City Life >>

• Best Place to People-Watch (3 Comments)
  Hermann Park
  Though thankfully Jim Crow ended generations ago, Houston is still often a segregated city, by social class if not by race. One of the few places you can see the 21st-century international mega-city in all its cosmopolitan glory is Hermann Park. There a typical day will find black families... More >>
• Best Community Newspaper
  The Seabreeze News
  Too many community newspapers like to portray the places they cover as they would like them to be rather than as they really are. Not so The Seabreeze News. Publisher Gator Miller and Editor Steve Hoyland are muckrakers in the classical sense, and most issues feature investigative reporting of... More >>
• Best Local TV Reporter (1 Comment)
  Phil Archer, KPRC-TV
  Phil Archer has become an institution in local news, a guy who's seemingly been around forever but hasn't lost the urge to chase down the latest story and do a great job with it. He can take complex governmental issues and make them clear enough for the average Joe to understand; he can stand in... More >>
• Best Local Radio Host (Talk) (2 Comments)
  Michael Berry
  You may not agree with him, but chances are very good that the guy next to you in traffic is emphatically nodding his head to every word that 740 AM radio host Michael Berry utters. Hell, we only agree with his keen conservative stances but once in a blue moon, but we keep listening for sheer... More >>
• Best Local TV Anchor
  Gina Gaston, KTRK
  Until fairly recently, news anchors in the Houston market tended to stay in their jobs until full fossilization had set in. Nowadays they seem to change faces quicker than a channel-surfing dude switches channels. Which means Gina Gaston, who was once an utter newcomer, is now a reassuring... More >>
• Best Local Weathercaster (2 Comments)
  Frank Billingsley, KPRC-Channel 2
  The only time a Houston weathercaster can truly earn his or her stripes is during hurricane season. A trained monkey could give you the forecast eight months a year. After all, how hard is it to say, "It's gonna be hot and humid and it might rain" over and over again? No, it's only when we get... More >>
• Best Local Magazine
  OutSmart
  We keep waiting for a local magazine to stand up and snatch this prize away from OutSmart, but it just never happens. Even as the masthead changes from time to time, the quality remains high: smart, insightful features into Houston's gay past and present, sharp reviews of theater, music and... More >>
• Best Local TV News (2 Comments)
  KTRK
  You'd think, with the way Channel 13's news broadcasts tend to consistently have solid ratings, that the operation would get talked about more than it does. Channel 11 tends to get kudos for being a serious, relatively sober newscast, Channel 2 gets buzz with wild antics, and Fox and 39...don't... More >>
• Best Bureaucrat
  Dr. Herminia Palacio, Harris County
  Heading up the public-health department for the third-largest county in the U.S. is never going to be an easy task, but Harris County brings its own special challenges, like hurricanes and, this year, its seeming to be Ground Zero for the swine-flu pandemic/panic (take your pick). Herminia... More >>
• Best Flack
  Michelle Lyons, TDCJ
  Spokespeople can be a reporter's best friend or worst nightmare, and Michelle Lyons is the poster child for the former. Don't get us wrong — "best friend" doesn't mean she's always available to hang out and talk about the Astros; it means she's always able to provide useful, reliable... More >>
• Best Parade
  Art Car Parade
  Distinctly Houstonian in nature, the Art Car Parade is an annual event that the whole family can enjoy. Besides being a paean to outrageous quirkiness, this 22-year-old institution is just plain fun. Plus, having grand marshals like George Clinton and Kinky Friedman is pretty cool, too. Take... More >>
• Best Criminal Defense Attorney (1 Comment)
  Brian Wice
  Brian Wice is a shrinking wallflower who all but refuses to blow his own horn. It can sometimes take up to 2.6 seconds for him to leap at yet another opportunity to expound on the law before a camera, whether it's his regular gig at Channel 2 or any network that needs instant analysis. He's the... More >>
• Best Civil Attorney
  Joel Androphy
  Okay, you've committed a crime. Quick, check your shirt: Is the collar white? If so, there's only one attorney in town to contact: Joel Androphy. You may have seen him on TV as a legal expert both locally and nationally, but ironically enough, a lot of his most important work goes unnoticed. He... More >>
• Best Court Ruling
  Freedom for the Crawford protesters
  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals — the Supreme Court for criminal cases in the state — is not exactly made up of flaming liberals, as anyone who's tried to get a conviction overturned has learned. You wouldn't think the judges would take kindly to a bunch of out-of-state hippie... More >>
• Best Democrat (1 Comment)
  Sheriff Adrian Garcia
  Longtime Republican control of basically all countywide offices resulted in a lot of stagnation, good-ol'-boy indifference and a resistance to change. (Note: This would have happened under longtime Democratic control, too.) Nowhere was it worse than in the Harris County Sheriff's Office, a place... More >>
• Best Republican
  Harris County Judge Ed Emmett
  2008 was a big Democratic year across Harris County — Dems swept out all but a handful of the Republicans who had held all the countywide seats, some of them for years and years. One Republican who survived the wave was County Judge Ed Emmett...and with good reason. Emmett was appointed to... More >>
• Best Crime (Charge)
  Sir Allen Stanford
  As of this writing, Stanford hasn't been convicted of any crime, but he's been charged with a whopper: namely, presiding over an $8 billion Ponzi scheme, making him Houston's own Bernie Madoff. The eccentric Stanford didn't spend much time in Houston, preferring the empire he built for himself... More >>
• Best New Development
  Houston Pavilions
  Despite assurances from booster types that Houston was insulated from the worst effects of the global economic meltdown, the past year was notably slow on the development front, which is why, despite its faults and thus-far unfulfilled promise, Houston Pavilions takes this award in a walk. While... More >>
• Best Twitterer
  Dwight Silverman
  Twitter has become increasingly important in both social and business circles, a fact that baffles the general public. How could a "micro-blogging service" that seems to be a vast ocean of noise in 140-character segments be so significant? And how does one use it? That's where Houston-based... More >>
• Best Local Blog (1 Comment)
  Lose an Eye, It's a Sport (Cory Crow)
  Accountant Cory Crow spun off Lose an Eye from earlier blog Isolation Desolation in 2006, and we're glad. For three years now, Lose an Eye has been — dare we say it? — an entertaining and educational brew of Space City politics and culture, with sharp writing, links to a wide variety... More >>
• Best Local Web Site
  www.houstonarchitecture.com
  Though ostensibly a site devoted to local architecture, it's on the message boards that "the Haif" comes alive. A full range of topics generally (but not exclusively) related to Houston and its building trade are brought to the fore — on a recent day, the hot topics included developments... More >>
• Best Tourist Attraction
  The Refineries at Night
  In showing off our fair city, too many people take visitors to things that can be found anywhere. Every city bigger than Austin has an arts district with pretensions to "world-classiness"; every metropolis has its Galleria equivalent, River Oaks-type district and downtown full of skyscrapers.... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Women
  Singles Ministry at Kingdom Builders Center
  We're not saying you won't meet a nice girl at a Midtown bar, but why not better your odds and fish from holier waters? At Kingdom Builders Center, you might meet a lawyer, local business owner or otherwise impressive-on-the-inside woman whose head is almost certainly in the right place. The... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Single Men
  Minute Maid Park
  "But I hate sports!" is what you are saying right about now. You may scoff at going to Minute Park looking for single men because you don't exactly dig on baseball. But there really is nothing to being an Astros fan. Games can be as good as movies, with moments of tears, laughter, utter... More >>
• Best Scenic Park
  Elizabeth Baldwin Park
  A tangled tale of secret wills, court battles and murder lies behind the birth of this ever-lovelier Midtown gem. Elizabeth Baldwin Park takes its name from the wife of William Marsh Rice, the founder of the nearby university. Just before her death, unbeknownst to old man Rice, Elizabeth drew up... More >>
• Best View (2 Comments)
  I-610 Ship Channel Bridge
  Skyline views are a dime a dozen. To really take in the city's sweep in all its satanic petrochemical splendor, you need to head over to the Ship Channel area, the engine room of the local economy. It may stink of smoldering benzene and God knows what else over there around the Port of Houston... More >>
• Best City Park
  Memorial Park
  What Houstonian isn't proud of this beautiful, expansive, multifaceted park? Located on a former military camp where soldiers trained for battle in World War I, the park is dedicated to those soldiers' honor. Today, the park has something for just about everyone — an 18-hole golf course,... More >>
• Best Public Library Branch
  Freed-Montrose Library
  Sure, the city has newer and fancier branches with more bells and whistles — the McGovern-Stella Link and Looscan River Oaks libraries come instantly to mind. And while other branches might have more stuff on the shelves, there is something so urban and civilized about the Montrose branch,... More >>
• Best Cop
  Houston Police Officer Julia Christina Oliver
  There are dozens of ways to measure a police officer's performance. How many cases closed, how many tickets written — or, as in the case of our winner for Best Cop, Houston Police Officer Julia Christina Oliver, the more intangible quality of personal courage. Oliver has been with HPD for... More >>
• Best Firefighters (1 Comment)
  James Harlow and Damien Hobbs
  Sadly, the Best Firefighter title is bestowed posthumously on Houston firefighters James Harlow and Damien Hobbs. The two men died while fighting a blaze last April. Harlow, a 30-year veteran of the department, had been captain of Fire Station 26 for three years. Hobbs, an Iraq war veteran, had... More >>
• Best Cemetery
  Glenwood Cemetery
  The idea of "best cemetery" may sound a bit grim, but there's nothing gloomy about Glenwood. It's just as much of a tranquil park and beautiful place to visit as it is a spot to bury loved ones. Built in what was then rural Houston in 1871, Glenwood's graves sit nestled amongst some of the... More >>
• Best Sign (2 Comments)
  The Colorado
  For ages, this old-school neon giant has been acting as a sort of oversize bug-light, beckoning dudes who're down with seeing a little T&A. But even if you've never stepped foot inside the strip club, it's hard to ignore the tacky charm and majesty of a sign that appears to have... More >>
• Best Place to Feel Glad You're Alive (1 Comment)
  Downtown on a Sunday on a Bike
  Unless you're a psycho bike messenger ninja assassin type, cycling downtown is generally a nightmare. The sidewalks are too clogged with people, not to mention the fact that biking on the sidewalk is against the law in a business district. As for the streets, forget about it. If the SUVs don't... More >>
• Best Truck Stop Bathroom
  Travel Center of America
  If you're up for about a half-a-day's drive out of Houston, there's about a million things to do. There's the Gulf Coast, the border, New Orleans, the Hill Country and even Dallas. One important component of any road trip is a good truck stop to gas up, stock up and hit the bathrooms. One of the... More >>
• Best Place for Outdoor Sex
  Houston Arboretum and Nature Center
  Memorial Park is notorious for its bathrooms where men troll for random sex, but if you're looking for a quiet spot in the city for a risqué encounter with a significant other — someplace where you're less likely to get arrested — you can't beat the Arboretum and Nature... More >>
• Best Local TV Commercial
  C&D Scrap Metal
  We're not experts, but we're pretty sure it's a sign of great marketing that, if you mention "scrap metal" to a Houstonite, that person will immediately think of $2 bills. Why? Because for thousands of years now, we've been exposed to the spastic owner of C&D Scrap Metal — or his kids,... More >>
• Best Hidden Neighborhood (6 Comments)
  Glenbrook Valley
  Back when it was laid out in 1954, Glenbrook Valley was a showpiece suburb, a mod vision of the glorious George Jetson age to come. Better Homes and Gardens even touted one of the six original Glenbrook ranchers as "the model home for all America." Unfortunately for those who bought in,... More >>
• Best Ike Recovery
  Stingaree Restaurant
  Other businesses on the Ike-annihilated (or is it "an-Ike-hilated"?) Bolivar Peninsula reopened sooner than the Stingaree, but none was more symbolically important. The Stingaree is the Peninsula's social and culinary epicenter, where Bolivar in all its blue-collar glory gathered on the deck to... More >>
• Best 15 Minutes of Fame (2 Comments)
  Hurricane Bear
  When Hurricane Ike was destroying lives and property in Galveston, one man thought to himself, A-ha! I can use this! And that man was Jacob Calle, although he is probably better known as Hurricane Bear. That's because he donned a bear costume with a pink bowtie and moonwalked along a Galveston... More >>