I can't speak about Seattle.
Houston needs to diversify. Too much of its employment base is concentrated in the oil industry.
Thats both a strength and a weakness at different times. All in all, Houston is a pretty free enterprise city and isn't ALL energy but it is the number one energy center in the world.
A few facts:
5,000 energy-related establishments
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Houston is second to New York City in Fortune 500 headquarters.
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The Houston-Gulf Coast region has nearly 40 percent of the U.S. capacity for base petrochemicals,
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the Port of Houston.[20] The port ranks first in the country in international commerce and is the sixth-largest port in the world. Amid other U.S. ports, it is the busiest in foreign tonnage and second in overall tonnage.
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home to the Johnson Space Center, NASA’s largest research and development facility, employing nearly 3,000 federal civil service workers and more than 14,000 contract personnel.[22]
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Of the world’s 100 largest non-U.S.-based corporations, more than half have operations in Houston.[25] In 2006, the Houston metropolitan area ranked first in Texas and third in the U.S. within the category of "Best Places for Business and Careers" by Forbes.[26]
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more than 1,000 computer-related companies.[
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Since its inception in 1999, Houston Technology Center has become the center of technology entrepreneurship in Houston. The center has helped more than 150 emerging technology companies raise more than $400 million in capital and create about 1,000 new jobs.
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The Texas Medical Center is the city's healthcare and biotechnology focal point with $3.5 billion committed to research grants from 2000 through 2004, more than 43 member institutions, 5.2 million patient visits in 2004. More than 65,000 health care professionals work there every day,
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When fully developed, the UT Research Park will be made up of nearly 2 million square feet (180,000 m²) of research, lab, office and support space for private companies and not-for-profit research institutions. The venture will be focused on biotechnology and life sciences research.[33] Baylor College of Medicine is home to the Human Genome Sequencing Center, one of only five in the nation.
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Approximately 250 establishments employ more than 20,000 people in Houston’s electronics manufacturing industries. Hewlett Packard employs more people in its Houston operations than any other HP facility in the world.[13]
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en.wikipedia.org |
