I wonder when he was last here, it could explain much. In the 80s the city was in a serious slump due to the [link|http://www.dallasfed.org/research/houston/2003/hb0304.html|bust in oil].
Between March 1982 and March 1987, more then 225,000 jobs\ufffdapproximately one in eight\ufffddisappeared in Houston.
I moved here in 87 and at the time downtown was a desolate wasteland after 6pm with the homeless taking over the streets. During the 90s our economy diversified and for the past few years our downtown has been undergoing a major revitalization. I read that some of the people who came for the Super Bowl in 2004 were so impressed with the city that they were planning to build homes here.
Interesting - he's changed the subtitle on [link|http://joelkotkin.com/|his site](or maybe the LA Times changed it for publication).
Forget crawfish \ufffdtouff\ufffde -- look to Houston for a vibrant economic model.