Adventures in Houston, The World's Biggest Small Town

A few weeks ago, my father shared with me an article featuring Houston, declaring it to be on the fast track to becoming one of the world's great cities.

Inspired, I have since made journeys into America's third largest city, Rice Village, the Museum District, Main Street, even the Spanish Renaissance style Houston Public Library.

If Houston wants to be a great city it will have to create a compelling reason for people to go out of their way to visit.

Now, if you live here, it is nice and has places to go. The Art museum is worthy and I've been all around the world, the Museum of Natural History is a fine way to spend the afternoon, Memorial park is beautiful, the Houston Public Library is lovely.

However, the city doesn't have much of a flavor aesthetically. I mean, Nacgodoches has more flavor, and that's not a slam on Nacgodoches. Also, it is spread out. Like, really spread out, this is not a walker's city and the public transportation consists of buses and a toy train (a very nice toy train, mind you, just doesn't go super far, there's only one line).

Point being, this city is not very distinctive. There are highlights of originality, but they are few. It is the world's biggest small town. Like most small towns in America, it is clean, safe, more or less upright, and there are a thousand more just like it.

It will take more than a rah rah attitude to make people want to see Houston. On a side note, boasting of a thriving night life doesn't mean a tinker's curse, all you need for a night life is liquor, women, and music, and, last time I checked, you can find all three pretty much worldwide.

All of that being said, Houston does have something that the only three cities in America bigger than it have. A future. New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago are expensive and socialist, and are driving business away. People are draining from these cities to places like Houston, where the price of a tiny house or apartment in NY, LA, or Chicago can buy a big house with land around it, or a luxury apartment with more than one room that costs less than $2600 a month. If you want to know the future you can ask Austin, and even San Antonio.

The future of America is working towards the center and the south. Factories are opening there, here. Industry is thriving and the cost of living is fantastic. What we lack in distinctiveness we possess in abundance of the necessities of life, work that creates value, and the economic freedom to make that possible.