Everyone Hates Houston?
Why does everyone suddenly hate Houston? City takes a beating in slew of new national rankings
After years of national recognition for its economy, foodie scene and real estate market, is Houston finally losing its edge? Well, a number of recent "best city" lists certainly seem to think so.
Leading the "Houston is meh" charge is Movoto, the snarky real estate blog that dubbed our fair metropolis the nation's fifth "least hipster" city in 2012.
While the hipster claim can be good or bad — depending on your penchant for vinyl records and fixed-gear bikes — the popular website offers some undeniably poor statistics for Space City while dismissing it on a "Best Cities of 2013" list, which ranks Houston a dismal 38th.
Movoto puts H-Town at the bottom of Top 50 lists for film buffs, brainiacs, thrill seekers, preps and nerds.
But Movoto doesn't stop there. It puts H-Town near the bottom of Top 50 lists for film buffs (No. 39), brainiacs (No. 43), thrill seekers (No. 38), preps (No. 45) and nerds (No. 46). Only Houston's hard-workers and meater-eaters fare well, respectively ranking 10th and 15th nationwide.
Meanwhile, Texas Highways — the official magazine of the Texas Department of Transportation — manages to add insult to injury in its reader's poll of Top 40 Lone Star travel destinations. So far, the monthly glossy only released numbers 32 through 40, just enough to show Houston in 36th place.
In another blow to our collective city pride, Trulia places Houston at No. 7 in its newly-compiled "Top 10 Worst Cities for Losing Weight" list, with Las Vegas and Fort Worth taking first and second. The website notes that factors like that urban sprawl and long commute times are largely to blame.
Financial advice blog Nerd Wallet fails to include Houston in its "10 Best Texas Cities for Job Seekers" list while hip news site Vocativ only placed us at No. 30 on its "Best U.S. Cities for People 35 and Under" list.
But never fear, Houstonians. Award-winning craft beer joints, talented bartenders, personalized license plates and endless love from Forbes magazine are still getting the Bayou City the recognition it deserves . . .
Here's to better rankings in 2014.