Ranked 1: Houston, Texas
Population: 5,542,048
Median Household Income: $50,250
% of Workforce in Creative Class: 31%

I’m Jane Bennett Clark, a Senior Associate Editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. Allow me to introduce you to Houston, Texas, the number one ranked city on Kiplinger’s Best Cities for 2008.

Why did Houston earned Kiplinger’s top honors? This place is a boomtown. It has a strong job market, an energized downtown and it’s one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country.

Here’s a serene spa in Houston’s just opened downtown park Discovery Green. Yikes, more than 5,000 restaurants in this city to choose from. I tried the Grove, Houston’s newest hot spa. Take a look at one park place, the first new residential high rise in downtown Houston in 40 years. Live here and you get Discovery Green Park as your front yard.

I like this view from the top of the historic commerce building. You can buy a condo here in the heart of downtown starting at about $500,000.00 and heading into the millions. This is Main Street Square part of Houston’s beefed up downtown. Look closely and you’ll see the light rail tracks running down Main Street.

Next stop, Preston and Main in Houston’s historic district, I have dinner at Mia Bella and watch the cool kids go to Dean's Credit Clothing, a bar that’s also a thrift store and clerks, a dance club. The Galleria Mall is so ritzy, it even has a skating rink but with all that twirling, I’m too dizzy to get a decent picture.

We’re in Sugar Land, a fast growing affluent Houston suburb. City Hall anchors the new town square. Sugar Land’s housing runs the gamma from mansions like this to smaller houses in one of the areas many master planned communities. Prices can go as high as 5 million but the average price for a single family home is a little over $200,000.00.

Great Oaks Manor on the edge of Sugar Land hearts the old time Texas. I stayed the night at this plantation style bed in breakfast, then say goodbye to Houston, our number one ranked city for 2008. I’m Jane Bennett Clark with Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.