The city purchases more renewable energy than any other in the United States, said Parker, who has launched a $250 million project to put bike and hike trials along the bayous, or small rivers, that run through the city like veins.
On social issues, residents in one of the most racially diverse U.S. cities are seen as "tolerant traditionalists" who espouse conservative values and open minds when it comes to social issues, according to a poll from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Houston's Rice University.
Residents generally have a positive view of immigrants, favor same-sex marriage and are more progressive than the state's socially conservative Republican leadership, it said.
The city ranks near the top in the United States in terms of resettling refugees from abroad and when the price of oil picks up again, it will see a fresh wave of migration from those seeking employment.
"If you see the way the crowd is going, you might as well jump in front of it and make it a parade," Parker said.