Houston Facts

• Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States - the downtown office population on any given day is 185,000 people with a total population of 5.4 million people in the SMSA (Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area)
• Houston is ranked as the fourth best restaurant city in the United States by Wine Spectator and Esquire magazines
• Houston is the most ethnically diverse city in the United States - with 83 consulates, Houston has the third largest consular corps in the nation
• Houston's downtown residential population (including Midtown) is 18.600 people and growing rapidly
• Each year more than 44 million people zip in and out of Houston's two major airports
• Houston is one of only three cities in the United States with standing year-round symphony, opera and ballet. New York and San Francisco are the others
• Houston has the second largest volume of theatre and performance art space (in terms of square footage) in the United States ranking only behind New York
• Houston is home to the world's largest medical center employing 120,000 people. The Texas Medical Center is expected to double in size by 2012
• Houston is the energy capital of the world
• Houston's light rail links Downtown to the Museum District through the Texas Medical Center to Reliant Stadium/Astrodome complex
• There are approximately 60,000 people within walking distance to the light rail with a stop adjacent to the Houston Pavilions site
• Houston is home to the second largest petrochemical complex in the world
• Houston ranks third in the nation in terms of the volume of fine arts museum space
• The Houston Museum of Natural Science is the fourth most visited museum in the United States, ranking only behind the Smithsonian Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural Science
• Houston is home to the world headquarters of more Fortune 500 companies than any city in the United States other than New York
• The Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau is projecting double-digit increases in conventions and conventioneers through 2010
• Houston is the third largest port in the United States and is the nation's largest port in terms of foreign tonnage
• Houston is home to NASA