- Houston Has Fourth Fastest-Moving Housing Market in Nation with Homes on the Market for a Median of 17 Days, Finds ZipRealty [Houston Business Journal]
- Houston Will Be Switching To Electronic Building Permit System in About a Year [Houston Chronicle]
- Trio of Investors Buys 621 Acres Near Katy, Plans To Sell To Housing Developer in About a Year [Houston Chronicle]
- Inside the First Standalone Rolex Store in Texas, Now Open in the Galleria [Culturemap]
- Clark Cooper Concepts, Buffalo Bayou Partnership Teaming Up for Private Event Space The Dunlavy on Allen Pkwy. [Culturemap]
- Newk’s Eatery Opening Second Houston-Area Location Today on Katy Fwy. in Katy; 2 More Stores To Follow By End of 2015 [Prime Property]
- California Chain Jinya Ramen Bar Branching into Houston with Midtown, Webster Locations Opening Later This Year [Eater Houston]
- The Melting Pot Seeking Franchisees To Expand in Houston Area [Prime Property]
- The Man Who’s on a Mission To Find Texas’s Old Dance Halls and Keep Them Alive [Houston Chronicle]
- $24M John W. Johnson Ferry Boat Has Operated Between Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula for Only 15 Days During First 5 Months of the Year [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Slideshow: Houston-Area Bridges Labeled Structurally Deficient or Functionally Obsolete by TxDOT [Houston Chronicle]
- Texas Disability Advocates Sue Uber, Lyft for Denials of Services to Disabled Texans [Houston Chronicle]
- Montgomery County Steps Up Mosquito Spraying After First Human Case of West Nile Virus Confirmed [The Woodlands]
- Beehive Builds Up on Walker St. Crosswalk Downtown [The Isiah Factor]
Photo of East Houston industrial complex: David Elizondo, via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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It surprises me that Austin continues to be number one in polls like these. It’s no wonder Houston is so highly placed, it has a very diverse economy and workforce. Austin economy in contrast lacks diversity in both its economy ang workforce. Houston has two jugernaut industries fueling its robust economy: energy and health care. Austin, on the other hand, has high tech and state government. High tech is very volital and unlike Houston, who dominates the energy industry, Austin hardly controls the tech industry. Austin would come a distant second to San Jose Area and maybe even behind Portland and Seattle. It’s impressive that Austin has continued to stay on top of lists like this, but you have to wonder, how? I know so many in Austin who are underemployed and I wonder how the city continues to produce so many high paying jobs for all of these expensive new houses.
Austin does feel like it is running on a bit of hype these days. Recent polls listing it as a top bicycling city is just another proof point. ….oh, also glad to hear the Melting Pot may give it another try. Those meals are fun, in a strange kind of way…
The only thing wrong with Austin is the hipper-than-thou people that live there. More than once I had people (including a waitress) express sympathy to me for being from Houston. I found it a bit offensive.
@Mark—I understand what you mean. Everytime someone tells my husband they’re from Austin, he always replies with “I’m sorry”. (We are not from Austin)
BEEHIVE?!!?!!?!?!!?!?
Austin is a great city for people who can’t make it in Portland, Seattle or NYC.
they get to pretend they are “diverse”, “cultured” and “world-wise” all while living in a city that is none of these things.
even their claim “live music capital of the world” is superficial at best. 1000 clubs all filled with crap bands, full of bearded hipsters with beers in hand who all work as “bloggers and developers”.
their claim to tech is spurious also, they get what california is willing to give them.
Houston on the other hand is hot, flat, humid and full of concrete. it is also the place where people go to make something. it could be a major discovery for cancer at the TMC or a new way to do fracking to supply the world with more oil.
Austin makes music, BBQ and is a farm team for California High-Tech.
eh, the Austin thing doesn’t surprise me one bit. it’s a large college town and quickly becoming an IT hub of the south, both high margin industries with high growth rates that would rival if not beat energy and medicine. they don’t have to be a highly competitive IT hub, just dominate the south which wouldn’t be difficult at this point. however, it’s also located in a smaller and more centrally located area with more temperate climates and less of the bugs and humidity that dog Houston. it really doesn’t surprise me that more people would find Austin more amenable to their family life style, especially if coming in from the west/northeastern states like a lot of the recent texas transplants are. austin’s is also more centrally balanced than a city like Houston where the west side dominates everything and most will be looking at horrendous commutes if they try and find something too far out from just this one side. yes, austin traffic can be more horrid than Houston, but by and large the commute times are less and you’re traveling a smaller distance, all of which have dramatic impacts to people’s lifestyles.