1998
Houston is the fourth largest city in the U.S. with a population of 1.6 million. The population of the seven-county CMSA is more than 3.7 million, 10th in population among the nation's metropolitan areas
The City of Houston covers 581 square miles. Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) contains about 1,900 square miles, larger than the state of Rhode Island
Houston is the seat of Harris County, which has a population of 2.8 million. Harris County contains part or all of 34 incorporated areas
Harris county is ethnically diverse: 54 % White, 23 % Hispanic, 19 % Black and 4 % Asian
More than 1.63 million people are employed in the Houston region. More people are employed today in Houston than at the height of the energy boom in the early 1980s
Houston's 190.6 million square feet of office space rank it as the fifth largest office market in the nation
The city's 270 million gross square feet of industrial space rank it as the sixth largest U.S. market
Houston is home to more than 550 foreign-owned firms
54 Foreign governments maintain consular offices in the city, ranking Houston's consular corp. fifth largest in the nation and the largest in the Southwest
14 Foreign governments maintain trade offices in Houston, and the city has 26 active foreign chambers of commerce and trade associations
The Port of Houston is the nation's largest in foreign tonnage and is the world's sixth busiest port in terms of tonnage
Houston is the base of operations for the international energy industry and for many of the nation's largest international engineering and construction firms
Houston is home to 55 foreign banking corporations, including 19 foreign agencies and 36 representative offices form Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Canada and Mexico
Houston accounts for 23 percent of all U.S. jobs in crude petroleum and natural gas extraction as well as 14 percent of all U.S. jobs in oil and gas field services, and 38 percent of the nation's jobs in oil and gas field machinery manufacturing
Over 5,000 energy-related firms are located within the Houston region, including more than 200 companies with significant exploration and production operations
More than 350 chemical companies employ nearly 42,000 people in the Houston area. An additional 300 plastics manufacturers have over 10,000 employees
Five of the nation's 10 largest natural gas pipeline companies are headquartered in Houston. The five account for 24.2 percent of the nation's 274,942 miles of gas pipelines
Houston is the U.S. basic petrochemicals center, with 46 percent of U.S. capacity for basic petrochemicals like polypropylene, polyethylene, ethylene, styrene, and propylene oxide
Houston is home to 75 biotechnology companies
Eleven carriers provide scheduled international passenger service at Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH), linking Houston directly with 27 cities in Europe, Canada, Mexico, and South and Central America
Four major rail systems operate 14 mainline tracks radiating from Houston; two switching lines serve the industrial area plus the Port
The world-famous Texas Medical Center comprises 41 non-profit institutions dedicated to health education, health research and patient care
More than 3.4 million patients visit the Texas Medical Center annually
Nearly 8,000 volunteers contribute time on a regular basis to the Texas Medical Center
Overall, Harris County has 70 hospitals with over 18,936 beds. The Methodist Hospital, with 1,527 beds, is the largest private hospital in the country
Houston Independent School District is the nation's fifth largest, with an enrollment of 197,413 in 238 schools of which 68 are "magnet" school programs
One in four Houston adults over 25 years of age holds a college degree
The Houston region has 227,336 students in 35 colleges, universities and institutes
Dr. Ferid Murad of the UT-Houston Medical School wins the Nobel Prize in medicine
April 15
With Russia's economy faltering, a NASA task force warns that the station is facing new delays and the American share will rise from $17.3 billion to nearly $25 billion
June 2
NASA postpones the start of station assembly from June to November 1998, as Russia's service modules fall further behind schedule
June 12
Astronaut Andy Thomas, the seventh and final American assigned to live and work aboard Mir, returns to Earth aboard the Shuttle Discovery
August 5
NASA acknowledges to Congress that Russia's economic situation is so perilous that it jeopardizes station plans
August 5
NASA reveals plans for an immediate $60 million subsidy to Russia to finish the service module, and $600 million more during the following four years to preserve a Russian role in the project
October 28
The U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada elect to proceed with the start of orbital assembly on November 20, 1998 despite Russia's financial difficulties. Russia accepts the $60 million to plan to finish and launch its habitable service module in July 1999
1999
October 9
A crowd of 48,553 watch the last game of the '99 season played by the Houston Astros in the Astrodome. The Astros were beaten by the Atlanta Braves 7--5, ending their 35--year history at the Dome
October 7
State and county officials search for a cause of an unusual outbreak of high smog readings which are the Houston area's highest readings since 1989. The Peak ozone level recorded at the Deer Park station that day was 251 parts per billion (or ppb), double the health standard's permissible maximum of 125 ppb. It was not only the highest ozone area in a decade, but by far the highest in the nation this year
October 12
Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes announces that he would not seek reelection to the seat he's has held for 20 years
October 15
The first U. S. detention center in Texas opens in Houston, with officials predicting it will be well used because federal courts in the state are experiencing a dramatic rise in prosecutions
October 18
Mortgage banker, Benjamin G. McGuire, who helped some of the city's premier developers change the face of Houston by securing mortgage financing for Shell and Pennzoil buildings, the Galleria, the Astrodome-area hotels and Astroworld, dies at age 84
October 19
A team of surgeons at the Methodist Heart Center take out a man's heart, remove a tumor growing on the back side of the otherwise healthy organ, patch the hole, and then suture the heart back into place in a rare auto-transplant procedure
Data-recording devices--similar to the "black-boxes" on airliners--are being installed on 500 HISD buses so officials can monitor driving habits
Bus ridership reached its highest level in the history of the Metropolitan Transit Authority during the fiscal year that ended September 30th
October 23
Planners have spent weeks to prepare for today's Sky Power of Houston Show
Retired Houston homicide officer, Lt. Breckenridge Porter, who joined the HPD in 1941 and retired in 1975, was a co-founder of the Houston Police Officers Association and was also instrumental in the development and passage of law that gave police officers in Texas pensions for the first time, died at the age of 85
October 24
Visitors tour the USS San Jacinto, a guided missile cruiser dock at the Port of Houston
October 25
A Harris County judge is asked to halt a bankruptcy court proceeding in California that could make 1993 "Playmate of the Year" Anna Nicole Smith one of the richest women in America. Smith who met Houston oilman J. Howard Marshall II in 1991, claims she is entitled to one-half of his estimated $1billion fortune as a result of their 14-month marriage. Marshall died in 1995 at age 90
November 1
Houston developer Kenneth Lee Schnitzer, who built the Greenway Plaza complex and six downtown buildings dies of lung cancer
November 2
Lee P. Brown is reelected Mayor of Houston
Voters of Houston turned down a referendum for a new sports arena but pass a new $387,000,000 bond on the Bayport expansion and a civil Justice Center bond to build a new downtown courthouse
November 7
The city's largest emergency room officially opened its doors showing off computer wizardry that will make it the standard of the next century
Dedication of the John H. Regan World War II Memorial Plaza was unveiled in the Heights. Lamar Good's name, along with the names of his brothers, are inscribed on a circular memorial honoring those Heights residents who served during World War II
Latin superstar Ricky Martin performs to a sold out crowd at the Compaq Center
2000
HOUSTON IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
By Robert D. Thomas and Richard W. Murray
OUSTON is often described as the
"city of the future." Proud Houstonians confidently cite estimates that the city
and metropolitan area will continue their population growth and outstrip other cities in
economic growth. How accurate are these projections? What does the future hold for the
"city of the future?"
Prophecy, it is said, makes fools of us all. Predicting the future of a large metropolitan area is likely to confirm the wisdom of that observation. American central cities are simply subject to so many unpredictable forces and influences that specific statements about their futures must be highly conditional. Granting that, we still think some likely trends or patterns can be identified for Houston over the next 20 to 30 years.
CAN HOUSTON MAINTAIN A COMPETITIVE POSITION?
The greatest difficulty in assessing any city’s future comes from the uncertainty of its future economic prospects. Most American cities grew by establishing competitive economic positions in national markets. Today, U.S. cities must maintain and expand their "export producing capacity" in an international marketplace. Some cities have economic bases enabling them to compete very well in this context (e.g., Los Angeles), others have fared poorly (e.g., Cleveland and Detroit).
Where does Houston fit into this pattern? With an economic base dependent on the oil and natural gas sectors of the energy industry, Houston has some unique problems and possibilities. Given the erratic performance of the oil and gas industry in recent years, just predicting the price of crude oil a week in advance is difficult, making long-term projections suspect. Energy forecasts in the late 1980s gave mostly conservative estimates, projecting that into the 1990s oil and gas prices would fluctuate well below the peak reached in 1981-82. But gradual price increases were expected by the late 1990s and into the twenty-first century. In contrast, the most recent he forecasts have predicted more rapid increases in oil and gas prices.
Such price forecasts rest on a number of questionable assumptions, but the more recent projections are bolstered by a growing consensus that alternative energy sources (e.g., conventional nuclear power, fusion, solar energy, or substitute fuels) will not be competitive in price with hydrocarbons in the near future. The world will still need large quantities of petroleum and natural gas well into the twenty-first century, which makes of Houston’s prospects seem reasonably good. Even if domestic oil production continues to slide, the city’s unchallenged role as the international center of oil technology, headquarters for a number of the world’s largest energy companies, and strong refining and petrochemical manufacturing base should shore up the local economy. Across Texas and in Houston, some special economic problems must be addressed in the future. Following the drop in energy prices, banks and savings and loan associations were devastated by the decline in real estate values. Congressional remedies have only partly restored regional financial institutions, and their ownership is now being shifted to non-Texans. At the outset of the 1990s, real estate prices are still depressed in Houston and in other Texas cities. These clouds have at least a partial silver lining. Housing, office costs, wage levels and other costs are very competitive nationally, making Houston one of the least expensive cities to live in. Consequently, the area’s attractiveness to new business ventures has been enhanced. One new computer company, Compaq, took advantage of these conditions and became the nation’s fastest growing industrial firm in the 1980s. Overall dependence on the energy sector is dropping. In 1981 the University of Houston’s Center for Public Policy estimated over 80 percent of Houston’s primary employment was energy dependent. In 1989 this had dropped to about 60 percent, as the economy has become more diversified. Bright spots include the Texas Medical Center, which launched a $1.5 billion expansion in the late 1980s and the Port of Houston, which rebounded from a slump in the early 1980s.On balance, then, we find the economic prospects for Houston to be good, with steady, sustainable growth likely. One reason for this forecast is the continued strong commitment by local political leaders to developmental policies. That commitment will be more hedged in the future as Houston continues its transition from a "private" to a more pluralistic city. But even as local interests become more diverse, there is very little likelihood of a no-growth or slow-growth coalition coming to power. Houstonians want more controls on growth, and the growing minority communities want a more equitable distribution of rewards, but there remains a virtual consensus that developmental policies are generally good, despite strong disagreements about specific choices (i.e., should MTA proceed with the rail segment of its transportation plan).
WILL A MORE BUREAUCRATIC CITY EMERGE? |
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The Wortham Center at Sesquicentennial Park. |
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From another standpoint—professionalizing local government—Houston and other area governments appear headed toward more bureaucracy. Inside city government, purchasing and other general administration functions have been consolidated in a General Services department; modern budgeting procedures have been adapted in the Finance and Administration department’s work; and the Planning department is in the throes of a major expansion and is now headed by a professional planner. Each of these occurrences is a necessary outcome of increased influence on the public sector of a growing and more diverse population, who at one level are demanding more from local governments. At another level these changes have the support of private-sector elites represented by the Greater Houston Partnership who recognize that Houston must modernize, and that in the long run competent public bureaucracies advantage pro-growth interests. Thus, internal to the city and metropolitan area, government will change—becoming more professional, focusing on the canons of public administration (economy, efficiency, effectiveness).
The
other aspect of this second trend is the intergovernmental dimension. In the postwar
decades, until the 1980s, the increased activist role of the national government increased
local bureaucracy. While the national bureaucracy will remain active, it does not take a
genie to predict an enhanced and more active state role, especially as the metropolitan
area becomes more diverse.
Houston’s general economic prospects seem bright; however, the area’s economic recovery in the late 1980s masked two trends that will challenge local governance in the future. First, compared with the 1960s and 1970s, recent economic growth benefits are skewed toward the middle- and upper-middle class populations, with the working poor losing ground. Second, new immigrants arriving in larger numbers, like those coming into Southern California and New York, are usually poorer, less well educated, and less likely to be fluent in English. Combined, these developments suggest Houston will develop a larger and more permanent underclass similar to those in the nation’s older central cities
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s
these patterns occur, local governance must reconcile the needs of poorer, and mostly
minority, citizens, possessing more electoral power, with the city’s continued
facilitation of economic growth. Ways must be found to nurture the emerging political
power of blacks, while addressing the lack of political incorporation of the growing
Hispanic community. The greater challenge for government, however, will be to ameliorate
the growing economic disparities between the better- and less well-off populations.
