Westbury, Houston, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Westbury is a neighborhood in the southwest part of Houston, Texas. It is located east of Bob White Road, north of U.S. Route 90 Alternate (South Main Street), and west of South Post Oak Road, adjacent to the Fondren Southwest and Meyerland neighborhoods, just west of the southwest corner of the 610 Loop.
Westbury is a middle-class and racially diverse neighborhood.
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[edit] History
Westbury was developed in the 1950s and 1960s as part of the post–World War II migration to the suburbs by Ira Berne. As the City of Houston and the surrounding urban area have spread out because of annexing its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), Westbury is no longer considered to be suburban.
A centerpiece of the Westbury neighborhood was the Westbury Square shopping centre. Designed by architect William J. Wortham, Jr. to look like an Italian village, it had quaint little shops centered around a fountain. After the opening of nearby shopping malls (such as the Galleria in Uptown Houston), business dropped off and most of the shops were shuttered. It remains open, but much of its original space has been lost to nearby development and only a few tenants remain. A large portion of what was once Westbury Square is now the location of the Home Depot Westbury Square #578 hardware store. Developer Berne laid out apartments (later condominiums) and townhouses in the surrounding blocks, which were intended to give the area an urban, European feel.
The people oriented design of Westbury Square was forty years ahead of its time. Today, New Urbanists promote pedestrian space over machine space, with urban designs inspired by Italian cities (City Place in West Palm Beach, Florida, Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Florida). Combining mixed use retail space with residential townhomes in a pedestrian oriented environment, Westbury Square would meet the new urbanists Traditional Neighborhood Development criteria. Interestingly, it remains unknown to the New Urbanists, who have begun projects in Houston after 2000.
Around the 1980s markets crashed and many of Westbury's businesses either closed or became abandoned. Crime increased at this time, but has decreased greatly in recent years. As real estate has become more expensive in gentrified neighborhoods such as Houston Heights and Montrose, Westbury has become an attractive place to live for some of Houston's gay and lesbian population.
[edit] Politics
[edit] Municipal and county representation
The area is served by Houston City Councilmember District C (Anne Clutterbuck as of 2006). It is in Harris County Constable Precinct 1 (El Franco Lee as of 2006) and Harris County Precinct 7 (May Walker as of 2006).
[edit] Federal and state representation
As of 2006, the area is split between Texas's 9th congressional district (Al Green as of 2006) and Texas's 7th congressional district [1].
[edit] Community information
The city of Houston operates the Westbury Park at 3635 Willowbend ([2]) and the Westbury Community Pool at 10605 Mullins [3].
The closest movie theater is the AMC Meyer Park 16 in Meyer Park.
The closest YMCA is the Westland YMCA Branch.
The neighborhood has a baseball little league called Westbury Little League.
[edit] Police service
The neighborhood is within the Houston Police Department's Southwest Patrol Division [4].
[edit] Education
The neighborhood is served by the Houston Independent School District. The neighborhood is zoned to Parker, Kolter, Anderson, and Tinsley Elementary schools, Fondren and Johnston Middle Schools (anyone zoned to Johnston may apply to Pin Oak Middle School's regular program), and Westbury High School (a sliver of Westbury is zoned to Bellaire High School).
The neighborhood has or has in close proximity several private schools, such as Westbury Christian School (K-12) and St. Thomas More School (K-8 [5], operated by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston).
Many middle and upper class residents of the Westbury attendance zone do not send their children to Westbury; usually they send their kids to Bellaire High School, Lamar High School, or private schools [6].
Two branches of the Houston Public Library, Frank Branch and Meyer Branch, serve this area.
[edit] References
- Fox, Stephen, et al. Houston Architectural Guide, Second Edition. Houston : American Institute of Architects, Houston Chapter ; Herring Press, 1999
[edit] External links
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City of Houston History | Geography | Economy | Culture | Politics | Architecture | Transportation | Education | Houstonians |
|---|---|
| Areas | Downtown | Uptown | Texas Medical Center | Midtown | Neartown | Museum District | Upper Kirby | Greenway Plaza | Rice Village | Westchase | Greenspoint |
| Communities | Acres Homes | Addicks | Aldine | Alief | Braeburn | Braeswood Place | Clear Lake City | Genoa Township | Harrisburg | Houston Heights | Independence Heights | Inwood Forest | Kingwood | Maplewood | Memorial | Meyerland | Northshore | Oak Forest | River Oaks | Sharpstown | South Park | Spring Branch | Sunnyside
|
| "Island" cities |
Bellaire | Bunker Hill Village | Hedwig Village | Hilshire Village | Hunters Creek Village | Piney Point Village | Southside Place | Spring Valley | West University Place |
![[1]](http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/tx07_109.gif){kind=link}
![[2]](http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/images/NeighborhoodRevList3.gif){kind=link}