Houston Heights


Houston Heights is a community in northwest-central Houston, Texas, United States. "The Heights" is often referred to colloquially to describe a larger collection of neighborhoods next to and including the actual Houston Heights. However, Houston Heights has its own history, distinct from Norhill and Woodland Heights.

History

In 1886, Oscar Martin Carter, a former bank president from Nebraska arrived in Houston and by 1891 he and a group of investors had established the Omaha and South Texas Land Company, managed by Carter and a subsidiary of the American Loan and Trust Company. The company purchased of land and established infrastructure, including streets, alleys, parks, schools, and utilities, worth $500,000. As one of Texas's early planned communities, Houston Heights was founded as a streetcar suburb of Houston and attracted residents who did not wish to live in the dense city but had a way to commute back and forth for work. Another appealing factor to potential residents was that the area is 23 feet higher in elevation than Houston, which was experiencing yellow fever outbreaks along with other waterborne illnesses due to excessive flooding and high levels of mosquitos.
It had its own municipality, established on July 1, 1896 and William G. Love served as the first mayor and J.B. Marmion was the fifth and final mayor. According to the U.S. census of 1900 the area had 800 residents and had its own school system, hospital and emergency services. By 1919 the city government experienced difficulty collecting sufficient tax revenue to fund the school system and so the small community agreed to be annexed to the city of Houston.
After World War II industrial interests moved into the Houston Heights.
Sister M. Agatha wrote the book History of the Houston Heights, published in 1956. Some of her research stemmed from a document and photograph collection organized by Jimmie May Hicks, the head librarian at the Heights Public Library from 1931 to 1964.
Marilyn Bardsley of Crime Library stated that the Houston Heights became "decrepit" and "tired" after World War II. In that period several units of housing were subdivided into apartments and maintenance declined. In the 1970s the Houston Heights was considered to be a low income area of the city. In 1973 the Houston Heights Association was established to reverse this trend.
On December 13, 1970, Dean Corll began luring and killing children from the Houston Heights which became known as the Houston Mass Murders. For most of the period of his crime spree, Corll lived in or close to Houston Heights as his two teenage accomplices resided there. Other teens from the area were targeted simply because the two teens knew many of them which made it easier to entice them to Corll's various residences during the period.
From the 1980 U.S. census to the 1990 census, the population of the Houston Heights declined by more than 1,000 people per square mile. The Houston Heights Association opened in 1973.
From 1980 to 2017, about 100 houses and other properties in the Heights have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Since the 1990s, and similar to other parts of Houston inside the 610 Loop, the Heights has experienced gentrification, a process ongoing to this day, as young highly paid professionals have flocked to the area, purchasing and renovating some of the historic homes. Upscale boutiques and restaurants have opened in the area, giving parts of the streetscape an appearance not too much unlike Bellaire, Lower Westheimer or Upper Kirby, but large parts, such as the entirety of Heights Boulevard retain some of the original identity thanks to the older houses and large trees.
The Houston Heights Fire Station, a former fire station at 12th Street at Yale Street was constructed as Houston Heights' city hall and jail, and fire station in 1914. After annexation, it served as a city of Houston fire station from 1918 until 1995. The Houston Heights Association took a 30-year lease on the property from the city and refurbished the property. By December 2009 the former city hall was for sale.
In 2013 CNN Money ranked the Houston Heights as no. 4 in its Top 10 big city neighborhoods ranking.
A section of the Houston Heights was a "dry" district from 1912 to 2017.

Cityscape

The Houston Heights, one of the earliest planned communities in Texas, is located northwest of Downtown Houston. A National Geographic article says "stroll the area's broad, tree-canopied esplanades and side streets dotted with homes dating from the early 1900s and you may think you've landed in a small town." In 2011 John Nova Lomax said that the Heights, which he describes as "Houston's own mini-Austin," had many "low-key" restaurants and beer gardens. The Houston Heights Association describes the Heights as being bounded by Interstate 10 on the south, North Shepherd Drive on the west, Interstate 610 on the north and both North Main and Studewood Streets on the east.
Neighbourhoods within Houston Heights include Shady Acres in the northwest, Greater Heights in the central, and Woodland Heights in the southeast.
According to a study of the University of Houston Institute of Regional Forecasting and Crawford Realty Advisors, from 2002 to 2003 prices of single family houses appreciated by 8.7 percent. Anjali Athavalley said "eal estate agents say most houses there costing less than $200,000 need serious work" and "uying a single-family house in the Houston Heights, for example, is getting expensive."
Gabi Barrett of Bella Magazine wrote in the Pensacola News Journal stated that the Heights is similar to two neighborhoods in Pensacola, East and North Hill.
In 1976 James Conaway of the Texas Monthly described the Heights as a "seedy, lower-middle-class enclave with horizons limited to once-fashionable homes divided into low-rent apartments, and guarded by pickups on concrete blocks."

Government and infrastructure

Local government

By 2000 Houston Heights community retained its prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages. The Houston Heights passed a prohibition on alcoholic beverages in 1912, and the annexation agreement followed by the City of Houston stipulates that much of the Heights must retain the ban on alcoholic beverages. Many restaurants in the zone got around the ordinance by forming private clubs that patrons may join so that the patrons can order alcoholic beverages. In 2016 the requirement that grocery stores not sell beer nor wine was disbanded through a vote, and in 2017, the prohibition against alcohol in restaurants and on sales of other alcohol was disbanded though the complete dissolution of the 1912 ordinance; the latter was by a vote with 60% in favor.
The Houston Fire Department operates Station 15 Heights in the Northside district, near the Houston Heights. It is a part of Fire District 6. Fire Station 15 moved to Houston Avenue and North Main in 1918 and North Main at Tabor in 1942. The current station at Dunbar and North Main opened in 1999.
The Houston Police Department's Central Patrol Division serves the neighborhood. The Heights Storefront was formerly located at 1127 North Shepherd. The Heights storefront closed in 2017 as the owner of the building chose not to renew HPD's lease.
As of 2011 most of the Heights is a part of Houston City Council District C, while a portion is in District H. Because of the inclusion of the Heights, Montrose, and Rice University areas, it has the nickname "Hipstrict" for what Chris Moran of the Houston Chronicle refers to as its "progressive, urban ethic." Before the 2011 redistricting, District H included all of the Houston Heights. H was mostly Hispanic, but because of the inclusion of the Houston Heights, it was becoming increasingly non-Hispanic White. Around 2011 an earlier plan would have combined the Heights and Montrose under a district called District J.
In a 1989 Houston Chronicle article Alan Bernstein described political support for Jim Westmoreland, an incumbent in an at-large position, in the Houston Heights as "relatively weak." In one precinct 49.4 percent of the voting residents voted for him. Westmoreland drew controversy after reports of a joke that was characterized as "racist" spread. Beverley Clark, the opponent and a Black teacher, defeated Westmoreland in that race. Bernstein said that the significant racial minority groups and the "social tolerance" trait may have contributed to backlash against Bernstein. In a 1989 Houston Chronicle article, Randy Cypret, the president of the Houston Heights Association, said that the split vote from the Houston Heights may reflect the ethnic division. Cypret added that opposition may have stemmed from Westmoreland's lack of political presence in the Houston Heights and a lack of advocacy for zoning-related issues. Cypret said that he opposed Westmoreland because of "the fact that he considers being on the city council a part-time job. In the fourth largest city in the country, you should take your job more seriously."

County, state, and federal representation

The area United States Postal Service office was the Heights Post Office at 1050 Yale Street, but the post office closed on December 30, 2015. Operations and post office boxes are moving to the TW House Station located at 1300 West 19th Street.
Harris Health System designated Casa de Amigos Health Center in Northside for the ZIP codes 77007 and 77008. The nearest public hospital is Ben Taub General Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.

Demographics

In 2010, the research paper "Houston Heights" described Houston Heights as having a "diverse population" and in the same year National Geographic said that the Houston Heights was "home to the highest concentration of professional artists" in Texas.
Since 2000, Houston Heights has experienced widespread gentrification, which has affected the demographics of the neighborhood. In 2000, the median household income in Houston Heights was $41,576 and by 2015 it nearly doubled to $80,048. 42% of households earn over $100,000 a year. During that same time, median housing value increased from $118,758 in 2000 to $315,793 in 2015.
Ethnic demographics also shifted during this time. Between 2000 and 2015, the Hispanic population decreased from 53% to 34% and Non-Hispanic Whites increased from 42% to 58%.
In 2015, the population of the Super Neighborhood #15 Greater Heights, which includes the Houston Heights and several surrounding subdivisions , was 41,362.