The Evidence for Houston as a World Class City

Houston is famous among urbanists for many reasons: its lack of traditional zoning, its perpetual growth, and its position in the oil industry are just a few examples. Here, Wendell Cox argues that the city is still under appreciated.

1 minute read

December 21, 2016, 8:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Houston Bayou

KENNY TONG / Shutterstock

"Houston is a city (metropolitan area) of superlatives," writes Wendell Cox before digging into the data that make the case for Houston as a world class city and economy.

The first of the data points Cox calls on is a "recent Brookings Institution data shows that Houston has the seventh strongest per capita economy (gross domestic product) in the world…" The second is the recently released COU Standard of Living Index, which "ranked Houston just behind San Jose in real pay per job for households entering the housing market…"

The rest of the article offers a series of presentations on the defining qualities of Houston—all of which endeavor in service of the idea that Houston is an under appreciated urban and economic behemoth, with the potential to continue its steady growth and accumulation of wealth under the Trump Administration.

Monday, December 19, 2016 in New Geography

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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