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    Holiday Best

    Houston jingles all the way to top-5 status in new list of most festive U.S. cities

    Hannah J. Frías
    Nov 25, 2022 | 9:45 am
    Winter Wanderland

    Houston really knows how to make merry.

    Photo courtesy of VisitHouston.com

    As Houstonians decorate their homes and make plans for festive holiday displays (find them here), we might take for granted that our Yuletide cheer is one of the best in the country.

    In fact, one recent study names Houston the No. 4 most festive city in the U.S., with three other Texas cities landing in the top 10 — and one taking the top overall spot.

    Thumbtack, an app helping millions of homeowners care for their homes, compiled data from millions of home projects across all 50 states to reveal their list of the Most Festive Cities in the U.S.

    The company used data from consumer requests on their platform between January 2022 to November 2022 for holiday lighting installations and removals. Basing their rankings on the relative frequency of such requests adjusted for the population of state and metropolitan areas, four Texas cities made the list, with three in the top five.

    The most festive cities in the U.S. based on Thumbtack’s findings are:

    1. Austin, Texas
    2. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
    3. Seattle, Washington
    4. Houston, Texas
    5. Denver, Colorado
    6. Phoenix, Arizona
    7. Atlanta, Georgia
    8. San Francisco, California
    9. Kansas City, Missouri
    10. San Antonio, Texas

    According to the release, the average cost to hire a holiday lighting pro is $168-$300 and wrapping outdoor trees with holiday lights can cost $60-plus, depending on the type, shape, and height of the tree. So when should you book your holiday lights installation? The second to last week of November (21-27) is the most popular time of year.

    “Christmas light installers book very quickly once the holiday season is in gear, so plan to call and schedule your installation as early as possible,” states David Steckel, home expert at Thumbtack, in a release. “Putting up lights is a festive way to decorate your house, but it can also be time-consuming, stressful, and dangerous. Instead of taking the risk of falling off a ladder and spending the holidays on crutches or starting an electrical fire, hire a professional who will go over your options to make your vision come to life and use the right special equipment to hang everything safely and properly."

    To read more about the most festive U.S. cities and a list of tips and tricks to save money on home holiday decorations this year, check out the full report at Thumbtack.

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    popular

    telling stories

    Black-owned Houston bookstore opens new home in historic Third Ward space

    Craig D. Lindsey
    May 13, 2025 | 2:45 pm
    Kindred Stories bookshore Eldorado Ballroom
    Photo by Craig D. Lindsey
    Kindred Stories has moved to its new location.

    Even though its grand reopening will be held this Saturday, May 17, Third Ward bookstore Kindred Stories has already begun a soft opening at its new location inside the Eldorado Ballroom at 2310 Elgin Street.

    Since September 2021, the Black-owned bookstore was located on Stuart St., one of many businesses that came to life thanks to Project Row Houses’ Incubation Program. Last year, the nonprofit informed Kindred and the other business that they had to vacate their premises at the end of this month to allow new businesses to occupy the spaces.

    Thankfully, Kindred already had its eye on the Eldorado location, next to neighborhood eatery The Rado Market (which has a collection of cookbooks curated by Kindred). It’s a space previously held by Hogan Brown Gallery, which abruptly closed in December. “I had caught wind that this space might be available,” Kindred founder/owner Terri Hamm tells CultureMap.

    Hamm turned the moving process into a fun little event for her and her loyal customers. “Last Tuesday, we invited about 20 of our top community members that, you know, are always in the store and have really supported us all of the year,” she says. “We packed up all the books in the space in an hour and, then, we moved everything in an hour. So it was like the beautiful way to close out that space in the midst of the community that has really supported us throughout three-and-a-half years there. And we spent the last four days kind of unboxing and just getting all set up.”

    Hamm says the new location is certainly roomier (around 1200 square feet) than their previous spot, which was only 450 square feet.

    “There's more room to just spend time in the store,” she says. “I feel like that's the ideal bookstore experience, when you can go in and really take your time. I feel like in the other space, it was so small, people kind of felt like they were in a rush.”

    Although Kindred is open and ready to welcome anyone looking for Black-and-proud literature, Hamm insists they’re only 90 percent done. More light fixtures need to be installed. Plants and furniture have to be brought. They even have custom-made wallpaper that needs to be installed.

    “So, we have a few little things that need to happen,” says Hamm, “And, then, I feel like the space will be really, really ready – probably in another six months.”

    In the meantime, it’s business as usual. This month’s calendar of events includes various appearances from authors as well as a couple of book clubs. Hamm is looking forward to new bookworms coming in and discovering what Kindred Stories has to offer.

    “The bestsellers are selling,” she says, “But I feel like, in this space, people are going to get to discover a lot of under-the-radar titles, just because there's more space to see the books and explore.”

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