Lifelong houstonian here. Its easily the worst big city in Texas. The older I get, the less and less I seem to like it. If it didnt have the diversity (its biggest strength), im not sure it would have much going for it.
Weather is worst of big cities in Texas. Flooding and hurricanes. Insane mosquitos. Very little in the way of keeping up history/culture. Prices are hilariously stupid for a city with a ton of land. People are also correct that Houston has the most polluted air of any city in Texas. Objectively ugliest big city in the state. IAH is meh. Thank god for hobby. Very little in the way of greenspace. Most aggy city in Texas. The suburbs and outlying towns are absolutely godawful. There is no Waxahachie/Georgetown/Boerne/Lockhart/NB/San Marcos/Granbury/Celina type in Houston.
worst of all, while dallas has sterotypes of being rich snobs, houston is full of materialistic, lets-pave-over-everything, f150 mcmansion wannabe dreaming rednecks. The nice places are nice (river oaks, the villages, west u) but if I didnt live in the Heights, there is no fucking way I would live in spring branch or sugarland, or pasadena, or humble, or cypress, or spring, etc. The lack of zoning is a massive double edged sword.
rambling but fuck it, neg away