What makes houston great

Subscriber Account active since. But you shouldn't dismiss Houston so easily; the Bayou City is an economic juggernaut. It's by far the country's No. A paycheck goes farther here than anywhere else in the country, and it has a medical center larger than downtown Dallas. Add a thriving restaurant and cultural scene, and you've got a winning case for Houston as the best city in America. Here are 18 reasons you may want to pack your bags and head south.

Many are in the city's "energy corridor," the home of the oil and gas industry. The Texas Medical Center is the largest single employer in Houston , and the largest medical center in the world, with 21 hospitals, eight academic and research institutions, and 50 total related organizations, all not-for-profit. Institutions include the University of Texas M. Anderson Cancer Center , one of the world's premier cancer treatment and research hospitals, which is spending billions in an aggressive push to cure five types of cancer.

The oil and gas industry is booming in the U. Not only is Houston the home of corporations like Conoco Phillips and Marathon, it's the center of the petrochemical industry, close to Texas oil fields, and close to Latin America. The energy sector provides an estimated 3. Houston's port is the largest in terms of international tonnage handled, and third in terms of trade value.

That means a great deal of international business and trade. It's also exceptionally business friendly, and is the only major U.

That port itself, along with Houston's strength in the energy sector and proximity to Latin America, enticed more than foreign-owned companies to either expand, start new businesses, or relocate to Houston between and Houston is the home of the Lyndon B.

Johnson Space Center. It's the home of America's astronaut corps, and the place where they — and many international astronauts — get trained to go to space. It's a significant research center and employer, as well as housing Mission Control for manned spaceflight expeditions. Living well isn't just about high pay.

It's about how much everything costs. You can't beat Houston here. According to Census data , Houston is the most racially and ethnically diverse large metropolitan area in the U. Some , foreign-born residents moved to the city between and The Anglo population in Houston is Houston has particularly excellent Vietnamese food due to a massive expatriate population, which was partially drawn by the large seafood industry.

There's great Mexican food, and a strong Cajun presence due to the proximity of New Orleans and the many people who came after Katrina and stayed. And don't forget barbecue, because this is Texas after all, at places like Goode Company.

The publication gave glowing reviews to innovative Houston restaurants Oxheart and Underbelly. Its chief food critic, Pete Wells, wrote that Houston is becoming " one of the country's most exciting places to eat.

There's also an outpost of Uchi , one of America's most lauded sushi restaurants, and much more. Though it's known for its association with the oil industry, Houston has lots and lots of parks and green space — 50, acres in total. That puts it third in the U. The city's been investing a large amount in building out this space, particularly building out the space surrounding the Buffalo Bayou, Houston's main waterway.

It's not quite the college town that Boston is, but Houston's higher education system is nothing to sniff at. The University of Houston has some 39, students and was elevated to Tier One status as a research university by the Carnegie Foundation in Rice University is one of the country's best undergraduate schools, ranked 18th nationally , with particularly strong programs in applied sciences.

Houston's Museum of Fine Arts is among the largest museums in the U. We contribute to the image! In movies, Houston has served as a metaphor for all that is wrong with urban American life.

In the comedy Local Hero , Burt Lancaster plays an oil CEO who sits in a glass tower plotting environmental devastation, and Houston has been the scene for a disconcerting number of dystopian science fiction movies. Skyscrapers sprout between high schools, strip joints, restaurants and parking lots, all tied into the knots of endless concrete highways. And yet Houston has a thriving art scene, with a startling choice of museums and galleries, and its block theater district claims to have the largest concentration of seats outside of Broadway.

To thwart this stereotype, the first place to visit is the Rothko Chapel. A Modernist masterpiece of religious art, it lies in a verdant oasis of museums, gardens and outdoor sculptures created in the s by two philanthropists flush with oil money, John and Dominique de Menil.

The superb Menil Collection Museum, designed by Renzo Piano, has been a pilgrimage site for international art lovers since it opened in The nondenominational chapel is the most serene corner of this leafy precinct: Mark Rothko created 14 rich black, maroon and plum-colored paintings for the octagonal space designed in part by Philip Johnson , which has meditation cushions for visitors to contemplate the art in silence.

The chapel is a clue that Houston is perhaps a more tolerant and open-minded place than it is given credit for. Another clue is that Houston is the largest U. Clearly, a lot more is happening in Houston—nicknamed The Big Heart after the city and its people aided Hurricane Katrina victims—than concrete freeways. In , Lowe and others began renovating a block of derelict shotgun shacks into gallery spaces, creating Project Row Houses. Today, seven formerly abandoned houses, some of which had been used for drugs and prostitution, are exhibition spaces for resident artists, who participate in community life.

Another row of salvaged houses, sporting neat lawns and gleaming white paint, is occupied by single mothers. Their success has brought life back to the neighborhood, and has been a springboard for renovations across the Third Ward. Abandoned venues have been given practical functions and turned into social hubs. An old speakeasy has been reborn as a laundromat. The Eldorado Ballroom, where B. King, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington played, has been rescued from dereliction and once again stages music events.

The Temptations flew to Houston just to get their suits cut here. When I arrived to talk with Lowe, I found him playing dominoes with a trio of older artists at an outside table in the sunshine. Lowe, who is tall and lean and was raised in rural Alabama, first came to the city on a road trip in , he said.

So far, five blocks of the Third Ward have been renovated, with plans to help improve another 80 in the area, and Lowe has been invited to advise on urban renewal projects from Philadelphia to Opa-locka, Florida, to Seoul, South Korea.

In the shadow of Interstate 10 northwest of downtown, the Art Car Museum showcases the Houstonian folk tradition of turning its ubiquitous motor vehicles into mobile sculptures—giant rabbits or cockroaches, cars covered in plastic fruit, or bristling with silver spikes, adorned with lurid mannequins or crocodile skulls.

Only at Space Center Houston can visitors walk through the flight deck, mid-deck and payload bay of a shuttle replica and the seven dynamic areas within the aircraft. Who would have guessed that the lush, green landscape on the Rushmore campus was not filmed in New England but in Houston just 10 minutes from downtown?

Anderson Cancer Center, the No. The first successful human heart transplant was performed in Houston by Dr. Denton Cooley Play Video. Travel Planning. What's Trending. Hotel Deals. Houston Insiders Sign Up. City Lights at Avenida Houston.

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Glassell, Jr. Fortunately in the nation's forth-largest city Houston families have a lot to choose from when it comes to exploring thi As a city that's home to a diverse array of nightlife, Houston offers residents and visitors a wide variety of options to explore. Those who prefer handcrafted cocktails, wine or beer have a lot of excitin Home to one of the largest concentrations of theatre seats in the nation, Houston's bustling performance arts district is ready for its post-COVID debut.

It's not every day that a acre site gets redeveloped within a stone's throw of Downtown Houston. But that's just what's in store for an expansive tract hugging the north bank of Buffalo Bayou east of t Houston is known internationally as a mecca for both performing and visual arts. My Account. Houston Data. Why Houston. International Business. UpSkill Houston. Public Policy. Get involved. Living in Houston. Houston has so many representations of different countries and ethnic groups that are on par or greater than other big cities.

Why Choose Houston? Cost of Living Houston consistently ranks among the most affordable big cities in the nation across a number of dimensions, including housing. Learn More.