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 Houston has been one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities for years,
fueled by an energy industry that provided the backbone of the
economy, low taxes and prospects of employment that have attracted
job seekers.
But Houston also embodies the new, urban Texas, where political
views have been drifting to the left, diversity is being embraced
and newer residents are just as likely to drive a hybrid as a pickup
truck.
Houston's move is also indicative of demographic shifts unfolding in
the United States that will increase the population and political
clout of the Lone Star State over the next several decades.
Within eight to 10 years, Houston is forecast by demographers in the
two states to pass Chicago, which has seen its population decline
for years, as the third-largest city.
Houston is projected to have population of 2.54 million to 2.7
million by 2025 while Chicago will be at 2.5 million, according to
official data from both states provided for their health
departments. New York and Los Angeles are safe at one and two
respectively.
Houston has long been associated with the risk takers in the oil
industry and more recently as one of the better cities to find a
job.
"Texas has a long tradition, and Houston has it in spades, that we
are not so much interested in where you are from. We want to know
what you can do," Houston Mayor Annise Parker said in an interview
with Reuters.
Chicago officials were not immediately available for comment.
 Apart from domestic migration, about one in five Houstonians is
foreign born and more than 90 languages are spoken in the city.
"We have that international mindset that the rest of the United
States never saw," said Parker, a former oil executive and city
controller who has a collection of urban achievement awards and
rodeo belt buckles in her office.
On Houston's fringes are petrochemical plants that fuel the economy,
space agency NASA that attracts aerospace jobs and a port that
handles more foreign tonnage than any other in the United States.
In between is a mass of relatively unplanned urban sprawl, strip
malls, ethnic enclaves, trendy restraints and burgeoning green
spaces lying under an umbrella of oppressive heat that lasts more
than half the year.
ROLLER COASTER ECONOMY
The energy industry, which accounts for about 40 percent of
Houston's economy, has sent the fortunes of the city on a roller
coaster ride for decades.
With oil currently at around $45 a barrel, the brakes have been
slammed on job growth, and a slight chill has entered into the
booming construction sector.
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Since 1969, Houston has been one of the most successful major U.S.
cities in terms of per capita personal income growth. Since about
2003, about 650,000 jobs have been created in the Houston area,
according to the University of Houston.
The Houston-area unemployment rate has remained below the national
average for years, according to government data, while the
Chicago-area has recently been above it.
However, Houston's growth, coming with few zoning restrictions and a
loose regulatory system in Texas, has led to persistent problems in
air quality and traffic congestion.
'HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?'
Mayor Parker, who is leaving office after six years due to term
limits, made headlines when she was elected the first open lesbian
to run a major U.S. city. She capitalized on the media attention as
a chance to promote the city as a good place to do business, she
said.
The city purchases more renewable energy than any other in the
United States, said Parker, who has launched a $250 million project
to put bike and hike trials along the bayous, or small rivers, that
run through the city like veins.
On social issues, residents in one of the most racially diverse U.S.
cities are seen as "tolerant traditionalists" who espouse
conservative values and open minds when it comes to social issues,
according to a poll from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at
Houston's Rice University.
Residents generally have a positive view of immigrants, favor
same-sex marriage and are more progressive than the state's socially
conservative Republican leadership, it said.
The city ranks near the top in the United States in terms of
resettling refugees from abroad and when the price of oil picks up
again, it will see a fresh wave of migration from those seeking
employment.
"If you see the way the crowd is going, you might as well jump in
front of it and make it a parade," Parker said.
(This story has been refiled to add dropped word "by" in second
paragraph)
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Additional reporting by Terry Wade;
Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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reserved.]
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