Houston
| |||||
| City nickname: "Space City" | |||||
 Location in the state of Texas | |||||
| Founded — Incorporated |
1836 1837 | ||||
| Counties | Harris County Fort Bend County Montgomery County | ||||
| Mayor | Bill White | ||||
| Area — Land — Water |
601.7 mi² / 1,558.4 km² 579.4 mi² / 1,500.7 km² 22.3 mi² / 57.7km² | ||||
| Population — Total (2004) — Density |
5,180,443 (metro area) 2,012,626 (city proper) 1,301.8/km² | ||||
| Time zone — Summer (DST) |
Central (UTC-6) Central (UTC-5) | ||||
| Latitude Longitude |
29°40' N 95°18' W | ||||
| Official website: www.houstontx.gov | |||||
Houston is the largest city within the state of Texas, fourth in the United States, and the second-largest economic area of the Gulf Coast region. The city is the county seat of Harris County, the third most populous county in the country. A portion of southwest Houston extends into Fort Bend County and a small portion in the northeast extends into Montgomery County.
Founded in 1836 by John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, Houston is one of the newest and fastest growing major cities in the United States and the largest without zoning laws. In 1900, Houston's population was about 45,000, making it the 85th largest city in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 1.9 million (though a July 1, 2004 U.S. Census estimate placed the city's population at more than 2 million). Houston is the main cultural and economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Metropolitan Area, which is the eighth largest metropolitan area in the United States with a population of about 5.2 million in ten counties.
Houston is world renowned for its energy (particularly oil) and aeronautics industries and for its ship channel. The Port of Houston is one of the busiest ports in the United States and second in the world in foreign tonnage. Second only to New York City in Fortune 500 headquarters, Houston is home to the Texas Medical Center — the world's largest and most important concentration of research and healthcare institutions. Houston has much to offer, including the lowest cost of living and the least-expensive housing among 27 major U.S. metropolitan areas with populations of more than 1.7 million.
Houston was named a "Gamma World City" by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC). Officially, Houston has been nicknamed the Space City as it is home to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, often called "Mission Control". The city offers a wide range of business, entertainment and cultural opportunities, including a respected and thriving theater district. Less than an hour from the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is close to sunny beaches, one of the United States' largest concentrations of pleasure boats and tourist attractions such as the Kemah Boardwalk and Galveston Island.
History
Main article: History of Houston
Houston's founding
Two New York real estate promoters, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, were seeking a location where they could begin building "a great center of government and commerce." In August 1836, they purchased 6,642 acres (27 km²) of land from T. F. L. Parrot, John Austin's widow for $9,428. The Allen brothers named their town after Sam Houston and persuaded the Texas Congress to designate the site as the temporary capital of the new Republic of Texas.
After it was established, it started out as a hamlet. Gail and Thomas H. Borden surveyed and mapped the town in typical grid fashion, with wide streets running parallel and perpendicular to the bayou. The city was granted incorporation on June 5, 1837, and James S. Holman became the first mayor. That same year, Houston also became the county seat of Harrisburg County, which was renamed Harris County in 1839. Houston was then made as a temporary capital of the Republic of Texas. On January 14, 1839, the capital had been moved to Austin, known as Waterloo at the time.
Early settlers
The early settlers used lumber to build frame houses, ditches for drainage, and pigs to clean the streets. Lawlessness, epidemics and financial problems prompted the people of the community to attempt improvements of the conditions under which they were living. It was agreed by many that a Chamber of Commerce was needed to work out Houston's problems. As a result, Senator Robert Wilson introduced a bill in the Congress of the Republic on November 26, 1838, to charter the Houston Chamber of Commerce. Yellow fever struck periodically and in 1839 the disease killed about 12 percent of the population. Because many of the first settlers were from the South, they endorsed the slavery-plantation system. The slaves lived scattered through the neighborhoods and there were few free blacks in the city.
In 1840, the city was divided into four wards, each with different functions in the community. The wards are no longer political divisions, but their names are still used. The Republic of Texas started to promote colonization of the state as the Allen brothers started to promote their town.
20th century
Shipbuilding during World War II spurred further growth; and the establishment (1961) nearby of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Manned Spacecraft Center (renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1973) brought the aerospace industry. In 1948, several suburbs were incorporated into the city limits, and it spreads wide across the prairie. In 1981, Kathryn J. Whitmire became the city's first woman mayor. Its first African American mayor, Lee P. Brown, was elected in 1997. Houston benefited from high oil prices in the 1970s but suffered in the 1980s as oil prices collapsed. Since the early 1980s, Houston has made efforts to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil.
See also: Historical events of Houston
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,558.4 km² (601.7 mi²). 1,500.7 km² (579.4 mi²) of it is land and 57.7 km² (22.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.7 percent water.
Houston has four major bayous passing through the city: Buffalo Bayou, which runs into downtown; Brays Bayou, which runs along the Texas Medical Center; White Oak Bayou, which runs through the Heights and near the northwest area; and Sims Bayou, which runs through the south of Houston and downtown Houston, merging into the ship channel. The ship channel goes past Galveston and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Most of Houston is very flat, making flooding an increasing problem for its residents. The city stands about fifty feet above sea level; the Houston Heights area has the highest elevation in the city. The city once relied on groundwater for its water needs, but land subsidence forced the city to turn to ground-level water sources such as Lake Houston.
Climate
Houston's climate is classified as being humid subtropical. The city is located in the gulf coastal plains biome, and its vegetation is classified as temperate grassland. Much of Houston was built on forested land, marshes or prairie, all of which can still be seen in surrounding areas. Average yearly precipitation levels range from 36 to 48 inches. Prevailing winds are from the south and southeast during most of the year, bringing heat from the deserts of Mexico and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
In the summer time, daily high temperatures are in the 95ºF (35ºC) to 110ºF (45ºC) range throughout much of July and August. The air tends to feel still and the humidity (often 90 to 100 percent relative humidity) makes the air feel hotter than it really is. To cope with the heat, people use air conditioning in nearly every car and post-war building in the city. Summer thunderstorms sometimes bring tornadoes to the area. Afternoon rains are not uncommon, and most days Houston meteorologists predict at least some percentage chance of rain.
Winters in Houston are cool and temperate. Many days the temperatures are between the 45º and 55ºF (7ºC and 16ºC). The coldest period is usually in January, when north winds bring winter rains. Snow is almost unheard of, and typically does not accumulate when it is seen. A freak snowstorm hit Houston on Christmas Eve 2004. A few inches accumulated, but was all gone by the next afternoon.
Houston's climate is often compared to that of Dallas. Dallas has a hot, dry climate while Houston has a hot, extra humid climate. While Dallas gets hotter temperatures, Houston's heat index is often higher. Like many areas of Texas, Houston suffers from the Red imported fire ant.
Natural disasters
Hurricanes have slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast on numerous occasions; several have passed through Houston, often causing death and destruction. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 led to Galveston losing its status as the major port city and economic power in Southeast Texas; subsequent development of the Houston ship channel and its port refineries shifted the honor to Houston. The last hurricane of consequence to hit Houston was Hurricane Alicia in 1983, but Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 caused billions of dollars in damages and cost 43 lives. To date, Allison has been Houston's worst flood. Many neighborhoods have changed since the storm; older houses in some afflicted neighborhoods have been torn down and replaced with larger houses with larger foundations.
Economy
Houston's energy industry is a world powerhouse (particularly oil), but biomedical research, aeronautics and the ship channel are also large parts of the city's industrial base. The city is the largest petrochemical manufacturing area in the world, including for synthetic rubber, insecticides and fertilizers. The area is also the world's leading center for building oilfield equipment. Much of Houston's success as a petrochemical complex is due to its man-made ship channel, the Port of Houston, which is one of the busiest ports in the United States and second in the world in foreign tonnage. Because of the economic trades, many residents have moved in from other U.S. states, as well as hundreds of countries worldwide. Unlike most places, where high gas prices are seen as harmful to the economy, they are generally seen as beneficial for Houston as many are employed in the energy industry.
Historically, Houston has had several growth spurts (and some devastating economic recessions) related to the Texas oil industry. The discovery of oil near Houston in 1901 led to its first growth spurt — by the 1920s, Houston had grown to almost 140,000 people. The city's burgeoning aerospace industry heralded its second growth spurt, which solidified with the 1973 oil crisis. Demand on Texas oil increased, and many people from the northeast moved to Houston to profit from the trade. When the embargo was lifted, the growth mostly stopped. However, Pasadena still has its refineries, and the Port of Houston is among the busiest in the world.
Houston is second to New York City in Fortune 500 headquarters. It has attempted to build a banking industry, but the companies originally started in Houston have since merged with other companies nationwide. Banking is still vital to the region, but most of the banks operating in the city are not based there. More recently, Houston has become a major center of finance with a large number of banks, many of them foreign. Real estate is also a large presence in the Houston area.
See also: List of major companies in Houston
Government and politics
Law and government
Houston is the county seat of Harris County. A portion of southwest Houston, east of Missouri City, extends into Fort Bend County and also portion of northeast Houston extends into Montgomery County.
The current mayor of Houston is Bill White, who is serving his first term. In Houston, a mayor can be elected consecutively for three terms. City Council members, who also have a three-term limit, are elected from nine districts in the city, along with five at-large positions. At-large council members represent the entire city. Houston is considered a home rule city; members of city council and the city controller are nonpartisan positions.
Many local lawmakers have been impacted by the city's term limits. Several former city officials — Anthony Hall, Rodney Ellis, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Sylvia Garcia, Martha Wong, Chris Bell, and Annise Parker — had to run for another elected position once their term expired.
Former mayor Lee P. Brown denounced the term limits, saying they prevented incumbents from gaining enough experience in city government. A proposal to double the current two-year term of office has been debated — as of 2005, several candidates for the city council have brought up the issue of whether term limits should be amended or eliminated.
Some elected officials from the Greater Houston area within the Texas Legislature — primarily Garnet Coleman and Sylvester Turner — have also spoken against term limits.
See: List of Mayors in Houston
See also: List of embassies and consulates
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 1,953,631 people, 717,945 households, and 457,330 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,301.8/km² (3,371.7/mi²). There are 782,009 housing units at an average density of 521.1/km² (1,349.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 49.27% White, 25.31% Black or African American, 0.44% Native American, 5.31% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 16.46% from other races, and 3.15% from two or more races. 37.41% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 717,945 households out of which 33.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.2% are married couples living together, 15.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% are non-families. 29.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.67 and the average family size is 3.39.
In the city the population is spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 97.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $36,616, and the median income for a family is $40,443. Males have a median income of $32,084 versus $27,371 for females. The per capita income for the city is $20,101. 19.2% of the population and 16.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 26.1% of those under the age of 18 and 14.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
People and culture
Officially, Houston has been nicknamed the Space City because of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center nearby. "Houston" was the first word uttered on the moon, as Neil Armstrong reported back to NASA. Many locals, however, prefer to call it the Bayou City. (Other nicknames include "H-Town", "Clutch City", and "Magnolia City".)
Because the Greater Houston area and the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex are the major economic centers of Texas, the two areas enjoy a friendly rivalry. Houstonians often consider themselves more "down to earth" than their neighbors to the north, and some Houstonians complain that Dallas seems to get more attention nationally, even though Houston has a larger population. This rivalry often leads to comparison of the assets of one city to the assets of the other. For example, although Dallas has more restaurants per person than even New York City, Houstonians eat out more often than residents of any other city in the United States. The only city in which eating out is cheaper than Houston is New Orleans, Louisiana.
Several Houston-based restaurants (most notably Ninfa Laurenzo's Mama Ninfa's Mexican restaurant chain, Johnny Carrabba's Carrabba's, and Kim Su Tran La's Kim Sơn Vietnamese restaurant chain) have become well known in Texas and throughout the country. The design for the first Compaq computer was sketched on a napkin at House of Pies, a well-known diner in the Upper Kirby district, near the Montrose area.
A cosmopolitan city
Houston is a diverse and international city, in part because of its its many academic institutions and strong biomedical, energy, manufacturing and aerospace industries. A port city, Houston also has large populations of immigrants from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam. This influx of immigrants is partially responsible for Houston having a population that is younger than the national average.
Houston has two Chinatowns, as well as the third largest Vietnamese American population in the United States. Recent redevelopment of Midtown from run-down to upscale has increased property values and property taxes, but has also forced some Vietnamese Americans into other areas of the city.
About 90 languages are spoken in the area. Some neighborhoods with high populations of Vietnamese and Chinese residents have Chinese and Vietnamese street signs in addition to English ones. Houston has the second highest South African population in the United States, after Miami, Florida. The city is also noted for its large Nigerian population with about one hundred thousand native Nigerian residents[1].
The Hispanic population in Houston is increasing as more and more people from Latin countries try to find work in Houston — Houston has the third largest Hispanic population in the United States.
Aided by the popularity of the late hip-hop artist DJ Screw, Houston is known among youth, primarily in the South, as having its own distinctive style of hip-hop commonly known as screw music (referred to locally as simply "screw.") Many young Houstonians of all ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds in touch with local hip-hop culture may remember the advent of this form of Southern rap which began to take place around late 1999.
See: List of famous people raised in Houston
Health and fitness
In 2005, Men's Fitness magazine named Houston the fattest city in the United States (the fourth time the city has received such an award since 2001). In 2005, the magazine based its rating on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey listing 23 percent of Houstonians as clinically obese, as well as other statistics such as Houston having twice the number of doughnut shops per capita compared to the national average, and statistics showing Houstonians eat out more than any other city's population.
Cultural institutions
Known for the vibrancy of its visual and performing arts, Houston's theater district is ranked second in the country (behind New York City) in the amount of theater seats in a concentrated downtown area. Houston has world-class visual and performing arts organizations, along with a dose of homegrown folk art such as Art Cars. Houston is also one of only five cities in the United States with permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts disciplines (the Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Ballet, and The Alley Theatre)[2]. Houston is one of only five cities in the country with these year-round visual and performing arts available, and is widely recognized as the nation's third most important city for contemporary visual arts.
The New York Times has called Houston possibly the most interesting city in the United States for young artists. For nearly 100 years, Houston’s rich culture has invigorated the artistic and academic pursuits of students and faculty alike. Houston is one of only six American cities with resident professional companies in all four major performing arts: ballet, opera, theater and symphony. It's a prime stop for touring companies from Broadway; concerts and shows, from The Rolling Stones to Cirque du Soleil; and exhibitions for every interest, ranging from the nation's largest quilting show to auto, boat and home shows.
Adjacent to the Texas Medical Center is the Museum District, including Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Contemporary Arts Museum, The Menil Collection, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
See also: List of museums outside of the Museum District
Tourism
Space Center Houston is the official visitors center of NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Space Center Houston is a place where people can experience space — from its history and present to its future. Space Center Houston's unparalleled exhibits, attractions, special presentations and hands-on activities tell the story of NASA's manned space flight program. SCH is the only place in the world where visitors can see astronauts train for missions, touch a real moon rock, land a shuttle, and take a behind-the-scenes tour of NASA. It also features Texas’ largest IMAX theater.
Houston's many parks include Hermann Park, which has a zoo, a museum of natural science, and a planetarium. Houston has several notable art museums, the Space Center Houston museum, and a children's museum. The Wortham Theater Center houses the opera and ballet companies; the city is also home to the The Alley Theatre, one of the country's foremost repertory companies. The civic center includes the Sam Houston Coliseum and Music Hall; the George R. Brown Convention Center, one of the nation's largest; and the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, home of the symphony orchestra.
Other tourist attractions include the Galleria, a huge enclosed shopping mall noted for its luxury stores; Old Market Square; Sam Houston Historical Park, which contains restored homes (built 1824–68) and reconstructed buildings; and the Astrodome (opened 1965) and its adjacent Astroworld, an amusement park. The San Jacinto battlefield is in the nearby city of Deer Park. Less than an hour from the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is close to sunny beaches, one of the nation's largest concentrations of pleasure boats, and tourist attractions such as the Kemah Boardwalk and Galveston Island.
Skyline
Downtown Houston
In the 1960s, Downtown Houston comprised of a modest collection of mid-rise office structures, but has since grown into one of the largest skylines in the United States. In 1960, the central business district had 10 million square feet of office space, increasing to about 16 million square feet in 1970. Downtown Houston was on the threshold of a boom in 1970 with 8.7 million square feet of office space planned or under construction and huge projects being launched by real estate developers. The largest proposed development was the 32-block Houston Center. Only a small part of the original proposal was ultimately constructed. Other large projects included the Cullen Center, Allen Center, and towers for Shell Oil. The surge of skyscrapers mirrored the skyscraper booms in other cities, such as Los Angeles and Dallas. Houston experienced another downtown construction spurt in the 1970s with the energy industry boom.
The first major skyscraper to be constructed in Houston was the 50-floor, 714-foot-tall (218 m) One Shell Plaza in 1971. A succession of skycrapers were built throughout the 1970s, culminating with Houston's tallest skyscraper, the 75-floor, 1,002-foot-tall (305 m) JPMorgan Chase Tower (formerly the Texas Commerce Tower), which was completed in 1982. In 2002, it was the ninth tallest building in the United States and the 23rd tallest skyscaper in the world. In 1983, the 71-floor, 970-foot-tall (296 m) Wells Fargo Plaza was completed. Skyscraper construction in downtown Houston came to an end in the mid-1980s with the collapse of Houston's energy industry and the resulting severe economic recession. When the 53-floor Texaco Heritage Plaza was completed in 1987, it appeared that no more skyscrapers would be constructed for a while. However, in 2002, the Houston-based Enron Corporation began construction of a 40-floor skyscraper which was about to be completed in 2001 as the company collapsed in one of the most dramatic corporate failures in the history of the United States. Other smaller office structures were built in the 2000-2003 period. As of December 2001, downtown Houston had about 40 million square feet of office space, including 28 million square feet of class A office space.
Uptown Houston
The Uptown Houston district boomed along with Houston during the 1970s and early 1980s. A collection of mid-rise office buildings appeared along the Interstate 610 west (or simply "West Loop"). It became one of the most impressive instances of the edge city. The highest achievement of Uptown Houston was the construction of the landmark 899-foot-tall (274 m) Williams Tower (known as the Transco Tower until 1999). At the time, it was believed to the be the world's tallest skyscraper outside of a central business district. The Williams Tower was the product of a unique era in Houston. A period when energy companies were loaded with assets and sought impressive, monumental structures to project their power.
The Uptown Houston district is also home to other landmark buildings, designed by architects such as Cesar Pelli and Philip Johnson. Large-scale office construction in Uptown Houston, however, came to an end with the collapse of energy prices and the meltdown of Houston's economy in the mid-to-late 1980s. Uptown Houston had 23.8 million square feet of office space in 2001, whereas Downtown Houston had about 40 million square feet. In the late 1990s, there was a mini-boom of mid-rise residential tower construction, typically 30 stories tall. Uptown Houston has accumulated a large concentration of high-rise residential structures for such a low-density city.
Urban layout
Main article: Disticts and communities of Houston
When Houston was established in 1837, the city's founders divided it into political geographic districts called "wards." The ward designation is the progenitor of the current-day Houston City Council districts — there are nine in all.
Locations in Houston are generally classified as either being inside or outside Interstate 610, known as the "610 Loop" or "The Loop". Inside the loop generally encompasses the central business district. Loop 610 is more than just a freeway as it has come to define a lifestyle and state of mind. The “inner looper” is more of an urban person, someone who likes to be close to the arts, universities, events, parks, and entertainment.
The outlying areas of Houston, the airports and the city's suburbs and enclaves are outside the loop. Another ring road, Texas Beltway 8 (also known simply as the "Beltway"), encircles the city another 5 miles (8 km) further out. Another ring road, Texas Highway 99 (also known as the Grand Parkway), is under construction.
Houston, being the largest city in the United States without zoning laws, has grown in an unusual manner. Rather than a single “downtown” as the center of the city's employment, five additional business districts have grown throughout the inner-city. If these business districts were combined, they would form the third largest downtown in the United States.
Transportation
Highways
 | The neutrality of this section is disputed. |
Houston's size and lack of zoning have contributed to urban sprawl, which, combined with the humidity and hot summers, has made automobiles the favored means of transportation. This dependence on cars causes pollution problems, including excessive ozone levels. Houston is ranked among the most ozone-polluted cities in the United States.
Houston freeways are heavily traveled and often under construction to meet the demands of continuing growth. Interstate 45 south has been in a continuous state of construction, in one portion or another, almost since the first segment was built in 1952. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) planners have sought ways to reduce rush hour congestion, primarly through High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane for vans and carpools. Timed freeway entrances, which regulate the addition of cars to the freeway, are also common. Houston has an extensive network of freeway cameras linked to a transit control center to monitor and study traffic.
One unusual characteristic of Houston's freeways are its frontage roads (which locals call "feeders"). Alongside most freeways are two to four lanes in each direction parallel to the freeway permitting easy access to individual city streets. The frontage roads make freeway access very easy, but not very pretty — visibility to passing traffic has attracted mostly gas stations and major retail stores. New landscaping projects and a longstanding ban on new billboards are ways Houston has tried to back away from this side effect of convenience.
Houston has a hub-and-spoke freeway structure with multiple loops. The innermost is Interstate 610, forming approximately a 10 mile diameter loop around downtown. The roughly square "Loop-610" is quartered into "North Loop," "South Loop," "West Loop," and "East Loop." The roads of Texas Beltway 8 and their freeway core, the Sam Houston Tollway, are the next loop, at a diameter of roughly 25 miles. Most of this freeway requires payment of $1 or more toll every five or ten miles. A controversial proposed highway project, Texas Highway 99, would form a third loop outside of Houston. Currently, the completed portion of Texas Highway 99 runs from just north of Interstate 10, west of Houston, to U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land, southwest of Houston, and was completed in 1994. The next portion to be constructed is from the current terminus at U.S. Highway 59 to Texas Highway 288 in Brazoria County.
For a road map of Houston, click here
See also: List of highways in Houston
Mass transit
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, or METRO, provides public transportation in the form of buses, trolleys and lift vans. Uptown, METRO provides free service on the Uptown Shuttle.
The city began running light rail service (METRORail) on January 1, 2004. Currently the track is rather short — it runs about 8 miles (13 km) primarily along Main Street from central Downtown Houston to the Texas Medical Center and Reliant Park. A 27-mile (43 km) expansion has been approved to run the service all along the central Houston area, including Uptown. METRO hopes to expand the light rail to the city's two major airports, as well as the Bay Area, Katy, Spring and along the Southwest Freeway. The METRORail system is highly controversial among Houstonians. METRORail's price tag of over $300 million and an unusually high collision rate with automobiles in the system's first year of operation have caused many citizens to question its merits and viability. Currently critics of the line are seeking design changes to future rail expansion lines in order to reduce the system's interface with automobile traffic. METRORail is Texas's second major light rail service, after DART's light rail service in Dallas.
Airports
Houston is served by George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport (named Houston International Airport until 1963). Bush Intercontinental handles all of the city's international traffic, while Hobby services shorter-haul routes. Hobby is also the only airport in the city served by Southwest Airlines. Bush Intercontinental is the hub airport for Continental Airlines, which is headquartered in Houston.
The city's third-largest airport, Ellington Field, in the past was used to ferry passengers between Galveston County and Bush Intercontinential, to cut down on driving time. Passenger flights ended on September 7, 2004. Ellington Field is in danger of closing down, as of February 2004.
Located in Sugar Land, southwest of Houston, is the Sugar Land Regional Airport, formerly Sugar Land Municipal Airport. Sugar Land Regional is the fourth largest airport in the greater Houston area, and the only general reliever airport in the southwest sector. The airport mostly serves corporate, governmental and private planes.
Education and scientific research
Colleges and universities
Houston is home to the prestigious Rice University, a private institution boasting one of the largest financial endowments of any university in the world and ranked the 17th best university overall in the nation by U.S. News & World Report [3]. The small undergraduate student body is among the nation's most select and has one of the highest percentages of National Merit Scholarship winners. Rice maintains a variety of research facilities and laboratories. Rice is also associated with the Houston Area Research Center, a consortium supported by Rice, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and the University of Houston.
Houston is served by the University of Houston System, the largest urban state system of higher education in the Gulf Coast. The system has four universities, all but one of which are in Houston, and two multi-institution teaching centers. Their flagship institution is the University of Houston, the only doctoral degree granting extensive research institution in Houston and the third largest in the state of Texas with an enrollment of more than 35,000. The University of Houston is also home to more than 40 research centers and institutes. Among the most prestigious of the University of Houston's colleges is the University of Houston Law Center (law school). The University of Houston Law Center's Health Law and Policy Institute is ranked number one in the nation while its intellectual property law program is ranked fifth, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Houston is the seat of the internationally-renowned Texas Medical Center, which contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions including Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is widely considered one of the world’s most productive and highly-regarded academic institutions devoted to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention.
Much of Houston is served by the Houston Community College System, which is one of the largest community college systems in the United States. HCCS serves the HISD portion of Houston and other areas. Parts of northern Houston are served by North Harris Montgomery Community College District. Parts of eastern and southeastern Houston are served by San Jacinto College. Many of Houston's suburbs also have their own community college systems.
See also: List of colleges and universities in Houston
Public schools
There are many school districts serving the city of Houston, the largest of which, the Houston Independent School District, serves a large majority of the area within the city limits.
A portion of west Houston falls under the Spring Branch and Alief independent school districts. Aldine and North Forest independent school districts take up a part of northeast Houston. Parts of Pasadena, Clear Creek, Galena Park, Katy, Fort Bend, Huffman, New Caney, Humble, Klein, and Cypress-Fairbanks independent school districts take students from the city limits of Houston.
Public libraries
The Houston Public Library has 36 branches throughout the city, plus the Central Library, located Downtown. The Harris County Public Library has 26 branches, mostly in areas outside the city limits of Houston.
Media and entertainment
Less than an hour from the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is close to sunny beaches, one of the nation's largest concentrations of pleasure boats, and tourist attractions such as the Kemah Boardwalk and Galveston Island.
Houston has Six Flags Astroworld, one of the larger Six Flags amusement parks in the country. AstroWorld is home to the only pipe-line barrel roll roller coaster in North America. Its other major claims to fame are the Texas Cyclone (which when first built was one of the largest wooden roller coasters in the United States), and the Ultra Twister, which is widely regarded as one of the most unique rides in the United States. AstroWorld is adjacent to Six Flags Waterworld, a water park that has been incorporated into the theme park. The amusement parks are a few blocks away from the Reliant Park complex, located in south 610 loop.
Houston is served by the Houston Chronicle, its only major daily newspaper with wide distribution. Houston also is home to several TV stations and radio stations that serve the metro area.
ABC-13 KTRK TV's Marvin Zindler is a well-known figure in Houston, recognizable as much for his voice as for his trademark blue eyeglasses. His week-long exposé on the Chicken Ranch brothel later became the basis for the Broadway musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
KHOU-TV's team of "Defenders" began and led an investigation into the failure of Firestone Wilderness AT tires in several vehicles that ended up becoming a national story with wide-reaching implications. These reports garnered the reporters and the station national and international attention and awards.
Univision Affiliate KXLN-TV is among the highest rated Spanish-language television stations in the United States. Its "En Su Defensa" (in your defense) segments have garnered regional acclaim, and En Su Defensa month was proclaimed by Mayor Bill White in 2004.
See: List of famous events in Houston
See: List of newspapers in Houston
See: List of television stations in Houston
See: List of movies set in Houston
Professional sports
Houston has the Houston Astros, Houston Texans, Houston Rockets, Houston Comets, and Houston Aeros, all of whom are playing in new, state-of-the-art stadiums. Minute Maid Park (home of the Astros) and Toyota Center (home of the Rockets, Comets and Aeros) are located Downtown, contributing to an urban renaissance that has transformed Houston's center into a day-and-night destination. Rice Stadium, at Rice University, was the home to the Super Bowl VIII, and Super Bowl XXXVIII was played at the Reliant Stadium in February 2004.
Professional sports teams
Here is a list of teams with the league they are a part of and the venue the play in:
- Baseball: Astros - MLB - Minute Maid Park
- Basketball
- Rockets - NBA - Toyota Center
- Comets - WNBA - Toyota Center
- American Football
- Texans - NFL - Reliant Stadium
- Energy - WPFL - Rice Stadium
- Hockey: Aeros - AHL - Toyota Center
Sports facilities
- Hofheinz Pavilion
- Minute Maid Park (formerly Enron Field, then Astros Field)
- Reliant Astrodome
- Reliant Stadium
- Rice Stadium
- Robertson Stadium
- Toyota Center
See also: Former professional sports teams in Houston
Sister cities
Houston has 16 sister cities. Parentheses denote the year in which sister city relationships were established.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2001)
- Baku, Azerbaijan (1976)
- Chiba, Japan (1973)
- Grampian Region, Scotland (1979)
- Guayaquil, Ecuador (1987)
- Huelva, Spain (1969)
- Istanbul, Turkey (1986)
- Leipzig, Germany (1993)
- Luanda, Angola (2003)
- Nice, France (1973)
- Perth, Western Australia, Australia (1983)
- Shenzhen, People's Republic of China (1986)
- Stavanger, Norway (1980)
- Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China (1963)
- Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico (2003)
- Tyumen, Russia (1995)
Sources
- http://www.flagspot.net, http://fotw.vexillum.com/flags/us-tx-hu.html - Source of flag image. Image made by Tony DeFalco
- Nothing but pictures of Houston Link provided by the author of the pictures - Nikola Gruev
External links
- City of Houston homepage
- Detailed History of Houston
- Houston Area Parks
- Many Houston Links and pictures
- Houston Area LiveJournal Community
- Nothing but pictures of Houston
- Wikitravel article about Houston
- Houston Freeways
- Houstonians tell why it's worth it
- Famous Houstonians
| Counties |  | |
|---|---|---|
| "Principal" cities | ||
| Other cities |
For a complete listing, see list of cities and towns in Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land MSA | |
| Unincorporated areas | ||
| Bodies of water | ||
