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Howdy....any helpful info about the city in general, the West U. area, night life in that area, and peds. residency program in particular would be great. Thanks.
UT-Houston
- Thread starter rastelli
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ok. I grew up my 1st 18 years of my life in houston and was born in the downtown med center. I can honestly say Houston sucks. The city is a ****hole, of course I live in Lubbock now which is a ****hole too! 
I heard you get your ass kicked and handed to you in the UT-Houston program. I wouldnt advise it. But who knows. To each their own.
As far as the nightlife, it is allright. Nothing great. I would recommend Austin and one of the community programs, but I might be biased seeing as Austin is the best place in Texas and I graduated from The University of Texas!!
TT
I heard you get your ass kicked and handed to you in the UT-Houston program. I wouldnt advise it. But who knows. To each their own.
As far as the nightlife, it is allright. Nothing great. I would recommend Austin and one of the community programs, but I might be biased seeing as Austin is the best place in Texas and I graduated from The University of Texas!!
TT
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Well, it's not often that someone really hacks me off, but the little twit in the post above certainly did so. I grew up in Lubbock (a wonderful small city) and now live in Houston.
Now big-city life is not really for me (I'm going back to Lubbock at first opportunity), but if it was I can't think of a better place than Houston. The traffic stinks (as in all big cities) and the weather is bad if you don't like hot, but other than that the city has a lot going for it. It's got a great theatre district, two major universities, the largest medical center in the world, and many nice surprises like Rice Village and the Galleria area.
I don't know much about the UT-Houston peds residency.
BTW, Austin is a nice city too--certainly the most beautiful in Texas--but even nice places seem to breed their share of pricks.
Mad Scientist
Now big-city life is not really for me (I'm going back to Lubbock at first opportunity), but if it was I can't think of a better place than Houston. The traffic stinks (as in all big cities) and the weather is bad if you don't like hot, but other than that the city has a lot going for it. It's got a great theatre district, two major universities, the largest medical center in the world, and many nice surprises like Rice Village and the Galleria area.
I don't know much about the UT-Houston peds residency.
BTW, Austin is a nice city too--certainly the most beautiful in Texas--but even nice places seem to breed their share of pricks.
Mad Scientist
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As for Houston, it has everything that you could want (It'll take you a while to find it). A wide variety of bars, meat markets/clubs, and great restaurants. West U is a nice place to live and is close to everything (Suburbia in the middle of a big city). Safe but convenient with a number of restaurants and easy med center access. Pay the extra money and live over here as the Astrodome area sucks although it is cheaper. (I live in West U)
Having said all these nice things, I have to balance it with a bit of a reality check. Houston is kindof a hole that is horribly run and has awful weather (5 months of hot and humid ... and by Texas standards not normal standards). Our mayor is an idiot and the construction planning (mainly road maintenance) is truly awful. Think the Boston Logan Airport area. I'm leaving and so happy about it. I need seasons and at best Houston is the third best city in Texas behind Dallas and Austin.
As for UT-H. It's fine and don't let people scare you. They do kindof chew you up though as far as work hours. Baylor obviously has the more prestigous program and people there actually seem happy (rare for Baylor).
Oh well good luck
Having said all these nice things, I have to balance it with a bit of a reality check. Houston is kindof a hole that is horribly run and has awful weather (5 months of hot and humid ... and by Texas standards not normal standards). Our mayor is an idiot and the construction planning (mainly road maintenance) is truly awful. Think the Boston Logan Airport area. I'm leaving and so happy about it. I need seasons and at best Houston is the third best city in Texas behind Dallas and Austin.
As for UT-H. It's fine and don't let people scare you. They do kindof chew you up though as far as work hours. Baylor obviously has the more prestigous program and people there actually seem happy (rare for Baylor).
Oh well good luck
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OK Madscientist. I am a prick b/c I don't like Lubbock or Houston. You must think everyone is a prick then b/c not many people from Houston or people from Lubbock like it. So who is the prick? I think you have been studying way too much dude. I just offered the guy my honest opinion and didnt warrant your personal attacks. You must want to do surgery huh Mad scientist??
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Everyone has an opinion. I grew up in Houston, lived in Lubbock for two years, lived in Austin for 3 years, and Dallas for 1 year while spending half my time in Fort Worth. I now live in New York City. So, I think I can give a somewhat level opinion of Houston.
Houston, is nice. It is pretty hot but how much time are you going to spend outside the A/C. In all honesty, how much extra time do you plan on having during peds? If you run, then Memorial park is the place to live by. It's still the best place to Run. Town Lake in Austin is nice, but it doesn't have the heat that grinds on your system that Houston does. I like the grind.
If you Mt. Bike, then it's a toss up. Do you like gnarly single track in the middle of dense woods with 60 foot down hills that turn and slide mid way down and are littered with giant fallen oaks that require hopping or ducking ability? Highly technical stuff. That's Houston's Ho Chi Men <sp> trail, which is also in Memorial Park. I like technical but with plenty of soft stuff to crash into if I happen to lose my way. Austin, offers not so technical trails in the Green Belt and its obstacles tend to be giant bolders or large rocks. The up side is that the trails primarily parallel the river and if it's early in the season there's plenty of water to splash around in for a quick or extended cool down.
If you swim, there are plenty of places in Houston, but I never found fresh water like Barton Springs. Austin also has the only state funded Nude Beach, the name of which popped out of my mind. Too much studying.
If you want to climb Houston has a few climbing walls but it's basically a flat place other than the trails around Memorial Park. Austin on the other hand has rolling hills that offer real life climbing (not restricted to boldering) all along the green belt.
If you like water: Houston has Galveston just an hour away. It also has Lake Conroe and Lake Livingston that are within an hour to an hour and a half. Austin has Lake Travis and then there is Lake LBJ, which is just up a Damn from Lake Travis. Travis floods, but LBJ doesn't. LBJ is a constant level / constant flow lake. That means they manage the water level in real time by playing with the in and outflow at either end of the lake via damns. Pretty nifty set up.
Doh, I forgot to mention Dallas and Fort Worth. Dallas equivalent to Memorial Park and the Green Belt is White Rock Lake. It's nice but from my point of view it's just not the same as Austin and Houston. Plus, it's rather far away from most of the rotations in Dallas. On the Fort Worth Side of things. . . . Oh yeah, there is an equivalent to Memorial Park in a suburb called Arlington Park. It has by far the best routes for roller blading but that's about it.
The nightlife is probably about the same in Austin or Houston. Sorry, but the Dallas / Fort Worth Night life isn't up to Austin's or Houston?s night life. You do need to know where to go though. It shifts in Houston. When I was there, it was on Richmond. Or, if you happened to be gay and wanted a strictly gay bar then it was in Montrose. If you wanted a nice after hours bar for a romantic moment then it was Mar Frelas <sp> over by River Oaks. Austin on the other hand has 6th street, which includes 4th street bars. This is a dense population of clubs, bars, bars, did I say places to drink? That's about it. It's so densely populated that the police have to block the street at both ends. It's fun but for many people it can get old relatively quickly. Houston on the other hand has several pockets of bars. This affords the drunkard I mean med student the opportunity to drive from watering hole to watering hole. Not recommended just noted.
Housing: Austin is the most expensive. It's also the most picturesque. Houston is a close second though and if you are thinking of living in West U then it might even top many parts of Austin. There are other areas though. I would recommend staying away from the Astrodome area. Nasty. There are relatively new communities in what is being called midtown though. Very nice and convenient to the medical center. It's about a mile up Fannin from the Medical Center. Then there's an area around Montrose and not Memorial Drive but the other road that parallels it. Argh, can't remember. . . Allen Parkway. . . that's nice too. Any of the apartments between Richmond Westheimer, Shepherd, and Montrose are very nice and probably less expensive than West U. Plus, they are close to the Houston Med Center.
As far as rotations in the med center go, check scutworks.com. You might find what you are looking for there.
Don't forget San Antonio, Galveston, and Corpus Christi. Lubbock is nice, but small, I found that I liked having more people crammed into a square mile than Lubbock offered.
NYC is pretty nice too. I will probably come back to Houston though. It has so many great things. Memorial park, Herman Park, the Zoo, Enron. . . what else could anyone ask for. :wink:
Houston, is nice. It is pretty hot but how much time are you going to spend outside the A/C. In all honesty, how much extra time do you plan on having during peds? If you run, then Memorial park is the place to live by. It's still the best place to Run. Town Lake in Austin is nice, but it doesn't have the heat that grinds on your system that Houston does. I like the grind.
If you Mt. Bike, then it's a toss up. Do you like gnarly single track in the middle of dense woods with 60 foot down hills that turn and slide mid way down and are littered with giant fallen oaks that require hopping or ducking ability? Highly technical stuff. That's Houston's Ho Chi Men <sp> trail, which is also in Memorial Park. I like technical but with plenty of soft stuff to crash into if I happen to lose my way. Austin, offers not so technical trails in the Green Belt and its obstacles tend to be giant bolders or large rocks. The up side is that the trails primarily parallel the river and if it's early in the season there's plenty of water to splash around in for a quick or extended cool down.
If you swim, there are plenty of places in Houston, but I never found fresh water like Barton Springs. Austin also has the only state funded Nude Beach, the name of which popped out of my mind. Too much studying.
If you want to climb Houston has a few climbing walls but it's basically a flat place other than the trails around Memorial Park. Austin on the other hand has rolling hills that offer real life climbing (not restricted to boldering) all along the green belt.
If you like water: Houston has Galveston just an hour away. It also has Lake Conroe and Lake Livingston that are within an hour to an hour and a half. Austin has Lake Travis and then there is Lake LBJ, which is just up a Damn from Lake Travis. Travis floods, but LBJ doesn't. LBJ is a constant level / constant flow lake. That means they manage the water level in real time by playing with the in and outflow at either end of the lake via damns. Pretty nifty set up.
Doh, I forgot to mention Dallas and Fort Worth. Dallas equivalent to Memorial Park and the Green Belt is White Rock Lake. It's nice but from my point of view it's just not the same as Austin and Houston. Plus, it's rather far away from most of the rotations in Dallas. On the Fort Worth Side of things. . . . Oh yeah, there is an equivalent to Memorial Park in a suburb called Arlington Park. It has by far the best routes for roller blading but that's about it.
The nightlife is probably about the same in Austin or Houston. Sorry, but the Dallas / Fort Worth Night life isn't up to Austin's or Houston?s night life. You do need to know where to go though. It shifts in Houston. When I was there, it was on Richmond. Or, if you happened to be gay and wanted a strictly gay bar then it was in Montrose. If you wanted a nice after hours bar for a romantic moment then it was Mar Frelas <sp> over by River Oaks. Austin on the other hand has 6th street, which includes 4th street bars. This is a dense population of clubs, bars, bars, did I say places to drink? That's about it. It's so densely populated that the police have to block the street at both ends. It's fun but for many people it can get old relatively quickly. Houston on the other hand has several pockets of bars. This affords the drunkard I mean med student the opportunity to drive from watering hole to watering hole. Not recommended just noted.
Housing: Austin is the most expensive. It's also the most picturesque. Houston is a close second though and if you are thinking of living in West U then it might even top many parts of Austin. There are other areas though. I would recommend staying away from the Astrodome area. Nasty. There are relatively new communities in what is being called midtown though. Very nice and convenient to the medical center. It's about a mile up Fannin from the Medical Center. Then there's an area around Montrose and not Memorial Drive but the other road that parallels it. Argh, can't remember. . . Allen Parkway. . . that's nice too. Any of the apartments between Richmond Westheimer, Shepherd, and Montrose are very nice and probably less expensive than West U. Plus, they are close to the Houston Med Center.
As far as rotations in the med center go, check scutworks.com. You might find what you are looking for there.
Don't forget San Antonio, Galveston, and Corpus Christi. Lubbock is nice, but small, I found that I liked having more people crammed into a square mile than Lubbock offered.
NYC is pretty nice too. I will probably come back to Houston though. It has so many great things. Memorial park, Herman Park, the Zoo, Enron. . . what else could anyone ask for. :wink:
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by TouchdownTexas:
•OK Madscientist. I am a prick b/c I don't like Lubbock or Houston. You must think everyone is a prick then b/c not many people from Houston or people from Lubbock like it. So who is the prick? I think you have been studying way too much dude. I just offered the guy my honest opinion and didnt warrant your personal attacks. You must want to do surgery huh Mad scientist??•••••No, in fact I am considering family medicine, and I'm one of the nicest guys you could meet. In my 8 years or so on the internet, you are only about the second person that I've ever flamed. It just hacks me off to hear someone badmouth my hometown, which I happen to love.
If you don't like it, fine; notice that I said that big city living wasn't for me. But calling it a ****hole was uncalled for. Of course, some people would think anywhere they lived was a ****hole--it's hard to tell the difference when you're full of it.
And, BTW, many people living in both Houston and Lubbock love them. I think your problem is the people you run with. Like I said, people who think everything around them is **** oughta consider the possibility that it is coming from them.
•OK Madscientist. I am a prick b/c I don't like Lubbock or Houston. You must think everyone is a prick then b/c not many people from Houston or people from Lubbock like it. So who is the prick? I think you have been studying way too much dude. I just offered the guy my honest opinion and didnt warrant your personal attacks. You must want to do surgery huh Mad scientist??•••••No, in fact I am considering family medicine, and I'm one of the nicest guys you could meet. In my 8 years or so on the internet, you are only about the second person that I've ever flamed. It just hacks me off to hear someone badmouth my hometown, which I happen to love.
If you don't like it, fine; notice that I said that big city living wasn't for me. But calling it a ****hole was uncalled for. Of course, some people would think anywhere they lived was a ****hole--it's hard to tell the difference when you're full of it.
And, BTW, many people living in both Houston and Lubbock love them. I think your problem is the people you run with. Like I said, people who think everything around them is **** oughta consider the possibility that it is coming from them.
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TT: OK, OK, you're right...I'll drop it. I used to complain about where I lived sometimes until I came to realize how it felt when someone complained about a place I really liked. Peace.
mlafur: Nope, I did not go to Baylor for undergrad. (I am in Baylor med school though.)
mlafur: Nope, I did not go to Baylor for undergrad. (I am in Baylor med school though.)
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Here is a legitimate perspective; I was born in Hermann Hospital (UTH) and have lived there my entire life. I went through the PA prgram at UTMB Galveston and did all my rotations in the Houston medical center. I hated UT Houston. Baylor was excellent though.
And being from Houston, I admit that it is diverse culturally, but it is an armpit for eye candy. It is ugly and has no ZONING. I am leaving to move to Ft. Worth to attend TCOM in 3 months, and doubt I will ever come back to Houston if I can help it.
And being from Houston, I admit that it is diverse culturally, but it is an armpit for eye candy. It is ugly and has no ZONING. I am leaving to move to Ft. Worth to attend TCOM in 3 months, and doubt I will ever come back to Houston if I can help it.
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I lived in Houston for 20+ years (I'm in my 3rd year of med school in Chicago now). Without getting nasty about it, I can honestly say that I never did particularly like Houston, I'm glad I left it when I did, and, if I can help it, I'll probably never go back there (other than to visit my family). I could probably compile a laundry list of reasons why, but I'll just name a few off the top of my head... unbearably hot 4-5 months/year, crappy downtown, too many ghettos, everything's run down, no real natural beauty. All in all, it's just an average American city... nothing special at all. The only real plus I can think of about it is that everything is much cheaper than other parts of the nation. I have no idea about the residency programs there, but if one of your factors for choosing a residency program is locale, I advise you to steer clear of Houston. Just my 2 cents.
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by Texas_Sam:
•Sorry, but the Dallas / Fort Worth Night life isn't up to Austin's or Houston's night life. •••••Do you think not? I've always thought the nightlife in Dallas was much better than it is here. Granted, I am starting to discover more clubs downtown that are pretty nice, but I still think Dallas has a better atmosphere for going out if for no other reason than because there are several different types of clubs all located relatively close. This is in direct contrast with Houston, where there are plenty of clubs, but they come in theme-clusters (i.e. house music here, bars there, etc...) that are isolated from each other by about a 15-20 minute drive.
Then again, I have only been here little under a year, so I may still discover more clubs to my liking.
•Sorry, but the Dallas / Fort Worth Night life isn't up to Austin's or Houston's night life. •••••Do you think not? I've always thought the nightlife in Dallas was much better than it is here. Granted, I am starting to discover more clubs downtown that are pretty nice, but I still think Dallas has a better atmosphere for going out if for no other reason than because there are several different types of clubs all located relatively close. This is in direct contrast with Houston, where there are plenty of clubs, but they come in theme-clusters (i.e. house music here, bars there, etc...) that are isolated from each other by about a 15-20 minute drive.
Then again, I have only been here little under a year, so I may still discover more clubs to my liking.
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I'll have to side with the Houston Haters in this thread. I grew up there myself...spent 13 plus years there and can't say much about it. The city has no charm, the weather is nasty, the bugs are huge, and the decor of most buildings is outdated (think late 70's style). I have no desire also to return, even for 2 hours to change airplanes.
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SocialistMD,
Yeah, you're absolutely correct about the way clubs are arranged, but for my taste, that's not so bad. The big draw back to the bars in Houston and most if not all of Texas is that they have to stop serving alcohol at 2AM. Not that I'm a drunkard but after a good batch of tests / boards it's nice to know that you can go as long as you like.
Then again, there are plenty of after hour bars and clubs in Houston, but you do have to know the scene to find them.
Since everyone else is pointing out how long they lived in Houston, I guess I should as well; 25 years in Houston. Inside the loop is the only way to live in Houston in my mind.
One question, how's Galveston's Internal Medicine Residency???
Yeah, you're absolutely correct about the way clubs are arranged, but for my taste, that's not so bad. The big draw back to the bars in Houston and most if not all of Texas is that they have to stop serving alcohol at 2AM. Not that I'm a drunkard but after a good batch of tests / boards it's nice to know that you can go as long as you like.
Then again, there are plenty of after hour bars and clubs in Houston, but you do have to know the scene to find them.
Since everyone else is pointing out how long they lived in Houston, I guess I should as well; 25 years in Houston. Inside the loop is the only way to live in Houston in my mind.
One question, how's Galveston's Internal Medicine Residency???
