at it.

Either way, it shows that it's just not oil/energy here. It's the five-ton elephant in the room, but the room's big enough for some smaller elephants too.