Strategic Picketing

Protesting beach style: The new Occupy Galveston ditches the idea of sleepingbags — and occupation

Occupy Galveston's protests are quintessentially islander.
Photo via Occupy Galveston/Facebook
Photo via Occupy Galveston/Facebook
Photo via Occupy Galveston/Facebook
It's a family affair.
Photo via Occupy Galveston/Facebook
Photo via Occupy Galveston/Facebook

Occupy Galveston was a few weeks late to the national movement, but the small group of islander protesters has quickly gained ground and credibility. A meet and greet on Oct. 12 and a potluck and sign painting party on Oct. 14 prepared the group for larger work.

The Galveston group's first protest on Oct. 15, along Broadway, saw "a minimum of 34 people" participants throughout the day. Their second, on Saturday in front of Bank of America, brought in at least 40. For an island with a population of less than 50,000, those numbers don't look quite so small.

Still from the looks of things, it's a motley group and a family affair. There's really no "occupation," camping out in sleeping bags on sidewalks overnight. Just mid-morning protests on the weekends. Wake up late, picket for a few hours and go home.

It's clear that, like the other Occupy movements, Occupy Galveston's goals and beliefs are genuine though. Gordon Haire, an organizer of the group, likens this protest to the peace movement in the '60s and '70s — but with a larger participation, and an apparently more varied base.

"There really are so many issues that we and the tea party agree on," Haire told Galveston Daily News. "I think you are seeing the same frustrations of forgetting the little guy and protecting the career politicians by both groups."

The third Occupy Galveston protest will be held this Saturday along the seawall. Sounds like a day at the beach.

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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).