Since it seems like all you can see of Houston from the air is sprawl, the ideal view of the city should come at ground level and include something besides our justifiably famous downtown skyline — like the fact that Houston is a city of trees. Since we're so damn flat, it's hard to beat the banks of Buffalo Bayou off I-45 to get some perspective. Get down close enough to the water and the city around you disappears in a canopy of greenery. Turn around and walk back, and those skyscrapers re-emerge with a suddenness that's almost alarming, still surrounded by a girdle of greenery. It's one of the few times you might call Houston "breathtaking."