Houston’s Warts

I’m fond of telling people my hometown of Houston is a nice place to live, but you wouldn’t want to visit there. It’s hot, it’s humid, it’s spread out. You really have to know where to go and how to get there to have a good time. On the other hand, you can certainly have a good time. Additionally, my brother and his family have a gorgeous new four-bedroom house that cost them the same amount I paid for my small studio apartment in Manhattan. It’s a real city, with opera, theater, museums, etc. (Public transportation on the other hand… well, let’s just say the city places quite a bit of importance on the oil business.)

Some of those same thoughts are apparently behind a new, unauthorized marketing campaign for the Houston, which I read about in The New York Times (reg. required) this week. With a tagline of “Houston. It’s Worth It,” the campign seeks to acknowlege what many already know about the place — it’s hot, humid, sprawling, flat, and the cockroaches are of frightening proportions. Once that’s settled, the campaign goes beyond that to explain why, indeed, it’s worth it.

The centerpiece of the effort is the Web site (unfortunately constructed in such a way to where I can only link to the front page), where people are invited to explain their reasons for loving the city. (Update: Nate points out it is possible to link to the reasons, though the layout of the page is kind of weird.)

I think it’s a great idea and maybe the best chance the city has of explaining itself. It’s not some slick marketing scheme that paints Houston as “the space city” — which it is. It simply allows ordinary people to speak up for a city that many love. Seems like an idea worthy of the Internet age.