Few large cities in America offer master-planned communities and estate homes similar to Houston for a fraction of a million dollars. It’s rare to find metros in the South that have successfully built industrial sectors capable of surviving recessions and globalization.

The Energy Corridor (77079) in Houston employs over 100,000 folks. The Texas Medical Center (77030) supports a similar figure enabling another growing cluster for jobs. These two zip codes help power Houston’s economy. The tech sector is a big part of the growth story in Houston. Austin and Dallas have tech stories of their own which are masked by higher real estate prices than Houston, but nothing like the mediocre housing on the East or West Coasts.

I don’t know many people on the East Coast or West Coast who have joined the migration of ’housing’ refugees coming to Houston. Houston attracts all walks of life from across the globe which creates a unique diversity and mishmash of cultures.

Austin or Dallas first comes to mind whenever I think of Texas. If Houston can fix its flooding and crime issues, it could become a third coast gem for families seeking normalcy amidst the bluster of high-strung living on expensive coasts. There are plenty of tech jobs in Houston— to go along with cheap gas and doctors on standby. 😆

With wealth inequality increasing in almost all large metros, Houston counters the trend with a not so secret sauce: by developing strong industrial sectors around affordable housing. By limiting zoning laws, residential communities and condos (that are actually affordable) sprout up all over the city, near the key zip codes where people work. This trend is definitely changing, but Houston has done a good job of addressing the affordable housing crisis plaguing NYC, San Francisco, and Seattle. Houston will become unaffordable in 5 to 10 years —- when everyone starts moving there after Austin and Dallas get saturated.

The jobs growth must continue because Houston is not the most exciting or geographically-pleasing place in the world. These two zip codes are worth looking into if you are expanding your business or organization.

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