There’s a lot to like about Houston, an industrial and energy hub with a serious arts and culture addiction.
The country’s fourth-largest city, with more than 2.2 million residents, owes its recent rapid population growth to a booming job market in gas and oil, aerospace, logistics, digital technology, health care and manufacturing. Texas also has no state income tax, an enticement that has helped to fuel the influx of newcomers to Houston.
The city’s relatively compact downtown includes the Theater District, with nine venues and resident opera, ballet, symphony and theater companies, and the Historic District, with upscale restaurants and 19th-century architecture.
Houstonians love their museums, which offer more than just a cool escape from the city’s fierce heat and humidity. In The Museum District, just south of downtown, you’ll find 19 museums, galleries and community spaces.
Downtown Houston is the locale for some of the city’s best cultural institutions and most desirable properties. (Shutterstock)
Houston’s central urban core is surrounded by the square-ish Interstate 610 — what locals call “the Loop.” River Oaks, within the Loop and three miles west of downtown, is one of Houston’s oldest and most affluent neighborhoods with luxury homes and stately mansions dating from the 1920s. This historic community is protected by strict architectural standards and building restrictions, a distinction in a city with little or no zoning.
The upscale Western University Place (locals call it West U) neighborhood is also within the Loop and a mile from Rice University. The community has a small-town feel with an extensive park system, beautiful homes and tree-lined streets.
Other in-demand neighborhoods include the Tanglewood area, outside the Loop. Its spacious lots and a variety of architectural styles make it popular with former U.S. presidents, chief executives and celebrities. Memorial Villages, just outside Houston’s core, is made up of six small hamlets known for their extravagant estates, large lots and wooded settings.
The Vibe
Houston is young – the median age is 34.2 years – energetic, entrepreneurial and cosmopolitan, with a down-home twang. It’s also regarded as one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse cities in America, with more than 145 languages spoken. Oil-tycoon and Fortune 500 money support sophisticated performing arts and entertainment, but if cowboy culture is more your scene, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the world’s largest. Sports fans will find plenty to root for, with professional basketball, football, baseball and soccer teams. The heat and humidity are facts of life but Houstonians adapt; hurricane season (June through September) can bring torrential rain and severe flooding.
McGovern Centennial Gardens at Hermann Park. (Shutterstock)
Landmarks
Space Center Houston, which opened in 1992, is a science museum and learning center stuffed with artifacts and exhibits on America’s space-flight program. It’s also the official visitor center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where astronaut training takes place.
Stadiums and arenas are integral to sports-mad Houston and its economy. Minute Maid Park, in downtown, has a retractable roof and is home to the Houston Astros. The massive NRG Stadium hosts the National Football League’s Houston Texans, and the Toyota Center, which covers six city blocks, is home court for the Houston Rockets and a major concert venue.
Houston is truly a “green”city, with 366 parks, more than 200 green spaces, and 125 miles of hike-and-bike trails. Memorial Park covers 1,466 acres, mostly inside the 610 Loop, which makes it one of the largest urban parks in the nation. It includes Texas’ largest municipal golf course as well as the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. Hermann Park is home to the popular Houston Zoo and the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
A new construction condo with views of the Houston skyline (Baker & Co.)
Dining and Shopping
Even the pickiest eater will find something to tempt their taste buds at one of Houston’s more than 12,000 restaurants.
For down-home regional fare, hungry Houstonians praise the chicken and waffles at The Breakfast Klub, the beef ribs and brisket tacos at The Pit Room, and buttermilk biscuits and fried catfish at Gatlin’s Fins & Feathers.
Houston’s ethnic diversity means abundant choices for international cuisine. Niko Niko’s claims to be the best Greek food in Houston; if you crave Thai, Benchawan Jabthong Painter this year won the James Beard Award for best chef in Texas for her restaurant Street to Kitchen. Houston’s food trucks are some of the best in the nation; try Coreanos for a mashup.of Korean barbecue and Mexican flavors.
Shoppers can find almost anything at The Galleria in Uptown Houston, the biggest shopping mall in Texas with more than 400 restaurants and retail stores. Traders Village, the biggest weekend flea market in Texas, has thousands of vendors trading in everything from furniture to clothing to automobile parts.
If you want fresh produce, visit the Houston Farmers Market, the city’s oldest and largest. Open 6 a.m.-7:30 p.m. daily; closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.
Sam Houston Statue in Hermann Park. (Shutterstock)
Need to know
The car is king here, with more than 76% of Houstonians driving alone to work. Commutes in some parts of the metro area average an hour or more each way. A light-rail system covers about 22 miles with three lines.
The William P. Hobby Airport is Houston’s close-in original airfield seven miles south of downtown. It offers service to more than 60 domestic destinations as well as the Caribbean and Latine America. The George Bush Intercontinental Airport, about 23 miles north of downtown, has more than 700 flights daily departing from five terminals.
The greater Houston area has 14 major institutions of higher learning, including the University of Houston, Texas Southern University and Rice University. Parents with school-age children tend to prefer the suburbs outside the Loop where most of Houston’s top-rated schools are located.
