Houston, the fourth-largest and the most-diverse city in America, truly has something for everyone. No matter how awesome the city your college is in is, sometimes everyone gets a little homesick. For Houstonians, sometimes that means anything from missing being only an hour away from the beach to missing being able to use someone’s area code as a way to call them basic. Here are some of the things that make Houstonians who they are.
1. The numbers “713” and “281” have special meaning for you.
If you’re from the 713, then you probably make fun of 281ers. If you’re a 281er then you probably rant to your friends about how stupid this whole 281 vs. 713 debate is. No matter where you stand on the issue, these two sets of numbers probably have some memories associated with them for you.
2. You like to tell people you’re “H-town vicious."
Beyoncé’s your queen whether you’re from Houston or not, but Houstonians especially love her because she is one of our own. We were never prouder than when she released her self-titled video album chock-full of references to her love for our great city.
3. You hate Galveston.
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If you’ve been to any other beach, then you know Galveston is one of the worst out there. The water is warm, brown and reminiscent of chocolate milk; the sand is full of litter; and you don’t understand why Moody Gardens charges so much to see a rainforest that isn’t even real.
4. You love Galveston.
Yes, the beach is gross and Moody Gardens is ridiculous, but Galveston is a historic city with delicious food, and the strand is beautiful in its own way. You’ve also been coming here every summer of your life, and you love it because nothing says summer like a day trip to Galveston.
5. You’re comfortable with people who are different from you.
Houston’s booming oil and gas industry attracts people from all over the world, making it the most diverse city in America. Avoiding people who were different from you when you were growing up wasn’t an option.
6. You’re a pro at driving on big, scary highways.
Houston is home to the largest highway in the world and learning to drive in the notoriously crazy traffic has prepared you for anything. You could cross five lanes of traffic in half a mile at 60 mph with ease by the time you were 16.
7. You think high gas prices are a good thing.
The majority of Houston’s economy depends on the oil and gas industry, so when the prices sky-rocketed you knew that practically everyone in Houston was going to get richer.
8. You’re not sure if snow is a real thing that happens or not.
You can’t remember the last time it snowed in Houston. Icy highways and freezing rain, sure, but if you grew up in Houston, it could very well have been 15 years before you saw your first snow on the ground. Welcome to the subtropics.
9. You know how to pronounce "bayou" correctly.
Houston is not so famously known as the “Bayou City” because there are over 2,000 bayous in it. Whether you would spend your time jogging or walking along the bayou or hear about people dying in them during floods on the evening news, you’ve probably been talking about bayous your entire life.
10. You know what a “feeder road” is.
Houston is one of the only cities in the nation that calls its frontage or service roads "feeder" roads. But Houstonians have probably heard the term on the morning traffic report every day of their lives.
11. You have crazy hurricane stories you can tell your friends.
From Rita, Ike, and Allison, hurricanes and tropical storms have disrupted your life in major ways. Even though the flooding, the winds and the traffic were terrible at the time, you can now look back and entertain your friends with stories about how it took you 14 hours to get to Dallas or how 70 mph wind on windows sounds like there are metal rods being scraped against them.
