City Stories Index · United States · 2026 edition
Houston vs Orlando
Not opinions, measured walking data. On what we can measure, Orlando leads 2–1. Character is a different question: Houston is the city on the bayou; Orlando is the city the parks built.
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| What we measure | Houston | Orlando | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Places with a storyspots where a route tells you what happened there | 31 | 45 | Orlando |
| How often you pass a storymetres from one story to the next; fewer is better | 340 | 184 | Orlando |
| Historical figuresreal people you meet in its stories | 1 | — | Houston |
| Instagrammabilityscore /100, on the index’s fixed scale | 43 | — | Houston |
| Group outingsof every 100 plays, how many bring a group of 3+ | 32 | 26 | Houston |
Differences under 5% count as ties. Sample sizes and definitions on the methodology page.
What their stories are about
How many places with a story each city has per theme: Houston in orange, Orlando in blue. All bars share one scale, so lengths are comparable everywhere on the chart.
HoustonOrlando
9 places
arts & culture8 places
8 places
parks & leisure8 places
3 places
legends & myths7 places
1 place
crime & dark history5 places
Houston scorecard →
The city on the bayou
Orlando scorecard →
The city the parks built