Facts and Figures
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
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
