You're Wrong About Houston and Here's Why

----------

Houston gets a pretty bad rap for bad walkability, bad bikability, poor transit, and car dependence. Is this fair, though? If you haven't been to Houston recently, especially the inner loop, and if you don't know what's going on in the November 2023 election -- well, you should watch!

----------

----------

Patreon - a way to directly support continuing CityNerd output! Thanks to all who have signed up so far.

----------

----------

If you don't follow Segregation By Design, you should!
Instagram: @segregation_by_design
Twitter: @SegByDesign

----------

Jarrett Walker's great book, Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives

----------

Previous CityNerd Videos Referenced:

----------

Resources:

----------

Images
- All taken on location October 2023 by yours truly!

----------

Instagram: @nerd4cities
BlueSky: @nerd4cities
Threads: @nerd4cities
Twitter: @nerd4cities

----------

Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)

----------

[CityNerd]

STOP!! This is the only comment you need to read. Use my link to get additional months (and help the channel!)

[darrylmorrison]

As a Houstonian, I think this is a very accurate assessment of our city. I nominate "Not as bad as you were expecting city" as our new moniker.

[driley]

City planners in America be like: "We need to make our cities more convenient for all the people who refuse to live here, rarely visit, and regularly cheer online for cities to go bankrupt."

[brianglas]

Completely agree on your comment that one of the better ways for our society to reduce racism is just having people from various backgrounds doing day to day activities with each other.

[OhHarumph]

As someone who lives in the Houston metro & works downtown, literally nobody I have talked to about the highway expansion is excited for it. Even commuters are starting to understand that highway expansion is just construction and the inconvenience it brings for years so we can all sit in larger traffic jams.

[johnnyboi]

I lived in Houston for the past 5 years before recently moving, and I'm just so thankful for this video from my favorite urbanist channel. The amount of urbanist hate that Houston gets because of a certain several million view video from a certain urbanist channel who judged an entire city by a sidewalk in the suburbs is absurd. By no means is Houston a perfect city from a walkability/public transit standpoint, let alone even close, but it has so much to offer that people from outside the loop/the city in general do not realize. Neighborhoods like Montrose have their issues with dilapidated sidewalks and little bike access, but you can still walk these dilapidated sidewalks, and they have access to dozens of delicious restaurants regardless of where you live in the neighborhood. There is such a wide variety of parks from the marshy memorial trails to the curated Japanese garden at Hermann, and as you start to bike (or run around) the city, you start to find connectors between the main parks through either the bayous, columbia tap to rail trail, or some of the newly constructed bike lanes down Waugh and other streets (I hope you got the chance to bike down Waugh, CityNerd. It was one of my partner and my favorite areas in the city). And I think one of the biggest things about Houston that does not get mentioned nearly enough is that it truly is a melting pot of culture. I previously lived in Chicago and originally grew up in the suburbs of San Jose, CA (I know, not your favorite area). These places were often touted as "melting pots of culture", but in reality Chicago is still one of the most racially segregated cities in the US and San Jose suburbs is primarily only a mixture of ethnicities of European/Asian/Hispanic descent. Houston is a true melting pot of the US and to an extent, the world. There is so much vibrancy and love in the city and although there are plenty of problems, there are truly good people there who are passionate about making the city better and not just making larger freeways to drive their giant Ford F150s down.

[christianokolski]

I live in Houston and joke with people, "I don't leave the inner loop", but it's pretty accurate. This video does well to portray the nice pockets, but once you get outside the 610 beltway, it's a whole lot of suburban sprawl, parking lots, chain restaurants, and big-box stores.

[veearell]

Really satisfying to watch this video as a person who is working really hard to improve street safety and who doesn't own a car in Houston. Thank you.

[nicolepotter]

So glad to see a YouTuber highlight all the things my hometown has done over the last several years to become more pedestrian-friendly. I’ve never particularly cared for other channel’s perspectives, mainly because they seem to focus on the suburban areas rather than Houston proper. We Houstonians are well aware of our car-obsessed reputation and many of us are ready to change it. Keep up the great work!

P.S.: MKT stands for Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad. It’s how the suburb of Katy got it’s name, and they keep a rail car in their historic downtown district

[devinhohtx]

As someone who has moved to Houston a few years ago. I feel this video really hit the nail on the head. I currently live in the Rice Military area and agree that the culture, bike and walkability is great inside the loop. However I do wish the city continues to support this movement of accessibility. It's great how you actually explored and took a closer look into the inner neighborhoods. My roommate doesn't own a car and bikes everywhere inside the loop (and slightly out). I enjoy living here mostly because of the diversity in culture, ethnicities, and food! The food here is unmatched. I've been to NYC, LA, SF, and other urban metro cities and it's not even close. Thanks for stopping by!

[Pencilman]

I don’t live in Houston but i really appreciate an urbanist video where you actually visit the city and look around it in person. Some other YouTubers annoy me with how they can judge places from the comfort of the utopian city they fled to as if Google Maps is the best way to explore anywhere. Also appreciate the shade toward the Astros.

[GrabASpriteB]

Finally, an urbanist who puts his money where his mouth is, so to speak. Many "urbanist" YT channels love to dog on cities they've never been to or done research on; Houston being one of them. Flying out and WALKING around the city itself, then amending your original thoughts is a very honest way of rating cities. Looking forward to more city reviews 👍

[rossedwardmiller]

CN's ability to find silver linings and positive things to say is incredible. This video isn't sugarcoating Houston, it's showing what viewers might be interested in if we ever visit (read: actual useful info for the people who actually watch his videos). Another banger from the best urbanist youtube channel.

[RocketPower]

It's nice to see an urbanist youtuber highlighting what Houstonians are doing to enact change and improve their city instead of joining the "Houston Bad" circle jerk. I've never even been to Houston and this completely changed my ill-formed perspective.

[rdz.c]

Firstly, the disrespect to showing Altuve and then a cheating joke. That one hurt, man. Second, everything else was spot on. Born and raised in Houston. East of Downtown, but not “EaDo”. The neighborhood over. We are at a snail’s pace for making this city pedestrian friendly. And even slower at a better public transit system, but I’ll keep hoping and voting for better. Loved recognizing all your footage of my city. Glad it was a decent experience.

[romerodep]

As a fan of your channel for the past year, and as someone who travels to Houston frequently, I’ve highly anticipated your take on this city! I know your focus was within the I-610 loop but I was still a bit surprised that you didn’t note the near absence of public transit options from both Houston airports. I’ve always been floored by this when I think of smaller US cities that have rail and/or express bus into the city center. Perhaps you could explore the political and social reasons why as part of a video about the outer loop areas of Houston. Love your work!

[chefssaltybawlz]

THANK YOU! It’s wild how people use my city as an example for all the things they’re upset about.. that we have or are building. We didn’t just expand our freeways, we voted on a county level years back to build the now over 400+ miles of dedicated “bikeways” as we call them (non motor roads) or bike lanes, the 3 rail lines we didn’t have prior to 2004 and still growing, as well as a revamp of our entire bus network. Our rails are almost the nations highest used in terms of rider/mile and has helped to densify the inner city. We also have a massive underground city/tunnel system downtown like Montreal, Canada has which is why during the hot months you won’t see people usually walking around…. Its hot. Everyone’s in the tunnels lol. Shoutout to CityNerd, the most accurate and unbiased city planning channel I’ve had the fortune of subscribing to!

[JamesIsShort]

Shocking how actually visiting a given city can help you see it from the point of view of the residents, and not just some "Houston Bad" circlejerk members. Thank you, CityNerd, for taking interest in the struggle that makes Houston Houston.

[DiegoMonroyF]

You took pictures of a lot of places that I frequent (including very close to where I live)! I'm from Mexico City, and Houston has so far been great, although I really miss the hills and the temperate climate. It's great that you explored lots of different places, and I really liked the video! I would add to the conversation that (a) Houston has terrible weather during summer, making it almost impossible to avoid using a car if you want to get anywhere comfortably, and (b) Houston provides both jobs and housing for a big number of people that are not already wealthy, which is a huge deal for many communities. When I went to Seattle and San Diego I saw that they were much more picturesque cities, but you could certainly tell that the city was primarily enjoyed by people of very specific backgrounds and incomes. I also greatly appreciate that Houstonians are more aware of Mexico as a friendly country, instead of this classic notion of it being a faraway, barren dessert with donkeys, gangs and a beach, which is what most Americans in other places think of it.

[nicolasdeleon]

The local news talked about how residents are unhappy with the city regarding those large power lines being put up in montrose and midtown. Even residents felt they were poorly placed and done without consideration from locals. Theyre currently having talks about cutting down hundred year old trees in the same area to make the said street “more walkable.” Thanks for coming to Houston! I hope you enjoyed the city!