Houston, Texas is the fourth-largest city in the United States, with a population of more than 2 million. The city, which covers some 600 square miles is the county seat of Harris County, the third most-populous county in the U.S. The Houston Metropolitan area has more than 5.3 million people in 10 counties, and is the largest economic and cultural center on the U.S. Gulf (of Mexico) Coast. It is also home to the Johnson Space Center, the nation's headquarters for exploring outer space ("Hello, Houston, we have a problem.")

Houston is a city of many firsts. It is the nation's leading port for international commerce, the home of the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare facilities, the world's leading center for the construction of oilfield equipment, the largest city in Texas, and the only serious second place it scores is ranking behind New York City for Fortune 500 company headquarters. It's one of only five U.S. cities that offer world-class, year-round resident companies in all major performing arts and is ranked second among all U.S. cities in the number of theatre seats concentrated per capita in a downtown area.

Phew! There's so much to Houston it's almost impossible to find a starting point. Best begin at the beginning. In 1836, two New York real estate promoters, brothers John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, purchased some 6,600 acres of land along the bayous of southeast Texas and named it for Sam Houston, the hero of the battle of San Jacinto where Texas finally defeated Mexico and won her independence. By 1837, the tiny hamlet of Houston was granted incorporation, and became the county seat of Harrisburg County, later renamed Harris County. For a few days in 1839, Houston was the capital of Texas before the new Republic of Texas moved to Austin, then known as Waterloo.

Houston suffered through lawlessness, epidemics and financial problems, at one time relying on pigs to keep the streets clean. By 1860, the city had emerged as a commercial and railroading center for the export of cotton. After the Civil War, Houston businessmen worked to expand the city's system of bayous so more commerce could grow. By 1900 the city was home to about 45,000 people. Then oil was discovered at the Spindletop Field near Beaumont, 80 miles away, and Houston was on it's way to becoming the megatropolis it is today.

Decades of growth, punctuated by boom and bust cycles in the oil industry, kept Houston rollercoastering until the 1980s when the city leadership began a program of economic diversification that has been showing results over the last decade and a half. Today, Houston is well-diversified with large segments of its economy well-divided among energy and petrochemicals, shipping and international trade, health sciences, education, high technology, performing arts and cultural exhibits, aerospace, finance, engineering services and manufacturing. In fact, Houston's Gross Area Product in 2005 was more than $300 billion in constant dollars, a figure that is surpassed by the Gross Domestic Product of only 28 nations other than the United States. We're talking about a serious economic engine here.

But Houston also finds time to be a city of parks, Memorial being one of the largest, tourism and recreation flourish and the city's Arts and Theater District and its Museum District underscore a commitment to culture as well as dollars. Sports and entertainment are as active as dance and opera, and the city's roster of more than 11,000 restaurants, cafes and bistros would give New York City a run for its dinner money.

The cost of housing and the cost of living are well below what you would expect in a major metropolitan area. Median household income is just over $36,000, and median family income just over $40,000. The median price for a home in Houston is approximately $136,000.

Houston is also a magnet for foreign governments with some 40 maintaining trade and commercial offices in the city. There are 23 active foreign chambers of commerce and trade associations and some 20 foreign banks from 10 nations. About 90 languages are spoken in Houston, and the city has two "Chinatowns," one downtown and another in the southwest area of the city. There is even a "Little Saigon" incorporated into the downtown "Chinatown," with many of Vietnamese descent operating retailing business and active in the Gulf fishing industry.

In September, 2005, Houston showed its big Texas heart by sheltering more than 150,000 people fleeing the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. A month later, some 2.5 million Houston area residents evacuated when Hurricane Rita threatened the Gulf Coast. And although Houston escaped serious damage, it marked the largest evacuation in the history of the U.S.

Yes, Houston is a city of firsts, and a few seconds, but it is one of the best situated, best managed and most economically viable in the U.S. One could do a whole lot worse than live, work and raise a family in Houston, Texas.