ODESSA, TEXAS

'Odessa' is a small city located primarily in Ector County, of which it is the county seat, in the U.S. state of Texas. Some of its city limits extend into adjacent Midland County. Odessa's population was 90,943 at the 2000 United States Census, with a 2005 census population estimated projection of 93,546. The Midland–Odessa metropolitan area had a population 251,842 as of the July 1, 2006 estimate. The city was named after the Russian city Odessa (now in Ukraine).

Contents

Geography

Culture

Performing Arts

Tourism

Sports

Media

Demographics

Education

Economy

Transportation

By Air

By Car

By Train

By Bus

Movies, TV, and Famous People

External links

References

Geography

Odessa is located at (31.863294, -102.365490).

Culture

Performing Arts

The Midland-Odessa Symphony & Chorale (MOSC) has performed in the Permian Basin for over 45 years, and is the region's largest orchestral organization, presenting both Pops and Masterworks concerts throughout the year. Comprised of professional musicians from the area as well as Lubbock, San Angelo and other surrounding cities, the MOSC also is home to three resident chamber ensembles, the Lone Star Brass, Permian Basin String Quartet and West Texas Winds. These ensembles are made up of principal musicians in the orchestra, who come to the area from across the United States.
The Globe of the Great Southwest, located on the campus of Odessa's community college Odessa College, features an authentic replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It hosts plays throughout the year as well as an annual Shakespeare festival.

Tourism

Odessa's Presidential Museum is the only one of its kind in the United States totally dedicated to the office of the Presidency, not just one single president. There are also displays about the Presidents of the Republic of Texas

Sports

The Ector County Coliseum in Odessa features events as diverse as Indoor football as played by the Intense Football League's Odessa Roughnecks, ice hockey with the Central Hockey League's Odessa Jackalopes,
and rodeo every year in the form of the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo. The Ector County Coliseum is also host to the Permian Basin International Oil Show on every even numbered year. The Permian Basin International Oil Show, one of the largest expositions of its kind, showcases the latest technology in the petroleum industry and also honors the industry’s past. Attendees to the Oil Show hail from various parts of the United States and various foreign countries. The next oil show will be held in October of 2008. The Oil Show is for executives and workers in various phases of the petroleum industry and is not open to the public.

Media

Odessa has 10 local television stations: KMID - an American Broadcasting Company affiliate, KWES - an NBC affiliate, KOSA - a CBS affiliate and a MyNetwork TV affiliate on their digital cable station, KPEJ - a FOX affiliate, KPBT - a PBS affiliate, KWWT - The CW Television Network affiliate, KUPB - a Univision affiliate, KTLE-LP - a Telemundo affiliate, and K69IT- a Multimedios Television affiliate. It also has one local religious television station: KMLM- a God's Learning Channel affiliate that is a worldwide institution offering pro-Israel programming.
Local radio stations include KOCV-FM, broadcasting National Public Radio news and talk mixed with locally-produced music content at a frequency of 91.3 MHz.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 95.5 km² (36.9 mi²). 95.3 km² (36.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.19%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 90,943 people, 33,661 households, and 23,697 families residing in the city. in 2006, the population increased to near 97,000 The population density was 954.2/km² (2,471.4/mi²). There were 37,966 housing units at an average density of 398.3/km² (1,031.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 44.43% White, 6.88% African American, 0.77% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 16.07% from other races, and 2.93% from two or more races. 58.42% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 33,661 households out of which 37.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.21.
The age distribution is 29.8% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,209, and the median income for a family was $36,869. Males had a median income of $31,115 versus $21,743 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,096. About 16.0% of families and 18.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.9% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Odessa is home to Permian High School (mascot: Panther, nickname: MOJO), the school whose 1988 football team was featured in the book and movie ''Friday Night Lights'', and Odessa High School (mascot: Broncho). The two are the only high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. The Richard Milburn Academy (mascot: Bulldogs) {founded in 2003} is a private high school that is free to the public and not affiliated with the school district. The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and Odessa College are located in Odessa.

Economy

Though the economy is mostly driven by the area's oil industry, new economic steps are currently being taken to ensure the city's existence after oil is no longer abundant in the area. Such steps include a bid for the Futuregen test power plant and the opening of retail outlets. Odessa is also a stop on, and a supporter of, the La Entrada al Pacifico trade corridor.

Transportation

By Air

★ Odessa is served by Midland International Airport, which is in Midland, Texas, United States.

By Car

★ Interstate 20

★ U.S. Highway 80

★ U.S. Highway 385

★ Texas State Highway 191

★ Texas State Loop 338

By Train

★ Odessa is served by the Union Pacific railroad line. This railroad only provides cargo transport to and from Odessa. Odessa is not served by passenger rail service. Passenger Rail Service was to begin in early 2000 by Amtrak, but due to its financial problems, service was never brought to Odessa

By Bus

★ Odessa and Midland are served by the EZRider local bus system run by the Midland-Odessa Urban Transit District (MOUTD). The system doesn't link the cities yet, though plans are in the works as a part of future expansion.

Movies, TV, and Famous People

★ Odessa was the one year home of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, his wife Barbara, and their son President George W. Bush.

★ Odessa was once home to Stephnie Weir of MADtv fame as well as her character Gail Cinder from the "The Lillian Verner Game Show".

★ Odessa is the hometown of NBC drama ''Heroes'' characters Claire Bennet, her adoptive father Noah Bennet, and his employer Primatech Paper. The series is, however, filmed entirely in California (according to the Internet Movie Database). The shots in the pilot episode show Odessa to be in a mountainous region but the closest mountain range is the Davis Mountain range in far West Texas.

★ The book Friday Night Lights and subsequent movie are based on the true struggles of the Permian Panthers, one of the two high school football teams in Odessa. Many of the characters mentioned in the book still reside in Odessa (as of January 2007). A TV show, also by the name Friday Night Lights, is currently running on NBC. It is loosely based on the book and movie but takes place in the fictional town of Dillon, TX.

★ A new reality series on the TV Guide Channel following the reporters of the local CBS affiliate, KOSA-TV, is now airing on Monday nights at 8/7 Central. The show is titled . The program states that the affiliate is based in nearby Midland, Texas though the main bureau is in Odessa. There is, however, a bureau in Midland.

★ Odessa was once the home of Raymond Benson, author (most notably of continuation James Bond thrillers).

★ Odessa is the hometown of former Texas Longhorn and current Detroit Lions wide receiver Roy Williams and former Oklahoma Sooner and Houston Oiler Daryl Hunt.

★ Odessa is the hometown of former SMU and University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry.

★ A portion of the Tommy Lee Jones movie The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada was filmed in Odessa.

External links

★ US towns named Odessa, , Albert, Parry, Russian Review, 1944

★ Odessa Texas History

★ Odessa-Midland Area Radio Stations

★ Odessa-Midland News

★ City of Odessa website

★ Permian Basin Oil Show website

★ Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale website

References