Texas Relocation Info

As the largest of the contiguous states, Texas's growth is often attributed to a number of attributes. Some of these include: availability of jobs, low housing costs, no personal state income tax, low taxation and limited regulation of business, a geographic location in the center of the country, limited government (the Texas Legislature meets only once every two years), favorable climate in many areas of the state and vast, plentiful supplies of oil and natural gas.
      The geography of Texas spans a great distance. With an area of 268,581 square miles and a population of almost 23 million, Texas is second to Alaska in area, and second to California in population. Texas is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. The Rio Grande, Red River and Sabine River all provide natural state lines where Texas borders Oklahoma on the north, Louisiana and Arkansas on the east, as well as New Mexico and the four Mexican states to the south. Texas has four major physical regions: the Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains and Basin and Range Province. How Texas is divided depends on whether it is being discussed culturally or geographically.

Did You Know...

State Nickname: The Lone Star State State Capital: Austin State Flower: Bluebonnet State Bird: Mockingbird

      Texas can be rightfully considered an economic powerhouse. A few years ago it had a gross state product of $982.4 billion, the second highest in America after California. Texas has the second largest crude oil proved reserves (including Federal Offshore) in the nation and ranks second in crude oil production behind Federal Offshore areas with a daily production rate of 1.1 million barrels. Houston is a global leader in the energy industry and stands at the center of the petrochemical and biomedical research trades and Dallas functions as the center of the aerospace/defense manufacturing and information technology labor market. As of 2006,

Texas has more Fortune 500 company headquarters than any other state. Texas is also the largest international exporter, with merchandise exports totaling $117.2 billion in 2004. The computer giant Dell, is headquartered in Round Rock, where the surrounding area is known as “Silicon Hills.”
      Public transportation is always improving in Texas. With a highly-traveled highway system, the state’s Department of Transportation has sought ways to reduce rush-hour congestion through the use of High-Occupancy Vehicles (HOV). Additionally, air travel is accessible as the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport are among the largest airports in the state.

Schools
      Education is important to Texas’s growing economy; to further the minds of its residents and the research capabilities of its companies. The University of Texas System (UT) consists of nine academic universities and six health institutions. The internationally-renowned Texas Medical Center contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions. Located in Houston, some of these institutions include Baylor College of Medicine and University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The Texas A&M University System is the state’s second largest university system of higher learning. The University of Houston (UH) System is the largest urban state system of higher education in the Gulf Coast. Among the most prestigious of the system’s colleges is the UH Law Center. Also in Houston, the prestigious Rice University and the University of St. Thomas which is world-renowned for its theology and philosophy departments.

The immense state of Texas has everything for the outdoor enthusiast, from hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, and nature-watching, to white-water rafting. Among the state’s great cultural treasures are the remarkable pictographs left by its early indigenous people. Hueco Tanks State Historic Site, San Angelo State Park and Seminole Canyon State Park offer rewarding tours for residents and visitors alike. There are regular steam-train excursions on the Texas State Railroad, which take you through the Pineywoods between the two sections of Rusk/Palestine State Park. At Big Bend Ranch, you can saddle-up and join a fall roundup, helping professional ranch hands drive, pen, vaccinate and brand longhorn cattle. Washington-on-the-Brazos, the birthplace of the Republic of Texas, offers special Independence Hall tours that highlight the events of March, 1836, when Texans declared independence from Mexico. Elsewhere at the park, the Barrington Living History Farm interpreters do everything in 1850s fashion.