Houston can thank disaster and deceit for its existence. As founding stories go, Houston’s isn’t particularly inspiring. There’s overblown promises of enterprise and prosperity, yellow fever and a devastating hurricane that thrust the startup city in the spotlight when, a year later, oil was found to the east.

Since then, the city has seen its share of booms and busts, but its residents always found a way to get by. That’s what Houstonians do, almost without question. There’s little breath wasted on sentimentality.

And so, perhaps more than any other major city, Houston exists in a perpetual ebb and flow. Even in the midst of another oil slump, the area is adding population and jobs as more people call Houston home. Beneath this narrative of growth is a city of communities in motion and always somewhat on the edge.

These are the stories of those people, searching for housing in the country’s most dynamic metropolitan area.

New stories posted each month to HousingOfHouston.com.