All About Houston, Texas
Published: 11/25/2008
Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau
City Area (2006): Metro area: 8,778 square miles. City: (approx.) 600 square miles.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 9a.
Latitude and Longitude: 29 degrees N, 95 degrees W.
Major Commercial Airports: Bush Intercontinental, served by 17 airlines; William P. Hobby, served by five passenger airlines
Companies With a Major Presence in Houston: Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart, Continental Airlines, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Shell Oil Co., BP, Chevron, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, Baker Hughes, National Oilwell Varco, Administaff, Kroger Co., H-E-B, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Halliburton, JP Morgan Chase, Dow Chemical.
Many Americans think of Houston as a hot, sprawling, soulless metropolis where the oil industry is king. But Houston is one of the most art-dense and opportunity-rich cities in the nation.
Houston is a major energy capital, with numerous oil and gas companies headquartered there. It also boasts the world's largest medical center and big space and technology industries. The Port of Houston, the world's 10th largest, is second in the U.S. in total tonnage handled. With a population that's one-third Hispanic and the nation's third-largest Asian population, Houston's 11,000 restaurants offer taste-astounding variety. Higher learning is represented by Rice University, 35,000-student University of Houston, Texas Southern University, city-wide Houston Community College and many more institutions.
Houston is famous (or infamous) for being the only major U.S. city with no zoning laws. The market determines how land is used. It's a reflection of Houston's unwillingness to be told what to do. The good side of this individualism is the city has an energy that's palpable, and newcomers from around the world flock to Houston in search of opportunity. The downside is the city sprawls over an area more than half the size of Rhode Island.
Houston's overall after-taxes living cost is 12 percent below the national average, aided by housing costs 26 percent below the average. There's no state income tax.
A recent amusing -- and definitely unofficial -- Houston image campaign proclaimed: "Houston. It's Worth It," openly confessing the heat, the humidity, the hurricanes, the sprawl and the constant construction, but insisting the town's good points make it all worthwhile. The only constant in the city is change, something the locals have come to appreciate.
Read More About Houston, TX:
- Search Homes for Sale in Houston
- Five Great Neighborhoods in Houston
- Houston Essentials
- What Only Locals Know in Houston
- What Makes Houston Like No Place Else
- Old Sixth Ward: Preserving Houston's History
- Slide Show: Get to Know Houston