1. Sarah Dye September 2008

2. Are there any potential natural disasters? What is the climate like? Could plate tectonics interfere with the location? What is the crime rate in the area? What is the cost of the land in the area? What are some surrounding attractions?

3. Type of floodplainStudent-created explanation of floodplain Locations of floodplain in Harris County Explanation of potential flooding Valley FloodplainThis is near a creek valley on more defined land. Does not normally occur near housing. Flooding can be very quick and deep. North and northwestern part of Harris county. The further the house is away from the floodplain the lesser chance of flooding. When flooding occurs it can last up to a couple of days. Major River FloodplainThis is a very larger floodplain that experiences very deep flooding. Along the San Jacinto River.Flooding can last for a week or more and is very deep, houses are vulnerable to flooding if not raised above ground. Shallow FloodplainThis flooding occurs when the channel capacity is reached. Tends to be shallow flooding. Throughout the county.Flooding only lasts for a few hours and normally won’t come up to buildings; stays in the street. Coastal FloodplainThis floodplain is located near the seaside and is cause from high tides/ surges, and hurricanes which raise the sea level creating flooding. Southeast part of Harris county/ seaside.All houses and buildings can be affected especially those that are not above the ground. Flooding is dependent on the size of tide or surge.

4. LocationFloodplainWatershedRanking Bayside (Laporte, Tx)Coastal FloodplainClear CreekArea of highest risk because it is closer to the coast and therefore higher. NE Houston (Huffman, Tx)Major RiverCedar BayouArea with possible risk because it is located near a river that has possible chance of flooding if large precipitation occurs. Downtown East (Houston, Tx)ShallowHunting BayouArea with 50/50 risk because it is in a shallow floodplain which means if flooding occurs it would not be deep or high floods. Downtown Central Houston (Houston, Tx) ShallowBuffalo BayouArea with possible but unlikely risk since it is in a shallow floodplain with almost no chance of flooding yet it is still possible. West Tomball (Tomball, Tx)Fema Zone XWillow CreekArea of least risk since it is in FEMA zone X.

5. LocationCategory that would require evacuation Height of storm surge that would flood area Hurricane Threat Level Bayside (Laporte, Tx)317.9 FtD NE Houston (Huffman, Tx)None B Downtown East (Houston, Tx)None A Downtown Central Houston (Houston, Tx) None A West Tomball (Tomball, Tx)None A

6. LocationFaults Nearby (High, Medium, Low) Projected Repair Costs Rank Downtown East (Houston, Tx) Clinton, Pecore, Ship Channel, Magnolia and Memorial Faults. $5,000 per yearWorst because it has a large amount of faults in the area. Bayside (Laporte, Tx) Battleground, Pelly and Ship Channel Faults. $1,000 per yearSecond to worst because although it has no fault directly nearby is has many faults around the location. Downtown Central Houston (Houston, Tx) Pecore, Clinton and Eureka Faults. $500 per yearMiddle because it has only a few faults that are located outside of the area. NE Houston (Huffman, Tx) One unidentified Fault $100 per yearSecond to best because it has one fault outside of the area quite far away. West Tomball (Tomball, Tx) None$0 per yearBest because it has no faults nearby. These faults could cause earthquakes and possible seismic waves from the bodies of water nearby like the Gulf of Mexico.

7. Students would prefer to live in a low crime area therefore you would want the crime rate to be low to attract more students. A conundrum is then formed because along with more students usually comes a higher crime rate since a good amount of crime is caused by teenagers and young adults. Overall creating a school in a low crime rate area would be more productive and would attract more students.

8. Location Price per acre West Tomball$40,000 Huffman$12,000 Bayside$27,000 Central Downtown Houston $6,850,000 Downtown Houston East $50,000 The price of land could affect the new student recruitment because if the student can’t afford to live on or off campus whichever may be their choice then the chance of them attending the school lessens.

9. The board of Directors and Investors will put both into consideration and try to find a location that is low in crime and has cheap land. As the crime rate decreases the land price will increase because it is a more desirably area and therefore it will probably in most cases be in the middle.

10. Other sources of informationExplanation of how the source would be beneficial Location that would likely benefit the most from your source Location that would likely benefit the least from your source. Population of areaYou would like your school built in a populated area that will provide you with students and allow socialization and interactions. A high population would also give reasoning for more attractions. Central downtown HoustonWest Tomball Traffic flowIf the school is built in an area with a high amount of traffic students will have less motivation to go to that school since it could be a large hassle to get to and out of. If the area has hardly any traffic people will be more attracted to the area. West TomballCentral downtown Houston Nearby attractionsA student would be more attracted to the school if it had nearby attractions and entertainment of all kinds therefore providing the student with activities to do in the free time and when people visit them. Central downtown HoustonWest Tomball

11. DataRanking Floodplains1 Hurricane storm surge 2 Watersheds3 Crime rate4 Land Prices5 Fault Data and mechanical weathering 6

12. In conclusion I chose to build Orso University in Central Downtown Houston because it is high in population but not too high and is located in an area with surrounding attractions. It is not around any hazardous faults or in danger of storm surge or flooding. This area is also not very high in crime rate and I therefore conclude that Central Downtown Houston is a great place to build an education center of this level.