Homestate Glory

The city of the 21st century? Houston touted as one of the country's best draws

Houston made third place on the list, while Austin landed in the top slot. San Antonio and Dallas took nos. 9 and 11, respectively.

Photo by Jason Connel/Bold Imagery

The Lone Star State racked up some love from the Daily Beast in a survey of so-called aspirational cities — urban hubs the website defines as "magnets" of economic and cultural opportunity that lure new demographics with high quality-of-life factors.

Austin finds itself in the No. 1 slot with New Orleans trailing just behind it. Houston took third with San Antonio coming in at 9 and Dallas at 11.

Researchers Wendell Cox and Joel Kotkin — both known for their work with staunchly libertarian think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, respectively — tout the top cities as "places where people can enjoy the cultural amenities and attitudes of 'progressive' blue states but in a distinctly red-state environment of low costs, less regulation and lower taxes."

The 21-century aspirational city, the report explains, tends to draw people from the nation's longstanding hives of activity in California and the Northeast. The South and the lower Midwest appear to have the strongest pull as workers leave more expensive regions for greener pastures where they can build a career, buy a home and live in relative comfort.

According to Cox and Kotkin, American history have given us plenty of burgeoning urban landscapes. It was Boston in the 17th century, Philadelphia in the 18th, New York in the 19th and Chicago in the early 20th. The last 100 years have seen Detroit come into its own between the World Wars with Los Angeles booming in the middle of the century. San Jose in the 1980s is an example of one of the nation's more recent cauldrons of aspiration.

Here's how the Top 15 stacked up in 2013, with the Texas cities highlighted in bold:

1. AUSTIN
2. New Orleans
3. HOUSTON
4. Oklahoma City
5. Raleigh
6. Nashville
7. Richmond
8. Washington, DC
9. SAN ANTONIO
10. Minneapolis-St.Paul
11. DALLAS
12. Seattle
13. Charlotte
14. Salt Lake City
15. Columbus

unspecified

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

undefined

Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”