It's all about the location. (Houston, Sugar Land: college, live in, bars)

[dv1033]

There's a difference between Houston and the City of Houston.

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by EEstudent

4) Houston is not for the YOung and restless, it is almost exclusively geared toward growing families. Consider this, another posted informed me that even though 35 is considered "old" in most other cities in the country, In houston 35 y/o are considered "not over the hill just yet".

Wow. Where in the U.S. is 35 considered old?

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by houstoner

Wow. Where in the U.S. is 35 considered old?

Seattle, for sure. Most "ageist" place I've ever lived, and I grew up in Los Angeles.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by dv1033

There's a difference between Houston and the City of Houston.

How does this work?

[EasilyAmused]

EE's whole life experience is Sugarland......which isn't Houston. Which is about as burb and Master Planned as you can get.

I think we should all donate to rent him a place in Midtown or TMC for a month and scare the crap out of him. I mean, if he really wants urban.

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by tstone

How does this work?

As the title suggests, it's all about the location. Too many people here live in some part of the "Greater Houston Area" and consider that "Houston," while if this were any other city, such an area would be considered a suburb or another town even, not a part of the city itself. Here it personally drives me insane that people use Houston interchangeably whether they mean an area within a five mile radius of downtown or an area thirty or forty miles to the north. That's crazy! There has to be some kind of useful boundary to accommodate for the differences in culture and lifestyle. I mean, isn't that why the suburbs exist? Isn't that why people move to them? Because they don't want to live in the city? I recognize that this is the downside of no zoning, too much annexation, and rapid growth. There are too many fuzzy boundaries and a lost sense of place. Doesn't mean I have to like it. For example, it irks me to no end that many suburbanites refer to areas near downtown collectively as downtown when the neighborhoods have names of their own. Third Ward is not downtown. The Museum District is not downtown. Try that in another city and you'll get corrected fast.

[westres1]

Houstoner....that is because many people do not know the names of the areas you are speaking of. Many people here are not native Houstonians like you and me. Plus, the Ward names are quickly being replaced with other names like MidTown and East End to make them more attractive to buyers, but confusing to natives. There was'nt a Westchase,Uptown,Upper Kirby District,energy corridor when I was a kid. We had the Wards and Downtown.

[EasilyAmused]

I still call Uptown, The Galleria Area, in casual conversation. Energy Corridor is an OLD name, but it's just come back again lately. Since the late 80's to about 2003 it was just "out there."

Midtown is still pretty much "downtown to me." I still call it the Downtown Specs, not the Midtown Specs. "Meet me near downtown at Ibiza.." That kind of thing. Tell natives Midtown and they give you a blank stare 60% of the time.

Westchase??? The Beltway and Westhiemer to me.

Upper Kirby is the newest of the bunch. It certainly sounds better than it's reality.

[tstone]

Houstoner- I see what you're saying. Yes, there's a difference between City of Houston and Greater Houston. And within the City of Houston, the 'super-neighborhoods' (for lack of a better word) are all unique from one another as well. But if someone compares ''Houston'' with ''City of Houston'' that means nothing to me.

It sounds like what bothers you is the one massively unique trait about this city. Midtown, Sunnyside, Clear Lake, Acres Homes, Alief, and Meyerland are all ''Houston''. OTOH, Sugar Land, Katy and the Woodlands are obviously not "Houston." All of this chest-pounding, drawing lines in the sand, and saying "my ghetto be all H-town, your ghetto is barely H-Town" is nothing but a gang mentality. If anything irks me, it's all the divisive attitudes in this city and metro.

[modster]

Originally Posted by houstoner

Wow. Where in the U.S. is 35 considered old?

Apparently Sugarland.....