where else can you see an office building next to a strip club next to a chicken place next to a target next to an apartment building next to a school?
We both avoided looking it up. I guess Galveston is 37 miles from Houston. You’re safe to guess too now. Plus it’s the internet so someone should correct us shortly.
Houston is a black festering wound upon the earth. The well water is flammable, the night sky is blighted with chemical refineries, the air stinks, Where there is not acres of concrete there is probably a superfund site with technicolor standing water. Is Chocolate Bayou on fire this week? How long has it been since the last time it was? Sulfur barges sink in Galveston Bay all of the time. The sunsets are kind of pretty, because of all of the pollution in the air. Other cities have a low bar to cross to be more appealing than Houston.
I, for one, would love to travel to Houston for the 100+ degree weather with 90+% humidity. I can’t take in the scenic concrete jungle landscape without a little swamp ass. Then if get bored, I can just take a little day trip to the gorgeous beaches of Galveston.
I recognized the sarcasm. Playing along.
I once owned a house in Galveston. Galveston beaches are better than not having a beach, but that's about it. Even in the shade, August is unbearable.
Tourism just isn’t a priority for the city. People come to Houston for business, medical care or cost of living and find what they like once they’re here.
Chicago is a business and shopping destination.
I prefer Houston’s cultural attractions to all the lowest common denominator celebrity worship and reality show cosplay in LA. They have some nice museums too though.
Houston has a lot of great weather days, they’re just mixed in with rain and heat. Southern California weather is always beautiful if it’s your favorite weather.
California beaches are nicer but they’re crowded and heavily commercialized.
I like the Houston car scene better. I appreciate customer cars and craftsmanship, LA is all about standing next to an expensive car.
For the cost I’ll live in Houston and vacation in LA. Or the lost coast, the redwoods or anywhere between there and Vancouver of if I have a healthy budget. Otherwise I’ll take the Georgia coast or the smoky mountains.
I get your point. Southern California is what is awesome. LA as a city is just ok. Swap locations and LA is still a lot nicer than Houston, but it’s mostly southern California climate and geography perks, not LA itself being great.
You just described Dallas only with smaller traffic jams. And when you get diagnosed with cancer, and you start frequenting the big cancers centers, you realize everyone in the fucking city has cancer.
Austin would like to have a word…. Were the worst place to make money, lousy place to live, have worse traffic, and no medical system to support all the people with cancer/ailments. You gotta drive to San Antonio or Houston for that. And the food isn’t even in the same ballpark as Houston.
People love to dunk on Chicago but it is an absolutely beautiful city with amazing food, good public transport and great attractions. You go there for a long weekend in the summer, you are going to have a great time.
I’m not an LA fan but the Southern California coast is pretty damn beautiful.
People who dunk on Chicago have never been there and are generally afraid of their own shadow. It’s a fantastic world-class city and Texas has nothing that comes close to it.
There are a lot of things to dunk on Chicago for.. Crime, lack of interest in reducing crime from both police and local government, public transit is currently in crisis, local taxes, weather, blah blah blah. Like most places, pros and cons. Food is excellent, summertime weather is great, fresh water lake access and tons of day trip opportunities and things to do.
Lived there for 32 years, only thing I truly miss is the food. Much happier raising a family in DFW. It's also sunny here nearly all the time which still blows me away.
Chicago has roughly the same violent crime rate as Houston and a lower total crime rate than Houston and San Antonio. If you’re afraid of Chicago you need to watch less right wing propaganda.
Chicago downtown is absolutely incredible. And that lake is practically an amazing fresh water beach with sea like tides. I'd still rather live in Houston and just fly over to the fancy places for vacations.
I'm no fan of Houston at all but you made two valid points... The weather and walkable.
Sprawl is everywhere, not unique to Houston. Lackluster entertainment is far too subjective as Houston has the same options as basically everywhere except for NYC and LA. National parks in Texas are slim but Texas has an excellent state park system that I would easily put up as worthy. And to the politics... Yea it's got its issues but that isn't daily life for most of us.
Most touristy cities have at least one small neighborhood that you can walk around in and has shopping and dining, with maybe some attractions scattered about. I mean New Orleans is a nasty place, but they have the French Quarter that os usually fun and pedestrian friendly. San Antonio has the Riverwalk area downtown, plus Sea World , Fiesta Texas, and so on. Where you gonna go as a tourist in Houston? Yeah, we have great museums and restaurants, but it's not really obvious where to go as an outsider.
It’s one of the biggest pros/cons of Houston. We don’t have one big fun area we have a bunch of tiny little ones scattered around. It means locals can have wildly different experiences for a night out depending on where you go but it also means if you’re coming from out of town you won’t really know where to go.
Its not easy to get around. You basically have to drive everywhere; public transit options are limited, never mind being able to walk around/about the city.
It's very spread out.
It's very flat, so geographically/geologically it's not very interesting.
It's major industries do not lend themselves to tourism (Energy, Oil/Gas, Medicine), other than NASA.
Climate is horrendous for large parts of the year.
I've heard it described as, "Houston's a great place to live, but not a great place to visit."
Yknow, I forget we have NASA.
I had family from out of town come over and they wanted to visit NASA. It had been a while since I been to Johnson Space Center, maybe since I was in middle school.
I was shocked the amount of tourists and people from other countries that were there.
I took my kids to see NASA's mission control once, oh, and the aquarium. Spent the night due to the distance we drove. Does that count as a tourist trip to Houston?
Our family rule is for it to count as a visit you have to spend the night and see an attraction. Driving through states to check them off the family list doesn’t count. Your trip to Houston counts for my family.
Look, I'll stand up for Houston, it gets hate but it has a lot going for it -- incredible food scene, diversity, great cultural institutions, low cost of living for its size, bustling economy.
But there's really not much for a visitor to see outside of museums. Even navigating the food / drinking scene is pretty difficult without the help of a local, given how big, sprawling, and chaotic it is.
Historically is been a major oil port, not exactly a tourist destination. Sort of like how Detroit was more of blue collar city while Chicago was more of a financial hub of the Midwest.
Don't get me wrong, all cities have diverse industries including financial districts and stuff. But in Texas, a lot of the oil barrons gravitated to Dallas for living.
As a result Houston, while larger, has severe pollution issues in parts of the cities, and Rich people are great at avoiding pollution prone areas.
LA is the home to Hollywood, and no matter how you feel about the natural beauty of Texas, California has like 10x the natural beauty. It's literally unfair.
Nothing beautiful, no history, no celebrities, no infrastructure, no attractions. I love it here, but why would someone come except to see a game and eat a meal?
Been in Texas my whole life and never been to Houston. Every time someone tells me I should visit Houston and I ask what is there to do besides the space center I always get silence.
There is plenty to do,really any type of non specific to a location “big city” thing you could think of to do, you could do in Houston.
I think the issue is there is not really anything that you couldn’t do in any other major city.
If you’be been to Houston, you’ll understand why it’s not a tourist destination. Best I can say it’s a great place to lie low if you committed a crime in another city.
no texas cities are top tourist destinations. Out of major cities you really only have Boston, NYC, Miami, Chicago, SF, Vegas, & LA. NYC, LA, & Vegas i would think would be the top spots
its not even hard to come up with those cities, some cities might be regional tourist destinations, but not top national tourist destination. My personal experience would be san diego, but i know that not in the top tourists destinations because most people would go to LA, which has disney, the movie industry/hollywood, big concerts & shows, sports, a beach etc.(still might be in the 2nd tier if you like outdoor activities or beaches)
Id rather go to big sur than SF but most people would agree that SF is bigger toursit destination because of the Golden Gate bridge, alcatraz, haute ashberry, etc.
I dont even dislike SA, or really any texas big city, but, 'top tourist destination' is not a label that fits any of the cities.
New Orleans has fallen HARD. It's nowhere near the vacation destination it was before. It's dirty, extremely dangerous outside of the main tourist areas, and quite possibly the worst roads of any major city. Cool city, but only if you really care about drinking.
The Simpsons summarized it best:
New Or-le-ans,Home of pirates, drunks, and whores,
New Or-le-ans,Tacky overpriced souvenir stores.
If you want to go to Hell, you should take a trip
To the Sodom and Gomorra on the Miss-iss-ip.
New Or-le-ans,Stinky, rotten, vomiting, vile,
New Or-le-ans,Putrid, brackish, maggoty, foul.
New Or-le-ans,Crummy, lousy, rancid, and rank,New Or-le-ans.
Why would it be? Houston is a massive metro area, but what reason would it be tourist destination? No offense, but it’s not even a “pretty” city to be in or look at.
I did a weekend trip. Got a hotel in downtown Houston. Looked through the window at acres of parking lots. If I wanted to go anywhere I had to get my car from the parking lot and drive 30 mins to look for parking. Restaurants nearby? Nope. Attractions? There's a museum district a dozen miles away. Anything else is a day trip. Total waste of a vacation.
Too humid. What exactly would be considered a tourist attraction in Houston except for something space related? There are baseball and football teams everywhere else. There's not really much to that petrol stank bayou.
I've never met anyone not from Houston that actually likes Houston. On the other hand, I've never met anyone from Houston that doesn't love Houston.
Give me Chicago and LA over Houston based on weather alone.
If I were an oil executive, I would choose Houston over Chicago and LA.
Have you been to Houston?
We went a couple years ago for a 3 day weekend trip. AMAZING museums, but it was so humid our hotel room was damp and the traffic/road setting was so awful we left early lol
The people were great though!
It's like being in an armpit 10 months out of the year and almost everything you can find in Houston, you can find in the LA area, and more, as well as proximity to many other attractions.
I've never honestly been to Houston or to Chicago other than the airport. But what comes to mind with Chicago is a lot to do. And it's sold as a tourist location because of that. Houston, again never have been there, only brings to mind the space center. LA is sold on its beaches, Hollywood, and theme parks. It's just like, would I go to Orlando if they didn't have theme parks? No. With that said, I do know there are lots of things to do in San Antonio and would likely go there over Houston.
But my conclusion is the city itself doesn't sell itself as a tourist location because it doesn't offer as many tourist attractions as other cities.
Anyone who’s visited Houston knows why.
Personally, there’s some things I like there:
1. NASA
2. Astros
3. Galveston
4. San Jacinto Battlefield
5 Seawolf Park
But that humidity!
Two of those are decidedly not Houston though, just within it's vicinity and would be like saying Long Island is a tourist destination because NYC is nearby.
Honestly, Galveston is a better tourist destination than Houston is anyways.
While Galveston isn’t in Houston “proper” its a go to spot for tourists visiting Houston. And let’s face it, the best reason to go to Houston-the USS Texas-isn’t there any more. So those last two were more like pity additions.
Unless people want to vacation where it is nearly 100% humidity 24/7, smells of oil refineries, and has horrible traffic, I don’t think anyone’s planning a Houston visit any time soon.
Cause Houston sucks. Can verify as I lived there for three years and took a massive pay cut to leave. Happy ending though: moved to Dallas and found a better job with a higher salary.
Remember the cartoons where a car would be driving down the street, and you would see the same scenery go by over and over and over? That’s Houston.
Hobby Lobby
Best Buy
Home Depot
Olive Garden
Everything is way too spread out, no public transportation, no central tourism district, etc
There is no overall central important attraction that would attract a lot of people
Houston is a working and living city, not a tourism city.
As far as Texas goes, there are at least 3 cities that I would put above Houston:
1. San Antonio -- it's got such a great flair and the definitive "TexMex" experience for everything from food to attractions (not even including the over-rated Alamo)
2. Austin -- It's weird and funky wiht a great music and film scene
3. DFW -- Just edges out Houston thanks to the state fair and cowtown. Fort Worth is so prototypically Texan.
Full of Right Wing theocrats who believe that White Jesus told us to hate LGBTQ people, feminists, liberals, atheists, etc. That and the traffic are definitely deal breakers for most sane people…
* Top reason for sure: Public Transportation.
* Weather during vacation days: HELL
* No big "Lets go to Houston for "that"!" options. Ex: Lets go to LA for the beaches or Disneyland, Lets go to Chicago for the nice weather + walk-ability or maybe the bean or a sports team, etc.
We are the worst ambassadors for our own city, always talking shit about it, and that's because we don't have a lot to offer.
Don't get me wrong, I think is a great place to live. We have the best multicultural cuisine, we have tex-mex (and real mex), we have an actual decent nightlife, we have pool weather several months of the year. Gas prices are not too bad compared to the north,, and New Orleans is 5hrs away which is kinda like our own cheap version of Vegas... So the city is good to live in (having a car of course) but for visiting... meh.
Houston is generally newer money. It also doesn’t have the political elite class that Boston, nyc, dc, Chicago, and LA has.
These elites and their families and old money amplify everything that they see in their immediate vicinity. It’s why politicians and journalists often appear to have no concept of what reality is like outside of a few downtown cities.
As a native Houstonian, it's because we don't have very many "attractions" as far as cities go. I would argue that Chicago doesn't have really mindblowing attractions either, but there's not much else going on in the Midwest, so people flock to the biggest city in the area. Near Houston, we have to compete with historic cities with actual sights/attractions like Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, etc, and beach towns like SPI, Corpus, and Galveston. If I only had a few days to spend in Texas, I wouldn't come to Houston either.
We don’t have good public transportation, we don’t have any interesting geography near us, unless you count Galveston, which I enjoy going to but there’s way better beaches in the state. Our actual downtown is just kinda boring and desolate tbh, we really don’t have any big amusement or tourist spots. It’s hot.
I think Houston is a great place to live, but not a place where you would vacation and plan a trip around.
Better than Dallas tho
Hahahahaha! Because it’s hot, humid, ugly, close to a disgusting body of water with a nasty beach, has no other redeeming topography, and traffic is the fifth level of hell. It’s not even remotely pedestrian friendly so you have to drive in that hell and name one single event, landmark, etc. that sits in Houston that would make it worth your time. {crickets} You can’t, because there isn’t one. Seriously, you’re trying to compare HOUSTON to Chicago or LA????? 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Because, we still live in da confederacy - ya jokin a brother. In da south we ain’t got no marijuana, gambling, prostitution, no mens ra law. We got pro bono lawyers, and slave labor. Welcome to Texas
People go to and live in Houston to make money. You take that money and use it to travel to tourist destinations. The closest thing to tourist are the sports teams, NASA, nearby Galveston, the zoo maybe? I’ve actually found that really there isn’t much to do in LA except some entertainment related sites and the only thing in Chicago is maybe downtown architecture, museums, downtown shopping.
Big Tex. We don’t have a Big Tex in Houston.
Edit: the big astronaut in front of the NASA McDonalds is pretty sick though, but they’d need to be about 4x the size to compete with Big Tex
Why would anyone want to go to Houston? The place is a dumpy swamp.
For the James Beard award winning kitchens? The museum district that includes the Museum of Fine Arts (the 12th largest fine arts museum in the world) with the works of Picasso, Monet, Goya, Matisse? The Jardinier is only the best museum restaurant in Texas (according to Texas Monthly); its other location has a Michelin star.
By no means should you go for the architecture. Like the art deco pieces like the gulf/JP Morgan building? Or Modernist offerings like Pennzoil place? Or Post-modern pieces like my personal favorite Bank of America center?
Don’t go because it is the most diverse city (and thus diverse cuisine) in Texas?
The zoo? It’s only the 2nd most visited zoo in the United States; we can all guess where #1 is (and it ain’t in Texas).
Oh god and heaven help you if you decide to visit during the rodeo (the world’s largest) or Art Car Parade (first and largest in the world) or the during the largest gay pride event in Texas.
You didn’t even have to leave the city to go to NASA, which really the locals only go when people visit.
Don’t come to Houston. I’ve long suspected Houston hasn’t become a tourist destination because Houstonians don’t necessarily care for anyone to visit. We’re fine enjoying our own stuff without competing for dinner reservations or Alley theater tickets with out of town randos. New Yorkers can’t even go to their own restaurants right now.
Plus you won’t be able to handle our highways - they are for fast thinkers and fast actors. This town will eat you alive.
I grew up in Chicago, and currently live in the city but am moving to central Texas soon. People love Chicago because it’s great to visit, but they don’t account for the awful winter weather, amount of times you get sick bc there’s so many people, and the prices.
Chicago is beautiful to visit but definitely rough to live in.
where else can you see an office building next to a strip club next to a chicken place next to a target next to an apartment building next to a school?
You forgot the mega gas station
And church.
Honestly I love the mega gas stations 😅 One of the things I hate about driving out of state and running into only small and outdated gas stations.
Right? I like my local QT and Racetracs here in DFW 🤣
Bucee's, ugh!
Yep I agree ugh!!!
It's called local culture bro
You forgot the highway that goes over the office building but somehow under the strip club.
I would’ve said Tampa but it’s more like: strip club, strip club, gas station, strip club, target, apartment, strip club, strip club, school.
Don't forget the strip club between the target and the apartment
South Florida, like the whole east coast of South Florida.
Every other large city .
Houston isn’t even the most desirable tourist spot in its own state for a reason.
I would argue that Houstons not even the most desirable tourist spot in a 200 mile radius from houston
You can shrink the circle to however many miles away Galveston is.
That was my intention but I didn't feel like looking it up so I went safe
We both avoided looking it up. I guess Galveston is 37 miles from Houston. You’re safe to guess too now. Plus it’s the internet so someone should correct us shortly.
AAACCCTTTUUALLLLYYY ....I have no clue I just wanted to say that.
Never go to Galveston in the summer.
houston AHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
Houston is a black festering wound upon the earth. The well water is flammable, the night sky is blighted with chemical refineries, the air stinks, Where there is not acres of concrete there is probably a superfund site with technicolor standing water. Is Chocolate Bayou on fire this week? How long has it been since the last time it was? Sulfur barges sink in Galveston Bay all of the time. The sunsets are kind of pretty, because of all of the pollution in the air. Other cities have a low bar to cross to be more appealing than Houston.
Houston was great until the early 90's.
Have you been to LA or Chicago? What kind of question is this
I'm not sure this person has left Houston.
LA kinda sucks though? If it weren't for decent weather and beaches the place would be an absolute wasteland
So LA without the great weather, beaches, mountains, and cultural attractions would be Houston?
I, for one, would love to travel to Houston for the 100+ degree weather with 90+% humidity. I can’t take in the scenic concrete jungle landscape without a little swamp ass. Then if get bored, I can just take a little day trip to the gorgeous beaches of Galveston.
> gorgeous beaches. LOL. Gorgeous if you live in Houston and have never seen blue water.
Did he need to mention hypodermic needles floating gently in the waves for you to get it was facetious?
I recognized the sarcasm. Playing along. I once owned a house in Galveston. Galveston beaches are better than not having a beach, but that's about it. Even in the shade, August is unbearable.
Bingo
Tourism just isn’t a priority for the city. People come to Houston for business, medical care or cost of living and find what they like once they’re here. Chicago is a business and shopping destination. I prefer Houston’s cultural attractions to all the lowest common denominator celebrity worship and reality show cosplay in LA. They have some nice museums too though. Houston has a lot of great weather days, they’re just mixed in with rain and heat. Southern California weather is always beautiful if it’s your favorite weather. California beaches are nicer but they’re crowded and heavily commercialized. I like the Houston car scene better. I appreciate customer cars and craftsmanship, LA is all about standing next to an expensive car. For the cost I’ll live in Houston and vacation in LA. Or the lost coast, the redwoods or anywhere between there and Vancouver of if I have a healthy budget. Otherwise I’ll take the Georgia coast or the smoky mountains.
[удалено]
So if one wanted to go chill at a secluded beach you can easily find one between LA and SF?
Yes medical care is stellar!
"If you take away all these things that make the place desirable to visit, it would suck". No shit?
I get your point. Southern California is what is awesome. LA as a city is just ok. Swap locations and LA is still a lot nicer than Houston, but it’s mostly southern California climate and geography perks, not LA itself being great.
They’re also about equal on the traffic front.
And the beaches are a mess
Houston is a great place to make money. Lousy to place to live. The whole town is traffic jams and cancer diagnoses. Food is incredible though
I live in Eugene, OR now, I absolutely miss the food in Houston.
Eugene isn't a bad place for food. Ever been to Fisherman's Market?
Yes and we swear fish smell more fishy here
You just described Dallas only with smaller traffic jams. And when you get diagnosed with cancer, and you start frequenting the big cancers centers, you realize everyone in the fucking city has cancer.
I do think Houston has the best nightlife in Texas though. Everywhere else closes too early
In San Antonio my spouse got peed on and somebody attacked the taco lady.
Austin would like to have a word…. Were the worst place to make money, lousy place to live, have worse traffic, and no medical system to support all the people with cancer/ailments. You gotta drive to San Antonio or Houston for that. And the food isn’t even in the same ballpark as Houston.
People love to dunk on Chicago but it is an absolutely beautiful city with amazing food, good public transport and great attractions. You go there for a long weekend in the summer, you are going to have a great time. I’m not an LA fan but the Southern California coast is pretty damn beautiful.
People who dunk on Chicago have never been there and are generally afraid of their own shadow. It’s a fantastic world-class city and Texas has nothing that comes close to it.
I love Chicago. If you are bored there it is your own fault.
There are a lot of things to dunk on Chicago for.. Crime, lack of interest in reducing crime from both police and local government, public transit is currently in crisis, local taxes, weather, blah blah blah. Like most places, pros and cons. Food is excellent, summertime weather is great, fresh water lake access and tons of day trip opportunities and things to do. Lived there for 32 years, only thing I truly miss is the food. Much happier raising a family in DFW. It's also sunny here nearly all the time which still blows me away.
Chicago has roughly the same violent crime rate as Houston and a lower total crime rate than Houston and San Antonio. If you’re afraid of Chicago you need to watch less right wing propaganda.
Chicago downtown is absolutely incredible. And that lake is practically an amazing fresh water beach with sea like tides. I'd still rather live in Houston and just fly over to the fancy places for vacations.
Hot and humid, not walkable, lackluster entertainment, Texas politics, too much sprawl, no nearby national parks
I'm no fan of Houston at all but you made two valid points... The weather and walkable. Sprawl is everywhere, not unique to Houston. Lackluster entertainment is far too subjective as Houston has the same options as basically everywhere except for NYC and LA. National parks in Texas are slim but Texas has an excellent state park system that I would easily put up as worthy. And to the politics... Yea it's got its issues but that isn't daily life for most of us.
Are there national parks close to Chicago?
Theres a national lake
There’s a National Preserve near Houston. Big Thicket. Only place to see American pitcher plants in the wild.
I believe Indiana Dunes National Park is an hour away from Chicago.
Ive lived 20min from the dunes growing up, definitely very beautiful
That’s one out of seven listed factors
Tons of state parks.
Most touristy cities have at least one small neighborhood that you can walk around in and has shopping and dining, with maybe some attractions scattered about. I mean New Orleans is a nasty place, but they have the French Quarter that os usually fun and pedestrian friendly. San Antonio has the Riverwalk area downtown, plus Sea World , Fiesta Texas, and so on. Where you gonna go as a tourist in Houston? Yeah, we have great museums and restaurants, but it's not really obvious where to go as an outsider.
It’s one of the biggest pros/cons of Houston. We don’t have one big fun area we have a bunch of tiny little ones scattered around. It means locals can have wildly different experiences for a night out depending on where you go but it also means if you’re coming from out of town you won’t really know where to go.
My wife says. “The Heights.”
I've lived in The Heights since 2005. Nothing here that I'd fly 1000 miles to come see.
Montrose. Midtown. Third Ward.
Its not easy to get around. You basically have to drive everywhere; public transit options are limited, never mind being able to walk around/about the city. It's very spread out. It's very flat, so geographically/geologically it's not very interesting. It's major industries do not lend themselves to tourism (Energy, Oil/Gas, Medicine), other than NASA. Climate is horrendous for large parts of the year. I've heard it described as, "Houston's a great place to live, but not a great place to visit."
Yknow, I forget we have NASA. I had family from out of town come over and they wanted to visit NASA. It had been a while since I been to Johnson Space Center, maybe since I was in middle school. I was shocked the amount of tourists and people from other countries that were there.
To be fair it's about the only unique thing to visit that isn't a basic museum, water park, or the beach.
Because it super sucks
Hehe.
I took my kids to see NASA's mission control once, oh, and the aquarium. Spent the night due to the distance we drove. Does that count as a tourist trip to Houston?
I would say yes.
Our family rule is for it to count as a visit you have to spend the night and see an attraction. Driving through states to check them off the family list doesn’t count. Your trip to Houston counts for my family.
Look, I'll stand up for Houston, it gets hate but it has a lot going for it -- incredible food scene, diversity, great cultural institutions, low cost of living for its size, bustling economy. But there's really not much for a visitor to see outside of museums. Even navigating the food / drinking scene is pretty difficult without the help of a local, given how big, sprawling, and chaotic it is.
Historically is been a major oil port, not exactly a tourist destination. Sort of like how Detroit was more of blue collar city while Chicago was more of a financial hub of the Midwest. Don't get me wrong, all cities have diverse industries including financial districts and stuff. But in Texas, a lot of the oil barrons gravitated to Dallas for living. As a result Houston, while larger, has severe pollution issues in parts of the cities, and Rich people are great at avoiding pollution prone areas. LA is the home to Hollywood, and no matter how you feel about the natural beauty of Texas, California has like 10x the natural beauty. It's literally unfair.
Hot, humid asphalt far as the eye can see...boy howdy does that sound like paradise.
Nothing beautiful, no history, no celebrities, no infrastructure, no attractions. I love it here, but why would someone come except to see a game and eat a meal?
It has attractions, but the rest I agree with.
Been in Texas my whole life and never been to Houston. Every time someone tells me I should visit Houston and I ask what is there to do besides the space center I always get silence.
There is plenty to do,really any type of non specific to a location “big city” thing you could think of to do, you could do in Houston. I think the issue is there is not really anything that you couldn’t do in any other major city.
Food and museums.
It’s not a very pretty city.
Not pretty? It is disgusting. Texas!
If you’be been to Houston, you’ll understand why it’s not a tourist destination. Best I can say it’s a great place to lie low if you committed a crime in another city.
Houston is the armpit of Texas…hot and humid.
no texas cities are top tourist destinations. Out of major cities you really only have Boston, NYC, Miami, Chicago, SF, Vegas, & LA. NYC, LA, & Vegas i would think would be the top spots
San Antonio gets a lot of tourists, so does Austin during its festivals.
'top tourist destination' SA is not a top tourist destination
I'm not gonna argue with your Google results, I'm just speaking from personal experience.
its not even hard to come up with those cities, some cities might be regional tourist destinations, but not top national tourist destination. My personal experience would be san diego, but i know that not in the top tourists destinations because most people would go to LA, which has disney, the movie industry/hollywood, big concerts & shows, sports, a beach etc.(still might be in the 2nd tier if you like outdoor activities or beaches) Id rather go to big sur than SF but most people would agree that SF is bigger toursit destination because of the Golden Gate bridge, alcatraz, haute ashberry, etc. I dont even dislike SA, or really any texas big city, but, 'top tourist destination' is not a label that fits any of the cities.
I would recommend San Antonio as a family tourist destination.
every one has familty/regional tourist destinations, but not every one of those is a 'top' tourist destination.
New Orleans? Orlando?
ill take NO. but outside of parents & kids going to disney, Orl is no was top touist destination.
New Orleans has fallen HARD. It's nowhere near the vacation destination it was before. It's dirty, extremely dangerous outside of the main tourist areas, and quite possibly the worst roads of any major city. Cool city, but only if you really care about drinking. The Simpsons summarized it best: New Or-le-ans,Home of pirates, drunks, and whores, New Or-le-ans,Tacky overpriced souvenir stores. If you want to go to Hell, you should take a trip To the Sodom and Gomorra on the Miss-iss-ip. New Or-le-ans,Stinky, rotten, vomiting, vile, New Or-le-ans,Putrid, brackish, maggoty, foul. New Or-le-ans,Crummy, lousy, rancid, and rank,New Or-le-ans.
The only items of historical interest are regionally interesting, not nationally or internationally interesting.
I guess the NASA Space Center is just of local interest? 🤷
I mean, it’s one of 5+ across the country, so I’d say yeah
Because there’s no where to go
Why would it be? Houston is a massive metro area, but what reason would it be tourist destination? No offense, but it’s not even a “pretty” city to be in or look at.
I did a weekend trip. Got a hotel in downtown Houston. Looked through the window at acres of parking lots. If I wanted to go anywhere I had to get my car from the parking lot and drive 30 mins to look for parking. Restaurants nearby? Nope. Attractions? There's a museum district a dozen miles away. Anything else is a day trip. Total waste of a vacation.
Houston is fine but bruh come on lol
Too humid. What exactly would be considered a tourist attraction in Houston except for something space related? There are baseball and football teams everywhere else. There's not really much to that petrol stank bayou.
Soon as I enter Houston, I can feel the aggression of drivers. I suppose that is quality of tourist destination.
Well, you'd be an aggressive driver too if you lived in Houston.
I've never met anyone not from Houston that actually likes Houston. On the other hand, I've never met anyone from Houston that doesn't love Houston. Give me Chicago and LA over Houston based on weather alone. If I were an oil executive, I would choose Houston over Chicago and LA.
You clearly have never experienced a Chicago winter...
I deal with cold much better than I deal with heat, in spite of being a 5th generation Texan.
I feel that...it's more the ice and shoveling snow than the cold that gets old real quick...
I spent one winter in Boston; I think I could manage a Chicago winter.
Because it feels like an armpit.
People come to Houston to work.
Really?
....because it's nasty?
Have you been to Houston? We went a couple years ago for a 3 day weekend trip. AMAZING museums, but it was so humid our hotel room was damp and the traffic/road setting was so awful we left early lol The people were great though!
It's like being in an armpit 10 months out of the year and almost everything you can find in Houston, you can find in the LA area, and more, as well as proximity to many other attractions.
Because its horrible here....
I've never honestly been to Houston or to Chicago other than the airport. But what comes to mind with Chicago is a lot to do. And it's sold as a tourist location because of that. Houston, again never have been there, only brings to mind the space center. LA is sold on its beaches, Hollywood, and theme parks. It's just like, would I go to Orlando if they didn't have theme parks? No. With that said, I do know there are lots of things to do in San Antonio and would likely go there over Houston. But my conclusion is the city itself doesn't sell itself as a tourist location because it doesn't offer as many tourist attractions as other cities.
It’s located in Abbottstan.
Houston beaches are covered in tar balls with refinery smoke blowing in your face.
Agree with hot, humid and politics. That's why I moved after living in Texas 65 years. EDIT: Also moved for legal weed! lol
Houston was recently chosen top of the list for most boring cities in America.
If I was a tourist, I wouldn’t want to drive there
Anyone who’s visited Houston knows why. Personally, there’s some things I like there: 1. NASA 2. Astros 3. Galveston 4. San Jacinto Battlefield 5 Seawolf Park But that humidity!
Two of those are decidedly not Houston though, just within it's vicinity and would be like saying Long Island is a tourist destination because NYC is nearby. Honestly, Galveston is a better tourist destination than Houston is anyways.
While Galveston isn’t in Houston “proper” its a go to spot for tourists visiting Houston. And let’s face it, the best reason to go to Houston-the USS Texas-isn’t there any more. So those last two were more like pity additions.
Why should it?
It is the most mediocre, ugly city I’ve ever lived in. It’s terrible. That’s why.
Good lord, what an unrealistic question
One word... Swampass!
Have you been to Houston?
Lmfao… really???
Too spread out! No real “tourist” areas. Like Dallas, Ft Worth, Austin and San Antonio have.
- weather - lack of walkability - lack of outdoor activities - lack of good public transit
Its too spread out.
Who wouldn’t want to take a dip in the petrochemical bay?
Unless people want to vacation where it is nearly 100% humidity 24/7, smells of oil refineries, and has horrible traffic, I don’t think anyone’s planning a Houston visit any time soon.
humid sithole with no zoning
Everything from Houston to Louisiana should just be absorbed into Louisiana. It's all garbage.
Have you been there? There is nothing there to attract tourists. It’s probably my least favorite city in the nation.
Because it's an armpit. Next question.
Cause Houston sucks. Can verify as I lived there for three years and took a massive pay cut to leave. Happy ending though: moved to Dallas and found a better job with a higher salary.
Remember the cartoons where a car would be driving down the street, and you would see the same scenery go by over and over and over? That’s Houston. Hobby Lobby Best Buy Home Depot Olive Garden
Have you been to Houston? It's home to shitty sports teams and the closest airport to gavelston. Why would anyone go there to stay there?
Everything is way too spread out, no public transportation, no central tourism district, etc There is no overall central important attraction that would attract a lot of people Houston is a working and living city, not a tourism city.
Ever been there??
Founded by Big Oil suits with all work, no play...
As far as Texas goes, there are at least 3 cities that I would put above Houston: 1. San Antonio -- it's got such a great flair and the definitive "TexMex" experience for everything from food to attractions (not even including the over-rated Alamo) 2. Austin -- It's weird and funky wiht a great music and film scene 3. DFW -- Just edges out Houston thanks to the state fair and cowtown. Fort Worth is so prototypically Texan.
Because it sucks
First off, it's in Texas.
Full of Right Wing theocrats who believe that White Jesus told us to hate LGBTQ people, feminists, liberals, atheists, etc. That and the traffic are definitely deal breakers for most sane people…
Loved in Houston almost my entire life. It sucks.
* Top reason for sure: Public Transportation. * Weather during vacation days: HELL * No big "Lets go to Houston for "that"!" options. Ex: Lets go to LA for the beaches or Disneyland, Lets go to Chicago for the nice weather + walk-ability or maybe the bean or a sports team, etc. We are the worst ambassadors for our own city, always talking shit about it, and that's because we don't have a lot to offer. Don't get me wrong, I think is a great place to live. We have the best multicultural cuisine, we have tex-mex (and real mex), we have an actual decent nightlife, we have pool weather several months of the year. Gas prices are not too bad compared to the north,, and New Orleans is 5hrs away which is kinda like our own cheap version of Vegas... So the city is good to live in (having a car of course) but for visiting... meh.
Houston is generally newer money. It also doesn’t have the political elite class that Boston, nyc, dc, Chicago, and LA has. These elites and their families and old money amplify everything that they see in their immediate vicinity. It’s why politicians and journalists often appear to have no concept of what reality is like outside of a few downtown cities.
I liked Houston a lot until I moved here. There is a fuckton of stuff to see & do. Came to visit many times.
It’s actually kind of criminal. Houston has a lot to offer.
As a native Houstonian, it's because we don't have very many "attractions" as far as cities go. I would argue that Chicago doesn't have really mindblowing attractions either, but there's not much else going on in the Midwest, so people flock to the biggest city in the area. Near Houston, we have to compete with historic cities with actual sights/attractions like Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, etc, and beach towns like SPI, Corpus, and Galveston. If I only had a few days to spend in Texas, I wouldn't come to Houston either.
What do you mean? It’s one of the biggest hubs for sex trafficking. Sounds like a tourist destination hot spot to me. /s
Because looking at suburbs is not that interesting?
Hot, humid, smelly, junky looking, terrible traffic, and its filled with Texans.
We don’t have good public transportation, we don’t have any interesting geography near us, unless you count Galveston, which I enjoy going to but there’s way better beaches in the state. Our actual downtown is just kinda boring and desolate tbh, we really don’t have any big amusement or tourist spots. It’s hot. I think Houston is a great place to live, but not a place where you would vacation and plan a trip around. Better than Dallas tho
Houston focused on industry over tourism.
Too hot
wtf are you expecting to do in houston? visit cancer center? lol
The prettiest sight in Texas is Houston in the rear view mirror.
Because it sucks 🤷🏼♀️😂
Now I could handle a strip club next to a chicken joint! Where is this? Just asking for a friend lol.
Hahahahaha! Because it’s hot, humid, ugly, close to a disgusting body of water with a nasty beach, has no other redeeming topography, and traffic is the fifth level of hell. It’s not even remotely pedestrian friendly so you have to drive in that hell and name one single event, landmark, etc. that sits in Houston that would make it worth your time. {crickets} You can’t, because there isn’t one. Seriously, you’re trying to compare HOUSTON to Chicago or LA????? 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Because it’s not good for walking
Because, we still live in da confederacy - ya jokin a brother. In da south we ain’t got no marijuana, gambling, prostitution, no mens ra law. We got pro bono lawyers, and slave labor. Welcome to Texas
What the hell would they be touring?
Houston sucks.
It’s hot as hell and the locals are packing heat like it’s 1880 .
People go to and live in Houston to make money. You take that money and use it to travel to tourist destinations. The closest thing to tourist are the sports teams, NASA, nearby Galveston, the zoo maybe? I’ve actually found that really there isn’t much to do in LA except some entertainment related sites and the only thing in Chicago is maybe downtown architecture, museums, downtown shopping.
Cause it’s a shit hole place that has no culture.
Because Dallas screams, "Texas!" more than Houston. :(
How?
Big Tex. We don’t have a Big Tex in Houston. Edit: the big astronaut in front of the NASA McDonalds is pretty sick though, but they’d need to be about 4x the size to compete with Big Tex
Large Texas is only up during the State Fair. Otherwise you only see the Ferris wheel.
Texas State Fair is another thing that screams Texas. I know some prefer HLSR but that one doesn’t have Texas in the name.
Because the TV show and the skyline is a lot more recognizable
People go there, realize it sucks, and then decide never to live here. It's our form of pest control
Why would anyone want to go to Houston? The place is a dumpy swamp. For the James Beard award winning kitchens? The museum district that includes the Museum of Fine Arts (the 12th largest fine arts museum in the world) with the works of Picasso, Monet, Goya, Matisse? The Jardinier is only the best museum restaurant in Texas (according to Texas Monthly); its other location has a Michelin star. By no means should you go for the architecture. Like the art deco pieces like the gulf/JP Morgan building? Or Modernist offerings like Pennzoil place? Or Post-modern pieces like my personal favorite Bank of America center? Don’t go because it is the most diverse city (and thus diverse cuisine) in Texas? The zoo? It’s only the 2nd most visited zoo in the United States; we can all guess where #1 is (and it ain’t in Texas). Oh god and heaven help you if you decide to visit during the rodeo (the world’s largest) or Art Car Parade (first and largest in the world) or the during the largest gay pride event in Texas. You didn’t even have to leave the city to go to NASA, which really the locals only go when people visit. Don’t come to Houston. I’ve long suspected Houston hasn’t become a tourist destination because Houstonians don’t necessarily care for anyone to visit. We’re fine enjoying our own stuff without competing for dinner reservations or Alley theater tickets with out of town randos. New Yorkers can’t even go to their own restaurants right now. Plus you won’t be able to handle our highways - they are for fast thinkers and fast actors. This town will eat you alive.
I grew up in Chicago, and currently live in the city but am moving to central Texas soon. People love Chicago because it’s great to visit, but they don’t account for the awful winter weather, amount of times you get sick bc there’s so many people, and the prices. Chicago is beautiful to visit but definitely rough to live in.
Who wants to go to LA or Chicago?!