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TOURISM AND ENTERTAINMENT
Houston has a diverse array of entertainment available. Some 700,000+ tourists and local residents visit the Space Center Houston annually. Galveston Island is a major source of tourist revenue for the Houston MSA. The Galleria is one of the largest malls in the southwest with 2.1 million square feet of retail space. The annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the world’s largest rodeo and attracts over 2 million visitors each year. |
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Houston also offers the Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Ballet, and the Alley Theatre and is second only to New York in terms of seat concentration. Houston is one of only five cities in the country with these year-round visual and performing arts available. In the past 20 years, Houston has added or expanded 10 art museums or galleries, four major theaters or performance centers, and 18 science and history museums. Houston’s Museum District, near Hermann Park, includes the MFAH, the Houston museum of Natural Science, the Houston Zoo and 13 other institutions, most of which are museums.
SPORTS Houston is home to the Houston Astros, who play in the Minute Maid Ballpark, a state-of-the-art, retractable-roofed, $250 million stadium located in downtown Houston. Professional football returned to Houston in 2002. The Houston Texans, the National Football League’s 32nd and final franchise, now calls Houston home in the $367 million world-class Reliant Stadium. The $175 million Toyota Center is the new home of the Houston Rockets and Houston Comets basketball teams and the Houston Aeros hockey team. Houston’s newest sports franchise, the Houston Dynamo, is a professional soccer team formerly named the Earthquakes of San Jose, California. It plays its home matches in Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston.
Houston is the home of several world-class golf courses. Each March, Houston’s Redstone Golf Course hosts the Shell Houston Open, the last stop on the PGA tour before the Masters Tournament. The PGA 2003 Tour Championship was hosted by Houston’s Champions Golf Club. Recent improvements to the course are longer drives and more complex greens. In addition to the private courses the city and county courses are available for everyone.
LIFESTYLE AND RECREATION Houston boasts a mild climate, with only 21 days per year with temperatures less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit and an average winter temperature of 66 degrees. The average summer temperature is 91 degrees. Allowing for year-round activities, there are over 400 parks and nature centers encompassing over 20,362 acres available for Houston area residents and visitors. Memorial Park, centrally located near the Galleria area, has an arboretum, herb garden, botanical hall, golf course, tennis courts, 3 mile jogging trail and playing fields. Hermann Park, near the Medical Center, is one of Houston’s oldest and most historically significant urban green spaces and is a destination for 5.5 million visitors each year. Adjacent to the park are the Houston Zoo, Miller Outdoor Theatre, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the first desegregated public golf course in the United States. Buffalo Bayou Park runs along the Buffalo Bayou west of downtown and covers approximately 120 acres. Lake Houston, located 15 miles northeast of Houston, is a 12,240 acre recreational lake with camping, hiking and biking facilities as well as boating, fishing and water sports. In addition to several other lakes in areas surrounding Houston, the city provides more than 75 miles of nature or hike and bike trails, seven 18-hole municipal golf courses, 55 community recreation centers, 249 playgrounds, 44 swimming pools and numerous other facilities. Galveston Island, just 60 miles southeast of Houston, is a close get-a-way from the hectic pace of big city life and offers fishing, swimming, and surfing as well as other seaside related activities. |
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Disclaimer: The information
contained in this document contains material from sources deemed to be
reliable. However, KET Enterprises Incorporated
does not warrant the validity of same. Sources:: Jack L. Hughey & Associates C B Richard Ellis O’Connor & Associates The Greater Grub & Ellis Dr. Barton Smith: The Institute for Regional Forecasting Hendricks & partners Live Oak capital Marcus & Millichap Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas - Economic Research Publications |
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