The 1970s were an important time of change and growth for Houston. The city’s economy grew a lot because of the energy industry. More people moved to Houston, and new cultural and social ways started to appear. During this decade, Houston became known as a major center for energy, facing both the good and bad sides of growing fast and having new ways of living.
The Oil Boom and How Houston Grew
In the 1970s, there were big problems with getting oil around the world, especially in 1973 and 1979. This made Houston very important for energy. The city’s money-making activities were mostly about oil and natural gas, and when the prices of these went up, Houston’s economy grew a lot. This attracted companies, business people, and workers, which created more jobs, made more people rich, and brought more money into the city. Houston became well-known for the oil business, with many big energy companies setting up there and becoming a place for dealing with money matters related to energy..
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During this time of making a lot of money from oil, Houston also worked on having different kinds of jobs and businesses. The Texas Medical Center grew a lot, making Houston famous for health care and research. The city also put money into technology and making things to make sure it wasn’t just relying on oil and gas.
Houston Gets Bigger and Builds More
In the 1970s, Houston grew rapidly. The city got bigger to make space for all the new people and companies. This growth was helped by building a lot of new things like highways and improving services for people. The opening of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in 1969, which started working fully in the 1970s, made it easier to get to and from Houston and showed how important the city was becoming in the US and the world.
Problems with Growing So Fast
With all this growth and more industries, Houston faced some problems. There was pollution in the air and water because of all the chemical plants. The city got so big so fast that it caused problems like too much traffic, hard-to-manage growth, and a lot of pressure on the services for people living there. These problems made people think and talk about how to plan the city better and take care of the environment, which helped guide how Houston would grow in the future.