Houston, you are once again confirmed as awesome

Kiplinger, a company self-proclaimed “Timely, Trusted Personal Finance Advice and Business Forecasts,” honored this wonderful city of Houston as the number one place in America to Live, Work, and Play in the July 2008 issue of its on-line magazine:

It’s the city of big plans and no rules, beat-the-heat tunnels and loop-the-loop highways, world-class museums and wiry cowboys, humidity that demands an ice-cold martini and the biggest damn liquor store on the planet. How could you not love Houston?

Well, I’ll be damned if I couldn’t have put it better myself. However, I will maintain that usually the Houston “humidity” (also known as a wet blanket) is NOT a selling point to living in Houston, Kiplinger managed to find a way to praise it. I think one of the best things about Houston they mentioned just a bit later: “Not only does the Houston metro area lead the nation in job growth, but also its cost of living stands well below the national average.”

Now that’s the truth. Any city where whatever you’re making can buy you what you want—and whatever you’re making would NOT buy you what you want in another city—is a good place to live. That, and the Houston Astros.

Rounding out the Top 5:

1. Raleigh (Go Wolfpak!)
2. Omaha (College World Series!)
3. Boise (Really? Boise?)
4. Colorado Springs (I have a sweet shirt from there!)

On the Internet: Best Places to Live, Work, and Play