"Houston--along with Dallas/FtWorth and Austin--is a center if wealth in TX (otherwise the state is surprisingly poor)."

Huh? What a sweeping generalization! I would have to completely disagree. I will agree, though, that Houston is not the prettiest part of the state.

"Thus, you'll see plenty of folks flashing money (The local ethos seems to be 'there-no-such-thing-as-too-much'"

I have lived here for 35 years and haven't seen much of that in Houston or Dallas.