Houston

Houston is the nation’s fourth largest city, home to 2 million people and a hub of international businesses. Houston’s leaders are also focusing their attention on making their city not only a great place to live, but a great place to visit as well.

Houston is the home of the Texas Medical Center — the world’s largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions — and NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located. Houston’s economy has a broad industrial base in the energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, and health care sectors; only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters in the city limits.

The city has a multicultural population with a large and growing international community. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits — attracting more than seven million visitors a year to the Houston Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and offers year-round resident companies in all major performing arts: opera, ballet, music, and theater.

Houston is the largest city in the United States without formal zoning regulation. The city’s land use has been credited with a bounty of affordable housing, sparing Houston the worst effects of the 2008 real estate crisis.