Running counter to Texas stereotypes, Houston is flat, wet and green. Located on the Texas Coastal Plain, the city is 50 mi/80 km inland from the Gulf of Mexico. But this distance from the sea hasn’t stopped Houston from becoming one of the busiest ports in the world—thanks to the Houston Ship Channel, which connects the city with Galveston Bay.
Freeways are distinguishing features on Houston’s landscape, and most areas are categorized as being inside or outside Loop 610. Areas inside the Loop include downtown with its landmark postmodern buildings and the Theater District; to the south, the Museum District and the Medical Center on opposite ends of Hermann Park; and to the west, Greenway Plaza, an office and retail complex near Compaq Center (formerly The Summit).
Also inside the Loop are the neighborhoods of Montrose (artsy, gay and bohemian), Rice Village (hip center for small-scale retai l), River Oaks (mansions and avant-garde architecture) and the Heights (Victorian homes and antique shops). Straddling the southern perimeter of the Loop is the Astrodome complex, and just outside the Loop’s western edge are the Galleria and Post Oak areas, centers of international commerce and shopping. The Richmond strip is south of the Galleria, and that’s where you’ll find rising young professionals and college students congregating every night. This is a sprawling and extremely diverse city: Drive around a corner and you’ll see something new—and you will be driving, because this is a car city.
