Westbury is a neighborhood in the Brays Oaks district of Southwest Houston, Texas, United States. It is located east of Bob White Road, north of U.S. Highway 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 was named as the 2007 "Best Hidden Neighborhood" by the Houston Press [3].
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Westbury was developed in the 1950s and 1960s by Ira Berne as part of the post–World War II migration to the suburbs. The developer had moved from Westbury, New York, after which he named the new community.[1]
In 1960 Berne had developed the Westbury Square shopping center.[2] 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. Mike McGuff of KIAH said "The square was ahead of its time and could be compared to Uptown Park or the shopping plazas in The Woodlands, Sugar Land or Pearland."[3]
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. It remains unknown to the New Urbanists, who have begun projects in Houston after 2000. Its buildings were once used in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire.[4] In September 2010 the owner of the remaining buildings put them up for sale. Gary Loh, one of the two brokers who put Westbury Square for sale, stated that while there was sentimental value, but he expected the buyer to destroy the buildings.[4]
In the 1980s the City of Houston Housing Authority proposed a 105-unit public housing project in the Westbury area. Thousands of residents entered public hearings to protest the concept, so the city did not build any public housing in the Westbury area.[5]
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 areas such as Houston Heights and Neartown, Westbury has become an attractive place to live for some of Houston's gay and lesbian population.
In 2011 the Brays Oaks district expanded.[6] Westbury, which was originally not a part of the Brays Oaks district,[7] became a part of it.[8]
The neighborhood is within the Houston Police Department's Southwest Patrol Division [4]. The Westbury Storefront Station is located at 5550 Gasmer.
Houston Fire Department Fire Station 48 Westbury, located in Fire District 59, serves the neighborhood.[9] Station 48 relocated to its current location in 1961 and was last renovated during the financial year of 1998.[10]
Westbury is now a part of Houston City Council District K.[11] The area was served by Houston City Councilmember District C (Anne Clutterbuck as of 2009). It is in Harris County Commissioner Precinct 1 (El Franco Lee as of 2009) and Harris County Constable Precinct 5 (Phil Camus as of 2009).
In 1989, during a city council race, many in Westbury voted for Jim Westmoreland for an at-large position. In one precinct 62.8 percent of the 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. In a 1989 Houston Chronicle article, Nancy Palm, a Republican Party activist from western Houston, said that the residents who voted for Westmoreland had social ties with them and did not see the controversy as significant. Clayton Thomas, the president of the Westbury Civic Association, said that most of the Westbury voters were not aware of the controversy.[12] In the first 1991 Mayor of Houston election most Westbury voters voted for Bob Lanier; in the community Sylvester Turner, Lanier's opponent, had a large second-most following in terms of votes.[13][14]
As of 2008, the area is split between Texas's 9th congressional district (Al Green as of 2008) and Texas's 7th congressional district (John Culberson as of 2008).[15][16] The United States Postal Service operates the Westbury Post Office at 11805 Chimney Rock Road.[17]
The city of Houston operates the Westbury Park at 3635 Willowbend ([5]) and the Westbury Community Pool at 10605 Mullins [6]. The city operates the Platou Community Center in Westbury.
Hager Park, with its covered basketball court, is also located between Landsdowne Drive and McClearen Dr, and attracts many in the neighborhood for outdoor sports.([7])
The closest YMCA is the Westland YMCA Branch.
The neighborhood has a baseball little league called Westbury Little League. It won the Little League World Series in the mid 1960s.
The closest Emergency Room and hospital is called Westbury Community Hospital located near the high school on Gasmer drive. [18]
The neighborhood is served by the Houston Independent School District.
The neighborhood is divided between the following attendance zones for elementary school:
The neighborhood is divided between the following attendance zoned for middle school:
Anyone zoned to Johnston may apply to Pin Oak Middle School's regular program.[25]
Westbury High School serves almost all of Westbury.[26] A sliver of Westbury is zoned to Bellaire High School.[27]
Medical Center Charter School, a pre-kindergarten through 5th grade school, is located in the Westbury area. Despite its name, the school is not located in the Texas Medical Center area.
Parker Elementary opened in 1959, and Johnston Middle School opened in its current location in 1959. Anderson and Kolter opened in 1960. Westbury High School opened in 1961. Fondren Middle opened in 1966.[1] In the late 1990s Anderson Elementary was overcrowded due to increasing student populations in Westbury area apartment complexes. In 1998 the school had almost 1,600 students.[28] Around that time hundreds of students who were zoned to Anderson were bussed to relief campuses.[29] Tinsley opened in 2002, relieving Anderson and another area school.[1] As of 2006 many middle and upper class residents of the Westbury attendance zone would not send their children to Westbury; usually they send their children to Bellaire High School, Lamar High School, or private schools.[30][31]
St. Thomas More School (K-8 [8], operated by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston), is Westbury's neighborhood Roman Catholic school.
The neighborhood has or has in close proximity several other private schools, such as Westbury Christian School (K–12) and St. Nicholas School Southwest Campus (K-8).
Trafton Academy and Miss Porter's School located in the Willowbend area also serves Westbury residents.
Two Houston Public Library locations, Frank Neighborhood Library and Meyer Neighborhood Library, serve this area.
The Houston Chronicle is the area regional newspaper. On Thursdays, residents receive the Bellaire/West U/River Oaks/Meyerland [9] local section.
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