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Welcome to Houston Texas |
 Houston is internationally known for its energy - particularly oil - and aeronautics industries, and for its ship channel. The Port of Houston ranks first in the country in international commerce and is the sixth-largest port in the world. Second only to New York City in Fortune 500 headquarters, Houston is the seat of the Texas Medical Center, which contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions. New and growing businesses are blessed with a strong infrastructure, a highly skilled work force, many of which come from the area's forty local institutions of higher learning, and a quality of life that isn't spoiled by Houston's size. Houston is one of 11 U.S. world-class cities by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network. The city has an active visual and performing arts scene as Houston is one of the five U.S. cities that offer year-round resident companies in all major performing arts. The Houston Theater District is ranked second in the country for the number of theater seats in a concentrated downtown area per capita. The city is home to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center - where Mission Control Center is located - giving Houston its official nickname of "Space City".
 In August 1836, two brothers - John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen - who were New York real estate promoters, purchase 6,642 acres of land from T.F.L. Parrot and his wife Elizabeth, John Austin's widow, for $9,428. The Allen brothers named their town after Sam Houston. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5, 1837 and James S. Holman became the first mayor. That same year, it became the county seat of Harrisburg County - renamed to Harris County in 1839 - and the Texas Legislature designated Houston as the temporary capital of the new Republic of Texas until 1939.By the end of the 1930s, Houston began having growing pains - the city was no longer a frontier town, and its air service was inadequate for its needs. By 1939, Houston was Texas's most populous city. During the late 1970s, Houston experienced a population boom as people from Rust Belt states moved en masse into Texas, which benefited from the Arab Oil Embargo. The population boom abruptly ended when oil prices fell in 1986 due to the disaster.
 Houston claims so many distinctions, all of which have worked to shape this unique city. Along with being the nation's fourth-largest city. Houston has the second-lowest cost of living among major metropolitan cities in the country. Perhaps the major source of this city's active nature is the fact that 71% of its residents are under the age of 44, with 37% under age 24! Nearly all of Houston's most popular attractions are modern and exciting, including Space Center Houston, Six Flags AstroWorld, and Bayou Place, which features restaurants, theaters and concerts all under one roof in the heart of downtown. For sports enthusiasts, Houston has the NBA Rockets, the WNBA Comets, the MLB Astros, and the city will once again be home to an NFL team in August 2002, the Texans. Nearly all of these teams will be playing in new venues and will provide a tremendous financial asset to the community of Houston.
There are many events held in the city celebrating cultures of Houstonians. The largest and longest running is the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo that is held over 20 days from late February through early March. The event begins with trail rides that originate from several points throughout the state, all of which convene at Reliant Park for a barbecue cook-off. The rodeo includes typical rodeo events, as well as concert performances from major artists and carnival rides. Another large celebration is the annual night-time Houston Pride Parade held at the end of June held along Westheimer Road in Neartown - home to many 1950's sty restaurants, vintage shops, tattoo parlors, bars, nightclubs, coffeehouses, and gay entertainment. Other events held annually include Greek Fest, Art Car Parade, and the International Festival.  There are 16 school districts serving the city. The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the seventh-largest in the United States. HISD has 110 campuses that serve as magnet or vanguard schools - specializing in such disciplines as health professions, visual and performing arts, and the sciences. There are also many charter schools that are run separately from school districts . In addition, some public school district also have their own charter schools.Houston has numerous private schools of all types. The Houston area is home to more than 300 private schools. Many of the schools are accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TEPSAC). The Houston area Catholic schools are operated by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. There are more than 55 colleges and universities and dozens of institutions engaged in research and development in Houston. The city is home to Rice University - one of the country's leading teaching and research universities - ranked the nation's 17-best overall university by U.S. News & World Report. The University of Houston (UH) is Texas's third largest public research university with more than 36,000 students from 130 countries, making it one of the most diverse campuses in the country. UH is the only doctoral degree granting comprehensive research institution in East Texas with more than 40 research centers and institutes. Boasting one of the nation's finest programs for trial advocacy is South Texas College of Law - Houston's oldest law school founded in 1923. Other large institutions of higher learning in the city include UH-Clear Lake, UH-Downtown, and Texas Southern University - a historically black university. The Houston Community College System serves most of Houston and is the fourth-largest community college system in the United States.
Space Center Houston is the center of NASA's space center and includes many interactive exhibits - including moon rocks and a shuttle simulator - in addition to special presentations that tell the story of NASA's manned space flight program. The center features Texas's largest IMAX theater. The Theater District-a 17 bloc area in the center of downtown Houston - is home to Bayou Place Entertainment Complex, restaurants, movies, plazas, and parks. Bayou Place is a large multilevel building that is home to full service restaurants, bars, live music, billiards, and art house films. The Houston Verizon Wireless Theater stages a variety of live concerts, stage plays, and stand up comedy: and the Angelika Theater presents the latest in art, foreign and independent films. Houston is home to many parks including Hermann Park it houses the Houston Zoo and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Lake Houston Park, Memorial Park, and Sam Houston Park. The city has 337 city parks and over 200 greenspaces-totaling over 19,600 acres that are managed by the city-including the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. What was once the Houston Civic center was replaced by the George R. Brown Convention Center - one of the nation's largest - and the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Art, home of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Society for the Performing Art. The Sam Houston Coliseum and Music Hall have been replaced by the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Other fun things to do include the Galleria, Texas's largest shopping mall located in the Uptown District, Old Market Square, Tranquility Park, the Downtown Aquarium, and Sam Houston Park, which contains restored homes (built between 1824 and 1868) and reconstructed building. For the golf lover there are plenty of golf courses to play on. The San Jacinto Battlefield is in the nearby city of Deer Park.
 Houston's freeway system includes 575.5 miles of freeways and expressways in the 10-county metro area. Its highway system has a hub-and -spoke freeway structure with multiple loops. The innermost is Interstate 610, forming approximately a 10 mile diameter loop around the downtown area. The roads of Beltway 8 and their freeway core, the Sam Houston Tollway, are the next loop, at a diameter of roughly 25 miles. A proposed highway project, State Highway 99 (The Grand Parkway), would form a third loop outside of Houston. Currently, the completed portion of State 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 Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, or METRO, provides public transportation in the form of buses, light rail, trolleys, and lift vans. METRO's various forms of public transportation still do not connect many of the suburbs to the greater city, causing Houstonians to rely on the automobile as a primary source of transportation.
 Houston is served by two commercial airports - the largest of which is the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The airport is the ninth-busiest in the United States for total passengers, and 19th busiest worldwide. Houston is the headquarters of Continental Airlines, Bush Intercontinental is Continental Airline's largest hub. The airline alone offers more than 750 daily departures.Bush Intercontinental currently ranks third in the United States form non-stop domestic and international service with 182 destination. This trails O'Hare International Airport with 192 destinations and Atlanta Hartsfield with 239 destination. In 2006, the United States Department of Transportation named George Bush Intercontinental Airport the fastest growing of the top ten airports in the United States.
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