Dude get some help, or get the heck out of Houston.
Whatās your deal?
I think Houston has potential to be a great city, but it has a really long way to go.
Houston is a great city because it is an economic powerhouse that draws people from all parts of the world to make money here.
Does the weather suck? It depends on who you talk to. 1/3 of my apartment complex is people from the north who moved here to escape the freezing winters and they loved the hot and sweaty weather. Having lived here my whole life I was scratching my head when they were outside in 100 degree weather lounging around.
Our beach is definitely sub par but lots of people go to Galveston so they are making lemonade, for sure.
Memorial and Herman park are fantastic and compare well to public parks around the world. And those are just the large parks. There are plenty of county parks to take a stroll.
But trying to denigrate our museums is without basis. Mfah and hmns are top notch in the world and our collections surpass most in scope of work and quantity.
Iām down on the city and get out of it as much as possible. But thereās nothing in the above that can be held against Houston, except the beach.
In any event, students from all over the north head to south padre for spring break so our own students have no trouble going to Galveston to party. And how many students care about museums or public parks anyway??
2 Likes
I agree that Houston is an economic powerhouse, but I would argue that many people come here because it offers āaffordable housingā, but Iāll refrain going on a tangent because most of Houstonās population āgrowthā is coming from outer sprawl, which I do not think is good for Houston long term. The major, high-cost liabilities resulting from suburban sprawl will present themselves in the near future.
That being said, I personally do not mind Houstonās weather, however, to average Americans, Houston is not known for itās pleasant weather. Itās known for heat and humidity, which continues to get worse due toā¦ wellā¦ urban sprawl.
Galveston is good enough for residents, but itās not an attraction like Florida beaches. Galveston isnāt a destination city, and South Padre, is mainly known for its Spring Break throwdown, although Iāve been there for summers growing up.
Memorial Park is adequate. I know this because I run there probably 3 days a week. Itās in the midst of a master plan, which will be completed soon. The main track circles a golf course. Herman Park has a different personality, but it also is in the middle of renovation. That being said, if UH wants to take advantage of these Houston attractions, then there should be more options for public transit to get students there.
MFAH and HMNS arenāt terrible, but compared to others in the country, they arenāt necessarily attractions that pull people to Houston. Theyāre here. Theyāre great, but itās not like The Smithsonian (which I recommend by the way itās spectacular)
With that said, you asked why students would care about museums and public parks. Well, thatās kind of my point. What else does Houston really have to offer? Itās just food, bars, coffee shopsā¦ and if thatās going to be our identity, then we have to continue developing the metro area to make those things even more accessible.
There are plenty of commuter schools in the country. The problem is that so many students are commuting way out from the burbs.
You have to keep in mind that many UH students in the post-SWC era are first generation students, also many of whom are minorities.
Because of this, most of the student population at UH are commuting from suburbs. I donāt have actual data, but I can only assume that the majority of commuter students live outside the beltway. Perhaps some within the beltway too, but most inner beltway neighborhoods are low income/lower middle class with a few pockets of wealth like Uptown/Bellaire/Bunker Hill.
Within the 610 loop, you essentially have 3 demographics;
- Middle class folk who are renting or own townhomes without kids
- Poor people
- Wealthy people with kids
As you probably know, HISD is an absolutely terrible school district with a few schools that are good. The rest? Terrible.
My point is, the wealthier people in the 610 loop are likely able to afford private school which at the very least, these kids end up at UT/A&M/SMU at worst. The other end up at elite schools out of state. The middle class folk, likely end up moving to the suburbs because they canāt cough up $20K to send their kids to St. [Insert Name] School, and the best public schools in Houston are always the most outer suburbs
UH is not in the position to attract out of state kids right now, and as long as kids in suburbs choose UH, then the school will continue this commuter trend.
A&M is technically a commuter school, but itās such a small town that it doesnāt feel that way.
If you want UH to be a ādestinationā school, then you have to both improve rankings including graduate programs, but you also have to make the city itself more attractive. Another thing that UH lacks, is a true Greek Life (despite my disliking of it, but I also get it.)
BUTā¦the immigrants we are letting in are not the ones that are college material or have kids that are college material.
Itās sad because they are really being taken advantage of by both the policians and the business owners/customers by being forced to take low paying jobs ( below market value) with no benefits and because of that, they have few opportunities to advance or save money.
Maybe, the third generation will be college materialā¦but again we are talking about 40+ years for that to happen and thatās if we view each generation at 20 years (which is the quick assumption)
I guess we still accept international studentsā¦but thatās my point.
Why not go after potential students from metros outside of Texas?
Letās build our BRAND and become a destination University
2 Likes
Have you looked at the housing prices in Houston?
Hardly, affordable anymore PLUS we have some of the highest property tax rates in the country (thats how Texas offsets the no state income tax)
A single family house, with a yard in a decebt area, inside the loop will cost you a million dollars (minimum). Less is sketchy areas but even new housess in the 3rd Ward are creeping toward that mark.
Houses are a little less in the suburbs but that comes with a ridiculously long commute and you are far away from the city amenities.
More so, im the exurbs but by thenā¦you really arenāt living ānear Houstonā anymore
Are you sure?
It seems to me that Houston routinely gets lots of immigrants from India, Nigeria, and the Far East, many of whom are professional types that have college ambitions for their kids.
Am I mistaken on that?
4 Likes
I think those are a smaller percentage than the influx of immigrants accepted over the last 3.5 years.
Iād also put those in the āInternational Studentā category. Many go back to their home country offering, literally, ZERO ROI back to the University of Houston
Those International type of students should be capped at 5% of our enrollment.
They are cash grab type of students but that is ALL they contribute to the University.
We need to focus on High ROI studebts that stay connected, well after graduationā¦THATāS how we build a cultureā¦a networkā¦a family.
1 Like
We got to think outside the box and somehow market UH as a top destination university to the high school kids in the suburbs instead using it as a back up plan.
2 Likes
In.
First these posters $hit on UH,now they $hit on the city. Crazy.
2 Likes
Can you expand on this a bit more or be more specific? Asking as a first generation immigrant that graduated with many others like me from UH.
7 Likes
guess i wasnāt college material eitherā¦
1 Like
Iām pretty sure youāre a Cult 45 member because thatās EXACTLY something they say.
Iām not an immigrant but I am from a low-income neighborhood in Beaumont that was adjacent to Section 8 housing where all kinds of stuff happened. My high school (and school district) is now taken over by the state.
By that logic, myself and several of my classmates werenāt college material either.
Not everyone comes from a white pickett fence suburbia background.
1 Like
Sureā¦with growing college tuition becoming more of a āluxuryā, the first wave of immigrants seek to set a foundation in the new country firstā¦more about survival
If you are first generation American, chances are you were very ambitious in wanting to attend collegeā¦some cultures (Nigerian, Asian, etc.) value that more than othersā¦but most 1st generations arenāt in a position to go to college quite yet but of course, many do.
In my family, my dad and his siblings were 2nd generation and the first generation to attend collegeā¦
With the recent "open southern border " immigrants from the last 3.5 yearsā¦many are day laborers and dont have a huge value on education.
1 Like
My whole point is that in Houstonā¦we seem to have a VERY LARGE number of immigrants from those groupsā¦and the students we get from those groups will help to lessen the impact of any ābaby bust.ā
It is not an āopen southern borderā and numbers are down dramatically since the beginning of the year. Those folks work a lot harder than many of our residents.
6 Likes
It absolutely is.
3 Likes
It isnāt, but it should be!
1 Like