VisitHoustonTexas.com and Ask Veronica

I was listening to NPR this morning on my way to work, and I heard a story about a website called VisitHoustonTexas.com, which I thought deserves a mention on neoHouston, especially since it has some pretty good information about Houston. It was created recently by the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, and has various sections including an event calendar, a group tour page, videos about Houston, and a coupons section. My favorite section is the “Green Houston“, where you can learn that the Astros use seaweed-based fertilizer and were the first sports team to establish a recycling program at their stadium. Here are some other interesting facts about Green Houston:

Bayou Bend

• Bayou Bend, with 14 acres of landscaped gardens and natural woodlands, is Texas’ largest all organic public garden.
• No pesticides are used in the gardens. A garlic spray is used for mosquitoes, and all of the soil preparation and treatment is organic.
• The formal gardens are noted for rare Duchess De Caze Pink Camellias that are no longer available in nurseries, along with varieties of azaleas, gardenias, antique roses, and seasonal plantings that keep the gardens blooming all year.
• The gardens are at their peak during March and April and are one of the highlights of the city, which has been designated an Azalea City by the Azalea Society of America.

The Menil Collection

• Major recycling initiative throughout Menil campus (the museum and separate bungalow offices): paper, plastic, metal, the works
• Have switched where ever possible to fluorescent and other low-energy lighting, including exterior bungalow lighting
• Printing all materials — brochures, gallery guides, Membership bulletin, catalogues on recycled paper, and using soy-based dyes that are very environmentally friendly
• Aiming to eliminate leaf blowers and other gas-powered landscape equipment
• Encourage bicycling and car pooling for employees

Green Space Statistics

• Houston rates first among the nation’s 10 most populous cities in total acreage of parkland and second behind only San Diego in park acreage per capita, according to a 2007 study by The Trust for Public Land. Houston has 56,405 acres of total park space, with 27.2 acres per 1,000 residents. The national average is 18.8 acres per 1,000 residents.
• The City of Houston maintains more than 100 miles of hike and bike trails.
• The 155-acre Houston Arboretum and Nature Center is located in central Houston between downtown and the Galleria area. Visitors can enjoy more than 5 miles of nature trails, including forest, pond, wetland and meadow habitats.

I couldn’t find this statistic on the site, but I have also heard that Houston has more theater seats than New York City. I almost have a hard time believing that, so if you know better, please let me know in the comments.The front page of the site has a fairly simple and clean design, but each link goes to a page with a different layout, and in my opinion it really hurts the user experience. I hope they are working to migrate each content page over to the new design of the front page.

The NPR story went on to talk about a unique service Houston offers through the site called Ask Veronica.

This is where people all over the world go to ask Veronica Nielson questions about Houston. Veronica Nielson is a lady who’s been answering questions about Houston asked over the phone and email for the last eight years, and prides herself on having answered each question in the past with a personal snail mail letter. While I would love for everyone to feel a personal connection to Houston through a personal letter answering their questions about the city, it isn’t the most sustainable way for a website that brags about Houston being green to disseminate information. The Ask Veronica page gives you the ability to submit a question through a web form, as well as search for previously answered questions. They are getting about 200 questions a day from all over the world, so I’m sure a few more wouldn’t hurt. I just wish the main page had the Ask Veronica button more towards the top (you have to scroll down to get to it unless you’re on a gigantic screen). My favorite questions so far:

Where is the best area of houston to stay for the nightlife/shopping? - brad in london

For shopping, Uptown Houston is the absolute best. You have the Galleria with 375 stores; Uptown Park, a gorgeous outdoor shopping area with upscale boutiques and restaurants; and Highland Village, with big name brands like Pottery Barn and Banana Republic all within a few miles of each other.

If you’re looking for more eclectic shopping, you might want to try Rice Village, near Rice University. 19th Street in The Heights has really cute boutiques and antique shops. The Westheimer Curve (near the intersection of Westheimer and Dunlavy) has great boutiques, resale shops, recycled clothing and tattoo parlors.

For nightlife, Midtown is popular with the twenty-somethings. I’d start at the intersection of Bagby and Gray (near Farrago and Cyclone Anaya), and there are many bars that are walkable from there.

Another neighborhood for good nightlife that appeals to a slightly older crowd is the Washington Avenue Corridor. You’ll find great restaurants like Catalan, benjy’s and Max’s Wine Dive and cool bars like Pearl Bar, the Corkscrew and Cova Wines. It’s not as walkable as Midtown, but most of the bars are fairly close together.

This is a great start from Veronica, so feel free to add comments to the thread here.

Why is gas prices going up, when the oil prices keep falling? - Mark in Houston

I wish I had the answer to this question, as do many others.

You might want to check out this Web site from the U.S. Department of Energy. There’s a lot of information here. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

I don’t even know what to say about this one. I’m not sure this is the best place to host that discussion.

What are some fun things for children to do in houston? - stacy in pearland, tx

The Children’s Museum – 1500 Binz; 713-522-1138; www.cmhouston.org. The museum is listed as one of the top 2 in the country and is very hands on.

Within walking distance from the Children’s Museum, you’ll also find the Health Museum and the Houston Museum of Natural Science–both are great experiences for kids. The Houston Zoo is in the same area.

713-533-6500. www.houstonzoo.org

The Grand Event Entertainment and Famly Fun Center is all indoors. A 2 story playport for kids, rides, a 3 story Ferris Wheel, arcade concessions, roller skating rink and so much more.

13700 Beechnut Street, 281-229-1477.www.thegrandevent.net

The Downtown Aquarium at 401 Bagby 713-223-3474. www.downtownaquarium.com

If you need more information, please call 1-800-4-HOUSTON and ask for Veronica

I wonder if other cities have sites like this? I think of it as a hyperlocal version of Google Answers (now retired, I guess they answered everything already?), but so far most of the questions seem to be about what to do for fun in Houston. I will be asking more factual/statistical questions about Houston and its history, hopefully Veronica can deliver. And I’d also like to see this site learn from other great city sites like bcn.es, the site for Barcelona, Spain (multilingual, transportation planner, news, maps, etc…).