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Houston
Houston, Texas (Harris County) is located in southeast Texas on I-10, about 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It lies at the head of Galveston and is connected with the bay and the gulf by the Houston Ship Channel. Founded by the Allen brothers in August 1836 as a riverboat landing, the city is named for Sam Houston, a hero of the Texas Revolution. Houston was the capital of the Republic of Texas from 1837 to 1839.
The city is one of the nation's largest seaports with a 17-block Theater District which boasts eight performing arts organizations and more than 12,000 seats.Society for the Performing Arts. Houston has been called possibly the most interesting city in America 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. Adjacent to the Rice campus is Houston’s outstanding museum district, including The Museum of Fine Arts, the Contemporary Arts Museum, The Menil Collection, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Second only to New York City in Fortune 500 headquarters, Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, is home to 18 Fortune 500 companies, the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest, and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center headquarters and and is a short drive from the beaches of the nearby Gulf of Mexico.
 New stadiums host NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, Women's NBA and IHL teams. The city plays host to a professional team for every major sport.TEXANS, ASTROS,ROCKETS, COMETS, AEROS. Houston, the seat of Harris County, is alive with energy and rich in diversity and is a dynamic mix of imagination, talent and first-class attractions that makes it a world-class city. Home to a vibrant economy, beautiful surroundings and a population full of optimism and spirit, it's no wonder that Houston is a popular international destination.
Do some shopping; Houston offers something to fit every budget - from the exclusive shops in Houston's Uptown area to the outlet malls just outside the City. Try one of the countless restaurants available, offering cuisine in everything from Tex Mex and South American to Middle Eastern and Vietnamese. Houston has not evolved into Texas' biggest City (and the largest in the South) by accident. Known as the Bayou City for its waterway system, Houston thrives because it is a great place to work and a great place to live.
For business and fun, for living and visiting, Houston is one of the dynamic frontiers on the world stage. With its proximity to the Southern Hemisphere and having the infrastructure to accommodate the growing needs of numerous global interests, Houston has become an international destination and one of the world's great cities. For three consecutive years, Houston has ranked first in the nation in new business growth, according to American Business Information. The most recent survey shows that more than 31,000 new local businesses were started in Houston. Los Angeles was a distant second with 16,780. The Port of Houston, one of the region's greatest assets, ranks as the nation's largest port in international tonnage and second in total tonnage.
Houston's infrastructure is also strengthened by three airports, which form the sixth-largest airport system in the world, and a massive trucking and rail system that links the southern, south central, midwestern and western United States. More than 600 trucking firms operate in Houston, and two major rail systems operate 14 mainline tracks radiating from Houston. Houston's employment base has become increasingly diverse. In 1981, the economic base was dominated by energy-related businesses with nearly 85 percent of all jobs in those sectors. Today nearly half of all jobs are in non-energy fields, such as business services, technology, aerospace, medicine and manufacturing.
Houston offers richly-diverse pools of highly-skilled, multilingual, multicultural workers with more than 90 languages spoken in the Houston area. Nearly 25 percent of all adults have completed four years of college, surpassing the national average, while the median age is three years younger than the national average.
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Equal Housing Opportunity