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Houston Facts

Houston is proof that everything is indeed bigger in Texas. While better known for its big business and energy interests, this sprawling underrated city also hosts top-notch orchestra, opera, and ballet companies, a dynamic theater scene, great museums, and the world-renowned NASA Space Center. Shopping reigns supreme here – you'll find a huge concentration of shops and above-par outlet malls – and its cosmopolitan restaurant scene expands upon the state's traditional Tex-Mex offerings. Bold and impressive architecture helps define the cityscape, too (including the mammoth Astrodome) making this fourth-largest U.S, city a true star in the Lone Star State.

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 the Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, Houston Texans, Houston Aeros and the Houston Comets
Houston is home to NASA