Houston, TX
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 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.
Come see Paul McCartney live in 2005 in Houston, it's
sure to be a great show.