Houston

===Tourism and recreation===
The [[Houston Theater District|Theater District]] is a 17-block area in the center of Downtown Houston that is home to the [[Bayou Place]] entertainment complex, restaurants, movies, plazas, and parks. Bayou Place is a large multilevel building containing full-service restaurants, bars, live music, billiards, and [[Sundance Cinema]]. The [[Bayou Music Center]] stages live concerts, stage plays, and stand-up comedy.

[[Space Center Houston]] is the official visitors' center of NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. The Space Center has many interactive exhibits including [[Moon rocks]], a [[Space Shuttle]] simulator, and presentations about the history of NASA's manned space flight program. Other tourist attractions include the [[The Galleria (Houston)|Galleria]] (Texas's [[List of largest shopping malls in the United States|largest]] shopping mall, in the Uptown District), Old Market Square, the [[Downtown Aquarium, Houston|Downtown Aquarium]], and [[Sam Houston Race Park]].

Houston's [[Chinatown, Houston|current Chinatown]] and the [[Mahatma Gandhi District]] are two major [[ethnic enclaves]], reflecting Houston's multicultural makeup. Restaurants, bakeries, traditional-clothing boutiques, and specialty shops can be found in both areas.

Houston is home to 337 parks, including [[Hermann Park]], [[Terry Hershey Park]], [[Lake Houston|Lake Houston Park]], [[Memorial Park, Houston, Texas|Memorial Park]], [[Tranquility Park]], [[Sesquicentennial Park]], [[Discovery Green]], [[Buffalo Bayou Park]] and [[Sam Houston Park]]. Within Hermann Park are the [[Houston Zoo]] and the [[Houston Museum of Natural Science]]. Sam Houston Park contains restored and reconstructed homes which were originally built between 1823 and 1905.<ref>[http://www.heritagesociety.org/ths.html The Heritage Society: Walk into Houston's Past] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610115218/http://www.heritagesociety.org/ths.html |date=June 10, 2007 }}. ''The Heritage Society.'' Retrieved on January 10, 2007.</ref>

Of the 10 most populous U.S. cities, Houston has the largest total area of parks and green space, {{convert|56405|acre|km2|0}}.<ref>''Continental Magazine'', March 2008. p.67.</ref> The city also has over 200 additional green spaces—totaling over {{convert|19600|acre|km2|0}} that are managed by the city—including the [[Houston Arboretum and Nature Center]]. The [[Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark]] is a public [[skatepark]] owned and operated by the city of Houston, and is one of the largest skateparks in Texas consisting of a 30,000-ft<sup>2</sup> (2,800 m<sup>2</sup>)in-ground facility.

The [[Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park]] in the Uptown District of the city serves as a popular tourist attraction and for weddings and various celebrations. A 2011 study by Walk Score ranked Houston the 23rd most walkable of the 50 largest cities in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/cities/ |title=2011 City and Neighborhood Rankings |publisher=Walk Score |year=2011 |access-date=August 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/69hdEpBFH?url=http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/cities/ |archive-date=August 6, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>