Originally Posted by
beyondhere
Does HOU offer a preference for some passengers in Houston over IAH or are these airports too close to be different enough for preference?
IAH is about 15-20 miles north of the city center, while HOU is about 10-12 miles south. IAH is slightly closer to the Energy Corridor (read: where many of the oil company HQs, i.e. money and business travelers work/live), but HOU is closer to Rice University and University of Houston, and also to the coastline.
In short, they are far enough apart that preferring one over the other makes a lot of sense depending on one's downtown destination, unlike DAL and DFW which are in similar north/west directions from downtown Dallas, DFW being further west (and slightly further north) than DAL from downtown Dallas.