[wanderer34]

It's still a possibility that Houston can still surpass Chicago for the #3 spot for America's largest cities, behind only NY and LA, as it only a difference of 362,161 people between both Houston and Chicago. Chicago is declining about 15 every year while Houston a slightly declined about 0.07% since 2020, and may grow again due to the high growth that TX is currently experiencing.

Also, Houston has 640 sq. mi. and spans up to three counties (Fort Bend, Harris, and Montgomery), while Chicago actually spans up to two (Cook and DuPage) and is 227 sq. mi. so essentially Houston has three times the land that Chicago currently has, and with the land that Houston has, it's much easier to place a lot of people in Houston, which still has open land in some places, than in a city like Chicago, which is very dense in many locations throughout the city.

Finally, Houston has the second most Fortune 500 companies in the US. While Metro Houston may not have beaten Chicagoland in the total number of Fortune 500 companies, and Houston sprawls around much more than Chicago, the fact that Houston can have the ability to create different CBDs in and around the area may not create a NY or a Chicago level density, but it will be similar to LA, with it's different nodes scattered around the city.