I guess I'll chime in here. For reference, I'm a 3rd generation Houstonian. My grandfather was a child when he and his family rode out the great storm of 1900 in the Bolivar Light house (still to this day the deadliest natural disaster in the US). When my dad was in high school in the 50's, Houston had only 7 high schools. Now, we are about to surpass Chicago as the 3rd largest city in the US.

I love Texas. While the state has seen some growing pains, I still wouldn't live anywhere else. I've traveled a lot and seen lots of other places that are super nice, but for me, Texas is home.

We take pride in being nice and neighborly. We still teach our kids to say 'Yes sir' and 'Yes ma'am' and 'Thank you'. And of course, I believe Texas has the best food anywhere in the world. When I was young, hardly anybody outside Texas knew what a fajita was, or an enchilada. Now, there's a Tex-Mex isle in a grocery store in Paris, France. Texas BBQ - 'nuff said.

While I love Texas, I am getting a bit tired of the 'big city' life here in Houston. The traffic has gotten a lot worse over the years. I work downtown on Mainstreet, and the panhandlers/beggars have gotten pretty bad. I'm not talking homeless people down on their luck - I'm talking the folks who choose to make a living begging on the streets. They get angry sometimes, and if I wasn't carrying I'd be scared to go in some parts of downtown alone. ...and that's why my wife and I purchased some land in the Texas Hill Country. It's hard to beat the charm of Fredericksburg or Johnson City. Just countin' the days 'till we can retire out there.