Why Houston is better than Chicago

There’s a debate going on at my big sisters page. This has been going on for a long time. She lives in Chicago and HATES it. Hates it so much she started a wonderful little section on her blog about why Chicago sucks. There is a wonderful little man named Frank on her blog that for some strange reason loves Chicago. He seems to think Chicago is better than Houston and I’m here to tell him why he’s wrong.

 

Gasoline – This morning I filled up my car for $3.19 a gallon. According to this website http://www.chicagogasprices.com/ the cheapest gas in Chicago is $3.85.

 

Crime – Now we in Houston have our fair share of crime just like Chicago. The major difference in the types of crime. Here is a wonderful little comparison chart of the crime statistics in Houston and Chicago. It would appear that, with the exception of murders (a whopping difference of 1.8 per 100k), current data from www.city-data.com suggests that Chicago actually leads Houston in violent crime, and Houston leads Chicago in crimes related to money. However, before Katrina, that was quite the contrary. Incidentally, New Orleans’ crime has gone down since Katrina which would suggest that at least a portion of the criminal element that came to Houston during Katrina, stayed in Houston afterward. Eventually, it will get back to the average which is about 5 below what it is now, and about 7 less than Chicago’s average.

 

 

Chicago Crime VS. Houston Crime

Crime in Chicago by Year
Type	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Murders	641	627	665	648	598	448	446	467
per 100,000	22.9	21.7	23.0	22.4	20.7	15.6	15.6	16.4
Rapes	2,469	2,237	1,976	1,963	1,799	1,757	1,618	1,524
per 100,000	88.2	77.2	68.2	67.8	62.3	61.2	56.5	53.6
Robberies	20,210	19,449	18,473	18,532	17,302	15,965	15,961	15,860
per 100,000	722.0	671.6	637.9	639.9	599.5	556.4	557.6	558.0
Assaults	28,027	26,660	25,571	24,842	19,784	18,820	17,934	17,441
per 100,000	1001.3	920.6	883.0	857.8	685.5	656.0	626.6	613.6
Burglaries	30,122	28,401	26,026	25,552	25,064	24,542	25,298	24,125
per 100,000	1076.2	980.7	898.7	882.3	868.4	855.4	883.9	848.7
Thefts	112,454	105,728	98,544	96,380	96,779	94,651	83,235	83,518
per 100,000	4017.6	3650.8	3402.7	3328.0	3353.1	3299.0	2908.0	2938.2
Auto thefts	36,075	35,570	27,571	25,245	22,779	22,788	22,491	21,823
per 100,000	1288.8	1228.2	952.0	871.7	789.2	794.3	785.8	767.7
Arson	1,267	1,106	1,006	1,022	947	772	683	716
per 100,000	45.3	38.2	34.7	35.3	32.8	26.9	23.9	25.2
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2)	872.4	803.6	743.6	727.1	666.3	633.7	610.0	604.2

Crime in Houston by Year
Type	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Murders	241	230	267	256	278	272	334	377
per 100,000	13.3	12.0	13.4	12.5	13.6	13.3	16.3	18.2
Rapes	748	813	945	892	768	908	872	854
per 100,000	41.3	42.3	47.3	43.7	37.6	44.4	42.6	41.2
Robberies	8,350	8,256	9,921	11,212	10,985	10,182	11,128	11,371
per 100,000	460.7	429.9	496.6	549.5	538.2	498.3	544.0	548.3
Assaults	12,178	12,192	12,286	12,598	11,957	12,065	11,653	11,648
per 100,000	672.0	634.9	614.9	617.4	585.8	590.4	569.6	561.7
Burglaries	24,744	23,254	25,108	26,905	26,522	27,110	27,541	26,869
per 100,000	1365.4	1210.9	1256.7	1318.5	1299.4	1326.7	1346.3	1295.7
Thefts	66,068	67,102	69,371	73,445	72,032	74,752	72,476	73,091
per 100,000	3645.6	3494.3	3472.1	3599.2	3529.1	3658.1	3542.8	3524.6
Auto thefts	19,445	19,864	24,089	23,939	21,451	21,563	20,408	21,093
per 100,000	1073.0	1034.4	1205.7	1173.1	1051.0	1055.2	997.6	1017.2
Arson	1,735	1,642	1,758	1,696	1,553	1,255	1,262	1,121
per 100,000	95.7	85.5	88.0	83.1	76.1	61.4	61.7	54.1
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2)	659.5	621.1	659.8	678.5	652.2	653.3	659.6	659.2

 

Now this is what Forbes has to say about Houston.

 

Houston becoming a top tech city, says Forbes

Houston came in at No. 4 behind Columbus, Ohio; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Palm Beach County, Fla. http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2008/03/10/daily22.html

 

Forbes: Houston best place to buy a home

HOUSTON — Forbes Magazine says Houston is tops on the home buying list.

Forbes looked at 40 of the country’s metropolitan areas to come up with the data.

 

This is more information I got from citydata.com and it’s the statistics for unemployment in September 2007:

 

Houston:

Unemployment in September 2007:

:Houston	4.3%
Texas:	4.4%

 

Chicago:

Unemployment in September 2007:

Chicago:	5.7%
Illinois:	4.8%

 

 

I could go on and on and on. But what I want to talk about next is the real reason I love this state and city. The people here are nice, strangers talk to each other and the words are nice, not nasty. If you get a flat people pull over and help you change it without wanting anything in return, they don’t yell at you for making them late as they drive around you. The people and the much lower cost of living are wonderful.

 

I know Houston has it’s problems, the heat and humidity, the man sized flying bugs and it’s probably one of the worst cities to live in if you have really bad allergies. Not to mention the traffic sucks. All and all though the good far outweighs the bad. I’ve been all over the country and there’s no place like home. Where having a stranger wave at you just because is no big deal because we’re all friendly like that. Also, and this is minor, our state slogan was voted the best in the country. Where does Chicago’s rate? I don’t know and don’t care. All I know is, don’t mess with Texas.

So that’s where I’m leaving off, with the people. It’s the thing people who visit here remember most.

 

 

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