taking sides: Atlanta vs Houston

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A friend of mine is planning a trip to central America and can have a week in either Atlanta or Houston. Help him decide with handy reccomendations/warnings etc.

― chris (chris), Monday, 13 January 2003 14:56 (twenty-two years ago)

irt looks like he's going to plump for Atlanta anyway, so.... Tips for Atlanta then please!! Cheap hostels/bars/restaurants especially please.

― chris (chris), Monday, 13 January 2003 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

my mates went to atlanta twice.

the first time they were met by these like 18yo college girls who drove them around snorting coke off the dashboard while playing chapterhouse(!) (this was only 2 years ago(!)). surprisingly enough they loved it.

the 2nd time, they met no one and said it was terrible.

id like to know about houston, as that is one of the places i am considering for my southern usa road trip03

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 13 January 2003 15:13 (twenty-two years ago)

it has no good art, but fort worth does. in fact i think it doesnt have much of note.

― anthony easton (anthony), Monday, 13 January 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Houston is apocalytically bad. Don't bother. Spend extra time in New Orleans or San Antonio.

-
Alan

― Alan Conceicao, Monday, 13 January 2003 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)

apocalyptically, even

-
Alan

― Alan Conceicao, Monday, 13 January 2003 17:39 (twenty-two years ago)

stone mountain ! !

the coca-cola museum with soda fountain-fountains ! !

that underground shopping complex ! !

I had awful eararche when I was there from spending four hours in a guitar-shaped swimming pool in nashville ! !

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 13 January 2003 17:42 (twenty-two years ago)

go to Houston - they got Yao Ming and Stevie Franchise and I think they got a shitload of Rothkos and Twomblys (anthony?)

― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

In Hotlanta, I like the Varsity Diner. You can wear one of the chef's paper hats and sit around pontificating over a frosted orange. This automatically makes all your opinions correct, as you are a Varsity Expert under those circumstances.

― felicity (felicity), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

From what I have heard, Atlanta seems to be more of a functioning city, and probably has better public transportation, which might be a factor. Houston is an example of american capitalism/anti-urbanism run amok. It is so cheap to build new buildings there that old ones are simply abandoned. At least that is what Rem Koolhaas says ;-)

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Atlanta scores better musically, so that. (I've been to neither.)

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 13 January 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

If Atlanta fought Houston the Atlanta army would be better armed but would be wussier in any kind of hand-to-hand death match. The Houston army would be tougher and meaner but they would suffer from a tendency to fight among themselves, would mutiny halfway there, then turn into brigands and live off the fat of New Orleans.

― Aimless, Monday, 13 January 2003 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

A friend of mine is planning a trip to central America and can have a week in either Atlanta or Houston.

Managua or San Jose would be better bets.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 13 January 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Michael Vick vs. David Carr. Advantage: Atlanta

Stevie Franchise vs. Jason Terry. Advantage: Houston

Greg Maddux vs. Wade Miller. Advantage: Atlanta (although three years from now the Astros will be better than the Braves)

― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 13 January 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, but Oswalt's the Astros' #1 starter, not Miller, unless you are purposely looking at the 2002 #2s to account for the Glavine move.

I agree with the assessment nonetheless.

― felicity (felicity), Monday, 13 January 2003 20:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I'm still adjusting to the Glavine move

― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 13 January 2003 21:02 (twenty-two years ago)

There, there.

Every day I get up and thank god I'm not a Dodgers fan. McGriff needs to enroll in Tom Emanski's camp.

― felicity (felicity), Monday, 13 January 2003 21:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I live just a few miles from Stone Mountain. It's a nice place (esp. for tourists), but let me clear this up: the laser show IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE of our culture around here.

― Curtis Stephens, Monday, 13 January 2003 21:08 (twenty-two years ago)

never been to either Atlanta or Houston. i hear atlanta's nicer, but i'll defer to folks who have been to either city.

(oh yeah, i think the key comparison hear is Michael Vick v. Donovan McNabb)

― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 08:08 (twenty-two years ago)

unfortunately the key comparison was James Thrash vs. Brian Finneran :(

― James Blount, Tuesday, 14 January 2003 08:11 (twenty-two years ago)

>it has no good art, but fort worth does.

surely you don't mean houston? the menil collection, the MFA, the museum of printing history?

otherwise, yeah... houston is evil. and that's not just a random adjective to express my dislike for the place. houston is deeply sinister and if you are sensitive to it, it's like being in a horror movie 24/7, nothing but free-floating anxiety and dread. walking (driving really) among people who can't feel it just compounds the surreal death groove of houston.

-fh

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 12:53 (twenty-two years ago)

eight months pass...

http://www.norfolkwindmills.com/images/houston.jpg

― charltonlido (gareth), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 05:19 (twenty-two years ago)

atlanta fucking OWNS billboard this week

― cinniblount (James Blount), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 05:32 (twenty-two years ago)

The choice between Hotlanta (ugh, gag...please...who said that?) and Houston is like a choice between death by ____ and ____ (insert your two worst death scenarios). They are the two ugliest cities in North America. Better public transportation, yeah, Atlanta probably wins. Better than nothing is all you can say. The picture post above could be either city. They are soul-less. Sprawling. Unbearably hot in the summer. Probably the two most air-conditioned cities in the world. (But to say that San Antonio is better is a weird comparision. Houston is a city, sort of, S.A. is a point on the map comparably. Actually, Houston is L.A. with damp rotting carpets and no beach.)

But the music scene in both places is pretty good. There is a huge choice of (often cheap) ethnic cuisine in Houston. There is a far bigger 'alternative' scene in both towns that you'd think if you drove through casually. A lot of really rich people and some vast dangerous slum areas.

The upshot, however, is that both cities will give a foreign traveler a much better picture of what life is like the U.S. than a visit to the much more beautiful, interesting cities of, say, NYC or San Francisco. "...why Marge, this is the biggest shopping mall I've ever seen. Wait, and there are 15 more!"

Rent a car in either place. Rely on public transportation and you won't see anything.

Better still, avoid. Unless if you know the boys in OutKast. Then you better be all about kickin' tha ATL!!!!

― Skottie, Wednesday, 8 October 2003 05:39 (twenty-two years ago)

christ what is that song v103 is playing like crazy now and they give a shoutout to like every single county in georgia? trife, a lil help here? are they playing this in other states? I wasn't sure 'welcome to atlanta' was a national hit until the hands across america remix

― cinniblount (James Blount), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 05:52 (twenty-two years ago)

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