I might have a slight bias towards Houston seeing as I currently live there. Before I moved to the Bayou City, I lived in Colorado, one of the most touted[  places in the country, and while I loved it for many, many reasons, I am so glad I left to go explore another place, especially one that was tossed aside by so many people who had never even been there.

Once I had decided to move, I would tell people that I was moving to Houston soon, and the only reaction I ever got from friends and family was, “Ew, Houston?! Why?” Truthfully, I was moving to Houston for my current job, not because I wanted to live in Houston. But I’ve always been adventurous, and at the time, I was ready for a change, so I packed everything I owned into shipping cubes, sold my house, and headed to Houston.

This city blew my mind and continues to do so every day. It opened up so many doors, taught me so much about the world that I’d never known existed while living in Colorado, and forced me to look at the world with a completely new perspective.

Most people’s biggest complaint about Houston is that it’s hot and humid. Yes, it very much can be both of these, and there are days after big rain storms where it feels like I need to put on a swimsuit to walk down to the mailbox, but most of the time, the humidity isn’t too bad, and when it is hot.  Houston has more air-conditioned square footage than anywhere else in the world. I carry a light jacket with me in the summers because it can sometimes be so cold inside buildings. Air conditioners are efficient, and energy is cheap, so it’s easy to keep your house at exactly the temperature you prefer.

The other complaint I’ve heard is that it’s flat. And yes, it is. Houston’s largest hills are highway overpasses. On the upside, Houston has a ton of water. There aren’t excellent hiking trails or mountains to climb, but there are boundless bayous, lakes, bays, and even oceans within 30 minutes drive of the city that offer unique and interesting paddling trails and places to explore by boats of all sizes. Galveston, 45 minutes away, also provides swimming, surfing, deep-sea fishing, and other beach-side activities.

Traffic is another common complaint, although usually one that comes from locals, and it’s a valid one, for sure. However, Houston is only the 16th worse city for traffic despite being the 3rd largest city in the US. Nevertheless, traffic, combined with the sheer size of the city, makes for a frustrating commute. It takes me well over an hour to get from my southern suburb to the most northern suburb. However, Houston has implemented smart methods of controlling traffic and is regularly working to add and improve these methods. Feeder streets that parallel the highways allow for fewer on-ramps and off-ramps. Toll lanes within highways allow for rush hour traffic to have the choice between paying for the fast lane or keeping it cheap and sitting in traffic for an extra 10 minutes. There are areas that get hugely backed up, and all the improvements make for a lot of construction, but this is true of any city. Houston is certainly not unique in this case.

Complaints aside, Houston has some absolutely amazing things going for it, some of which AREN’T like every other city.

I had no idea what I was missing when going out to eat in Colorado. The food in Houston is so far above and beyond amazing that it continues to shock me every time I try a new restaurant or cuisine. Being a major port city in the Gulf of Mexico results in year-round access to fresh produce. Stretching from Indian to Peruvian, Houston has every type of cuisine you could possibly want: high-end bistros, cheap dives with great food and cold beer, the best Tex-Mex you’ll ever have, and so SO much more. It would take a lifetime to try all the food in Houston. I could never list all my recommendations in a single blog post, but if you’re in the area, here are a few options throughout the city:

  • Chacos – cheap Mexican
  • Lupe Tortillas – Best fajitas and Tex-Mex you’ll ever eat
  • Pass and Provisions – ½ fine dining and ½ small-plate bistro makes for a unique experience (Out of business during COVID)
  • Papadeaux – Caujin seafood
  • Niko Nikos – Greek
  • Agu – Ramen Bistro
  • Natachees – Southern home cooking (Get the meatloaf) (Out of business during COVID)

Houston’s large population means that the entertainment scene is top-notch. Although strangely enough, Houston does not have a real amusement park. Two small, boardwalk-style amusement parks exist nearby, but the city itself has no major amusement parks or water parks. That’s my only real complaint. But this lack of roller coasters is made tolerable with endless museums, an excellent Zoo, extensive natural history museum, aquarium, theaters, concert venues, historical attractions, world-class shopping malls, an NFL football team, MLB baseball team, NBA basketball team and multiple sprawling parks scattered throughout the city.

The bar scene is also the best I’ve ever seen. Unique bars are never far away and feature great drink menus paired with fun atmospheres. A few of my favorites are Axlerad, which features a large outdoor space with hammocks to lounge in with a beverage. The Conservatory, an underground beer garden with beer, wine, and several food truck-like concession stands with great bar food to accompany your beverage. Cottonwood, an indoor/outdoor venue with lots of great food, drinks, and live music. And Truckyard, a bar built from shipping containers and old vehicles that features a Ferris wheel and lots of beverages to choose from.

It is generally cheap to fly to and stay in Houston, making it a good destination to visit on a budget. As a tourist, one doesn’t benefit as much from Houston’s low cost of living, but as a resident, the cost of property, electricity, water, and other daily needs is drastically low. In combination with Houston’s wide range of industries, including shipping, oil, fishing, medical research, technology, and engineering, Houston has been called “recession-proof” and has thrived, only taking small hits, during major nationwide recessions. The cost of living remains low, housing market remains stable, and job market remains high with lots of great opportunities for all skill levels.

But the absolute best thing about Houston is its cultural diversity and friendliness. I don’t mean that there are simply a lot of people of different ethnicities because that’s common in many big cities. I mean that Houston is lacking culturally-defined segregation almost entirely,\ despite its extremely high number of immigrants. There is no China Town. There is no Little Italy. Houston managed to take in immigrant populations from all over the world and maintain togetherness and intermingling amongst these populations. One of my favorite experiences in Houston was during Super Bowl LI. My colleague and I were out at 2 AM driving guests to and from parties. We had some time to kill, so we went to a nearby IHOP at 2:30 AM. This group of diners was the most diverse group of human beings either of us had ever seen. The restaurant was packed with people and represented an incredible visualization of Houston’s diversity and lack of ethnic majority. There were white people, black people, Chinese, Latinos, Japanese, Jews, and everything in between hanging out at an IHOP at 2:30 in the morning. And the tables weren’t ethnically split either. People were with their friends, most of whom didn’t match their own ethnicity. My colleague and I were both struck by this demonstration of diversity and it’s one of the things that made me love Houston so much early on after I’d moved there. This diversity contributes to so many of the wonderful things Houston has to offer and, in my opinion, is the backbone of the city’s greatness.

I’m proud to call myself a Houstonian, and I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of exploring the vast amenities it has to offer. It’s a great place to live, work, and even just visit.

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