Houston is a very friendly city and Houston never gets the recognition it deserves. 

When I was still young and not as travelled as I am now, I had a professor tell us in a freshman Communication class that Houston was the friendliest city he had ever lived in.  He said that when he walked across campus and made eye contact with someone they always said hello.  He said that would never happen in a larger city like say, New York, where he had also lived.

I always remembered that.

Another thing I learned in my early twenties was that Houston never gets the recognition that it deserves for all of its great attributes.

For example, did you know that Houston is the 4^th largest city in the United States? Yes it is. No, Dallas is not bigger than Houston. We rank #4 after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. For some crazy reason no one ever realizes this.

Did you know that Houston has one of the best fine art communities and is home to an Opera, Ballet, Symphony, Musicals, and Theater district? 

Did you know that The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) is the largest art museum in the State of Texas and the largest art museum in the USA east of Los Angeles, south of Chicago, and west of Washington, D.C.?

When Houston won the NBA Championship back in the 1990s Sports Illustrated chose not to put them on the cover. If New York had won they would have been on the cover. That is a great example of the lack of respect and appreciation that Houston gets.

Fast forward a few years to the Super Bowl XXXVIII February 2004. Houston finally had an opportunity to show what a great host city it can be.  So many reporters talked about how friendly our city can be.  They wrote and reported on how they were welcomed to Houston by its citizens. They loved Houston and so did the players and celebrities that were out and about during all the pre and post festivities.

Then this past week we have been going through a terrible time with Hurricane Ike and once again I am reminded of how great our city is. My sister told me that FEMA has said that this is the most organized city they have ever worked with. Especially for a city this size.

Communities came together and helped one another. Our neighbors were out clearing the drains and cutting down trees for one another.  A co-worker told me that when the Centerpoint Energy workers were in his neighborhood a representative for the company told him that she had never seen communities react the way we had. She said that the neighbors were taking out pizza and sodas to the workers in appreciation.

This is Houston. This is the city where I live. If you have never visited Houston I hope that you do one day soon.  I’m very proud to call this city my home!