. 1.1 Golden Triangle Houston is located 165 miles (266 km) east of Austin 88 miles (142 km) west of the Louisiana border and 250 miles (400 km) south of Dallas the city has a total area of 637.4 square miles (1,651 km2); this comprises over 599.59 square miles (1,552.9 km2) of land and 22.3 square miles (58 km2) covered by water. Most of Houston is located on the gulf coastal plain and its vegetation is classified as Western Gulf coastal grasslands while further north it transitions into a subtropical jungle the Big Thicket Much of the city was built on forested land marshes swamp and are all still visible in surrounding areas.[citation needed] Flat terrain and extensive greenfield development have combined to worsen flooding. Downtown stands about 50 feet (15 m) above sea level and the highest point in far northwest Houston is about 150 feet (46 m) in elevation the city once relied on groundwater for its needs but land subsidence forced the city to turn to ground-level water sources such as Lake Houston Lake Conroe and Lake Livingston the city owns surface water rights for 1.20 billion gallons of water a day in addition to 150 million gallons a day of groundwater, Houston Heights World War II Memorial 2.1 The Early 1900s. ! The Houston area is a leading center for building oilfield equipment. Much of its success as a petrochemical complex is due to its busy ship channel the Port of Houston in the United States the port ranks first in international commerce and 10th among the largest ports in the world. Unlike most places high oil and gasoline prices are beneficial for Houston's economy as many of its residents are employed in the energy industry. Houston is the beginning or end point of numerous oil gas and products pipelines, In 1912 the Rice Institute (now Rice University) opened in the West University area.
! Houston has a lively music scene and while it can claim no broad genre as its own it has been fertile ground for the development of niche styles in American blues and Latin music --- a tradition that continues today with a uniquely distinctive regional style emerging in Houston's rap music community, The Spanish introduced European livestock including cattle horses and mules to Texas as early as the 1690s. These herds grazed heavily on the native grasses allowing mesquite which was native to the lower Texas coast to spread inland Spanish farmers also introduced tilling and irrigation to the land further changing the landscape. ! . As Houston and the rest of the country recovered from the Great Depression art-deco style theaters of the late 1930s were built in many residential neighborhoods across the city in addition to the River Oaks neighborhood movie theaters like the Alabama Tower Capitan and Ritz-Majestic Metro were several of the venues where Houstonians sought entertainment the Alabama serves as a prime example of adaptive reuse the repurposing of architecture considered obsolete in terms of modern usage Opening as a Bookstop bookstore in 1984 after the original theater closed the building was later converted into Houston's first Trader Joe's specialty grocery store in 2012 the grocer took pains to preserve much of the building's original architectural splendor including its original terrazzo-tile front entrance as well as its second-floor balcony, Houston is located 165 miles (266 km) east of Austin 112 miles (180 km) west of the Louisiana border and 250 miles (400 km) south of Dallas, Harris County ESD #24 Fire Aldine Fire & Rescue .10.
Coughlin Timothy L Esq