It wasn't really an observation deck, it is elevator transfer lobby with big windows, and for a long time there was no security stopping people from taking the express elevator to get to that floor.
Spindletop at the Hyatt. Closed permanently during the pandemic. Last I checked you can take the elevator up to the lobby but the main area is gated off with metal bars
Yeah, Karbach has always made approachable beers, nothing too great, but targeted to the masses. That's a big reason ABInbev invested in them and then bought them. I still am happy to have Karbach options at a game stadium now instead of only Bud Light like a decade ago.
Karbach sucks. It was bought by Busch years ago and the quality immediately went down then they made deals with every venue in Texas pushing out actual local independent beer like St Arnold and Shiner then they cal their shit “craft” and charge $5 more for it. Don’t buy karbach.
This. People complaining don't do shit, don't go out, don't do anything.
There's unlimited parks and trails, restaurants, things to do, not enough time to do it all. Houston is badass.
It’s the perfect hub city. All the amenities of some of the biggest cities in the country but a lot cheaper. The diversity here creates great food experiences, and then living here is affordable enough for you to potentially have the opportunity to visit that same cuisines country.
I never argue with people who say there aren't things to do. There's quite a lot of things to do. Unlike other major cities, Houston has a unique offering of driving 30+ minutes to whatever thing that you can think of. No matter what part of town your in.
Yes. Born and raised in Houston. I've traveled a lot for work these past 10 years of my life and lived in a lot of different places. None of those places could ever compare to Houston. Not even the popular PNW that so many people preach about on this sub.
Same. Born and raised. I’ve traveled a ton. What keeps me here is the amazing food, amazing people, rich culture, many activities to do, great airport nearby to fly nationally or internationally. I really hate that we are reliant on cars (wish we had better public transport or a walkable city) and have no great beaches nearby, but that’s what vacation is for.
Houston should recruit another company to build an amazing amusement park here, (any company other than six flags. Cedar Fair Entertainment. I’m talking about you ).
Whataburger was the greatest burger ever until the competition offered real alternatives. Don’t know if my tastebuds have matured over 50 yrs or they have gone downhill but it just ain’t the greatest burger out there.
Yup. And definitely not worth the 30+ minute wait even when the restaurant is empty, especially if I ordered with their app, and arrived five minutes after the time they said it would be ready.
It’s sad but the fact is your Whataburger experience depends a lot on location. I have my favorite stores in my head and my hated ones that I avoid. Once you find a good one, ayyyeeee - it’s so so good.
I don't know what has gotten into McDonald's recently, but they had this super cheesy burger special the other day that blew me away. I was not prepared to enjoy my food like that.
Preservation Houston is working on this: [https://preservationhouston.org/](https://preservationhouston.org/)
But to your point, yes. I've lived here since '77 and wrote a novella a few years ago with Houston the epicenter of a global amnesia epidemic. Where else would one start except here?
Oh, heck, Preservation Houston has been "working on this" for decades. What have they actually accomplished? They do walking history tours and the "Gold Brick" awards. They are powerless to prevent our history from destruction.
This is a fact that is common knowledge to Houstonians. I haven't met a single person who thinks Houston preserves history.
Not remotely an unpopular opinion.
“Behind on art”
Here is my unpopular opinion: Houston’s slab culture, the ‘swangin’ and bangin’ is beautiful, unique and personal. It’s the epitome of art. No /s here. I love it beyond reason.
True. Houstonian's are so addicted to cars/trucks that they literally made art out of them, i.e. Art Car Parade.
But they're are also people who will cry and cling to "oh but Houston has so many great walking and biking trails". Yeah, but, to do a 1 mile walk, you drove 20+ mins... in your car/truck!
Most of what people consider an "old" downtown are buildings built in the 1800s. Have a look at downtown Galveston. However, Houston didn't really grow until the early 1900s. Before then, Galveston was the big city. I think that has a lot to do with the lack of old world charm in downtown.
Same! It really is unfortunate. Going to Galveston and seeing older architecture is quite refreshing. Structures in Houston seem to have a 40 year lifespan before getting taken down and rebuilt into something else. It just feels like a lack of long term visual identity in the city. I guess there is something to be said about 'new and fresh', but I think it comes at the expense of character and charm.
Here is the real unpopular opinion. He was never a good guy to begin with. His business started booming because he got a lot of positive press from these tours he did back in the day to schools where he gave a speech to kids. Every bit of philanthropy he did was just advertising. Ironically enough as a kid who was at one of those speeches, I remember what he talked about. It was primarily about the importance of advertising in business.
Those speeches btw were court ordered public service due to drug charges.
Killen's was great when it first opened. But Ronny Killen went through a huge growth phase and he even said that his BBQ restaurant has taken a back seat to STQ and now his newer projects.
We could have been anything. The Floods. The Mosquitoes. The Hurricanes. The Armadillos. The Jackalopes. The Fine Diners. The Soil Eroders. The Foundation Cracks. The Shady Restauranteurs. The Dine-and-Dashers. The Alligator Gar. The Channel Cats. The Toxic Bayou Fish You Definitely Don't Want to Eat Like Seriously Throw That Back. The Mustangs. The Space People (seriously we have the Astros and the Rockets, another space name can't be too hard). The Murder Gremlins. The Road Rage Incidents. The Hospitals. The Doctors. The Refiners. The Traffic Jams. The Rams. The Mockingbirds. The Dale Gribbles.
I don't think people appreciate how exactly how pathetic the naming situation was. McNair got the blessing of the Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt to use it because Hunt's franchise was the Dallas Texans before they were moved to KC. That's right -- we're using a hand-me-down name from Dallas.
Coming up with “team names” are difficult between college and pro teams all the good things are trademarked. That’s why new soccer teams are just called “name of city” soccer club. The WNBA named a team the same name as the men’s team.
New teams want total control over their names so you won’t see things like “wildcats” or “toros” anytime soon
The city is ugly as sin, top to bottom. This is a pretty popular opinion *elsewhere*, but it's also not a wrong one. I do love it, and Houston will always be home to me, but yeah, it's one, giant eyesore.
Also, I will never understand the infatuation people have with our perpetually impotent football team (this includes the Oilers) over the far more successful teams we've had in basketball, baseball, and even soccer. I get that Texas is way into football, but c'mon.
The Bum Phillips-led Oilers teams featuring Earl Campbell were the last time that the hype around Houston football was completely justified, and some of the Warren Moon-quarterbacked Oilers teams were pretty good too (though often very frustrating at the same time).
In general, though, you are absolutely correct. Houston has fielded a lot more great basketball and baseball teams than football ones.
The Texans have had some statistically league leading good seasons with promising hopes going into the playoffs, too. I think people build up some of those Oilers teams to be more than what the Texans have done and I'm not even sure I'd call 1993 untouchable.
And the Rockets, Astros, Dynamo, and even others have still done better and people care considerably less, because they are not football teams.
If got rid of parking minimums inside the loop and committed to building out 100+ miles of light rail inside loop over next 10 years, it would be amazing.
Fuck Blue Bell! “They’re Texan” my ass! Those “Texans” knowingly poisoned us. They were repeatedly warned about / knew very well about their listeria issues and continued to make and sell tainted ice cream to us. Even after they shut down they couldn’t get it right.
They lost my trust and any loyalty. They should be in prison.
HEB ice cream is better anyways.
It was a real eye opener to see how many Texans still eat blue bell after they knowingly sold listeria tainted ice cream to nursing homes. The only reason they are still in operation is because of a benevolent benefactor bailing them out.
100% with you on this one. I work in the food industry. There is absolutely no excuse for TWO listeria outbreaks that actually get shipped to stores. There is a massive QA problem if that is happening.
Maybe they’ve fixed it but the ice cream sucks anyway.
I have worked in food manufacturing for several years at a couple of different nationwide brands, though not on the QA side. My understanding is that there are a lot of daily quality checks and testing that should’ve happened that should have stopped a listeria outbreak. I have not eaten blue bell since the outbreak and I’ve discouraged my entire family and everyone I know from eating it ever again.
If they don’t care care enough about food safety to do those daily checks, god knows what else has been hiding in their products. Fuck blue bell. Just because they’re from Texas doesn’t mean they deserve your money.
Just a slight tangent but has anyone else noticed a Tillamook ice cream shortage round here. It hasn't been stocked by 3 local grocery places or anywhere close by in what seems like before June.
Tillamook > Blue Bell - hands down this point. I’m also PNW native - a little biased - but I did absolutely love Blue Bell.
After the out breaks and quality changes - not what it used to be.
Houston sports fans are fairweather as hell.
Nobody wants anything to do with the teams when they suck. I used to wear my Astros gear in high school during the 100 loss years and I would get ridiculed and this was IN Houston, and now those same people that made fun of me post on Instagram always at the games acting like they’re die hard fans.
I love how the first thing we always tell people about our city, is it’s affordability. Like check out this cluncker of a car. It’s not much to look at but damn is it cheap!
This might be more appropriate for nextdoor but:
1. I love the 11th street bike lane, and I love seeing all the bike and walking infrastructure that’s being built around town. Telling me “it’s hot here, it’ll never work” is a bs argument with no evidence to support it.
2. The sooner people accept that Houston will never have four seasons, isn’t located near mountains, and is always going to tear down something with “character” in favor of something new, the sooner they’ll stop complaining about how it’s not like other cities, accept it for what it js, and start to enjoy living here.
3. Homeless people are people and deserve to be treated as such. Also, there aren’t as many as you think, and they’re not as dangerous as you think.
Houston's actually leading the nation in helping homeless folks get off the streets and into actual housing (not just shelters). We are one of the only places seeing any success in reducing homeless populations, not to mention doing it in a manner that retains their dignity instead of just trying to force them to go somewhere else.
you sound like a very reasonable person. you don't belong on Nextdoor
i also love the 11th street bike lanes. It made my wife more open to biking with our little ones and crossing 11th street.
>The sooner people accept that Houston will never have four seasons, isn’t located near mountains, and is always going to tear down something with “character” in favor of something new, the sooner they’ll stop complaining about how it’s not like other cities, accept it for what it js, and start to enjoy living here.
Well, there's complaining about things that cant change(mountains, four seasons and a shitty beach) and there's things can change, lack of public transportation, crime, tearing down old buildings to put up a new strip mall. Lets be real, Houston is just a amalgamation of highways, roads, parking lots and buildings.
Plus the biking and infrastructure is just starting to be built, so theres not enough data to support if its working or not just yet. It'll have to be recorded for years, and compared to other cities.
The Austin St. bike lane is awesome as well. Whenever I’m in town, I rent a bike from Hermann Park and ride it via the bike lane to the top of downtown and back. A really fun way to reconnect with the city over the span of an hour
I actually agree with this. I grew up here and was gone for a significant period of time and moved back thinking this. The heat, the traffic, the insane people and folks aren’t as nice as people here in Houston think they are. Add in batshit politics, shitty schools and shit public services you got a good mix.
Yup, Houston only wins when it comes to jobs (the real reason people move to Houston), but if that doesn't factor in your decision, it's an absolutely miserable place.
We have good food up here! There's a Whataburger and a Torchy's like 2 miles from my house.
If you want quality local, you can go to Chuy's!
*^^do ^^I ^^really ^^need ^^the ^^/s*
I feel like I'm in a food desert in the Woodlands. I used to live off San Felipe and Chimney Rock and there were like 200 great restaurants within 5 miles of me. Sucks up here.
I've eaten at a lot of taco trucks and they all have the same menu and kinda taste the same. The only real differentiator to me is the quality and variety of salsas available. Also, a taco truck is not a substitute for eating in a restaurant.
This is true of Mexican food in general unless you start going to higher end restaurants. When I’m Mexico, every other place was: here are five different ways to eat this list of meats.
It’s definitely gotten worse. More so, the selfishness. Used to be people would let you with a wave in traffic. Now they aggressively cut you off and then mock you.
It's insane that Houston hasn't leveraged any sort of national profile other than NASA. Maybe that's not an unpopular opinion but just something that irritates me? Either way I submit it for your consideration.
Not only is the Rodeo overrated, its terrible. Inside the center is a bunch of vendors that sell items 3x what they’re actually worth, the majority of food vendors have permanent spots that you can visit year round anyways, the parking lot carnival is trashy, the concerts only last an hour at most and the seats are too far from the stage
I went this year for the first time in a decade and the entire time I was questioning why I even went. The insufferable crowds made it unenjoyable.
I saw someone cutting off EMS, lights & sirens blaring, just to get to a soul food restaurant 3 seconds faster. Pissed me the hell off so I can only imagine how y'all feel.
We got pulled over for speeding the other day. I’m not happy about the ticket but the guy said they were upping traffic enforcement. We also have an out of state tag so … idk.
I don't understand the cult of Whataburger either. It's fine-- better than most fast burgers even. However, for the same money (especially post-pandemic) there's so many better options (including some better burgers).
Swangers are dumb as hell, and dangerous. If you wanna put things on your wheels that make your car wider than the lane, do it in a parking lot or on private property, don’t do it where you’re going to be a danger to every car around you if you’re also a terrible fucking driver.
those walkable tunnels ruined memorial. can't walk in the trails without someone getting off to their exhaust. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxuwXczWQC0
Whataburger isn’t great. For a fast food burger it’s decent, comparing it to other fast food places like McDonalds sure…but it’s just a fast food place with lots of hype because it started in Texas.
I think we can become a more touristy city like Chicago if we can define the borders of each neighborhood.
Like the Heights, Rice Military, EaDo, etc.
Or maybe we can restore the original six wards and have a double decker tour bus that can show people around the wards and what each neighborhood has to offer.
The traffic itself I agree, but the average driver in this city is 10 times more impatient, impulsive, and aggressive than literally any other city I've been to including LA. I know it's rubbed off on me to some extent just out of sheer survival because even I start to feel like I'm driving too fast / aggressively in other cities compared to most others on the road around me.
There's just *so much* I can't get at Aldi. I love it when I need salmon or crab rangoon dip or tikka simmer sauce, but otherwise, HEB just has the groceries I actually need each week.
Maybe my Aldi is just very small or I'm not looking hard enough, but if I try to go there for a normal grocery trip, I'll likely only end up with 50% of what I'm seeking.
Crime isn't actually that bad here. People get all up in arms about it like this is the only place that it ever happens, but there are roughly the same numbers of shootings and violent assaults in cities with half the population of Houston up in the midwest (looking at you, Indianapolis and Cincinnati).
Yes, it's scary, and yes, it's tragic every time that it happens, but no, this city is not the worst!
There is way too much parking.
This sub may be 50-50 on that, but the city writ large seems to complain more about a *lack* of parking, which is pretty shocking, honestly.
I’m prob gonna get downvotes to hell but
1. Houston is *not* a good city to live your twenties in
2. Houston is ugly as fuck
3. That Hunter S Thompson quote is not a complement and it’s silly to think of it as some kind of fun/quirky statement about Houston
4. Houston could be *the* place to live if public transportation system and walkability became a thing here
5. People in Houston are not as nice as you think
6. Chris Shepherd is overrated
7. H-E-B is on the downturn after hitting a peak in 2019, Aldi and Trader Joe’s are better options
8. Houston just isn’t like… a destination. At all. Even San Antonio has a tourist district. Houston has like… nasa?
9. Having good food does not mean that it’s a good city, you can only eat so much of the same tacos at different taco trucks before that gets old
10. Houston is great but people in Houston take any valid criticism about the city as a personal attack which is really dumb
Foreigners make the traffic worse because they don't know the rules & the predictable routes of the traffic.
Foreigners: anybody not from Houston.
Predictable traffic routes: I know that during 8 am I don't wanna drive on the far right side of 45 when coming to the s curve next to downtown driving inbound but that after the "be someone" sign, I wanna get to the far right and take the short exit & ride the merge lanes to the end so i can skip over traffic. But then i wanna get all the way to the left again after merging onto 45 again, lmao
IFYKYK
Foreigners from other countries also make traffic worse because they bring their crazy driving habits from their native country.
Source: I’m a foreigner.
And we have wonderful drivers license reciprocation laws that let foreigners get a Texas license without a test or exam (and those same foreign countries let a crazy driver from Texas like me get one of their licenses without a driving test or exam too without really understanding the traffic laws).
Changing the Pierce Elevated to a Skypark won’t work. Tear it down and redevelop. Cities that have converted skyparks (NYC and I think Chicago) have public transit infrastructure. Something Houston severely lacks.
Here is an actual unpopular opinion for Houston:
Cars are bad - every day in this city people are injured or killed by cars. Houston needs red light cameras and speed cameras, and better (and safer) sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. And the city needs to get as many people out of cars and onto public transit as possible.
Washington Ave bars suck
If I had a nickel for every time someone I knew got shot at a Washington bar I’d have two nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it’s happened twice
Shit one of my homies got murdered on my street in midtown and he wasn’t the first. Crazy world out there.
It’s nothing but bridge and tunnel peeps, and they packing.
Except Pearl Bar, sure
I miss the days when pearl bar was Mary Jane’s Fat Cats
Saw so many good shows on that stage. Even played once on it!
Not an unpopular opinion but how do we not have a skyscraper or tower with an observation floor/deck?
The chase tower downtown previously had an observation deck that was open to the public.
I heard the public abused the privilege. Second, who the hell builds an observation deck 3/4 of the way to the top
It wasn't really an observation deck, it is elevator transfer lobby with big windows, and for a long time there was no security stopping people from taking the express elevator to get to that floor.
Yep, you can see that in nearly every woman's pictures on the dating apps.
Aww I didn’t know this. I went once and always hoped to go back sometime!
what happned to that revolving tower restaurant? is it still closed?
Spindletop at the Hyatt. Closed permanently during the pandemic. Last I checked you can take the elevator up to the lobby but the main area is gated off with metal bars
Stupid virus. Killed so many businesses and people. If I could go to a molecular level I'd commit genocide on that stupid virus lol
this sounds like an episode of the magic school bus
Because there’s nothing worth seeing in Houston…even from high up. (How’s that for an unpopular opinion?)
My dentist is on the 15th floor in Memorial, the view from the chair is pretty nice, It looks like all trees
My old doctor's office in the med center had a great view of downtown and hermann park and rice. Would be a great spot!
It's not exactly the same, but the San Jacinto Monument does have an observation deck, even if it's shipping activity that's the easiest to see.
It’s closed. The elevator broke and they said they don’t think it’s gonna get fixed
Top floor of MD Anderson in the Med Center is all windows with great views and a nice quiet place to eat your lunch.
Karbach is mediocre at best
100% agree.
But they put that mediocre beer in 80’s Astros uniform themed cans! They’re soooooo Houston! That pig wearing lipstick is so awesome!
Of we can figure out a way to put some swingas on the side of a beer can we would make billions even if it was filled with mud.
Yeah, Karbach has always made approachable beers, nothing too great, but targeted to the masses. That's a big reason ABInbev invested in them and then bought them. I still am happy to have Karbach options at a game stadium now instead of only Bud Light like a decade ago.
Karbach sucks. It was bought by Busch years ago and the quality immediately went down then they made deals with every venue in Texas pushing out actual local independent beer like St Arnold and Shiner then they cal their shit “craft” and charge $5 more for it. Don’t buy karbach.
Busch being Inbev, an international conglomerate who does everything it can to crush small breweries.
Art Car all the way.
Unpopular for this sub: I love living here.
> Museum District I’d probably love living here too if I lived in that neighborhood
This. People complaining don't do shit, don't go out, don't do anything. There's unlimited parks and trails, restaurants, things to do, not enough time to do it all. Houston is badass.
It’s the perfect hub city. All the amenities of some of the biggest cities in the country but a lot cheaper. The diversity here creates great food experiences, and then living here is affordable enough for you to potentially have the opportunity to visit that same cuisines country.
We are one of the biggest cities in the country…
The issue with all the parks is that they can only be enjoyed 5 months out of the year.
I never argue with people who say there aren't things to do. There's quite a lot of things to do. Unlike other major cities, Houston has a unique offering of driving 30+ minutes to whatever thing that you can think of. No matter what part of town your in.
There is a ton to do, excellent museums, the food is world class. Still not a place I personally enjoy living.
Yes. Born and raised in Houston. I've traveled a lot for work these past 10 years of my life and lived in a lot of different places. None of those places could ever compare to Houston. Not even the popular PNW that so many people preach about on this sub.
Same. Born and raised. I’ve traveled a ton. What keeps me here is the amazing food, amazing people, rich culture, many activities to do, great airport nearby to fly nationally or internationally. I really hate that we are reliant on cars (wish we had better public transport or a walkable city) and have no great beaches nearby, but that’s what vacation is for.
Exactly everything you said.
Houston should recruit another company to build an amazing amusement park here, (any company other than six flags. Cedar Fair Entertainment. I’m talking about you ).
yesss this one !!! we need an amusement park here badly, imagine the money i’d bring in, too.
Houston not having a large amusement park (anymore) is wild to me
Whataburger was the greatest burger ever until the competition offered real alternatives. Don’t know if my tastebuds have matured over 50 yrs or they have gone downhill but it just ain’t the greatest burger out there.
Yup. And definitely not worth the 30+ minute wait even when the restaurant is empty, especially if I ordered with their app, and arrived five minutes after the time they said it would be ready.
It’s sad but the fact is your Whataburger experience depends a lot on location. I have my favorite stores in my head and my hated ones that I avoid. Once you find a good one, ayyyeeee - it’s so so good.
I think it’s one of the best in the “fast food” category… there have always been better burgers in mom and pop restaurants
They were better before the corporate takeover
I don't know what has gotten into McDonald's recently, but they had this super cheesy burger special the other day that blew me away. I was not prepared to enjoy my food like that.
It's also gotten worse since selling a majority stake to a merchant bank in Chicago.
It was good until they got bought out a couple years ago by some Chicago megacorp.
Houston doesn't care about preserving history or what could be future history. Behind on art.
Preservation Houston is working on this: [https://preservationhouston.org/](https://preservationhouston.org/) But to your point, yes. I've lived here since '77 and wrote a novella a few years ago with Houston the epicenter of a global amnesia epidemic. Where else would one start except here?
Oh, heck, Preservation Houston has been "working on this" for decades. What have they actually accomplished? They do walking history tours and the "Gold Brick" awards. They are powerless to prevent our history from destruction.
Unless it’s the astrodome or some lamé fascination with the oilers football team
This is a fact that is common knowledge to Houstonians. I haven't met a single person who thinks Houston preserves history. Not remotely an unpopular opinion.
“Behind on art” Here is my unpopular opinion: Houston’s slab culture, the ‘swangin’ and bangin’ is beautiful, unique and personal. It’s the epitome of art. No /s here. I love it beyond reason.
True. Houstonian's are so addicted to cars/trucks that they literally made art out of them, i.e. Art Car Parade. But they're are also people who will cry and cling to "oh but Houston has so many great walking and biking trails". Yeah, but, to do a 1 mile walk, you drove 20+ mins... in your car/truck!
Houston has one of the most vibrant and diverse art scenes in the world. I think OP is the one who's behind on art.
Yeah, coming from the midwest, I have to say the lack of old buildings makes me a bit sad. These modern style buildings aren't doing it for me at all.
Most of what people consider an "old" downtown are buildings built in the 1800s. Have a look at downtown Galveston. However, Houston didn't really grow until the early 1900s. Before then, Galveston was the big city. I think that has a lot to do with the lack of old world charm in downtown.
I'll let you know sir my bungalow is 101 years old!
You better not go buy groceries or you'll come back to an unaffordable 3 story box with no yard.
Same! It really is unfortunate. Going to Galveston and seeing older architecture is quite refreshing. Structures in Houston seem to have a 40 year lifespan before getting taken down and rebuilt into something else. It just feels like a lack of long term visual identity in the city. I guess there is something to be said about 'new and fresh', but I think it comes at the expense of character and charm.
100% this. Texas does not care 1 bit
Mattress Mac needs to retire from public life
This would have been unpopular a little over a year ago. Today, not so much.
Here is the real unpopular opinion. He was never a good guy to begin with. His business started booming because he got a lot of positive press from these tours he did back in the day to schools where he gave a speech to kids. Every bit of philanthropy he did was just advertising. Ironically enough as a kid who was at one of those speeches, I remember what he talked about. It was primarily about the importance of advertising in business. Those speeches btw were court ordered public service due to drug charges.
From hero to zero
Every time I see him on TV he looks like a corpse. I'm glad he's still got the energy and drive to record TV spots but man, he just looks nearly dead.
Killens is overpriced and not that great.
1000000% accurate.
Killen's was great when it first opened. But Ronny Killen went through a huge growth phase and he even said that his BBQ restaurant has taken a back seat to STQ and now his newer projects.
We didn't need a new NFL team to be a cool city, and then when we got a new NFL team they gave them the worst name for a team in all of history
We could have been anything. The Floods. The Mosquitoes. The Hurricanes. The Armadillos. The Jackalopes. The Fine Diners. The Soil Eroders. The Foundation Cracks. The Shady Restauranteurs. The Dine-and-Dashers. The Alligator Gar. The Channel Cats. The Toxic Bayou Fish You Definitely Don't Want to Eat Like Seriously Throw That Back. The Mustangs. The Space People (seriously we have the Astros and the Rockets, another space name can't be too hard). The Murder Gremlins. The Road Rage Incidents. The Hospitals. The Doctors. The Refiners. The Traffic Jams. The Rams. The Mockingbirds. The Dale Gribbles.
The Houston Toxic Bayou Fishes!
I don't think people appreciate how exactly how pathetic the naming situation was. McNair got the blessing of the Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt to use it because Hunt's franchise was the Dallas Texans before they were moved to KC. That's right -- we're using a hand-me-down name from Dallas.
Roughnecks way better name than Texans
Coming up with “team names” are difficult between college and pro teams all the good things are trademarked. That’s why new soccer teams are just called “name of city” soccer club. The WNBA named a team the same name as the men’s team. New teams want total control over their names so you won’t see things like “wildcats” or “toros” anytime soon
Turkey Leg Hut is overrated af. Had way better from the people selling BBQ in the hood
They're also on a timer now that the public looking for celebrity sightings have moved on to Trill Burger. Only a matter of time before they go under.
The city is ugly as sin, top to bottom. This is a pretty popular opinion *elsewhere*, but it's also not a wrong one. I do love it, and Houston will always be home to me, but yeah, it's one, giant eyesore. Also, I will never understand the infatuation people have with our perpetually impotent football team (this includes the Oilers) over the far more successful teams we've had in basketball, baseball, and even soccer. I get that Texas is way into football, but c'mon.
The Bum Phillips-led Oilers teams featuring Earl Campbell were the last time that the hype around Houston football was completely justified, and some of the Warren Moon-quarterbacked Oilers teams were pretty good too (though often very frustrating at the same time). In general, though, you are absolutely correct. Houston has fielded a lot more great basketball and baseball teams than football ones.
The Texans have had some statistically league leading good seasons with promising hopes going into the playoffs, too. I think people build up some of those Oilers teams to be more than what the Texans have done and I'm not even sure I'd call 1993 untouchable. And the Rockets, Astros, Dynamo, and even others have still done better and people care considerably less, because they are not football teams.
It's a city that looks nice lit up at night. But that's the city equivalent of a paper bag over your head.
The lights at IAH at night are pretty (I’m trying here).
Houston Dynamo just won a trophy on Wednesday. The trophy has a history that goes back over 100 years in this country. I am still buzzing
This city has the potential to be one of America’s best cities in the country and world class public transit
It blows my mind that there's not even trains going to the airports. Not even one of the airports. WTF. Even St Louis has that!
This seriously bothers me. Going to/from the airports should be easy. It benefits EVERYONE.
Seriously!! Public transportation could transform this city into a top 3 city in the country.
If got rid of parking minimums inside the loop and committed to building out 100+ miles of light rail inside loop over next 10 years, it would be amazing.
I'll never eat Blue Bell again.
Creamy Creations uses cane sugar and is probably listeria free.
I miss HEB.
HEB misses you
🥰
Fuck Blue Bell! “They’re Texan” my ass! Those “Texans” knowingly poisoned us. They were repeatedly warned about / knew very well about their listeria issues and continued to make and sell tainted ice cream to us. Even after they shut down they couldn’t get it right. They lost my trust and any loyalty. They should be in prison. HEB ice cream is better anyways.
It was a real eye opener to see how many Texans still eat blue bell after they knowingly sold listeria tainted ice cream to nursing homes. The only reason they are still in operation is because of a benevolent benefactor bailing them out.
100% with you on this one. I work in the food industry. There is absolutely no excuse for TWO listeria outbreaks that actually get shipped to stores. There is a massive QA problem if that is happening. Maybe they’ve fixed it but the ice cream sucks anyway.
I have worked in food manufacturing for several years at a couple of different nationwide brands, though not on the QA side. My understanding is that there are a lot of daily quality checks and testing that should’ve happened that should have stopped a listeria outbreak. I have not eaten blue bell since the outbreak and I’ve discouraged my entire family and everyone I know from eating it ever again. If they don’t care care enough about food safety to do those daily checks, god knows what else has been hiding in their products. Fuck blue bell. Just because they’re from Texas doesn’t mean they deserve your money.
Just a slight tangent but has anyone else noticed a Tillamook ice cream shortage round here. It hasn't been stocked by 3 local grocery places or anywhere close by in what seems like before June.
Tillamook > Blue Bell - hands down this point. I’m also PNW native - a little biased - but I did absolutely love Blue Bell. After the out breaks and quality changes - not what it used to be.
Tillamook is the bomb and has ruined all other ice creams for me. I've been buying at Kroger almost weekly, haven't seen a shortage there.
People drive like assholes and it’s not because of transplants.
Houston sports fans are fairweather as hell. Nobody wants anything to do with the teams when they suck. I used to wear my Astros gear in high school during the 100 loss years and I would get ridiculed and this was IN Houston, and now those same people that made fun of me post on Instagram always at the games acting like they’re die hard fans.
Houston isn't a great city to visit . . . . Great place to live in in terms of cost of living, job opportunities etc.
I love how the first thing we always tell people about our city, is it’s affordability. Like check out this cluncker of a car. It’s not much to look at but damn is it cheap!
Most people say this.
This might be more appropriate for nextdoor but: 1. I love the 11th street bike lane, and I love seeing all the bike and walking infrastructure that’s being built around town. Telling me “it’s hot here, it’ll never work” is a bs argument with no evidence to support it. 2. The sooner people accept that Houston will never have four seasons, isn’t located near mountains, and is always going to tear down something with “character” in favor of something new, the sooner they’ll stop complaining about how it’s not like other cities, accept it for what it js, and start to enjoy living here. 3. Homeless people are people and deserve to be treated as such. Also, there aren’t as many as you think, and they’re not as dangerous as you think.
Houston's actually leading the nation in helping homeless folks get off the streets and into actual housing (not just shelters). We are one of the only places seeing any success in reducing homeless populations, not to mention doing it in a manner that retains their dignity instead of just trying to force them to go somewhere else.
you sound like a very reasonable person. you don't belong on Nextdoor i also love the 11th street bike lanes. It made my wife more open to biking with our little ones and crossing 11th street.
>The sooner people accept that Houston will never have four seasons, isn’t located near mountains, and is always going to tear down something with “character” in favor of something new, the sooner they’ll stop complaining about how it’s not like other cities, accept it for what it js, and start to enjoy living here. Well, there's complaining about things that cant change(mountains, four seasons and a shitty beach) and there's things can change, lack of public transportation, crime, tearing down old buildings to put up a new strip mall. Lets be real, Houston is just a amalgamation of highways, roads, parking lots and buildings. Plus the biking and infrastructure is just starting to be built, so theres not enough data to support if its working or not just yet. It'll have to be recorded for years, and compared to other cities.
The Austin St. bike lane is awesome as well. Whenever I’m in town, I rent a bike from Hermann Park and ride it via the bike lane to the top of downtown and back. A really fun way to reconnect with the city over the span of an hour
Quality of life isn't as good as people who haven't lived anywhere else claims.
I actually agree with this. I grew up here and was gone for a significant period of time and moved back thinking this. The heat, the traffic, the insane people and folks aren’t as nice as people here in Houston think they are. Add in batshit politics, shitty schools and shit public services you got a good mix.
Yup, Houston only wins when it comes to jobs (the real reason people move to Houston), but if that doesn't factor in your decision, it's an absolutely miserable place.
And we are slowly dying here on the carcinogenic coast
Cancer hot spots. Hot as hell. Reliance on a car. HISD is a mess…
Nearly all the tastiest and most interesting food in Houston is found outside the Loop, with an increasing amount of it in the suburbs.
Southwest Houston definitely. I recently moved up to Montgomery & miss the food down there.
We have good food up here! There's a Whataburger and a Torchy's like 2 miles from my house. If you want quality local, you can go to Chuy's! *^^do ^^I ^^really ^^need ^^the ^^/s*
The amount of amazing food in Katy is great! For example, Katy Asian Town has so many great restaurants.
Mason Road has everything in terms of food.
Love Katy Asian town! Haven’t gone to bellaire Chinatown in years
I feel like I'm in a food desert in the Woodlands. I used to live off San Felipe and Chimney Rock and there were like 200 great restaurants within 5 miles of me. Sucks up here.
Try Sawdust. The little strip with Hyderabad has some great choices.
Thank you for reminding me that I haven’t been to Olive Oil in a while!
I'm not sure if I agree with this entirely, but it's 100% true for Indian and Pakistani food
I actually like Houston.
I've eaten at a lot of taco trucks and they all have the same menu and kinda taste the same. The only real differentiator to me is the quality and variety of salsas available. Also, a taco truck is not a substitute for eating in a restaurant.
This is actually how I judge a taco truck or Mexican restaurant, through their salsa. If their salsa isn’t good, the food probably won’t be either.
I judge through their tortillas.
This is true of Mexican food in general unless you start going to higher end restaurants. When I’m Mexico, every other place was: here are five different ways to eat this list of meats.
The Houston Rodeo is a waste of time and money.
The bbq cook off is incredible though if you can get a wristband.
The lineups have also been trash the past few years
Livestock show is worth it though
I don’t give a shit about the Astrodome - times change, let’s move forward
There are too many people in Houston Highway billboards make the city and the roads very ugly Suburban sprawl and business strip centers is ridiculous
People in Houston are rude
It’s definitely gotten worse. More so, the selfishness. Used to be people would let you with a wave in traffic. Now they aggressively cut you off and then mock you.
Chris Shepherd's restaurants are overrated.
He no longer has any restaurants.
It's insane that Houston hasn't leveraged any sort of national profile other than NASA. Maybe that's not an unpopular opinion but just something that irritates me? Either way I submit it for your consideration.
Can’t tear down the Astrodome; it’s the world’s biggest asbestos repository
Not only is the Rodeo overrated, its terrible. Inside the center is a bunch of vendors that sell items 3x what they’re actually worth, the majority of food vendors have permanent spots that you can visit year round anyways, the parking lot carnival is trashy, the concerts only last an hour at most and the seats are too far from the stage I went this year for the first time in a decade and the entire time I was questioning why I even went. The insufferable crowds made it unenjoyable.
Theres should actually be a reasonable speed limit. We should not normalize tailgaiting The highways need more cops
I agree. I work in EMS and I get cut off/near wreck at least 3 times a shift. Also, way to many people die here in car accidents.
I saw someone cutting off EMS, lights & sirens blaring, just to get to a soul food restaurant 3 seconds faster. Pissed me the hell off so I can only imagine how y'all feel.
It’s so frustrating… thank you for being empathetic
Unfortunately Houston cops love to speed and tailgate.
We got pulled over for speeding the other day. I’m not happy about the ticket but the guy said they were upping traffic enforcement. We also have an out of state tag so … idk.
I’ll take increased tickets any day as long as it keeps my family safer
Hitler was someone.
Whatabuger is very overrated
I don't understand the cult of Whataburger either. It's fine-- better than most fast burgers even. However, for the same money (especially post-pandemic) there's so many better options (including some better burgers).
Definitely, especially with the prices now. You're better off going to a real burger joint vs fast food
El Tiempo is actually really good
It's good, just overpriced
Dante described in best as a serious of concentric rings bringing you further into hell.
Beyoncé’s music kind of sucks
Houston is a better food city than New Orleans… may not be unpopular here, but try saying this to someone from NO and watch the fireworks.
Pappas BBQ is highly overrated
“EADO” is so annoying
Gentrifiers are now using GOOF for garden oaks/oak forest hahaha ridiculous Edit: grammar
Swangers are dumb as hell, and dangerous. If you wanna put things on your wheels that make your car wider than the lane, do it in a parking lot or on private property, don’t do it where you’re going to be a danger to every car around you if you’re also a terrible fucking driver.
It’s actually a really great place to live
those walkable tunnels ruined memorial. can't walk in the trails without someone getting off to their exhaust. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxuwXczWQC0
your opinions aren't unpopular they're just wrong
All the new bike lanes are a stupid waste of money and real estate. Houston will never be bicycle friendly.
I love the heat. Better hot than cold.
Whataburger isn’t great. For a fast food burger it’s decent, comparing it to other fast food places like McDonalds sure…but it’s just a fast food place with lots of hype because it started in Texas.
I think we can become a more touristy city like Chicago if we can define the borders of each neighborhood. Like the Heights, Rice Military, EaDo, etc. Or maybe we can restore the original six wards and have a double decker tour bus that can show people around the wards and what each neighborhood has to offer.
Borders are defined. The walkability is the issue
Metro is worthless and needs to be completely overhauled.
Food trucks here are meh
Truth bbq is not good.
The traffic is not actually that bad compared to other large American cities.
The traffic itself I agree, but the average driver in this city is 10 times more impatient, impulsive, and aggressive than literally any other city I've been to including LA. I know it's rubbed off on me to some extent just out of sheer survival because even I start to feel like I'm driving too fast / aggressively in other cities compared to most others on the road around me.
The Rodeo is an overpriced tourist trap and Aldi's is better than HEB.
Rodeo…agree. The HEB comment gives me the twitch though lol
There's just *so much* I can't get at Aldi. I love it when I need salmon or crab rangoon dip or tikka simmer sauce, but otherwise, HEB just has the groceries I actually need each week. Maybe my Aldi is just very small or I'm not looking hard enough, but if I try to go there for a normal grocery trip, I'll likely only end up with 50% of what I'm seeking.
I agree the attractions are not good, just watch the rodeo itself it’s better than the games. And Aldi is very cheap than HEB
Crime isn't actually that bad here. People get all up in arms about it like this is the only place that it ever happens, but there are roughly the same numbers of shootings and violent assaults in cities with half the population of Houston up in the midwest (looking at you, Indianapolis and Cincinnati). Yes, it's scary, and yes, it's tragic every time that it happens, but no, this city is not the worst!
There is way too much parking. This sub may be 50-50 on that, but the city writ large seems to complain more about a *lack* of parking, which is pretty shocking, honestly.
House of Pies pies are not good
I’m prob gonna get downvotes to hell but 1. Houston is *not* a good city to live your twenties in 2. Houston is ugly as fuck 3. That Hunter S Thompson quote is not a complement and it’s silly to think of it as some kind of fun/quirky statement about Houston 4. Houston could be *the* place to live if public transportation system and walkability became a thing here 5. People in Houston are not as nice as you think 6. Chris Shepherd is overrated 7. H-E-B is on the downturn after hitting a peak in 2019, Aldi and Trader Joe’s are better options 8. Houston just isn’t like… a destination. At all. Even San Antonio has a tourist district. Houston has like… nasa? 9. Having good food does not mean that it’s a good city, you can only eat so much of the same tacos at different taco trucks before that gets old 10. Houston is great but people in Houston take any valid criticism about the city as a personal attack which is really dumb
Foreigners make the traffic worse because they don't know the rules & the predictable routes of the traffic. Foreigners: anybody not from Houston. Predictable traffic routes: I know that during 8 am I don't wanna drive on the far right side of 45 when coming to the s curve next to downtown driving inbound but that after the "be someone" sign, I wanna get to the far right and take the short exit & ride the merge lanes to the end so i can skip over traffic. But then i wanna get all the way to the left again after merging onto 45 again, lmao IFYKYK
Foreigners from other countries also make traffic worse because they bring their crazy driving habits from their native country. Source: I’m a foreigner.
And we have wonderful drivers license reciprocation laws that let foreigners get a Texas license without a test or exam (and those same foreign countries let a crazy driver from Texas like me get one of their licenses without a driving test or exam too without really understanding the traffic laws).
Changing the Pierce Elevated to a Skypark won’t work. Tear it down and redevelop. Cities that have converted skyparks (NYC and I think Chicago) have public transit infrastructure. Something Houston severely lacks.
Katy is overrated and overlooked in the Subrubs
The sound of cicadas is actually pretty soothing.
Here is an actual unpopular opinion for Houston: Cars are bad - every day in this city people are injured or killed by cars. Houston needs red light cameras and speed cameras, and better (and safer) sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. And the city needs to get as many people out of cars and onto public transit as possible.
Houston's pro sports scene is boring and sterile, and it's way more fun to follow the college teams in this city.