I think one of the unique things about Houston is that it revels in its shortcomings as much as it does its genuine advantages. Not in a "fuck you if you don't like it here" way, but more of a bemused chuckle. "Yeah, we know." Sprawl? "Yeah, we know." Brutally humid summers? "Yeah, we know." Crappy public transportation? "Yeah, we know." But the people are friendly (no matter how Bible Belt the ideology, everyone's at least courteous), the winters are mild, the medical center is second to none in the world, the petroleum industry drives jobs for more than just engineers and fat cats, the cuisine is a hilarious blend of cultures (ever bought Cajun crawgiraffe from a family-owned Vietnamese restaurant that was better than "real" Cajun?). Plus the whole lesbian mayor thing, which just goes to prove that the conventional wisdom about the political/social stances of a particular area of the country don't always hold water.
Did we ever get an answer as to what kind of certification you're looking to transfer?