biking east end

Houston cycles out new Buffalo Bayou bike path for crucial East End connection

East Enders can soon enjoy a new bike trail.

Photo by Getty Images

East Enders can look forward to a new bike path in their area. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced on September 15 that the county has approved a partnership with Houston Parks and Recreation to design, build, and maintain a hike and bike path along the south bank of Buffalo Bayou.

The project will be led by Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, Hidalgo added. The path will connect Buffalo Bend Nature Park and Hidalgo Park in the north end of Houston's Magnolia Park, per Garcia's office.

“Healthy living and new methods of mobility are important to the quality of life for residents of the East End,” Garcia tells CultureMap in an email. “We want to use new hike and bike trails to connect all of our neighborhoods in Precinct 2 so people have a way to see their neighbors without having to drive. This particular section of trail along Buffalo Bayou will help immensely with that connectivity.

I’m proud that this partnership between Harris County, City of Houston, the City Parks Board, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, and Texas Parks and Wildlife has come together to build this exciting new section of trail.”

This new addition is part of the East End Bike Plan, which covers 16 square miles in the East End including Second Ward, Magnolia Park, Eastwood, Lawndale, and Pecan Park. Analysis for the plans stretches from IH-610 in the south and west beyond Buffalo Bayou to the north.

Garcia's office tells CultureMap that this new trail is a partnership between Harris County, City of Houston, City of Houston Parks Board, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, with financial assistance via a grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife.

These new additions come as welcome news to bikers. Earlier this month, the City of Houston announced a crucial trail connector that will address a missing link between the MKT Trail and White Oak Bayou Greenway in The Heights. The 850-foot trail connection is one of the last critical pieces needed for these two hike-and-bike trail systems.

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H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).