<p>My boyfriend is British, Italian, and American. His Italian family lives in Houston and they love it. There is a great variety of food, art (both the Menil and MFA Houston are great), and music to take in. There is a huge Asian shopping mall, little places to get pretty authentic Indian, Japanese, and Chinese food (actually good Dim Sum!).
But the public transit is horrible. I went to Rice for a semester and couldn’t get anywhere! Also the climate is pretty bad imo. It is hot, and muggy, if it is not raining. If you have any issues such as chronic bronchitis or asthma, don’t live in Houston!
Houston is a liberal city, but you will find the whole spectrum of people at Rice. The Rice Village area is nice, but downtown can be dicey and there are some areas of Houston with high crime rates. At Rice you can be pretty insulated from that, however.</p>