The Memorial area of Houston, Texas, United States is west of Downtown Houston and northwest of Uptown Houston. It is bounded on the south by Buffalo Bayou, on the east by Interstate 610, on the west by Texas State Highway 6, and extends just north of the Katy Freeway to Westview and includes Spring Valley Village, Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village, Hilshire Village and Hunters Creek Village. These independent cities operate autonomously of Houston and have joint fire and police coverage. The northeast area near I-10 and Texas State Highway Beltway 8 of Memorial City is home to Memorial City Mall, the newer, more upscale Town & Country Village lifestyle center, and the mega-development project known as CityCentre, plus the emerging edge city around them.
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In the 1960s, Houston was experiencing a period of suburban growth as the city expanded beyond the traditional area inside the Interstate 610 loop. After the construction of Interstate 10 through the city in 1968, the area where Memorial now resides became favorable to developers. At first, the Memorial area was sparsely populated and contained mostly empty land and farms, plus the few farm-to-market roads and thoroughfares. Development began in the late 1960s, as upper-middle-class subdivisions, mostly along the Buffalo Bayou, were built along with the accompanying government facilities (schools, police and fire services, etc.) This sudden arrival of widespread development also encouraged commercial growth along the main roads that criss-crossed the area, including the major road Memorial Drive.
For the next four decades, the area continued to prosper. High class development in the Memorial Villages between Beltway 8 (then known as West Belt, constructed in 1968) and Interstate 610 made the area a hotspot for public figures. Homes in the Villages now sell for upwards of one million dollars.
In the last two decades, the immediate area around the Interstate 10/Beltway 8 junction has suddenly become one of Houston's main edge cities, along with the Texas Medical Center, the Galleria district and the Astrodomain. Memorial City Mall, often regarded as one of the city's most prestigious shopping malls, and the Memorial Hermann Hospital center next to it, are the main landmarks of the Memorial City area. Recent skyscraper development along Interstate 10, including the notable Memorial Hermann tower next to the hospital - the city's 29th-tallest building at 500 feet - has arrived with the completion of the Katy Freeway's renovation.
The area gained population between 1980 and 1990.[1]
Most of Memorial is located within the City of Houston, however, all of the Villages are located in Memorial and they elect their own mayors and councils and do not vote for Houston officials. Nearly all of Memorial is located in the Spring Branch Independent School District with areas west of Eldridge Road located within the boundaries of Katy Independent School District.
Memorial voters are reliably Republican and fairly conservative. In Texas, local elections are officially non-partisan, and Memorial voters usually cast most of their ballots for the more conservative candidates.
In the first 1991 Mayor of Houston election, Bob Lanier received more votes than any other candidate in Memorial.[2][3]
Harris County Precinct Three, represented by Steve Radack, includes Memorial.[4]
Memorial is part of Texas Senate Districts 7, 15 and 17, with the largest part in District 7. In the Texas House of Representatives, Memorial is included in Districts 132, 133, 136 and 138.
Memorial is in Texas's 7th congressional district and Republican John Culberson is the representative.[5]
Pupils in the Memorial area primarily attend schools in the Spring Branch Independent School District. The Houston Independent School District does not serve residents in Memorial. Students in the western end of the Memorial area attend Katy ISD schools.
For pre-kindergarten all residents are assigned to the Wildcat Way School in Memorial.[6] Zoned elementary schools in the Memorial area in Houston include Meadow Wood, Nottingham, Rummel Creek, Thornwood, Wilchester. In addition, sections are, in separate attendance zones, served by Bunker Hill Elementary School and Frostwood Elementary School in the City of Bunker Hill Village, as well as Memorial Drive Elementary School in City of Piney Point Village.[7] The district also operates Bendwood Campus Elementary School, a special needs school, in the Memorial area.[8]
Major middle schools in Memorial include Memorial Middle School and Spring Forest Middle School. In addition Spring Branch Middle School in the City of Hedwig Village serve sections of Memorial.[9]
Memorial High School in Hedwig Village serves the eastern portion of the Memorial area, while Stratford High School in Memorial serves the western portion of the Memorial area.[10] Westchester Academy for International Studies is a Spring Branch Independent School District charter magnet school catering to students throughout the entire school district.
Memorial is served by the Kendall Library of Houston Public Library and the Spring Branch Memorial Branch of Harris County Public Library (the Spring Branch Memorial Branch is in Hedwig Village).
By December 2009 the former Kendall facility was for sale.[11] The branch relocated to a newly-built facility along Eldridge Parkway in the Energy Corridor management district.
The upscale and revived Memorial City Mall is located in the area. The area is also served by the Town and Country Village and adjacent CityCentre lifestyle center that are sought to replace the now defunct Town & Country Mall.
The United States Postal Service operates the Memorial Park Post Office at 10505 Town and Country Way, near Memorial City, 77024. Of more recent construction is the Fleetwood Post Office, found at 315 Addicks Howell Road, 77079.[12][13]
Nottingham Forest ( and ) is a subdivision (the combined name of two middle-class neighborhoods, Nottingham Forest and Nottingham Forest VIII) located on the far west side of Houston, Texas, south of Interstate 10 and west of Beltway 8. They are both bordered by Memorial Drive to the north and the Buffalo Bayou to the south and west.
The two are members of a group of neighborhoods and apartment complexes that sprung up in the 1960s in west Houston. Much like many other neighborhoods in the surrounding area, they are populated by numerous clapboard and brick one- and two-story houses shaded by what once was thick oak forest.
The two neighborhoods were simultaneously developed in the late 1960s. The area was mainly grassland and wood, with little commercial development.[14] Interstate 10 had recently been built north of the area, attracting westward suburban growth.
The neighborhoods have seen numerous tropical storms, including Hurricane Alicia (1983), Tropical Storm Allison (2001), Hurricane Rita (2005) and Hurricane Ike (2008). None of these storms have had a severe impact beyond downed trees and power lines.
In 2006, the Houston Chronicle listed Nottingham Forest as a slightly higher-priced subdivision in the west Houston superneighborhood (outside Beltway 8),[15] with the most expensive home listed at approximately $425,000 USD. Unlike the rest of the city, in 2007 Nottingham Forest (along with the rest of the Memorial area) reported an 8% increase in home sales, one of only seven areas in Houston to report a sales increase.[16] The poor performance in the Houston housing market has been caused by the subprime mortgage crisis.
Nottingham Forest was the childhood home of comedian Bill Hicks.[17] Hicks jokingly referred to the neighborhood as a "strict Southern Baptist ozone".[18][19]
