Houston was founded on August 28, 1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou (now known as Allen’s Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded and won at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles east of where the city was established. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city’s population. In the mid-20th century, Houston became 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 energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, and transportation. Leading in health care sectors and building oilfield equipment, outside of New York City, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other U.S. municipality within its city limits. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled. Nicknamed the “Space City”, Houston is a global city, with strengths in business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine, and research. The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has been described as the most racially and ethnically diverse major metropolis in the U.S.It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theatre District and offers year-round resident companies in all major performing arts. .
Fort Worth boasts one of the most dynamic downtowns in America and is home to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and several world-class museums designed by internationally known contemporary architects. The Kimbell Art Museum, considered to have one of the best collections in Texas, is housed in what is widely regarded as one of the state's foremost works of modern architecture, designed by Louis Kahn with an addition by Renzo Piano. Also of note is the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, designed by Tadao Ando. The Amon Carter Museum of American ARt, designed by Philip Johnson, hoses one of the world's most extensive collections of American art. The Sid Richardson Museum, designed by David M. Schwarz, has one of the most focused collections of Western Art in the U.S., emphasizing Frederic Remington and Charles Russell.
The city was established in 1849 as an Army outpost on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River. Today, Fort Worth still embraces its Western heritage and traditional architecture and design. USS Fort Worth is the first ship of the Unites States Navy named after the city. The city is also stimulated by several university communities: Texas Christian, Texas Wesleyan, University of North Texas Health Science Center, and Texas A&M University School of Law, and many multinational corporations, including Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin, American Airlines, BNSF Railway, Pier 1 Imports, and Radio Shack.
The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county metropolitan area (commonly referred to as DFW), which had a population of 7,246,231 as of July 1, 2016, representing growth in excess of 807,000 people since the 2010 census. In 2016 DFW ascended to the number one spot in the nation in year-over-year population growth. In 2014, the metropolitan economy surpassed Washington, D.C. to become the fifth largest in the U.S., with 2014 real GDP over $504 billion.
The Arts District in the northern section of Downtown is home to several arts venues and is the largest contiguous arts district in the United States. Notable venues in the district include the Dallas Museum of Art, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center home to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Wind Symphony, the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center. The perot Museum of Nature and Science, also located downtown, is a natural history and science museum. Designed by 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and his firm Morphosis Architects, the 180,000 square feet facility has six floors and stand about 14 stories high.
Residents of Austin are known as Austinites.They include a diverse mix of government employees, college students, musicians, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers, and a vibrant LGBT community.The city's official slogan promotes Austin as "The Live Music Capital of the World," a reference to the many musicians and live music venues within the city, as well as the long-running PBS TV concert series Austin City Limits.The city also adopted "Silicon Hills" as a nickname in the 1990s due to a rapid influx of technology and development companies. Austin is known as a "clean-air city" for its stringent no-smoking ordinances that apply to all public places and buildings, including restaurants and bars.The FBI ranked Austin as the second-safest major city in the U.S. for the year 2012.U.S. News & World Report named Austin the best place to live in the U.S. in 2017.
"Keep Austin Weird" has been a local motto for years, featured on bumper stickers and T-shirts. This motto has not only been used in promoting Austin's eccentricity and diversity, but is also meant to bolster support of local independent businesses. According to the 2010 book, Weird City, the phrase was begun by a local Austin Community College librarian, Red Wassenich, and his wife." The slogan has been interpreted many ways since its inception, but remains an important symbol for many Austinites who wish to voice concerns over rapid growth and irresponsible development. Austin has a long history of vocal citizen resistance to development projects perceived to degrade the environment, or to threaten the natural and cultural landscapes.