I’ve lived in the Houston area of Texas most of my life, and I’ve spent a good amount of that time complaining about that fact. It’s hot, humid, full of fatties, flat and polluted. Suburban sprawl is atrocious, the public transportation is terrible (it is getting better) and the city is so spread out it’s impossible to walk anywhere. In the past year or so, though, my view of my home town has softened significantly. While the aforementioned irritations still get on my nerves, I’ve grown to appreciate the city. Here are some reasons why.

1. The food. Surely a factor in the fatness problem of the area is the high volume of great places to eat. Drive around in the right parts of Houston and you’ll be in constant view of at least a few eateries that are worth your time. Whether you’re into diner food, Asian cuisine, Mexican, Italian, seafood, BBQ, or pizza at two in the morning, you’ve got some serious options. Of course, the farther away from the city you go the more crappy chain restaurants you’ll find, but even the more suburban outlying areas of Houston have their moments.
2. The museums. Houston not only has some nice ones, it has a whole lot of them. The Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH), the Menil, the Contemporary Arts Museum, the Holocaust Museum, the Museum of Natural Science (one of my favorites), and if you’ve got kids to entertain, the Heath Museum and the Children’s Museum. And this is just naming a few. There are loads of obscure/weird museums in the area that are worth looking up.
3. The zoo. It’s no San Diego Zoo (I’ve been so I’m allowed to make the comparison), but we’ve got ourselves a damn nice place to look at animals here in Houston, and they’re constantly adding new exhibits and improving existing ones. It’s especially if you’re into monkeys. There are a lot of monkeys at the Houston Zoo. 
4. The live shows. Due in part to the large size of the city and in part to the relative closeness to Hipster Capital, USA, we get more than our fair share of shows here. I’m primarily talking about music, but there are a ton of comedy clubs here, and Houston is also into live theater in a big way. If you’re into classical music, this is a good place to be, thanks (in part) to interest generated by our fantastic public radio station, KUHF (I like KUHF so much I considered making it point 5 in this list).
5. The surrounding area. If you’re looking for a way to spend a day and don’t mind a little bit of a drive, this is a pretty sweet place to live. The George Observatory is a close and a cool way to spend an evening, and of course NASA is here. If space isn’t your thing head Southeast and check out the Galveston seawall or the Kemah Boardwalk. Moody Gardens deserves an entire day all to itself, and the Lone Star Flight Museum is pretty cool. Now I’m not going to pretend like we have amazing beaches (we don’t), but spending a night at Surfside is awesome. As soon as it gets dark the place is deserted, and the rules there are very relaxed. Start a fire, cook some food, enjoy the breeze, take a late night swim (if you want), gaze a the Gulf of Mexico, or even set up a tent and spend the night. Drive a few hours West and spend the day at Schlitterbahn, which is considered to be the best water park in the country. If your a nerd, head Northwest in the fall and visit the Texas Renfest, which happens to be the biggest renaissance festival in the US. There are plenty more places to check out within a few hours, but if you’re interested in seeing another big city, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin are all a day trip away (although get ready to drive four hours or less each way). Louisiana isn’t too bad of a bad drive, either.

I could keep going, but I think I’ll stop, since this is starting to look like a travel guide or something. My overall point is, though, that Houston is really a pretty cool place to live, despite its shortcomings. I’m not sure if I’ll be living here years down the road, but for now I’m pretty happy where I am. It took years and a lot of exploring, but I’ve finally gotten over my Houston hatred.