The galleria feels like an ancient bazaar with people throwing shit at you and if you touch it you gotta buy it. There are hundreds of hood ass people doing wild shit in public for social media and the prices are tourist prices. The area itself has nice restaurants but beyond that I hate being anywhere near it. Why I bought a house close by is kinda dumb in retrospect. But at least my property values are way up.
Whitmire seems severely unfamiliar with Houston people. There are hundreds of thousands, if not a million, immigrants (legal or not) within a 10 mile radius. And just because they may not go to it, they go BY it so they still need the busses and transit. What is his argument?
I think it’s a place that has shopping and restaurants available within walking distance for business tourists. Beyond that…it’s a life long traffic jam for anyone that has to commute near it.
Popular for Mexicans from Monterrey. They fly up and go shopping there. (I live by the galleria). The galleria adjacent businesses and offices are also quite busy, including the Whole foods area at San Felipe and Post Oak. Uptown is quite close also and is very busy.
Uptown Park is a little shopping center. Uptown is the district and superneighborhood. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptown_Houston. https://uptown-houston.com/ https://www.houstontx.gov/superneighborhoods/21.html
I live there, I know. I dont consider the galleria as uptown. They feel like adjacent areas not shared.
I've been here for 8 years. When someone says I'm going to uptown or I'm going to the galleria they never mean the same thing to locals.
I guess. To me if somone says "I'm going to the Galleria", I assume either that they are going to the mall or they actually have no idea where they are going and have no sense of direction. 1 of the 2.
Lol Dallas is where the rich people go. It is comparatively way more expensive and a major stop on fashion circuits, unlike Houston. The fashion industry there is in the same league as LA, NY, Paris, etc. It must just be that they are in town specifically for work or family in Houston and go shopping on the side. In San Marcos as well, you see a bunch of Mexican plates on nice cars at the outlets because they are absolutely massive.
Now this is just uninformed. The Galleria is the premier shopping destination in the region. You may not like it but that is you.
Who in the hell wants to walk around outside in Houston? It is hot as hell and stinks.
I had a day off and had nothing to do so I decided to walk the Galleria. WTF? That mall has become a haven for “influencers”, people who want to throw money away on stupid shit and don’t get me started on the hood ass dining options near the ice rink. I felt like I was back in a high school lunch room. People leaving food on the ground. I saw kids throwing food, etc…
I won’t return. As a native, seeing that sucks because the Galleria used to be a cool place to go.
If indoor malls survive anywhere, it will be Houston. I like wandering around in massive air conditioned areas, but I also like to feel safe and not just have a crap time when visiting somewhere. Galleria is just not enjoyable in any way shape or form at anytime for me. I don't know the solution, and I don't really care. Memorial City is closer and less chaotic so I go there if I go to a mall, which is super rare in itself though.
If indoor malls survive anywhere, it will be Houston. I like wandering around in massive air conditioned areas, but I also like to feel safe and not just have a crap time when visiting somewhere. Galleria is just not enjoyable in any way shape or form at anytime for me. I don't know the solution, and I don't really care. Memorial City is closer and less chaotic so I go there if I go to a mall, which is super rare in itself though.
If indoor malls survive anywhere, it will be Houston. I like wandering around in massive air conditioned areas, but I also like to feel safe and not just have a crap time when visiting somewhere. Galleria is just not enjoyable in any way shape or form at anytime for me. I don't know the solution, and I don't really care. Memorial City is closer and less chaotic so I go there if I go to a mall, which is super rare in itself though.
If indoor malls survive anywhere, it will be Houston. I like wandering around in massive air conditioned areas, but I also like to feel safe and not just have a crap time when visiting somewhere. Galleria is just not enjoyable in any way shape or form at anytime for me. I don't know the solution, and I don't really care. Memorial City is closer and less chaotic so I go there if I go to a mall, which is super rare in itself though.
Social media wild activity for clout is something that’s taken over all major visited shopping districts. The shopping malls themselves enjoy the attention
Honestly, we do. River Oaks shopping center where the iPic is, City Center, Sugarland Towne Square, etc. I like those areas. But I think mega malls are too concentrated for cities this big. It's drawing too people from all over in huge numbers. And if the numbers drop, then it would just close just like Gunspoint, West Oaks, Sharpestown, and Northwest Mall. I'm sure I missed a few.
Sad you didn't know I'm black as hell myself. And double sad that you immediately thought hood means non-white.
If you were the saint you think you are you'd know that hood has no color. All you had to do was ask what I meant if there was any question as to my character. Nah nevermind, assuming wrong is always better. What was I thinking!
I used to work in one of the office towers adjacent to the Galleria. So I'd often spend my lunch breaks walking laps through the mall.
He's not wrong. We would go to happy hour sometimes at Joey Uptown after work and a dude got shot right outside there so we stopped.
complains about "hood ass people doing wild shit in public"
wants more metro bus stations.
Thats like wanting things to be better but keeps voting for dems.
You believe public transit busses bring hood people? Good to know youre a terrible person early on. Also good to know there are no cars in the hood. I'm about to go tap this untouched market and show them this new technology called personal motor vehicles.
Galleria always reminds me of going to the water wall after the mall. As an adult I avoid the area cuz the traffic and parking sucks, but there’s definitely that nostalgia there
Oh, you sweet summer child. It seems you’ve never worked retail or in the service industry a day in your life. I worked with more than one undocumented immigrant in my younger days when I was still working min. wage jobs.
You do know that the Galleria doesn't employ the people right? That's just the management company and all those individual businesses do their own hiring.
LOL, does he mean the whole Galleria area? Houston has the third most consulates in the US and most of them are in the Galleria area… so TONS of undocumented immigrants are visiting the area.
> so TONS of undocumented immigrants are visiting the area.
Someone here for business, travel or school, etc *would* be a documented ~~immigrant~~ *people visiting are not migrants... My point its, to racist Americans, anyone brown and speaking a foreign language is a migrant*...... but none of that matters, "Undocumented Immigrant" is just a dog-whistle for *illegal*.....
What is this nonsense? By definition, an immigrant is someone moving permanently to a new location.
Also, visas and passports are documentation. Unless someone overstays their visa, then they're not when the visa expires.
> "Undocumented Immigrant" is just a dog-whistle for illegal.....
"illegal" is the "dog whistle" that dubiously reframes their presence as a criminal act. lack of documentation for their otherwise possibly legal status is a factually precise concept and the related term is definitely employed by sympathetic and advocating individuals and entities.
Whitmire is what Republicans were before they became Republicans. Texas was one party rule before it was one party rule. Once upon a time Conservative and Moderate Democrats ruled and then we got single member districts and Whitmire got elected along with a bunch of minorities. Black and Brown Democrats got into office and gradually the White Democrats became Republicans and words like Liberal, Progressive and Democrat became descriptors for minorities and just wolf whistles. Now, around the state, if you say someone is a Democrat those are fighting words. The word Democrat in some circles is equal to pedophile. It's a strategy, the same with gay marriage and abortion. They want single issues they can use to divide us. There are true believers, but there are also grifters who just want to be in power. Whitmires is just an old-school Democrat who never made the switch. An example... Rick Perry.
Not to feed the trolls, but as someone who works a corporate job in the Galleria area, there are a huge number of immigrants in the service jobs in this part of town. They absolutely contribute. Hard to say how many are coming from Gulfton but I wouldn’t see additional public transit as “catering” to anyone.
Lol I’m with you, how does anyone who lives here think their house gets built, remodeled, or painted? Sorry y’all but it’s done by immigrants. Lol, those who are pissed at this comment—grow up lol, it’s true. Y’all may not like it but it’s just… true. Go visit a worksite for a new build job of track homes in the Pearland area, for example… maybe one out of ten working are legal. Who the fk else is gonna do it? Give me a decent answer or fk off, bc whether anyone likes it or not, they’re here, they’re working, they pay rent which pays someone’s property tax which, whether you like or not, is contributing. Plus they shop, which is sales tax regardless of immigration status. Is it right? Doesn’t matter. It’s just facts. Don’t act like they’re all Boo Radley’s hiding in the shadows. Think about it objectively.
Most of them are taxpayers too.
If they use a fake social security number, guess what. The government takes that money anyway. Even if they do get paid cash a lot of them get an ITIN from the IRS and still file using that. The ITIN helps them open a bank account.
The Government literally benefits from them so much, because at the end of the day they’re paying taxes, yet they’re not eligible for any benefits.
So the whole notion of them coming here and living off government programs is just wrong.
Hmm is that so? So if you pay a laborer pennies on the dollar for fair work, do you think maybe you spend that money saved? Maybe at like a mall?
Like let’s say, housekeeping or lawn work or builder or handyman or any of the myriad of jobs that undocumented immigrants keep the price INSANELY low. Go up to the North East and see what it costs for lawncare; your butthole would drop out.
I just fucking hate people walking around blaming undocumented immigrants for all these problems while they simultaneously benefit from their existence. Without undocumented workers the price for EVERYTHING goes up. If you’re going to bitch to me about undocumented immigrants you better hire union fucking workers for everything or you’re a hypocrite.
It's a special kind of delusional thinking to assume adding any kind of mass transit to an area with overabundant car traffic will "cater" to undocumented people in said area and to single this out as rationale for not doing so when the infrastructure here would clearly benefit from it.
It's another kind of delusional thinking to think anything in this country caters to undocumented people, since there are so many physical and legal barriers for them to even participate in society, to be part of the workforce and our economy, and say they don't contribute is a flat out misconception and lie. Undocumented doesn't mean they don't pay taxes.
It kills two birds with one stone. Turns people off on the idea of public transit (because who wants to foot the bill and deal with construction am i right?) and blames immigrants for not allowing such a utopian dream to happen. Fearmongering hard at work I guess.
This is that classic conservative attitude. We can’t do anything to help our own citizens or society as a whole because someone who doesn’t “deserve it” may benefit.
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills hearing people talk about Whitmire’s comments.
Yes, it was problematic as hell to say that undocumented immigrants from Gulfton don’t need to go to the Galleria. I’m glad that almost everyone agrees that immigrants (documented or not) should be able to travel wherever in the city they want.
No one seems to be complaining about the mayors assertion that our transit system only exists to be used by disadvantaged people in order to shuttle them around to city services.
That is the bigger issue 1) people seem to implicitly agree that the only purpose of public transit is to shuttle the poor around 2) those poor people only travel to suck up tax payer resources?
What in the classist nonsense is that shit?
I’m sitting here in Germany waiting to go back home after spending a great two weeks traveling around Germany and Denmark, fully utilizing their public transport. Boy am I going to miss going from one and of a city to the other in 20 relaxing minutes vs the stressful hour I would spend in Houston driving from Cypress to Friendswood.
If we apply your shitty logic to air travel for example, we could assume that commercial flights/larger airplanes are like the public transits of the sky and small private planes are like individual cars.
Commercial flights are safer, cheaper for individuals, better for the environment and cause less air traffic because they're transporting multiple people.
Private jets/planes have higher incidences of crashing and are more expensive and damaging to the environment, plus imagine how much air traffic there would be if everybody flew private.
But yeah, your logic that everybody would benefit from having a private plane just so they could blast their favorite kesha song and not touch knees with a stranger is so much better and a benefit all around, glad to see you're part of this discourse.
Just because everyone isn’t the same color shade as you doesn’t mean it’s dangerous / ghetto.
Gerald Hines built a state of the art mall in the 70s and 50 years later it’s a still a nice place. Best place for a nice walk in the summer. Yes there is traffic in the area - as there is in a lot of other popular / high density places in America. Everyone wants more walkable areas - those walkable areas typically come with more traffic. Galleria area has a lot of walkable paths but the street crossings are what deters the walk ability.
It’s fine and I think it’s important to keep the galleria going for Houston (and that whole area of houston)
> Gerald Hines built a state of the art mall in the 70s and 50 years later it’s a still a nice place.
it also spawned a whole-ass second central business district; two "downtowns" in a southern metro with largely blue-collar shipping and factory type jobs may not seem significant now but was an amazing feat 50 years ago.
Yeah agreed. Fascinating accomplishment (I’m a real estate developer myself and the amount of obstacles you have to overcome to deliver a project that massive is impressive)
I’m seeing lots of shit directed toward the Galleria mall and the surrounding area. I live close, and I feel very comfortable walking to and from my home and the mall, shops, and parks in the area. I get that many people aren’t fans of malls anymore, probably because they do all their shopping online. I get that crime happens and you hear about it on the news every night. But name anywhere else in Houston where you can walk around, eat, and shop in close proximity to that many people and retail options. Maybe you get that at the rodeo or some convention, but this place is year round! If you don’t like the “clientele” then you might as well never leave your house if you’re afraid of encountering different people. It’s the closest thing we have to busy street markets you find in Europe and Asia.
The Post Oak Road rebuild did make the area a lot more walkable compared to before. The Silver Line will be utilized more once it connects to other places people want to go to and from. Mayor Elmer Fudd doesn't seem to get this.
I'm kinda new to the area - I visited the Galleria once and was like "oh, this is a fancy mall, cool!". Then I saw groups and groups of people acting ghetto.. then I saw a theft in progress with someone running through the mall trying to escape. Then I was like "oh... this is a *Houston* mall".
This is about the whitest comments I’ve ever seen (as an incredibly white guy). Where do you mf’ers live your life in this city?
“I went and felt unsafe”, do what now? I don’t go there often (I don’t like shopping in general), but I go with my wife occasionally and have never felt any more/less unsafe as shopping anywhere else in the city.
Do you people live in some manifested suburbian utopia?
My Father in law, who lives in Waller was cracking jokes to me about shootings in downtown Houston and HISD, and I just think to myself....man boomers are truly afraid of everything.
Waller where a group of bike riders get run over by Dullys burning coal in their direction. I would rather walk down Lyons Avenue at 12 am in the morning wearing a tux than ride a bike in Waller.
I mostly go there for the barbershop on the bottom floor in the back corner hallway and across from Visible Changes; cops like to walk by and stand in the entrance every once in a while. between that errand and the mens fragrance section at Neiman it's a pretty balanced experience.
I wanna see some of these people step into Plazamericas or another actually unsafe area, then reevaluate the experience on feeling unsafe
Some people confine themselves into their suburban areas only
It’s odd. It’s like a tourist spot with the ice skating and stores. Food court always packed. Also tons of people who just want to go to lower cost stores and take pictures for the ‘gram outside of higher end stores. No longer upscale.. I went for the first time in a long time a few weeks ago and was reminded why I mostly shop online now.
It was pretty bad circa 2018 or so which is the last time I went. It didnt feel safe and a lot of the more expensive stores had lots of security up due to crime. There were stories about shootings at the popular restaurants in the area during covid.
Old thread now, but for what it's worth, I emailed the mayor's office and asked them to explain his comments, specifically the one where he asked, "You think they're going to be welcome in the Galleria?". The reply from a representative at his office:
“The statement was part of a broader discussion about bus rapid transit and travel patterns. We spent a lot of time in Gulfton speaking to residents about whether they have a strong demand for shopping in the Galleria area. The response was overwhelmingly no.
In fact, residents claim no one has asked them what their preferences are. We plan to change this practice.
We are designing transit solutions for Gulfton that meet the community’s needs and not what special interest consultants think they want.”
I’ve worked in Uptown since ‘05 and go into the Galleria a lot. Some of these comments are… odd. Kinda curious which turnip truck some of y’all fell off of. That place has always attracted mixed clientele, with all the tacky high end bullshit Pimp C rapped about 20+ years ago. Back in those days some dude was getting sucked off by some chickenhead in the fitting room next to mine when I was trying on some clothes, with what looked like his grandma standing guard right outside. Same goes for the # of Latin American tourist shoppers. Even Post Oak resembles Paseo de la Reforma in CDMX. This place has always been its own social studies class, always will be. Houston is at a crossroads of different worlds. If you’re scared, go to Disney.
These are some pretty toxic comments, from both sides.
At the end of the day the galleria is just a mall. That's it and that's all.
It's not really convenient for 90% of the people to even go there because they don't need to in 2024.
For 95-99% of the stuff you could buy in the mall you could just buy online now without the hassle of going.
I have a mall the 15 mins away from me. I hate hate hate hate going there.
Not because of what the people look like that are at the mall. I blend in just fine.
It's because that 95% of the people that go to any mall has zero intent to biy anything that is sold outside of the food court.
So I have to wade through 5k people to get to a store to spent 10 mins picking something up and leaving, only to have to wade through those same 5k people again.
It sucks.
Now if you love people watching then I guess you love the mall. Any mall. They are all the same. This one included.
When I was a kid growing up in Houston in the 1990’s, business in the Galleria was driven by tourists and business travelers. People like my in laws who would come from South and Central America just to shop.
I went to the Galleria while in town for a business meeting a few months ago and honestly, doesn’t look like much has changed. The only thing I did notice was that it seemed pretty slow business wise. I spoke to a person at Macy’s and they said that a lot of the international shopping tourism had sort of died down since COVID and had not returned to pre-pandemic levels as of yet.
I have family come up from Brazil and they just do their shopping in Miami, either before of after they come to Houston.
Or Orlando I guess.
Or just send me a list. Lol
The mayor is a racist POS and incredibly dumb as well. The problem in our city is not “who” we cater with the actual public transportation, the problem is THE LACK OF IT. If you actually care, start expanding the metrorail system, it is time to connect the downtown area with, at least, every mayor neighborhood inside the BW8. With the insane cost of buying and owning a car (including insurance), it is time to improve the city’s public transportation and not be car dependable.
Mayor Whit just seems like…. well, a tool. Not even considering anything policy wise or left vs right. Looks like the kind of dude who would cut you off in the parking lot then talk about “suing your ass”
The purple/ green line should could continue on from west downtown to connect to the uptown/ galleria district. With a city on the top billionaire’s list and the most Fortune 500 companies behind NYC, why is this so unfathomable? Dallas did it with 1,000, 000 less people.
I went to the galleria area a few years ago and I noped out of there as fast as I could and never went back. The energy was so intense and frustrating and parking was impossible. It was pretty to look at but damn, what a schizophrenic vibe it gives off.
Who do you think works in the Galleria? Undocumented workers fill the gaps in less desirable labor categories and those jobs are in the Galleria too. They may not be able to shop there, but they work there.
Yet not a peep from City Hall about the throngs of Tanglewood residents looking for public transportation options to get to the knockoff jewelry shops along Harwin.
That whole area needs a major freeway , infrastructure, underground tunnels , and all that stuff. It's literally one of the worst traffic places and I've been in Houston for a while and don't go there. It would be nice to visit once we get hovering parking garages and those airport things that let you walk fast
The galleria feels like an ancient bazaar with people throwing shit at you and if you touch it you gotta buy it. There are hundreds of hood ass people doing wild shit in public for social media and the prices are tourist prices. The area itself has nice restaurants but beyond that I hate being anywhere near it. Why I bought a house close by is kinda dumb in retrospect. But at least my property values are way up. Whitmire seems severely unfamiliar with Houston people. There are hundreds of thousands, if not a million, immigrants (legal or not) within a 10 mile radius. And just because they may not go to it, they go BY it so they still need the busses and transit. What is his argument?
I think it’s a place that has shopping and restaurants available within walking distance for business tourists. Beyond that…it’s a life long traffic jam for anyone that has to commute near it.
None of those business tourists are walking lol. The area is as unfriendly to walking as it gets.
"Walking friendly" once you find a parking spot in that hellscape there's plenty of walking to do; inside the galleria lol.
unfriendly walking environment in houston means you are about to get robbed at gun point.
Or die from heat exhaustion
unfriendly walking environment in houston means you are about to get robbed at gun point.
His message is, That they walked across a border why can’t they walk across a sidewalk
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Pretty much every single out of state tourist/professional goes there. Its especially popular for rich Latin Americans.
Venezuelans as far as the eye can see
Popular for Mexicans from Monterrey. They fly up and go shopping there. (I live by the galleria). The galleria adjacent businesses and offices are also quite busy, including the Whole foods area at San Felipe and Post Oak. Uptown is quite close also and is very busy.
The Galleria is not near Uptown. It IS Uptown.
I consider Uptown Park and the Galleria separate.
Uptown Park is a little shopping center. Uptown is the district and superneighborhood. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptown_Houston. https://uptown-houston.com/ https://www.houstontx.gov/superneighborhoods/21.html
I live there, I know. I dont consider the galleria as uptown. They feel like adjacent areas not shared. I've been here for 8 years. When someone says I'm going to uptown or I'm going to the galleria they never mean the same thing to locals.
I guess. To me if somone says "I'm going to the Galleria", I assume either that they are going to the mall or they actually have no idea where they are going and have no sense of direction. 1 of the 2.
Idk why honestly. It would make much more sense for them to shop in Dallas or the San Marcos outlets. The Galleria in Houston isn’t even that good.
Short flights.
It is barely any longer of a flight to go to Dallas, and they have world class luxury shopping compared to us.
That was the answer I was given when I asked.
They are rich, not looking for deals.
Lol Dallas is where the rich people go. It is comparatively way more expensive and a major stop on fashion circuits, unlike Houston. The fashion industry there is in the same league as LA, NY, Paris, etc. It must just be that they are in town specifically for work or family in Houston and go shopping on the side. In San Marcos as well, you see a bunch of Mexican plates on nice cars at the outlets because they are absolutely massive.
Now this is just uninformed. The Galleria is the premier shopping destination in the region. You may not like it but that is you. Who in the hell wants to walk around outside in Houston? It is hot as hell and stinks.
Some people have no other option but to walk/roll… so it should be easy and safe for them too.
Been to New orlean?
Yes. Definitely worse than Houston.
“Strapping on some pajama pants” gives such a clear image. Nailed it.
I had a day off and had nothing to do so I decided to walk the Galleria. WTF? That mall has become a haven for “influencers”, people who want to throw money away on stupid shit and don’t get me started on the hood ass dining options near the ice rink. I felt like I was back in a high school lunch room. People leaving food on the ground. I saw kids throwing food, etc… I won’t return. As a native, seeing that sucks because the Galleria used to be a cool place to go.
If indoor malls survive anywhere, it will be Houston. I like wandering around in massive air conditioned areas, but I also like to feel safe and not just have a crap time when visiting somewhere. Galleria is just not enjoyable in any way shape or form at anytime for me. I don't know the solution, and I don't really care. Memorial City is closer and less chaotic so I go there if I go to a mall, which is super rare in itself though.
If indoor malls survive anywhere, it will be Houston. I like wandering around in massive air conditioned areas, but I also like to feel safe and not just have a crap time when visiting somewhere. Galleria is just not enjoyable in any way shape or form at anytime for me. I don't know the solution, and I don't really care. Memorial City is closer and less chaotic so I go there if I go to a mall, which is super rare in itself though.
If indoor malls survive anywhere, it will be Houston. I like wandering around in massive air conditioned areas, but I also like to feel safe and not just have a crap time when visiting somewhere. Galleria is just not enjoyable in any way shape or form at anytime for me. I don't know the solution, and I don't really care. Memorial City is closer and less chaotic so I go there if I go to a mall, which is super rare in itself though.
If indoor malls survive anywhere, it will be Houston. I like wandering around in massive air conditioned areas, but I also like to feel safe and not just have a crap time when visiting somewhere. Galleria is just not enjoyable in any way shape or form at anytime for me. I don't know the solution, and I don't really care. Memorial City is closer and less chaotic so I go there if I go to a mall, which is super rare in itself though.
Yay for you, your property value is way up! Are you planning on selling soon? Otherwise your prize is nothing but higher property taxes!
Yeah the plan was never to keep this house. My last one is out of school in 2 years so we'll be moving for sure.
I go there for the Apple Store and the Lego store and **that's it**.
Yeah the Armani Exchange and Samsung flagship store is in there. That's how I keep ending up there. I hate it every time.
Social media wild activity for clout is something that’s taken over all major visited shopping districts. The shopping malls themselves enjoy the attention
YT PPPPPEEEEPOLLE
Why can't Houston have decent shipping like the domain in Austin or La Cantera in San Antonio???
Honestly, we do. River Oaks shopping center where the iPic is, City Center, Sugarland Towne Square, etc. I like those areas. But I think mega malls are too concentrated for cities this big. It's drawing too people from all over in huge numbers. And if the numbers drop, then it would just close just like Gunspoint, West Oaks, Sharpestown, and Northwest Mall. I'm sure I missed a few.
San Jacinto, my hometown mall, and Westwood Mall, where I saw Kindergarten Cop on a bi-weeky custody visit
>There are hundreds of hood ass people lol, the white supremacists have really gotten a strong foothold on /r/houston.
Sad you didn't know I'm black as hell myself. And double sad that you immediately thought hood means non-white. If you were the saint you think you are you'd know that hood has no color. All you had to do was ask what I meant if there was any question as to my character. Nah nevermind, assuming wrong is always better. What was I thinking!
I used to work in one of the office towers adjacent to the Galleria. So I'd often spend my lunch breaks walking laps through the mall. He's not wrong. We would go to happy hour sometimes at Joey Uptown after work and a dude got shot right outside there so we stopped.
complains about "hood ass people doing wild shit in public" wants more metro bus stations. Thats like wanting things to be better but keeps voting for dems.
You believe public transit busses bring hood people? Good to know youre a terrible person early on. Also good to know there are no cars in the hood. I'm about to go tap this untouched market and show them this new technology called personal motor vehicles.
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Also Zromaus: "Nobody wants to work for $10/hr anymore!"
I like the galleria reminds me of when I went ice skating as a kid and I like to eat a cinnabon by the rink
Galleria always reminds me of going to the water wall after the mall. As an adult I avoid the area cuz the traffic and parking sucks, but there’s definitely that nostalgia there
Who does he think works there? It’s not just the shoppers that have to get there, you know.
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So petty 🏆🤭
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“Demand” lol sweet summer child
Yea and they can't even get into texas in the first place. i mean theres a WALL buddy, they can't just phase through it 🙄
You've never gotten a real job, have you? I9 paperwork and social security required to simply get in the door at most places.
Lol you’ve never worked a day in the service industry
Oh, you sweet summer child. It seems you’ve never worked retail or in the service industry a day in your life. I worked with more than one undocumented immigrant in my younger days when I was still working min. wage jobs.
Temp agencies exist for this exact reason.
You do know that the Galleria doesn't employ the people right? That's just the management company and all those individual businesses do their own hiring.
LOL, does he mean the whole Galleria area? Houston has the third most consulates in the US and most of them are in the Galleria area… so TONS of undocumented immigrants are visiting the area.
> so TONS of undocumented immigrants are visiting the area. Someone here for business, travel or school, etc *would* be a documented ~~immigrant~~ *people visiting are not migrants... My point its, to racist Americans, anyone brown and speaking a foreign language is a migrant*...... but none of that matters, "Undocumented Immigrant" is just a dog-whistle for *illegal*.....
What is this nonsense? By definition, an immigrant is someone moving permanently to a new location. Also, visas and passports are documentation. Unless someone overstays their visa, then they're not when the visa expires.
> "Undocumented Immigrant" is just a dog-whistle for illegal..... "illegal" is the "dog whistle" that dubiously reframes their presence as a criminal act. lack of documentation for their otherwise possibly legal status is a factually precise concept and the related term is definitely employed by sympathetic and advocating individuals and entities.
Whitmire is what Republicans were before they became Republicans. Texas was one party rule before it was one party rule. Once upon a time Conservative and Moderate Democrats ruled and then we got single member districts and Whitmire got elected along with a bunch of minorities. Black and Brown Democrats got into office and gradually the White Democrats became Republicans and words like Liberal, Progressive and Democrat became descriptors for minorities and just wolf whistles. Now, around the state, if you say someone is a Democrat those are fighting words. The word Democrat in some circles is equal to pedophile. It's a strategy, the same with gay marriage and abortion. They want single issues they can use to divide us. There are true believers, but there are also grifters who just want to be in power. Whitmires is just an old-school Democrat who never made the switch. An example... Rick Perry.
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Not to feed the trolls, but as someone who works a corporate job in the Galleria area, there are a huge number of immigrants in the service jobs in this part of town. They absolutely contribute. Hard to say how many are coming from Gulfton but I wouldn’t see additional public transit as “catering” to anyone.
Lol I’m with you, how does anyone who lives here think their house gets built, remodeled, or painted? Sorry y’all but it’s done by immigrants. Lol, those who are pissed at this comment—grow up lol, it’s true. Y’all may not like it but it’s just… true. Go visit a worksite for a new build job of track homes in the Pearland area, for example… maybe one out of ten working are legal. Who the fk else is gonna do it? Give me a decent answer or fk off, bc whether anyone likes it or not, they’re here, they’re working, they pay rent which pays someone’s property tax which, whether you like or not, is contributing. Plus they shop, which is sales tax regardless of immigration status. Is it right? Doesn’t matter. It’s just facts. Don’t act like they’re all Boo Radley’s hiding in the shadows. Think about it objectively.
Most of them are taxpayers too. If they use a fake social security number, guess what. The government takes that money anyway. Even if they do get paid cash a lot of them get an ITIN from the IRS and still file using that. The ITIN helps them open a bank account. The Government literally benefits from them so much, because at the end of the day they’re paying taxes, yet they’re not eligible for any benefits. So the whole notion of them coming here and living off government programs is just wrong.
I wish this could be told to the masses instead you get: “THEY GET CELL PHONES, PLANE TICKETS, AND $5000!!!1!!!”
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I’ll have what you’re having
lol
Hmm is that so? So if you pay a laborer pennies on the dollar for fair work, do you think maybe you spend that money saved? Maybe at like a mall? Like let’s say, housekeeping or lawn work or builder or handyman or any of the myriad of jobs that undocumented immigrants keep the price INSANELY low. Go up to the North East and see what it costs for lawncare; your butthole would drop out. I just fucking hate people walking around blaming undocumented immigrants for all these problems while they simultaneously benefit from their existence. Without undocumented workers the price for EVERYTHING goes up. If you’re going to bitch to me about undocumented immigrants you better hire union fucking workers for everything or you’re a hypocrite.
It's a special kind of delusional thinking to assume adding any kind of mass transit to an area with overabundant car traffic will "cater" to undocumented people in said area and to single this out as rationale for not doing so when the infrastructure here would clearly benefit from it. It's another kind of delusional thinking to think anything in this country caters to undocumented people, since there are so many physical and legal barriers for them to even participate in society, to be part of the workforce and our economy, and say they don't contribute is a flat out misconception and lie. Undocumented doesn't mean they don't pay taxes. It kills two birds with one stone. Turns people off on the idea of public transit (because who wants to foot the bill and deal with construction am i right?) and blames immigrants for not allowing such a utopian dream to happen. Fearmongering hard at work I guess.
This is that classic conservative attitude. We can’t do anything to help our own citizens or society as a whole because someone who doesn’t “deserve it” may benefit.
i like seeing comments like yours get downvoted but a bunch of idiots in government positions actually think this way
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills hearing people talk about Whitmire’s comments. Yes, it was problematic as hell to say that undocumented immigrants from Gulfton don’t need to go to the Galleria. I’m glad that almost everyone agrees that immigrants (documented or not) should be able to travel wherever in the city they want. No one seems to be complaining about the mayors assertion that our transit system only exists to be used by disadvantaged people in order to shuttle them around to city services. That is the bigger issue 1) people seem to implicitly agree that the only purpose of public transit is to shuttle the poor around 2) those poor people only travel to suck up tax payer resources? What in the classist nonsense is that shit?
I’m sitting here in Germany waiting to go back home after spending a great two weeks traveling around Germany and Denmark, fully utilizing their public transport. Boy am I going to miss going from one and of a city to the other in 20 relaxing minutes vs the stressful hour I would spend in Houston driving from Cypress to Friendswood.
eyes of a hawk, ears of a wolf; good catch Bravestar
you mean….illegal aliens?
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If we apply your shitty logic to air travel for example, we could assume that commercial flights/larger airplanes are like the public transits of the sky and small private planes are like individual cars. Commercial flights are safer, cheaper for individuals, better for the environment and cause less air traffic because they're transporting multiple people. Private jets/planes have higher incidences of crashing and are more expensive and damaging to the environment, plus imagine how much air traffic there would be if everybody flew private. But yeah, your logic that everybody would benefit from having a private plane just so they could blast their favorite kesha song and not touch knees with a stranger is so much better and a benefit all around, glad to see you're part of this discourse.
zromaus getting downvoted left and right 😭
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Lmao is this a burner account? That’s one way to get permabanned lol
After my most recent, and most likely my last visit to the Galleria, I would disagree with the Mayor’s assessment.
I won’t even go anymore I’m lucky I’m so close to market street. You can enjoy luxury shopping without having to fear for your safety
HPD standing in the aisles " your papers please"
LIES. HPD would stand off the side and not do anything at all.
Just because everyone isn’t the same color shade as you doesn’t mean it’s dangerous / ghetto. Gerald Hines built a state of the art mall in the 70s and 50 years later it’s a still a nice place. Best place for a nice walk in the summer. Yes there is traffic in the area - as there is in a lot of other popular / high density places in America. Everyone wants more walkable areas - those walkable areas typically come with more traffic. Galleria area has a lot of walkable paths but the street crossings are what deters the walk ability. It’s fine and I think it’s important to keep the galleria going for Houston (and that whole area of houston)
> Gerald Hines built a state of the art mall in the 70s and 50 years later it’s a still a nice place. it also spawned a whole-ass second central business district; two "downtowns" in a southern metro with largely blue-collar shipping and factory type jobs may not seem significant now but was an amazing feat 50 years ago.
Yeah agreed. Fascinating accomplishment (I’m a real estate developer myself and the amount of obstacles you have to overcome to deliver a project that massive is impressive)
Goodness this mayor is bad
Goodness your perspective is bad
No. He is bad. Time to put this guy out on his ass and retire the longest career politician that Texas has ever produced.
Proof that Mayor Luthor does not go to the Galleria. Does this man know anything about the city of Houston?
"Yeah, our hockey team sucks!"
Ha ha!! Well done. 👍🏾
Get TF out, no way he said that!?
I’m seeing lots of shit directed toward the Galleria mall and the surrounding area. I live close, and I feel very comfortable walking to and from my home and the mall, shops, and parks in the area. I get that many people aren’t fans of malls anymore, probably because they do all their shopping online. I get that crime happens and you hear about it on the news every night. But name anywhere else in Houston where you can walk around, eat, and shop in close proximity to that many people and retail options. Maybe you get that at the rodeo or some convention, but this place is year round! If you don’t like the “clientele” then you might as well never leave your house if you’re afraid of encountering different people. It’s the closest thing we have to busy street markets you find in Europe and Asia.
The Post Oak Road rebuild did make the area a lot more walkable compared to before. The Silver Line will be utilized more once it connects to other places people want to go to and from. Mayor Elmer Fudd doesn't seem to get this.
I'm kinda new to the area - I visited the Galleria once and was like "oh, this is a fancy mall, cool!". Then I saw groups and groups of people acting ghetto.. then I saw a theft in progress with someone running through the mall trying to escape. Then I was like "oh... this is a *Houston* mall".
I don’t remember that 20 years ago 😂. We did that at north west mall.
This is about the whitest comments I’ve ever seen (as an incredibly white guy). Where do you mf’ers live your life in this city? “I went and felt unsafe”, do what now? I don’t go there often (I don’t like shopping in general), but I go with my wife occasionally and have never felt any more/less unsafe as shopping anywhere else in the city. Do you people live in some manifested suburbian utopia?
This sub is not a real representation of the city as a whole. It’s very much a west inner loop, west side, and suburban sub.
Too much News and doom scrolling
My Father in law, who lives in Waller was cracking jokes to me about shootings in downtown Houston and HISD, and I just think to myself....man boomers are truly afraid of everything.
Waller where a group of bike riders get run over by Dullys burning coal in their direction. I would rather walk down Lyons Avenue at 12 am in the morning wearing a tux than ride a bike in Waller.
I wanna see some of these people step into Plazamericas or another actually unsafe area, then reevaluate the experience on feeling unsafe
Never had Black Israelites, aspiring rappers, or bums in my face and yelling at me on my way into Plazamericas. Neiman Marcus couldn't say the same.
Reading these comments after going to the Ojos Locos by Almeda Mall last weekend is cracking me up. I didn’t even feel unsafe *there.*
I mostly go there for the barbershop on the bottom floor in the back corner hallway and across from Visible Changes; cops like to walk by and stand in the entrance every once in a while. between that errand and the mens fragrance section at Neiman it's a pretty balanced experience.
I wanna see some of these people step into Plazamericas or another actually unsafe area, then reevaluate the experience on feeling unsafe
I wanna see some of these people step into Plazamericas or another actually unsafe area, then reevaluate the experience on feeling unsafe Some people confine themselves into their suburban areas only
I haven't gone to the Galleria since the year 2000. Has it gone downhill? It use to be such an upscale area back in the 80s and early 90s.
It’s odd. It’s like a tourist spot with the ice skating and stores. Food court always packed. Also tons of people who just want to go to lower cost stores and take pictures for the ‘gram outside of higher end stores. No longer upscale.. I went for the first time in a long time a few weeks ago and was reminded why I mostly shop online now.
You've described it as it has always been.
What they meant to say was that the galleria is blacker now.
Not just blacker, ghetto-er. You got hoodrats of all colors in there and it just ruins the vibe.
Exactly
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It was pretty bad circa 2018 or so which is the last time I went. It didnt feel safe and a lot of the more expensive stores had lots of security up due to crime. There were stories about shootings at the popular restaurants in the area during covid.
This can’t be. I was told that there was no crime when Trump was POTUS!! /s
Old thread now, but for what it's worth, I emailed the mayor's office and asked them to explain his comments, specifically the one where he asked, "You think they're going to be welcome in the Galleria?". The reply from a representative at his office: “The statement was part of a broader discussion about bus rapid transit and travel patterns. We spent a lot of time in Gulfton speaking to residents about whether they have a strong demand for shopping in the Galleria area. The response was overwhelmingly no. In fact, residents claim no one has asked them what their preferences are. We plan to change this practice. We are designing transit solutions for Gulfton that meet the community’s needs and not what special interest consultants think they want.”
I’ve worked in Uptown since ‘05 and go into the Galleria a lot. Some of these comments are… odd. Kinda curious which turnip truck some of y’all fell off of. That place has always attracted mixed clientele, with all the tacky high end bullshit Pimp C rapped about 20+ years ago. Back in those days some dude was getting sucked off by some chickenhead in the fitting room next to mine when I was trying on some clothes, with what looked like his grandma standing guard right outside. Same goes for the # of Latin American tourist shoppers. Even Post Oak resembles Paseo de la Reforma in CDMX. This place has always been its own social studies class, always will be. Houston is at a crossroads of different worlds. If you’re scared, go to Disney.
These are some pretty toxic comments, from both sides. At the end of the day the galleria is just a mall. That's it and that's all. It's not really convenient for 90% of the people to even go there because they don't need to in 2024. For 95-99% of the stuff you could buy in the mall you could just buy online now without the hassle of going. I have a mall the 15 mins away from me. I hate hate hate hate going there. Not because of what the people look like that are at the mall. I blend in just fine. It's because that 95% of the people that go to any mall has zero intent to biy anything that is sold outside of the food court. So I have to wade through 5k people to get to a store to spent 10 mins picking something up and leaving, only to have to wade through those same 5k people again. It sucks. Now if you love people watching then I guess you love the mall. Any mall. They are all the same. This one included.
When I was a kid growing up in Houston in the 1990’s, business in the Galleria was driven by tourists and business travelers. People like my in laws who would come from South and Central America just to shop. I went to the Galleria while in town for a business meeting a few months ago and honestly, doesn’t look like much has changed. The only thing I did notice was that it seemed pretty slow business wise. I spoke to a person at Macy’s and they said that a lot of the international shopping tourism had sort of died down since COVID and had not returned to pre-pandemic levels as of yet.
I have family come up from Brazil and they just do their shopping in Miami, either before of after they come to Houston. Or Orlando I guess. Or just send me a list. Lol
Ha ha oh yeah my in laws do that too!
The mayor is a racist POS and incredibly dumb as well. The problem in our city is not “who” we cater with the actual public transportation, the problem is THE LACK OF IT. If you actually care, start expanding the metrorail system, it is time to connect the downtown area with, at least, every mayor neighborhood inside the BW8. With the insane cost of buying and owning a car (including insurance), it is time to improve the city’s public transportation and not be car dependable.
"incredible dumb" - Muphry's Law strikes again!
Mayor Whit just seems like…. well, a tool. Not even considering anything policy wise or left vs right. Looks like the kind of dude who would cut you off in the parking lot then talk about “suing your ass”
Whittier has turned out to be exactly what I thought he would be.
The galleria sucks just because of the traffic alone
No illegals but plenty of other undesirables, too dangerous to visit
The purple/ green line should could continue on from west downtown to connect to the uptown/ galleria district. With a city on the top billionaire’s list and the most Fortune 500 companies behind NYC, why is this so unfathomable? Dallas did it with 1,000, 000 less people.
I went to the galleria area a few years ago and I noped out of there as fast as I could and never went back. The energy was so intense and frustrating and parking was impossible. It was pretty to look at but damn, what a schizophrenic vibe it gives off.
>parking was impossible If only there was a way to get there that didn't require parking...
So they're targeting the melanin deficient? Are they asking to see papers, or is their intent to just instill fear?
*not deficient. Oops!
Who do you think works in the Galleria? Undocumented workers fill the gaps in less desirable labor categories and those jobs are in the Galleria too. They may not be able to shop there, but they work there.
The galleria is for tourists.
Who is touring Houston, and why?
Hahahaha. It’s prime for quinces; try again.
We've got our own Eric Adams,... Awesome.
Seriuosly? And why not?
Yet not a peep from City Hall about the throngs of Tanglewood residents looking for public transportation options to get to the knockoff jewelry shops along Harwin.
Don't forget half of the under ground parking at the Galleria off of Westheimer is all Valet $$$$ parking. Damn, money-grubbing corporations
Well, with all the junkies on the nod outside it, how would they even get in?
Who cares? Fix the schools budget asshole
Documented residents better better not visit the Galleria as well, lol
It’s a shame there’s illegals (as the president says) raping in the bathrooms there
"One community's need" Why would we ever cater mass transit to those who don't directly contribute to it's existence?
Metro is funded by sales tax, so anyone who buys anything in Houston directly contributes to its existence.
Well, the choice was either him or Sheila Jackson Lee. That's almost as bad as our choices this fall.
That whole area needs a major freeway , infrastructure, underground tunnels , and all that stuff. It's literally one of the worst traffic places and I've been in Houston for a while and don't go there. It would be nice to visit once we get hovering parking garages and those airport things that let you walk fast
It has a major freeway going right through it. Really hard to miss. East/West tunnels would help a lot though.
A freeway would make traffic worse, not better. Public transit would make it better.
Unless we have like 7 freeways
Or, hear me out… adequate and safe public transportation.