Love letters from Austin to Houston
In the wake of Harvey, we asked our readers and staff members to tell the world what they love about Space City.
WE LOVE HOUSTON. Some of us were born there. Some of our family members or friends from school grew up there. Some of us remember family trips there. And some of just know a good neighbor when we see one.
Austin’s neighbor to the southeast, hit hard by the storm that made landfall in Texas as Hurricane Harvey, continues to struggle with devastating, deadly floods. But Houston — home of Buffalo Bayou, Beyoncé, Breakfast Klub and the Beltway — is strong. Now more than ever, it’s time to show that Austin stands with its Lone Star sibling.
We asked staff members and readers online to send us their love letters to Houston. They delivered. Here are a few of our favorites:
Like the rest of us in the parts of Texas that aren’t underwater right now, I’ve watched the devastation Hurricane Harvey unleashed on our state’s coastal areas with a heavy heart. I’m not a native Texan, but I’ve lived in the state for more than 20 years. Both of my daughters were born here, and gradually, over the past decade, my entire family has migrated to the Lone Star State. I love my adopted home fiercely. My heart aches seeing Texas’ quirky seaside communities suffering so profoundly. And Houston. Seeing Houston submerged kills me.
I grew up in the Midwest, a smalltown girl with big city dreams, and Houston is a massive cosmopolitan city, but with less hustle, bustle and, you know, winter, than its northern counterparts. I love the world-class museums, the fancy restaurants and the leaping fountain that shoots over the Metrorail downtown. But mostly, I love its diversity.
Houston is the most ethnically diverse city in America, a title it took from New York City in 2010.
Beyoncé, the city’s most famous musical export, is the queen of Houston, and the city holds the regional throne for Dirty South hiphop. Houston’s signature sound reflects the tricked-out, candy-colored rides that parade through the streets each year, slow, low and banging. The (Underground) King of Houston is Bun B. He’s revered in the city as an elder statesman, and, in recent years, he was tapped by Rice University to teach a class on hip-hop and religion.
It’s natural that immigration issues are a hot topic in Houston. As the Houston Chronicle explored with a beautiful, in-depth reporting project in 2015, 1 in 4 residents of Harris County, over a million people, are foreign-born. They come from all over: South and Central America, Europe, all corners of Africa and Asia. According to the Times of India, more than 150,000 Houstonians hail from my father’s homeland, making the city home to one of the largest East Indian communities in the country.
A first-generation American who came of age in wholesome, white-bread, small-town America, I always longed to live in a city defined by a rich tapestry of ethnic communities. Growing up in a mixed-race family, I was raised with the naive belief that love trumps all, that our common humanity will always be greater than our differences. Having married into an African-American family, I cling to that idea more than ever these days.
After Harvey pummeled Houston, the nation’s eyes were opened to the city’s beautiful diversity. Images of Houstonians, black, white, Hispanic and Asian, standing together and risking everything to help their neighbors uplifted us all.
I realized, Houston is my American dream. And as soon as the city is ready for visitors, my husband and I, along with our Afro-Anglo-Indo-American children, will be among the first to come.