Uptown Houston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Uptown Houston, or the Uptown District, is mainly centered around Post Oak Boulevard and the Galleria, the largest and most prestigious shopping mall in Houston. In its role as a high-end fashion and hotel district, it is approximately the Houston equivalent of San Francisco's Union Square and Los Angeles's Beverly Hills.
The Uptown area is bounded by Woodway Drive to the north, the I-610 (West Loop) to the east, U.S. Highway 59 to the south, and Chimney Rock Road to the west. The Uptown district has narrower boundaries. [1]
At 23.6 million square feet (2,193,000 m²) of office space, Uptown is also known for its skyline - it is Houston's second largest business district, and the nation's 14th largest, about the size of downtown Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles.
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[edit] Overview
Uptown Houston is a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), which is a self-imposed taxing entity created by property owners in economically challenged areas in order to fund improvements and encourage development within the zone. [2] Although Uptown is arguably not in need of being designated a TIRZ, the area was designated as a TIRZ by city council. The Uptown District has used the funds for landscaping and mobility improvements as well as specialty street lamps, signage and stainless steel gateways and halos over major streets and intersections. Uptown Houston is located in Texas's 7th congressional district and Harris County Precinct 3. [3] [4]
The average per capita income within a 3 mile (5 kilometer) radius is about $65,000—higher than that of Beverly Hills, Buckhead in Atlanta, the city of Highland Park, Texas (in the Dallas area), and Costa Mesa, California.
The Uptown District has about 5 million square feet (500,000 m²) of retail space, and is the center of Houston's high-fashion scene. Around the Galleria, many trendy shopping centers, eateries, and other sorts of entertainment venues exist in the area. Uptown is home to many upscale boutiques, as well as many Houston-based and local high-fashion designers and stores. Uptown, which is the area with Houston's largest hotel revenue, hosts about 20 million visitors a year. Though the Galleria houses the prime of Uptown's luxury stores, there are many other upscale shopping centers in this area, such as Highland Village, Uptown Park, Centre at Post Oak, and Pavillion on Post Oak. Stores outside of the Galleria but in the immediate area include:
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[edit] Architecture
The Uptown District boomed along with Houston during the 1970s and early 1980s. A collection of mid-rise office buildings appeared along the Interstate 610 west (or simply "West Loop"). It became one of the most impressive instances of the edge city. The highest achievement of Uptown was the construction of the 899-foot-tall (274 m), Philip Johnson designed landmark Williams Tower (known as the Transco Tower until 1999). At the time, it was believed to the be the world's tallest skyscraper outside of a central business district. The Williams Tower was the product of a unique era in Houston: energy companies were loaded with assets and sought impressive, monumental structures to broadcast their power.
The Uptown District is also home to other buildings designed by noted architects such as I. M. Pei and César Pelli among others also designed by Philip Johnson. Large-scale office construction in Uptown, however, came to an end with the collapse of energy prices and the meltdown of Houston's economy in the mid-to-late 1980s. Uptown had 23.8 million square feet (2,210,000 m²) of office space in 2001, whereas Downtown Houston had about 40 million square feet (4,000,000 m²). In the late 1990s, there was a mini-boom of mid-rise residential tower construction, typically about 30 stories tall. Uptown has accumulated a large concentration of high-rise residential structures for such a low-density city.
- Further information: Architecture of Houston
- See also: Tallest buildings in Texas
[edit] Fire service
Houston Fire Department operates Station 2 at 5880 Woodway at Chimney Rock [1].
[edit] Police service
Uptown is served by the Houston Police Department's Uptown Patrol Division [2].
[edit] Education
Pupils living in Uptown are zoned to schools in the Houston Independent School District. Uptown elementary school pupils are zoned to either Briargrove Elementary School (in Briargrove) or St. George Place Elementary School (in St. George Place).
Middle and high school pupils living in Uptown are zoned to Grady Middle School and Lee High School, although students in the Lee attendance area may choose to attend Lamar High School or Westside High School.
St. Michael School, a Roman Catholic K-8 school that is a part of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, is in the area [3].
Al-Hadi School of Accelerative Learning, a private K-12 Islamic school, is in the area [4].
Other nearby private schools include St. John's School and The Kinkaid School.
[edit] Community information
The city of Houston operates the Grady Park at 1700 Yorktown. [5] The closest YMCA is the Post Oak YMCA. The Uptown District is served by the Jungman Branch of Houston Public Library.
[edit] Uptown-area subdivisions
Uptown-area subdivisions include:
- Briargrove
- Briarcroft
- Larchmont
- St. George Place
- Tanglewood
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ District map Uptown Houston District
- ^ About Uptown. Uptown Houston District
- ^ Texas's 7th congressional district. National Atlas
- ^ About Precinct 3. Harris County Precinct 3
- ^ List of parks. City of Houston
