Cities: The Air-Conditioned Metropolis

From the mucky waters of Galveston Bay on the Gulf of Mexico, the Houston Ship Channel sluggishly winds 50 miles into southern Texas. From both banks, scrubby rangeland and salt marshes stretch to the horizon, relieved occasionally by a decrepit farmhouse or a forlorn oil rig. Then suddenly, around one of the canal's innumerable bends, a $2 billion complex of oil refineries and chemical plants erupts on the landscape. Soon the inland-bound passenger spies in the distance what appears to be a skyscraper, then several skyscrapers, then a full metropolitan skyline. It might be a mirage shimmering on the hot and steamy plain —but no, it is Houston, a booming metropolis set in the middle of nowhere.

Endless Boom. Seventh biggest of U.S. cities by 1960 census figures, Houston claims to be the fastest-growing major city in the nation. Last year Houston issued $338 million worth of building permits, trailing only New York and Los Angeles. Over the past decade, office space in the city has almost doubled, to more than 12 million sq. ft. Nine new skyscrapers costing a total of $90 million are currently being added to the Houston skyline, which already includes the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, the new 44-story downtown headquarters of Humble Oil & Refining Co. Under construction 22 miles southeast of the city is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's $123 million Manned Spacecraft Center, scheduled for completion next year.

At the turn of the century, Houston was an unpromising backlands town. Then, in 1915, after the ship channel was dredged, the Port of Houston was opened, and the city became a busy cotton and lumber center. It now ranks as the third largest port in the U.S. (behind New York and New Orleans). In the 1920s, oil discoveries near by set off an oil boom that has never ended. When the U.S. war machine needed rubber during World War II. Houston turned to the area's oil, salt and sulphur resources and built massive petrochemical plants to produce synthetics. Far from slowing down after the war, the city's growth boomed: in the decade of the 1950s, the population soared 57% to 938,000.

Hardship Post. Houston is located on an exceedingly uncomfortable site. Hot, dry air sweeping down from the Midwest collides with the humid turbulence that boils up from the Gulf, creating a climate that, according to a widely traveled visitor, closely resembles that of Calcutta. From May through October last year, the thermometer reached or topped 90° on 109 days. On the flat plain, water from heavy rainfall stagnates in puddles and drainage ditches, adding to the steamy humidity and providing an abundance of breeding places for a perennial plague of mosquitoes. For putting up with Houston's weather, the British consular service pays its personnel stationed there a special hardship allowance.

The city might not have grown anywhere nearly as fast if it hadn't been for air conditioning. More than half of Houston's private homes are air-conditioned. Downtown, air-conditioned underground concourses connect air-conditioned buildings. The city is now building a $25 million sports stadium completely enclosed by a plastic dome and cooled by 6,000 tons of air-conditioning capacity. At least one dog kennel advertises air conditioning.