Sunday best: Houston's Super Bowl face-lift

Indeed, after the oil bust of the 1980s, Houston's economy was forced to diversify. While oil still accounts about half of all revenue, the city is also home to NASA, the largest medical complex in the country, the second-busiest port in the nation, and a strong international business sector. It has a wealth of world-class museums and performing arts venues. When the Hobby Center opened in 2002, for instance, Houston became home to the largest theater district outside New York City.

But much of this won't be apparent in a Super Bowl weekend, say city boosters: Houston's charms take longer to discover. "At first sight you think, 'What an ugly city.' It's big and flat with little cutting-edge architecture and not much interest in preservation," says City Controller Annise Parker. "But it grows on you."

The "Put Your Smile On" campaign, for instance, plays on Houston's reputation for friendliness. This city is more culturally diverse than most and at the same time, many describe it as more inclusive. Its lack of zoning breeds a rare, eclectic mix of neighborhoods and ideas. "I'm really glad that we have the Super Bowl," says Ms. Parker. "But Houston is more about being a great place to live and conduct business than a great tourist destination."

Part of the reason that Houston never became a prominent tourist destination is its location. The city was built on a swamp. It's flat, fairly remote, and floods routinely.

It began as a place where, with a little hard work and a lot of perseverance, anyone could make a buck. Today that attitude is still prevalent - but that may be part of the problem, says local architect Daniel Barnum. "People come here to make their fortune, but they never intend to stay. So they don't care for it like they would their home," he says. "Houston is one big rent city."

To transform the city's appearance, says Mr. Barnum, "an awful lot of education and civic pride has to take place." The public, at least, seems receptive. Last summer, Barnum wrote an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle, detailing how the city lost its bid for the 2012 Olympics in part because the host committee found it too ugly.

That opinion piece triggered a flood of calls and letters for months, and Barnum believes it sparked a latent anger and frustration over the city's appearance.

"Houstonians are so centered on money, and here's something that is worth two or three billion dollars to the city. And we lost it because we can't get to the airport to the inner city without passing through a garbage dump," he says. "That rattles Houstonians."

Still, many residents dismiss the censure or pretend not to care what outsiders think of their city. They say simply, "You don't understand" - even though they can't defend or define it.

"Houston is kind of an odd city. We have the sprawl of Los Angeles without the old-world charm," says Mickey Herskowitz, a Houston Chronicle sports columnist. "It's really a city still groping for an image." He remembers a contest to come up with a slogan to describe Houston in the 1990s. No one could figure out what made Houston special, so they settled on "Houston Proud."

"Yeah, we're proud," Mr. Herskowitz says now. "We just don't know why."

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