Some goodies that came my way last night, courtesy of ExxonMobil's relocation folks:
Definitions:

• Houston PMSA - Chambers, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller Counties
• Houston CMSA = Houston PMSA + Galveston and Brazoria Counties
• Houston MSA = CMSA + Austin and San Jacinto Counties
• Houston CSA = MSA + Matagorda and Walker Counties (pictured below).

FACTS:

• The Houston CSA covers 12,476 square miles - larger than 4Jacks' home state of Maryland (12,297 sq.mi.)
• The Houston MSA is 10,062 sq.mi. - smaller than Maryland, but larger than Massachusetts (9,241 sq.mi.).
• Harris County - of which Houston is the County Seat - covers 1,778 sq.mi - nearly half again as large as Rhode Island (1,231 sq.mi.).
• At 634 sq.mi., the City of Houston could contain the cities of New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and Miami. (I don't think that's all at the same time... :blink: )
• If the 12-county Houston CSA were a state, it would rank 21st in population, with 5,176,061 residents in 2003.
• If the 10-county Houston MSA were a state, it would also rank 21st in population, with 5,075,733 residents in 2003.
• If Harris County were a state, it would rank 27th in population, with 3,596,086 residents in 2003.
• If the City of Houston were a state, it would rank 36th in population, with 2,009,960 residents in 2003.
• Among the nation's metropolitan areas, the Houston MSA in 2004 ranked fifth in the number of Hispanics (1,625,800), ninth in number of blacks (383,100) and 10th in number of Asians and Pacific Islanders (275,800).
• If the Houston CMSA were an independent nation, it would rank as the world's 21st-largest economy.
• In July, 2004, Houston had more jobs (2,277,700) than Colorado, Louisiana, Alabama or South Carolina.
• The 2000 Census found that the Houston CMSA has no racial or ethnic majority.
• Houston ranks 23rd on the 'ACCRA Cost of Living Index' at 24% below average for all 23 US urban areas over 2 million population. Housing costs are 45% below national average. Houston cost of living was 12% below the average for all 305 urban areas in the United States, with housing 24% below average.
• Houston averages 18.0 days per years with low temperatures of 32F (0C) or less and 99.6 days with highs of 90F (32C) or higher - rarely exceeding 100F. Record extremes: 109F (~45C) in 2000, 5F (-18C).
• Electricity - "With its heavy industrial base and high volume of air conditioning, the Houston area is one of the nation's largest users of electricity." August 8, 2003 - Houston-area consumers used 15,227 megawatts of electricity.
• There are 26,500 miles of natural gas main and service lines serving 108 communities.
• "Three overlaid area codes serve the Houston area: 281, 713 and 832.
• "Houston now has many fixed wireless broadband links for residential and business customers." - free wifi paid for by me, the Houston MSA taxpayer!
• "In the Houston CMSA, 575.4 miles of freeways and expressways -- 55% of the planned 1,053-mile freeway/expressway system -- are in operation. The total freeway system will consist of 16 freeways and tollroads -- nine radiating from the Central Business District (CBD), four from I-610 and three from Sam Houston Parkway -- and four concentric loops:
  1. An elevated system circling the CBD
  2. I-610, a 38.3 mile facility on a radius of six miles from the CBD
  3. Sam Houston Parkway (Beltway 8), an 88-mile facility at a 12-mile radius
  4. The Grand Parkway (Texas 99), a 172-mile facility at a radius of 25-30 miles.

HISD is the seventh largest in the US with 208,530 enrolled in Fall 2004

17 broadcast TV stations, 38 FM and 29 AM radio stations.

The Houston Yellow Pages in November, 2004 had 19 pages of listings for churches and other places of worship, classified under 126 headings.

Sports: Houston hosted the 2004 Super Bowl, the 2004 Baseball All-Star Game and the finals of the 2004 Tennis Master's Cup. In 2005 the Astros played games 3 and four of the World Series in Houston. In 2006, the NBA All-Star game was hosted here.

Cullen Park - one of the largest US municipal parks (8,270 acres)

OK - that got a little long, but there's a lot of neat info here!

yeah, yeah, but where's the dirty laundry?

Where are the world records? Famous residents?

NJ may have lost Jimmy Hoffa's body to Michigan, but we still have the Mafia!