Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest city in the United States. It is a sprawling, cosmopolitan city with many ethnicities and nationalities. Houston is situated on the Gulf Coast of Texas and has the fourth largest port in the United States. Some of the world's leading medical and research institutions, including the Texas Medical Center and NASA's Johnson Space Center, are found in Houston. New Orleans is the crossroads of old world elegance and new world frivolity. The Big Easy is a patchwork of cultures and a seat of artistic innovation. Jazz was born here. Creole cuisine was perfected here. Beautiful, iconic neighborhoods are stitched together to form New Orleans including the popular French Quarter and world famous Bourbon Street.