Culture of Houston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Houston is a multicultural city with a thriving international community supported by the nation’s third largest concentration of consular offices representing 77 nations. Officially, Houston is nicknamed the "Space City" as it is home to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control Center is located. Because of this, "Houston" was the first word spoken on the moon. Many locals, however, prefer to call it the "Bayou City." Other nicknames include "H-Town," "Clutch City," and "Magnolia City."
About 90 languages are frequently spoken in the Houston area.[1] Some neighborhoods with high populations of Vietnamese and Chinese residents have Chinese and Vietnamese street signs in addition to English ones. Houston has two Chinatowns—the original located in Downtown and the recent developed is along Bellaire Boulevard in the southwest area of the city. The city also has a Little Saigon in Midtown and Vietnamese businesses located in the southwest Houston Chinatown.
There are many popular events held in the city celebrating cultures of Houstonians. The largest is the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo that is held over 20 days from late February through early March. The event begins with trail rides that originate from several points throughout the state, all of which convene at Reliant Park for a barbeque cook-off. The rodeo includes typical rodeo events, as well as concert performances from major artists and carnival rides. Another large celebration is the annual Gay Pride Parade held at the end of June to commemorate the struggle for gay liberation, gay rights, gay pride, and the Stonewall riots of the late 1960s in New York City. The event is held along Westheimer Road in the Montrose area—home to many gay establishments, such as restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and coffeehouses. Other events held annually include the Greek festival and Houston International Festival.
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[edit] Arts and theatre
Known for the vibrancy of its visual and performing arts, Houston's Theater District is ranked second in the country (behind New York City) in the amount of theatre seats in a concentrated downtown area with 12,948 seats for live performances and 1,480 movie seats.[2] The Theater District is located in the heart of downtown and is home to nine of Houston's performing arts organizations and six performance halls. Houston is one of only five cities in the United States with permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts disciplines: opera (Houston Grand Opera), ballet (Houston Ballet), music (Houston Symphony Orchestra), and theatre (The Alley Theatre).[3] The city has world-class visual and performing arts organizations, along with a dose of homegrown folk art such as Art Cars.[4] Houston is widely recognized as an important city for contemporary visual arts. The city is a prime stop for touring companies from Broadway, concerts, shows, and exhibitions for a variety of interests, ranging from the nation's largest quilting show to auto, boat, home, and gun shows.
Adjacent to the Texas Medical Center is the Museum District, which is home to most of the city's major museums: the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Cullen Sculpture Garden, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Holocaust Museum Houston, the Children's Museum of Houston, Lawndale Art Center, the Houston Zoo, the John P. McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science, and The Menil Collection. Approximately 4 million people visit institutions in the Museum District every year.
Houston is also home to several multicultural arts organizations including: MECA (Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts), Kuumba House Dance Theatre, and Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say.
[edit] Tourism and recreation
Space Center Houston is the official visitors’ center of NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Space Center Houston includes many interactive exhibits—including moon rocks and a shuttle simulator—in addition to special presentations that tell the story of NASA's manned space flight program. It also features Texas' largest IMAX theater.
The Theater District, a 17-block area in the heart of downtown Houston, is home to Bayou Place Entertainment Complex, restaurants, movies, plazas, and parks. Bayou Place is a large multilevel building that is home to full service restaurants, bars, live music, billiards, multiple theatres and art house films. The Houston Verizon Wireless Theatre stages a variety of live concerts and the Angelika Theatre presents the latest in art, foreign and independent films.
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.
Other tourist attractions include the Galleria, Texas' largest shopping mall located in the Uptown District, Old Market Square, Tranquility Park, 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.
[edit] Sports
Houston reigns as a city for major sporting events after hosting the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Super Bowl XXXVIII, 2005 World Series, the 2005 Big 12 Conference championship game, the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, and the Tennis Masters Cup in 2003 and 2004, as well as the annual Shell Houston Open. The city hosts the NCAA College Baseball Minute Maid Classic every February and NCAA football's Houston Bowl in December.
Houston boasts a franchise in nearly every major professional sports league including: Houston Dynamo (MLS),Houston Astros (MLB), Houston Rockets (NBA), Houston Comets (WNBA), Houston Aeros (AHL), and Houston Texans (NFL).
In early 2006, the Champ Car auto racing series returned to Houston for a yearly race, held on the streets of the Reliant Park complex. The city had previously been home to a Champ Car round from 1998 to 2001.
Minute Maid Park (home of the Astros) and Toyota Center (home of the Rockets, Comets, and Aeros) are located in downtown—contributing to an urban renaissance that has transformed Houston's center into a day-and-night destination. Also, the city has the first domed stadium in the United States and also holds the NFL's first retractable roof stadium—Reliant Stadium. Other sports facilities in Houston are Hofheinz Pavilion, Reliant Astrodome (home of the Texans), Robertson Stadium, and Rice Stadium. The now infrequently used Reliant Astrodome hosted World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, 2001.[5]
The Houston Astros advanced to the World Series for the first time in the team's history on October 19, 2005 after the team won game six of the National League Championship series against their traditional rival the St. Louis Cardinals. The Astros subsequently lost the World Series to the Chicago White Sox, who swept the series in four games.
On December 15, 2005, the San Jose Earthquakes relocated to Houston and became the Houston Dynamo, where they currently play at Robertson Stadium until plans for a soccer-specific stadium can be finalized. In their first year after becoming the Dynamo, the team defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-1 in the Western Conference final on November 5, 2006 to advance to the MLS Cup where on November 12, 2006, the Dynamo beat the New England Revolution 1-1 after penalty kicks to secure their first league championship.
[edit] Media
Houston is served by the Houston Chronicle, its only major daily newspaper with wide distribution. The Hearst Corporation, which owns and operates The Houston Chronicle, bought the assets of the Houston Post—its long-time rival and main competition—when it ceased operations in 1995. The only other major publication to serve the city is the Houston Press, a free alternative weekly with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers.
Houston also is home to several radio and television stations that serve the metropolitan area.
KTRK's Marvin Zindler is Houston's and Texas most recognized television journalist. His week-long expose on the Chicken Ranch brothel became the basis for the Broadway musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and his consumer and health reports on local restaurants have made the phrase "slime in the ice machine" immediately recognizable to any local.
KHOU-TV's investigative team, "The 11 News Defenders," began an investigation into the failure of Firestone Wilderness AT tires on several vehicles (most notably on the popular Ford Explorer). These reports garnered the station and the lead reporter, Anna Werner international attention and several awards including the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award and George Foster Peabody Award. Among the many respected journalists that have worked for KHOU, the best known are former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, Linda Ellerbee, and Jessica Savitch.
KXLN Houston's Spanish language Univision and its "En Su Defensa" (in your defense) segments have garnered regional acclaim, and "En Su Defensa" month was proclaimed by Mayor Bill White in 2004. Led by Investigative reporter Patricio Espinoza, the segment generated strong community following and historic ratings along with several Emmy awards through 2005.
Houston Not-For-Profit News is a subsidiary of World Internet News Cooperative. It is one of Houston's few non-profit news sources which receives no money from advertising. It totes itself as being unbiased with the ability to be more objective than the commercial news media due to the fact that they are not tied to advertisers. Stories covered by the cooperative range from consumer rights, to corporate welfare, to working-class issues. Their work has also been nominated for a Robert F. Kennedy Memorial journalism award.
- Further information: List of newspapers in Houston, List of television stations in Houston, and List of radio stations in Houston
- See also: Houston featured in films
[edit] See also
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City of Houston History | Geography | Economy | Culture | Politics | Architecture | Transportation | Education | Houstonians |
|---|---|
| Areas | Downtown | Uptown | Texas Medical Center | Midtown | Neartown | Museum District | Upper Kirby | Greenway Plaza | Rice Village | Westchase | Greenspoint |
| Communities | Acres Homes | Addicks | Aldine | Alief | Braeburn | Braeswood Place | Clear Lake City | Genoa Township | Harrisburg | Houston Heights | Independence Heights | Inwood Forest | Kingwood | Maplewood | Memorial | Meyerland | Northshore | Oak Forest | River Oaks | Sharpstown | South Park | Spring Branch | Sunnyside
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| "Island" cities |
Bellaire | Bunker Hill Village | Hedwig Village | Hilshire Village | Hunters Creek Village | Piney Point Village | Southside Place | Spring Valley | West University Place |
