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Clear Lake Demographics Now encompassing a larger geography and diversified industry base, Bay Area Houston lies a mere fifteen miles southeast of downtown Houston, Texas’ largest city and the nation’s fourth largest. The area is home to a billion dollar aerospace complex, a billion dollar petrochemical refining and specialty chemical complex, a diverse high technology presence, a bio-technology footprint, upscale retail and commercial enterprises and, as a designated recreational area, offers pleasure boating access to Galveston Bay. In short, the area reflects its unique blend of new economy characteristics and quality of life dimensions so much sought after by talented professionals who choose to work hard and like to play hard. In the vanguard of Texas' economic expansion, the area encompasses parts of Harris and Galveston Counties and spans all or parts of twelve cities including Clear Lake Shores, El Lago, Friendswood, Houston, Kemah, La Porte, League City, Nassau Bay, Pasadena, Seabrook, Taylor Lake Village and Webster. Skilled Labor Successful new economy regions both attract and accommodate a highly skilled and educated labor pool. For Bay Area Houston, fully one-third of the labor force holds occupations in the professional, executive, managerial, technical sales and administrative fields. An attractive living community, approximately a third of the area’s employed work outside the Bay Area Houston geographical boundary. Bay Area Houston’s new era of sustainable, diversified industry growth is marked by significant infrastructure expansion and re-development supported by rising income levels. Important features of the area like the average income level, educational opportunities and leisure time options demonstrate both the ability to conduct world class work and the quality of life dimensions. A key measure of an area’s economic vitality is income. By this standard, Bay Area Houston stands tall when compared with the Houston and the State of Texas. Since 1990, both per capita and median income in Bay Area Houston have either sustained or increased their proportion above comparable regional and statewide measures. Bay Area Houston median income in the 2000 census was $55,533. Houston was recorded at $44,665 and the State of Texas records $39,927 as a median income for a household. Regarding talent, nearly, a third of the working population possesses at least a bachelor’s or higher academic degree. Over 10 percent of the workforce holds a graduate level degree. Industry Measured in core industry relative shares of employment, the aerospace industry presence now accounts for just over an estimated 11 percent of the labor force. The petrochemical and specialty chemical employment proportion is about the same as the aerospace industry. High technology niche employment represents a significant and growing proportion of the area’s labor force. These base industries support a much larger proportion of retail, wholesale and service sector jobs in Bay Area Houston. Education High caliber schools work to deliver quality curriculum to meet the area’s educational needs. Clear Creek, Friendswood, La Porte and Pasadena Independent School Districts’ enrollment growth mirrors the region’s vitality. Currently, over 87,400 students attend public schools with high school graduation rates, on average, near 90 percent. Bay Area Houston high school seniors score well on SAT and ACT test batteries. These four districts, along with the University of Houston-Clear Lake and San Jacinto Community College serve well as business attractors and higher education resources for new company employees and residents. Bay Area Houston’s new era of sustainable, diversified industry growth is marked by significant infrastructure expansion and re-development supported by rising income levels. Important features of the area like the average income level, educational opportunities and leisure time options demonstrate both the ability to conduct world class work and the quality of life dimensions necessary to sustain a complete homework- recreate community environment. Overview From its aerospace beginnings 40 years ago, Bay Area Houston has evolved into a fully integrated and well-diversified economy. The local economy, comprised of well over 12,000 business establishments, rides smoothly on several economic engines that include the advanced technology, aerospace and petroleum industries, manufacturing, recreation, tourism, service and retail industries. The area’s highly skilled work force, strategically located between the Texas Medical Center and the University of Texas Medical Branch, supports many high technology, biomedical, computer software, engineering and specialty chemical services companies. Technology and history are tightly interwoven at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) where astronauts are trained and US manned space flights are monitored. Drawn to the natural business development advantages flowing from JSC, which annually administers over $4 billion in federal aerospace contracts, 52 contractors perform leading-edge work managing the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, astronaut training, advanced human support technology, biomedical research and space medicine. Specialty Chemicals and Petrochemicals As components of the area’s chemical and plastics industry, the specialty chemical industry located in the eastern quadrant of Bay Area Houston rests in the Bayport Industrial Complex. One of the nation's largest privately developed industrial facilities Bayport is home to approximately 65 operating specialty chemical plants employing 9,000 to 10,000 workers. These facilities produce the essential building blocks for many everyday products like plastic bottles, cleaning agents, anti-freeze and grocery bags. Located on the eastern seaboard of Bay Area Houston, the Port of Houston Authority is building a multimillion-dollar Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal on Pasadena and Seabrook industrial zoned property. When complete, Bayport will simultaneously berth and service up to 7 ships with its 7,000-foot dredged wharf and have an annual lifting capacity of 1.4 million containers. The facility will host inter-modal railroad, trucking access, marine emergency and administration services. Tourism, Boating and Recreation Bay Area Houston is an important boating and recreational destination on Texas’ Gulf Coast. New economy professionals desire recreational outlets as gratifying as their work. Area citizens can choose from a variety of options like sailing, power boating, ecotourism, upscale shopping, fine seafood restaurants, fishing and camping along with entertainment and sporting events within minutes from their homes. Now completed upscale restaurants and shops on the Kemah waterfront exhibiting fountains, walkways and Ferris wheel, daily attract many tourists. This $25 million boardwalk, amusement park, retail center also draws visitors to the local hotel market where developers have accommodated the increased business and pleasure overnight stay demand. About 2-3 million tourists visit Bay Area Houston annually. Recreational options range from power-sail boating, space visitor center and eco-tourism to upscale shopping, fine dining and regional sports. By official count, 24 marinas can slip up to 8,000 boats of all sizes with almost 20 percent built as floating slips for safety during severe weather. |
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