Houston a hybrid of Los Angeles & New Orleans with some Mexico City? (Atlanta: university)

[AK123]

Interesting...

"Imagine a hybrid of New Orleans and Los Angeles, with a dash of Mexico City thrown in."

Full article:
Southern Comfort | Travel | Smithsonian Magazine

[Wysiwyg]

Theyre being nice actually.

[WillysB]

Sounds like maybe he needs to attend one of those creative writing classes. Or get a real life.

[Topaz]

I liked the article. AK123, thank you for posting the link.

[Metro Matt]

I've always said & felt Houston is more a combination of Los Angeles, New Orleans, & Atlanta.

[houstoner]

Yes, good article. He did a good job summing the place up, although I think I agree with MetroMatt's characterization a little more.

Originally Posted by WillysB

Sounds like maybe he needs to attend one of those creative writing classes. Or get a real life.

He is a pretty well-known poet who just won the National Book Award.

[Trae713]

I remember this story. I liked the Southern hospitality part, because it's so true.

[EEstudent]

Mark Doty is a creative writing professor that teaches at the University of Houston. He often does readings and holds discussions in the UH library during the semester which is open to all people. However it should be known that Mark Doty is moving on to Rutgers very soon; and it puzzles me that if he loved the city of Houston so much why would he want to move back to New England. Perhaps his career was more of a motivation than his love of this city.

The article however is very well written and Doty very easily slips in his own opinions of what Houston means to him. At the beginning it seems that he dislikes the physical features of Houston but the southern hospitality makes up for these physical blunders. One place the article lacks however is the fact that Doty does not include the traits of L.A. New Orleans or Mexico City that are present in Houston.

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by EEstudent

Mark Doty is a creative writing professor that teaches at the University of Houston. He often does readings and holds discussions in the UH library during the semester which is open to all people. However it should be known that Mark Doty is moving on to Rutgers very soon; and it puzzles me that if he loved the city of Houston so much why would he want to move back to New England. Perhaps his career was more of a motivation than his love of this city.

Because he's a grown-up and a professor and seeking out better career opportunities is what grown-ups and professors do. He also moved from Tennessee, where he was born, and from Iowa, Vermont, and New York City. That's my guess. But you can ask him yourself. He has a blog.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by EEstudent

Mark Doty is a creative writing professor that teaches at the University of Houston. He often does readings and holds discussions in the UH library during the semester which is open to all people. However it should be known that Mark Doty is moving on to Rutgers very soon; and it puzzles me that if he loved the city of Houston so much why would he want to move back to New England. Perhaps his career was more of a motivation than his love of this city.

The article however is very well written and Doty very easily slips in his own opinions of what Houston means to him. At the beginning it seems that he dislikes the physical features of Houston but the southern hospitality makes up for these physical blunders. One place the article lacks however is the fact that Doty does not include the traits of L.A. New Orleans or Mexico City that are present in Houston.

LA - Similar skylines/architecture, freeways, sprawl, palm trees, loads of diversity, huge Asian populations

New Orleans - Cajun culture, Spanish Moss, bayous, swamps, humid climates

Mexico City - Self explainitory