Here's an interesting story on Internet penetration in major markets.  
Where's Houston?


The Standard   4/12/00

  Nielsen/NetRatings Expands Online Coverage 

    The firms' partnership should offer a clearer picture of Internet use and 
advertising in local
    markets. 

    WASHINGTON ) A partnership formed by NetRatings and the well-known U.S. TV
    ratings company Nielsen Media Research has expanded its services to 
provide a
    more comprehensive snapshot of online usage and advertising in the top 20 
local
    Internet markets, the companies said today. 

    Nielsen/NetRatings measures penetration of the Internet, or the 
percentage of
    people who have access, and audience size in the top 20 cities, the 
companies
    said in a release. The partnership also provides information about site 
traffic and
    average time spent online. 

    The new services are designed to enable companies to analyze monthly 
Internet
    user and advertising data at the local level so that firms can target 
marketing
    and market segmentation, the release stated. The new data will give 
advertisers,
    news and information providers and Internet marketing and content 
companies a
    clearer picture of the dynamics of local and regional Internet trends, the
    partnership said. 

    According to Nielsen/NetRatings, the top five local markets with the 
largest
    Internet penetration in February were San Francisco, with 61 percent; San
    Diego, with 58 percent; Washington, with 56.1 percent; Seattle, with 55.9
    percent; and Portland, Ore., with 54 percent. 

    Filling out the top 10 were Boston, with 51.7 percent; Dallas, with 47.6 
percent;
    Denver, with 47.3 percent; Atlanta, with 46.1 percent; and Los Angeles, 
with
    43.9 percent, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. 

    Nielson/NetRatings said the city with the most people online is New York, 
with
    4.3 million logging on in February, followed by Los Angeles, with 3.6 
million; San
    Francisco, with 2.1 million; Chicago, with 2 million; and Boston, with 
1.9 million.
    San Diego led all cities in average time spent online per person in 
February, with
    an average of nearly 11 hours and 16 minutes.