The G Law Firm

Other tourist attractions include the Galleria Texas' largest shopping mall[citation needed] located in the Uptown District; Old Market Square; Tranquility Park; and Sam Houston Historical Park which contains restored homes (built between 1824 and 1868) and reconstructed buildings the San Jacinto Battlefield is in the nearby city of Deer Park, Allan Shivers born in Lufkin Angelina County As of 2014 the Houston area has relatively fewer national chain restaurants compared to other U.S metropolitan areas due to the number of established local restaurant operations Famous restaurateurs include Jim Goode and Ninfa Laurenzo as well as the families of Molina's Pappas Restaurants Carrabbas and the Mandola's restaurants. Obesity also has substantial impacts on the economy in Texas Obesity costs Texas businesses $9.5 billion annually. 41% of this is due to obesity-related healthcare costs 17% is due to absenteeism and 37% is due to presenteeism. .

Several private institutions of higher learning are located within the city Rice University the most selective university in Texas and one of the most selective in the United States is a private secular institution with a high level of research activity. Founded in 1912 Rice's historic heavily wooded 300-acre (120-hectare) campus located adjacent to Hermann Park and the Texas Medical Center hosts approximately 4,000 undergraduate and 3,000 post-graduate students to the north in Neartown the University of St Thomas founded in 1947 is Houston's only Catholic university St Thomas provides a liberal arts curriculum for roughly 3,000 students at its historic 19-block campus along Montrose Boulevard in southwest Houston Houston Baptist University (HBU) founded in 1960 offers bachelor's and graduate degrees at its Sharpstown campus the school is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and has a student population of approximately 3,000. . ; 6 References In 2010 Site Selection Magazine ranked Texas as the most business-friendly state in the nation in part because of the state's three-billion-dollar Texas Enterprise Fund. Texas has the joint-highest number of Fortune 500 company headquarters in the United States along with California. ; Survivors of Katrina in the Astrodome 2005 Francisco Pizarro The Hobby Center Sam Houston The University of Houston System's annual impact on the Houston-area's economy equates to that of a major corporation: $1.1 billion in new funds attracted annually to the Houston area $3.13 billion in total economic benefit and 24,000 local jobs generated. This is in addition to the 12,500 new graduates the UH System produces every year who enter the workforce in Houston and throughout Texas These degree-holders tend to stay in Houston After five years 80.5% of graduates are still living and working in the region. Houston is home to many parks including Hermann Park which houses the Houston Zoo and the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Memorial Park What was once the Houston Civic Center was replaced by the George R Brown Convention Center one of the nation's largest; and the Jesse H Jones Hall for the Performing Arts home of the Houston Symphony Orchestra the Sam Houston Coliseum and Music Hall have been replaced by the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, White American 70.4 percent (Non-Hispanic whites 45.3 percent) Stephen F Austin the "Father of Texas.".