Houston, TX

Margie from WatchingBSG tagged me to write 7 interesting facts about myself. I’m not much for talking about myself or for being interesting, so instead, here are 7 interesting facts about Houston and its people and places, off the top of my head:

1) Houston has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the world.

2) Houston is the largest unzoned city in America, making for some urban sprawl and some interesting neighborhoods.

3) Houston has more theatre seats in a concentrated district than any American city, other than New York.

4) Houston has been ranked as America’s Fattest City and one of America’s skinniest cities as well.

5) The University of Houston is the most ethnically diverse research institution in the country.

6) Houston has one of the largest thriving Chinatowns in the country - another testament to our diversity.

7) And finally… Houston’s Mayor White is a recent recipient of the JFK Profile in Courage award for his work to aid Katrina and Rita evacuees. This is the highest honor an American public servant can receive.

bill white, trivia, houston, statistics

I know more facts and figures about the greater Houston area than almost any other person outside of the Census Bureau. Working as a grant writer in the Development Department of a non-profit organization forces me to research all kinds of demographic information about the clients and general population living in this little corner of southeast Texas.

The first thing that always gets mentioned when talking about Houston is that it isn’t exactly little. It is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest, rapidly expanding, population in America with 1.9 million individuals. Surrounding Houston, Harris County has almost double that amount with 3.7 million people living on 1,728 square miles of flat land that ends on the oily shores of the Gulf of Mexico. 5.5 million people total live within the four counties of: Harris, Galveston, Brazoria and Montgomery County.

All of this sprawling land with low population density and it still takes me 45 minutes to get to work every day. It’s one of the wonders of Houston and a constant state of bemoaning among Houstonians and anyone that might make vague hints at the need to conserve the environment.

The inaugural Metro light rail track, started in 2004, runs 8 miles from downtown Houston to Reliant park on the outer edge of Interstate 610. Traveling those 8 miles will only cost you a $1 round-trip and about 30 minutes each way.

What’s funny to me is that I know some runners that can come close to that pace, but they don’t come with air conditioning and tinted windows, so it’s a tough call between hopping on a marathoner and taking the light rail.

Houston, Texas, Environmental Conservation, Public Transportation, Light Rail