Houston, Texas

Brandon Hartley

The History

Houston Texas is the 4th largest city in the United States. In total, Houston houses nearly 2.2 million people within its 600 square mile border.

This metropolitan area is the 6th largest in the in the United States and contains approximately 5.6 million people.

Houston was founded in 1836 by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen near the banks of the Buffalo Bayou.

Houston is named after a president of the Republic of Texas Sam Houston.

Houston is located within Harris County and is part of the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area.

Houston served as the capital of the Republic of Texas for a short time.

The History

Houston became a commercial and railroad hub for the export of cotton. This was do in part to the Houston’s proximity to the coast which allowed for shipping.

Access to the ocean and ships is essential so in 1914 the deepwater Port of Houston was opened in order to allow for a better shipping infrastructure. Houston is now one of the largest ports in the United States.

Petroleum was another resource that was taken advantage of once it was found in this location in the 1900’s

Recently, Houston has begun to try and diversify it’s economy by focusing more on aerospace and health care/biotechnology, other than petroleum.

The History

Throughout Houston’s history, it has been plagued by hurricanes. Flooding must be designed for in this part of the world.

http://pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=65&size=550x550_mb&ptp_photo_id=130966

Geography (General)

Houston was originally built on forested land, marshes and swamps. In fact downtown Houston is only 50 feet above sea level which make it prone to flooding when heavy rain and hurricanes occur.

The highest point in Houston is only 125 feet above sea level.

http://www.networlddirectory.com/images/blogs/4-2008/houston-area-map.jpg

Geography (General)

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Geography (General)

Houston has four major bayous passing through the city. The four bayous are the Buffalo Bayou, Whit Oak Bayou, Braes Bayou, and Sims Bayou.

The larger of these bayous is the Buffalo Bayou.

http://www.maps.google.com/

Geography (General)

The bayous are looked at as a very important part of the city. So important that a group was started called the Bayou Preservation Association. This group is dedicated to protecting the bayous and bringing life back to them.

The organization is trying to make sure that the 2,500 miles of waterways are transformed into “beautiful ribbons of green.”

In a recent publication by the group, they try to link the number of wetland permits to the amount of flood damage. In most cases, when more permits are given more water absorbing land is modified which increased the amount of flood damage.

Wetland Alteration & Watershed Flooding

Geography (General)

http://www.bayoupreservation.org/html/Bayou_pres.pdf

Geography (General)

Several studies have been done on the development around the Buffalo Bayou. Many of which can be seen on the BuffaloBayou.org website.

One of the most important plans has to do with ways to manage flooding after what happened with Tropical Storm Allison. One simple solution brought up is simply limiting development and wetland modifications and by widening the bayous themselves.

Various parks have begun to be developed and enhanced around the Buffalo Bayou which is one of the last natural bayous in Houston not made of concrete.

Geography (General)

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Geography (General)

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Geography (General)

Geography (Geology)

The soil quality in Houston is made up mostly of unconsolidated clays, clay shales, and poorly-cemented sands up to several miles deep.

This creates several issues when working with foundations in the region. Because of the constant flow of water underground, sub-basements must be built to resist the constant bombardment of water.

Fault lines also cause design problems because Houston is actually located around 150 active faults. The fault system that passes closest to downtown Houston is named the Long Point-Eureka Heights Fault System

http://www.csr.utexas.edu/rs/research/insar/houston_results.html

Geography (Climate)

Houston’s climate is classified as humid subtropical. Prevailing winds are from the south and southeast most of the year.

Summer temperature reach upwards of 90 degrees while winter months can reach lows in the 40’s. The climate in the region is said to be influenced by the smog level that the city produces which are some of the worst in the United States.

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0617?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared

Geography (City)

Houston incorporated a ward system in 1837 which led to today’s nine Houston City Council districts.

Locations are classified as being either inside or outside of Interstate 610 Loop. Beltway 8 encircles Interstate 610 loop 5 miles out.

Houston is the largest city in the United States without formal zoning regulations. Some say the lack of regulation led to the urban sprawl that is commonplace in Houston now.

Crime

Houston’s murder rate is ranked 46th of the U.S. cities with a population of 250,00 or more. However it is 3rd among cities with a population of 1,000,000 or more.

Economy

As stated earlier, Houston’s economy is based on many areas. Oil, natural gas, biomedical research, and aeronautics are just a few of these areas. Entertainment is also a source of economic value as well as trade and various other business services.

Demographics

Houston is made up of a diverse group of people. Much like Los Angeles and New York, several nationalities tend to settle within the city.

Approximately 90 languages are spoken within the city of Houston. Houston also contains one of the largest illegal immigrant population at 400,000

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Demographics

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Arts and Theater

Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene. Most of these activities are located within the Theater District which is located downtown and contains 9 performing arts organizations and six performance halls. Second largest concentration of theaters in the United States.

The Museum District is also important for the arts and contains places like the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Holocaust Museum, and the Houston Zoo

Events

Houston is home to several events throughout the year. Most of these are used to celebrate the diverse cultures that are present in Houston.

Many of these events create an increase in tourism and recreation. There are several places to visit, many of which are in the Museum and Theater Districts.

Space Center Houston is one important tourist attraction that draws people from all over the world.

Tourism and Recreation

Tourism and Recreation

Parks are another form of recreation that are becoming more and more popular in Houston as more land is developed as green space.

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Sports

Houston is also home to several sports franchises. These include the Houston Astros, Houston Texans, Houston Rockets, Houston Dynamo, Houston Aeros, Houston Wranglers, and many more.

These sports require parks and coliseums which all generate a form of income and a form of recreation for the people of Houston.

http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/running/houston/minute-maid-park.jpg

Transportation

Houston has over 500 miles of freeway and expressways to allow movement through the city.

Houston has recently begun to redevelop the METRO in order to improve transportation of the quickly growing population. The light rail began service in 2004.

Airports are also essential to transportation and Houston has two. The George Bush Intercontinental Airport and the William P. Hobby Airport.

Healthcare

Houston has begun to make itself known a medical research center here in the United States. The Texas Medical Center is located in Houston contains 13 renowned hospitals and two specialty institutions.

There are also several medical schools, nursing schools, dentistry schools, public health, and pharmacies. Life flight is based out of Houston which is one of the largest air emergency services.

Healthcare is a major source of income for the economy because it is some of the best in the world.

Healthcare

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Architecture

Houston’s skyline has been ranked fourth most impressive in the United States.

Until the 1960’s Houston’s downtown was a collection of mid-rise office structures. Since then several buildings have been created which make up the skyline today.

Several well known architects have developed projects here include Philip Johnson, I.M. Pei, and Cesar Pelli.

Green design projects have also began to be developed here. A recent building by BNIM and Lake|Flato was recently created for the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Houston.

Architecture

Architecture

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Education

Higher EducationHealthcare does not make up the only educational environment in

Houston. Several schools are located in HoustonThese schools include the University of Houston, Rice University,

University of Houston-Clear Lake, University of St. Thomas, University of Houston Law Center and several others.

Lower EducationThere are 17 school district in the public educational system.Houston is also home to more than 300 private lower education

schools which are accredited by Texas Private School Accreditation Commission.

Templates

The following templates were developed by the use of information present on various websites. The base map for some of the templates was provided by

http://www.houstondowntown.com/Home/Business/DoingBusiness/ParkingStudies/RepublicParkingMap/Republic%20Parking%20Map.PDF

This map was cleaned up to allow for uniform studies of downtown Houston which could be overlaid and modified.

Population Density

Information from: http://www.westhouston.org/COH%202000%20Pop%20Density.png

Wind Speeds

Information from: http://houstonhidefromthewind.org/index.php?map_type=trend

Districts

Landmarks

Overlay

Edges

Edges

Discovery Green Park

Edges

Discovery Green Park

Edges

Discovery Green Parkhttp://offthekuff.com/blog/misc/DiscoveryGreenConstruction.jpg

Paths

Tunnels and Skywalks

Downtown Parking

Works Citedhttp://pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=65&size=550x550_mb&ptp_photo_id=130966http://www.networlddirectory.com/images/blogs/4-2008/houston-area-map.jpghttp://www.csr.utexas.edu/rs/research/insar/houston_results.htmlhttp://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0617?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclaredhttp://www.westhouston.org/COH%202000%20Pop%20Density.pnghttp://www2.pps.org/file-storage/view/houston_park_rendering.jpghttp://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/running/houston/minute-maid-park.jpghttp://www.landliving.com/image/aiagreen06_7.jpghttp://k53.pbase.com/v3/90/46890/2/46087164.TexasMedicalCenterfromWarwick01.jpghttp://www.bayoupreservation.org/html/Bayou_pres.pdfhttp://www.buffalobayou.org/parks.htmlhttp://www.houstontx.gov/http://www.census.gov/http://www.hermannpark.org/gallery.htmhttp://houstonhidefromthewind.org/index.php?map_type=trendhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_texashttp://offthekuff.com/blog/misc/DiscoveryGreenConstruction.jpghttp://www.hcfcd.org/images/ME_hcft.jpg