I like to call myself a native Houstonian, even though I was born in Pasadena, Texas. For the vast majority of my life I have lived in and around Harris County. I have called Houston my home for many years and most of my professional life has been played out here.
The Houston Oilers were my NFL team, and now it is the Houston Texans. I have attended plays, the symphony, and visited the museums here. Our city is home to the best food you can find in any restaurant anywhere in the world. I should know, since I have visited every continent save for Australia and tasted the cuisine of many cultures.
Houston is the home of the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Astrodome. Houston was the first word spoken from the moon and is home to the Johnson Space Center. It boasts a beautiful skyline at night and has some of the best people in the world to be associated with.
This town is the fifth largest city in the United States, and whenever there is a recession we have never been hit as hard as the rest of the country. This is due to its economic diversity, the pride of its people, and the willingness to forge ahead in the face of adversity. Houston is the planetary center of the Oil and Gas Industry; home to Red Adair and the best and brightest engineers in the world.
My first child was born here and cared for during her short life by the greatest medical center in the world. If you can't be saved in Houston, you can't be saved. We have the best doctors, best nurses, best technicians and best equipment money can buy.
This is a city of great opportunity. It has put food on my table, a roof over my head, cars in my garage, and clothes on my back for the greater portion of my life. In 1979 I started as a hydraulic test technician making six dollars an hour, testing control systems for blow out preventers, among many more types of equipment. Soon I was a quality control inspector and then a supervisor over the test department. Today I am a senior project manager/consultant in the oil and gas industry and make a lot more than six dollars an hour.
I have lived in London, England for nearly four years and fell in love with the city and Great Britain as a whole. I fell in love with its culture, its history and its people. But when you compare London with all its grandeur and old world style, it can't compare to Houston, Texas.
Like any other city, Houston has its problems of crime, poverty, traffic congestion, etc. But, in my mind, it stands out above the rest. God has blessed me beyond measure by placing me here. It could have been much different. I could have been born in Detroit or Iowa. I'm sure people from those places will take offense at that, but those are just two areas I shudder about when thinking where else in America I could have originated from.
I have seen Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, Caracas, Lagos, Paris, Tangiers, Tokyo, London (as mentioned), Stavanger, Edinburgh and many points in between. All great cities in their own right with much to offer its citizens and visitors. But in my mind...in my heart...in my soul....the greatest city in the world is Houston, Texas. And thus will it always be so.