Downtown

Since 1999, public and private investors have spent nearly $5 billion to revitalize downtown. This includes a light rail system to make public transportation around the city much more accessible and convenient. Two sparkling new sports stadiums—Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, and Toyota Center, home to the Houston Rockets, Comets and Aeros. An expansion of the George R. Brown Convention Center, which virtually doubled its space, and the development of the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston Hotel, connected via skywalk to the George R. Brown Convention Center. There has been a resurgence in boutique hotels—four have opened in downtown since 2002.