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Originally Posted by Germanauto
Thanks for the suggestions. I actually had some time free up so checked out downtown, Discovery Green, Buffalo Bayou, Eleanor Tinsley, and Rice Village.
Houston is a nice clean city and Discovery Green is especially impressive, but I have to admit that overall I found it sort of boring and lacking in natural beauty. I was also surprised by the lack of really any shopping downtown. I understand that the Galleria is just a bit west, but every downtown seems to have some shopping. Overall Houston lacks the density and vibrancy of the coastal cities, which probably has to do with how it was established after the invention of the automobile and how there's no geographical limitations.
I know it sounds like I'm shitting on the place but I'm really just speaking from a tourist's perspective. I'm sure it's a fantastic place to work and raise a family. There's a reason so many people are moving to Texas.
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Oh absolutely, I can understand all of that haha. It's definitely not a tourist town in the sense of scenery and weather, but it's a great place to live/work/have fun because of the cost of living and massive diversity of people/food.
Downtown has changed a lot in the last decade or two as well. It used to have a lot of shopping but now it's mostly just offices and bars/restaurants. The shopping is spread out in other locations (much like the rest of Houston is haha). The big shopping areas inside or around the loop (610) are the Galleria, Upper Kirby, River Oaks, Highland Village, Memorial City, and Rice Village/West University.
The city itself is also very spread out with pockets of "downtowns" so-to-speak. There's the actual Downtown, Galleria, Uptown, Greenspoint, Greenway Plaza, Upper Kirby, Memorial City, Energy Corridor, Midtown, Westchase, and the Medical Center....all of which house a lot of office buildings and various other things.
Glad you were at least able to explore a few things though! If you ever end up back here and need a tour guide for more stuff, let me know!