Houston vs Atlanta

[NCB]

Houston and Atlanta are very similar. They are both major Southern cities that are very important to the country. They are both growing rapidly, they are both very sprawled cities and are dealing with problems related to urban sprawl, and they both house the headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies. They both have major airports, and are both major transportation hubs. They both have very large skylines, and they both have very busy downtown areas.

Which city has done the better job in planning for and handling growth(mass transit and roads), which city has done the best job of bringing in business, which city has the brighter future, which city is nicer, more entertaining, what are the strenghts and weaknesses of both cities, etc...

More Information:

Houston

Population

City- 2,012,626

Metro(CSA)- 5,176,06

Map

Atlanta

Population

City- 419,122

Metro(CSA)- 5,034,362

Map

Houston Skyline

Houston Traffic

Atlanta Skyline

Atlanta Taffic

[ironchapman]

As it stands now, they seem about equal to me in terms of national importance and most other categories. However Atlanta has better transit plans, IMO, but worse sprawl.

I prefer Atlanta though, but that's more of a personal preference

[teshadoh]

Hmmm... hard to say - 'doing better'? Oh, maybe Houston - but that isn't saying much.

But I agree, I'd rather live in Atlanta, but nothing personal against Houston.

[CusK]

Atlanta.

[Mr.Marc]

I don't know anything about Houston, but if your city pop. figures are correct, Atlanta can definitely take lessons from Houston in learning how to fit almost half of the metro pop. into the city center.

[Lady Celeste]

I don't know anything about Houston, but if your city pop. figures are correct, Atlanta can definitely take lessons from Houston in learning how to fit almost half of the metro pop. into the city center.

In geographical terms, the city limits of Houston is much larger than the city limits of Atlanta.

BTW, I think there should be a moratorium on Atlanta VS X threads. At the rate we are going with comparing Atlanta to other cities, we are going to run out of like cities in which to compare it. Next we will see an Atlanta VS Atlanta thread.

[ironchapman]

In geographical terms, the city limits of Houston is much larger than the city limits of Atlanta.

I think it's 528 vs. 132 sq mi.

Or something like that.

[Lady Celeste]

Okay per this site:

Houstons's figures

Houston is 601.7 mi squared but 579.4 mi sq is land. Atlanta is a total of 132.4 mi sq but 131.8 is land.

[NCB]

BTW, I think there should be a moratorium on Atlanta VS X threads. At the rate we are going with comparing Atlanta to other cities, we are going to run out of like cities in which to compare it. Next we will see an Atlanta VS Atlanta thread.

LOL, well I just thought that Atlanta and Houston were similar cities in similar situations, and that they would make for an interesting "city vs city" thread. I think Houston was the only city Atlanta hasnt been compared to so far.

[Mr.Marc]

In geographical terms, the city limits of Houston is much larger than the city limits of Atlanta.

BTW, I think there should be a moratorium on Atlanta VS X threads. At the rate we are going with comparing Atlanta to other cities, we are going to run out of like cities in which to compare it. Next we will see an Atlanta VS Atlanta thread.

Very True Indeed

[ironchapman]

How do they compare urban development wise in their metros?

[NCB]

How do they compare urban development wise in their metros?

Well, Houston is doing basically the same thing as Atlanta in terms of urban development, just not as quickly.

The suburbs and outer parts of Houston are growing to fast, there aren't enough roads to service everyone, and the building of more beltways and major highways is just creating more sprawl and urban development. The LRT system, which was supposed to be expanded out to the suburbs, is not recieveing the funding that was orininally expected, resulting in Houston staying an automobile town. (Doesnt this sound somewhat familiar?) Both cities have lot's of urban development going on both near the city, and far out from the city center. Atlanta has alot more sprawl and urban development than Houston does now, but Houston is suffering from the same problems as Atlanta, just on a smaller scale.

I have family living in Magnolia, Texas, which about 50 miles north of Houston. When I visited that area 4 years ago, it was very heavily wooded,(the whole area is a master-planned suburb called "The Woodlands") there wasn't much development going on, and there was almost no traffic at all. When I visited last summer, there were 10-15 story buildings everywhere, malls and major shopping centers where abundant, more major highways were being built, and there was more traffic than I normally experience in New Orleans during rush hour.

This is happening everywhere around Houston, and it is becoming a problem that is spiraling out of control.

[Lady Celeste]

The fourth skyline picture you posted of Houston is hot. Those elevated highways are so interesting. That's a gorgeous picture of Houston I must say. Is the humidity as bad as I've heard it is in Houston?

[NCB]

^It's similar to what we experience in New Orleans. The air is actually a bit more dry, so it's not bad at all if you are used to it.

Glad you liked the picture Lady Celeste, I was trying to find one like that for Atlanta, but everything was to small.

[Lady Celeste]

This sooooooooo has nothing to do with this topic but I bought the palm trees that I have in my landscape from a dealer in metro Houston. If I recall correctly he is closer to Galveston. Unfortunately it is very costly to keep these palms alive in Atlanta because of our cold winters. That's one thing I would have had if I lived in New Orleans or Houston.

I really love the look of palm trees. I have two butia capitalias (jelly palms), two queen palms and two canary island date palms. While it make for interesting conversation pieces when people come to visit, I'm now thinking it would have been easier just to live in a location that is more condusive to growing palm trees.....like south Florida.