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Houston is the fourth-largest city in the US and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles. Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area—the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population over 5.7 million.
Houston was founded on August 30, 1836, by brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou. The city was incorporated on June 5, 1837, and named after then-President of the Republic of Texas, former General Sam Houston—who had commanded at the Battle of San Jacinto, which took place 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-twentieth 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 the energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, and health care sectors and is a leading center for building oilfield equipment; only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters in the city limits. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled. The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, attracting more than 7 million visitors a year to the Houston Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and is one of few U.S. cities that offer year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.
The geographic areas of Houston, are generally classified as either being inside or outside Interstate 610, known as the "Loop." Inside the loop generally encompasses the Central business district and the "island cities" of West University Place (West U.), Southside Place and a portion of Bellaire. ("Island cities" refers to the City of Houston's practice of annexing around the existing boundaries of incorporated municipalities.)
Other "island cities" include the Memorial Villages — Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village, Hilshire Village, Hunters Creek Village, Piney Point Village, and Spring Valley Village.
The outlying areas of Houston, as well as the rest of Bellaire, the Memorial Villages, the airports and the city's suburbs and enclaves are outside the loop. Another ring road, Beltway 8 (also known simply as the "Beltway"), encircles the city another 5 miles (8 km) further out. A third, State Highway 99 or Grand Parkway, has begun construction roughly 10 miles (16 km) beyond the Beltway around the outer suburbs and currently extends from north of Interstate 10 east of Katy to U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land.
Houston is the largest populated city in the United States without zoning laws. City voters rejected creation of separate commercial and residential land-use districts in 1948, 1962 and 1993. As a result, Houston has grown in an unusual manner. Rather than a single "downtown" as the center of the city's employment, five additional business districts have grown throughout the inner-city, including one for Houston's medical center complex. If these business districts were combined, they would form the third largest downtown in the United States. The city also has the fourth largest skyline in the United States (after New York City, Chicago and Miami) but because it is spread over a few miles, pictures of the city show, for the most part, the main downtown area.
The Six Wards- In 1839, Houston's civic leaders divided the city into four wards. The Fifth Ward was added in 1866 to accommodate the city's growth, and by the Sixth Ward in the following decade. The idea was not to have an equal number of residents in each but rather to draw lines along natural boundaries: Buffalo Bayou, Main Street, and Congress Street.
Today, the wards are a civic phenomenon, loosely defined by geography and with no direct bearing on city government.
We and other investors concentrated mainly in Third Ward and Fifth Ward and Sunnyside for residential properties.
Many new developments are taking place and other planned for the near future.
The Third Ward
The Third Ward, one of the historic wards, strategically located inside the 610 Loop is immediately southeast of Downtown Houston and to the east of the Texas Medical Center. The ward became the center of Houston's African-American community.
Colleges and universities
The Greater Third Ward area is home to two universities: the University of Houston and Texas Southern University.
Public schools
Area students attend schools in the Houston Independent School District. The community is within Trustee District IV, represented by Paula M. Harris as of 2009.
Elementary schools serving sections of the Third Ward include Blackshear (located in the Third Ward), Dodson (located in East Downtown), and Lockart in Riverside Terrace, All area residents are zoned to Ryan Middle School and Yates High School.
The Texas Southern University/Houston Independent School District Charter Laboratory School is in the Third Ward. KIPP: the Knowledge Is Power Program operates the KIPP Liberation College Preparatory School, a middle school charter school, in the Third Ward. The University of Houston operates the University of Houston Charter School, a charter elementary school.
Parks and recreation
Emancipation Park and Emancipation Community Center are located at 3018 Dowling. The community center includes an indoor gymnasium, a weight room, and meeting rooms. The park has an outdoor basketball pavilion, lighted sports fields, lighted tennis courts, a swimming pool, a playground, and picnic areas. Moses Leroy Park is located at 3100 Trulley Street. Our Park is located at 2604 Alabama Street. Zurrie M. Malone Park is located at 2901 Nettleton Street, near Anita Street.
The Fifth Ward
The Fifth Ward is a historical political district and a community of Houston, northeast of Downtown. It is bounded by the Buffalo Bayou, Jensen Drive, Liberty Road, and Lockwood Drive.
Government and infrastructure
Fifth Ward is currently located in City Council District B.
The community is served by the Houston Police Department Northeast Patrol Division, headquartered at 8301 Ley Road. The Fifth Ward Storefront is located in Suite 200 at 4300 Lyons Avenue. The Houston Fire Department operates Station 19 Fifth Ward on 1811 Gregg Street.
The city operates the Fifth Ward Multi-Service Center at 4014 Market Street. The city multi-service centers provide several services such as child care, programs for elderly residents, and rental space.
The Fifth Ward is in Texas's 18th congressional district.
Public schools
Area students attend schools in the Houston Independent School District. Even though Denver Harbor and the Fifth Ward are zoned to Wheatley, the areas are represented by different board members.
Elementary schools in the Fifth Ward and serving sections of the Fifth Ward include Charles H. Atherton, Blanche Kelso Bruce, Joseph H. Crawford, Nathaniel Q. "Nat" Henderson, and E.O. Smith Education Center.
E.O. Smith Education Center serves most areas of the Fifth Ward for middle school, while some areas are zoned to John L. McReynolds Middle School in Denver Harbor, and a small portion is zoned to Lamar Fleming Middle School, north of the Fifth Ward. Phillis Wheatley High School in the Fifth Ward serves almost all of the Fifth Ward,[35] while Jefferson Davis High School serves a small portion of the Fifth Ward.
Carter Career Center, an HISD vocational school and pregnant girls' school, is located in the Fifth Ward.
By Spring 2011 Atherton Elementary School and E.O. Smith will be consolidated with a new K-8 campus in the Atherton site. By Spring 2011 Crawford and Sherman Elementary School, a campus outside of the Fifth Ward, will be consolidated, with a new campus in the Sherman site.
Parks and recreation
Finnigan Park and Community Center is located at 4900 Providence. The park has a lighted sports field, a swimming pool, lighted tennis courts, a .65 mile hike and bicycle trail, and a playground. The community center has an indoor gymnasium, a weight room, and meeting rooms.
The Swiney Community Center is located at 2812 Cline. The center has a playground and an outdoor basketball pavilion.
Sunnyside
Sunnyside is outside of the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8 off State Highway 288 south of Downtown Houston and is predominantly African American (more Hispanics are moving to the area). The community's slogan is "Sunnyside Pride." The city of Houston describes Sunnyside's housing as "suburban-style."
Public schools
The community is zoned to Houston Independent School District (HISD) schools. The community is within Trustee District IV, represented by Paula M. Harris as of 2008.
The schools serving Sunnyside proper include Young Elementary School, Attucks Middle School, and Worthing High School.
Young Elementary opened as Sunny Side Elementary School in 1918, HISD renamed the school in June 1999 after Sunnyside residents petitioned for a renaming of the school. Young shares its campus with South Administrative Alternative Elementary and Drug-Free School. Worthing opened in 1958. After Worthing received a new campus in 1962, Worthing moved out of its former campus, where Attucks opened.
Carnegie Vanguard High School, an HISD magnet school, is near Sunnyside. In 2008 Carnegie Vanguard was chosen as a National Blue Ribbon School.
KIPP: the Knowledge Is Power Program operates the KIPP Spirit College Preparatory School, a 5th-7th Grade (8th grade will be added in 2009–2010 school year) charter school, near Sunnyside. In addition it plans to open KIPP Zenith Academy at 3730 South Acres, near Sunnyside.
Public libraries
The W. L. D. Johnson Neighborhood Library of Houston Public Library is located at 3517 Reed Road. The library was named after W.L.D. Johnson, Sr., a man who raised funds for the purchase of the Carnegie Colored Library and served on the board of directors of that library.
Parks and recreation
The city operates the Sunnyside Park and the Sunnyside Community Center at 3502 Bellfort Boulevard. The park and the community center include a playground, an outdoor basketball pavilion, a 0.48-mile hike and bike trail, lighted tennis courts, an indoor gymnasium, weight rooms, meeting rooms, a lighted athletics field, and a swimming pool. The community celebrates the "Chocolate Bayou" festival annually.
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