The Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research a think tank has described Greater Houston as "one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse metropolitan areas in the country". Houston's diversity fueled by large waves of immigrants has been attributed to its relatively low cost of living strong job market proximity to Latin America and role as a hub for refugee resettlement a 2012 Kinder Institute report found that based on the evenness of population distribution between the four major racial groups in the United States (non-Hispanic white non-Hispanic black Hispanic or Latino and Asian) Greater Houston was the most ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the United States ahead of New York City in 2017 according to the U.S Census Bureau non-Hispanic whites made up 24.9% of the population of Houston proper Hispanics or Latinos 44.5% Blacks or African Americans 22.9% and Asians 6.7%. . The Allen brothers ran their first advertisement for Houston just four days later in the Telegraph and Texas Register naming the notional town in honor of President Sam Houston. They successfully lobbied the Republic of Texas Congress to designate Houston as the temporary capital agreeing to provide the new government with a capital building. About a dozen persons resided in the town at the beginning of 1837 but that number grew to about 1,500 by the time the Texas Congress convened in Houston for the first time that May. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5 1837 with James S Holman becoming its first mayor in the same year Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County (now Harris County). Houston Texas Business Directory SFA: Homer Bryce Stadium! . Texas Beltway 8.svg Beltway 8 a.k.a - Sam Houston Parkway east of I-45 in north Houston and north of I-10 east of Houston or Sam Houston Tollway west of I-45 in north Houston and south of I-10 east of Houston. Houston Houston generally receives ample rainfall averaging about 49.8 in (1,260 mm) annually based on records between 1981 and 2010 Many parts of the city have a high risk of localized flooding due to flat topography ubiquitous low-permeability clay-silt prairie soils and inadequate infrastructure. During the mid-2010s Greater Houston experienced consecutive major flood events in 2015 ("Memorial Day") 2016 ("Tax Day") and 2017 (Hurricane Harvey). Overall there have been more casualties and property loss from floods in Houston than in any other locality in the United States the majority of rainfall occurs between April and October (the wet season of Southeast Texas) when the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico evaporates extensively over the city. .
Within Mexico tensions continued between federalists and centralists in early 1835 wary Texians formed Committees of Correspondence and Safety the unrest erupted into armed conflict in late 1835 at the Battle of Gonzales. This launched the Texas Revolution and over the next two months the Texians defeated all Mexican troops in the region. Texians elected delegates to the Consultation which created a provisional government the provisional government soon collapsed from infighting and Texas was without clear governance for the first two months of 1836, 3.1 Music Significant numbers of people of Cajun and Creole descent have come from Louisiana although most are assimilated partially or completely into East Texas culture (adopting the local culture and losing to varying degrees their original culture) This assimilation pattern has often historically included conversion from Catholicism to Protestant faiths United States settlers from the Protestant Southeast practiced some discrimination against Cajun and Creole migrants a cultural attitude that persisted until quite recently Despite the tendency towards assimilation Cajun and Creole cuisine (for example jambalaya and catfish gumbo) are popular in the region Many East Texans including those without Louisiana roots are known to be expert at preparing at least some well-known Louisiana dishes, US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British PM Winston Churchill seated at the Casablanca Conference January 1943. Buffalo Bayou is the longest and largest of the bayous which flow through Houston following a 53-mile (85 km) route from Katy through Memorial Rice Military Downtown the East End Denver Harbor and Channelview before meeting the San Jacinto River at Galveston Bay the broad eastern stretch of the river known as the Houston Ship Channel plays an essential role in the Port of Houston and is home to one of the largest petrochemical refining complexes in the United States. Buffalo Bayou's environs are also home to significant amounts of parkland including linear parks such as Terry Hershey Park and Buffalo Bayou Park which serve as corridors for walking and bicycling.
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