Nestled in the southwestern portion of Houston is Chinatown, a culturally diverse area of the city. Also known as Little Saigon, Chinatown is a wonderful place for Asian culture, dining, and shopping.

In 1965, the population of Chinatown sat at just under 2,500, but it has swelled to 25,000 since. The country’s second largest population of Indo-Chinese residents can be found in the Chinatown area of Houston.

Hong Kong City Mall is one of the largest indoor Asian malls in the United States. More than 20 restaurants and cafes and retail shops make this unique area seem like a small city. It is home to beautiful gardens, lily-pad lines fountains, and ancient Asian architectural designs.

If you are a Dim Sum connoisseur, the Ocean Palace sits beside the peaceful lily pond of the Hong Kong Mall. Diners will enjoy the grand two-story structure that surrounds you with Asian art and artifacts. It is truly a cultural, as well as a culinary delight.

Built in 1989, the Jade Buddha Temple, adorns two-and a half acres of Chinatown Houston, TX. Complete with the Grand Hall, Kwan-Yin Hall, Youth Center, living quarters, and unique lotus pond, the Jade Buddha Temple is a gathering place for those of all cultures and beliefs who enjoy its peaceful surroundings.

Chinatown’s recent population boom can in part be attributed to the beautiful Asian culture and architecture that adorns this highly popular area of Houston. There are plenty of housing choices and options for anyone that wants to live in an area of such rich history and society.

The center of Houston’s Jewish Community, Meyerland has the Houston area’s most dense placement of synagogues. Congregation Beth Israel is the oldest Jewish Congregation in the state of Texas. The Beth Israel Temple was completed in 1874, but a newer temple was constructed in 1925 and was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

The Meyer family moved to the area following the Civil War with Joseph Meyer just five years old. Young Joseph grew up in the area and as a young adult, began buying up the land around the area until he had acquired 6,000 acres. His son, George, developed 1,200 acres of the land into what is now Meyerland.

Today there are over 2,300 single-family, deed-restricted homes in the Meyerland neighborhood. There is a constant stream of newer and younger families coming to the area to raise their families. Some of the older homes are being leveled, and newer, larger homes are being constructed.

Meyerland is sub-divided into twelve smaller community divisions. Each division has a director that is part of a larger organization called the Meyerland Community Improvement Association. The organization is responsible for many aspects of Meyerland’s operation, such as fees for home improvements, security in the neighborhoods, and recognition of beautiful homes and yards.

The neighborhood is well-known in the Houston, TX area as a community with great pride in their homes and yards. Beautiful single-family homes with lush colorful gardens continue to be built. Meyerland is widely regarded as a great community to raise a family and enjoy the knowledge that restrictions keep it from becoming anything but that.

The year was 1911 when J.W. Link envisioned the community of Montrose, Houston, Texas as a planned community complete with streetcars, wide streets, and lavish landscaping. It was to be the community that caused the city of Houston to grow. Montrose did indeed grow and became home to some of this country’s most famous citizens; Howard Hughes, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Ross Sterling to name a few.

Montrose houses Houston’s Fine Arts Museum, Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, and The Menil Collection, donated by John and Dominique de Menil, philanthropists and collectors of thousands of fine art pieces.

Houston has twelve designated historic districts, and the Montrose neighborhood is home to five of those districts; Audubon Place, Avondale East, Avondale West, Courtland Place, and Westmoreland- the largest concentration of historic districts in the city of Houston

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In early October 2009, the American Planning Association honored Montrose, Houston as one the country’s top ten neighborhoods. The members of the APA recognized the community of Montrose for its vibrant street life, diverse lifestyles, rich history, and “walkable” streets. One of the members of the research committee stated that what was most remarkable about the Montrose, Houston area is that residents and visitors actually park their cars with the sole purpose of walking down the streets.

Over the years, Montrose has become widely known as Houston’s premiere alternative lifestyle community. It is an upscale community rich in the arts, culturally diverse, and the location of some of Houston’s finest shopping. Montrose, Houston has some of the city’s finest restaurants, bakeries, and eclectic shops.

The University of Saint Thomas calls Montrose home. Founded in 1947, The University of Saint Thomas is one of the country’s leading Catholic universities.

You will find a wide variety of housing choices in Montrose, Houston – high rise apartments, condominiums, bungalows, historic homes, and sprawling mansions. Added to the buzzing nightlife, excellent restaurants, unique shopping experience, and great school district, the Montrose neighborhood is a fantastic place to live for the urban enthusiast.

Rice Military lies next to Memorial Park inside the 610 Loop in Houston, TX. Memorial Park was founded in 1924 and is comprised of 1,466 acres of recreational fun. Nearly 3 million visitors come to Memorial Park each year to enjoy tennis, swimming, croquet, skating, volleyball, and jogging.

Rice Military Civic Club members have access to such events as a monthly meeting of the book club or wine club for a nominal membership donation fee. It is a meeting place where members of the community can become educated on the events and concerns that occur within Rice Military.

Rice Military is also situated next to the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, a 155 acre nature sanctuary. Nearly 30,000 visitors each year enjoy the nature trails, forest area, wetlands, lake, and The Discovery Room. Their goal is to protect the natural beauty that is evident in the Rice Military area and educate the public about preserving the pristine wildlife and plant life native to the Houston area.

Near Rice Military is Bayou Bend, a collection of sprawling flower gardens and fine collectible art works that was once home to prominent Houston citizen Ima Hogg. Bayou Bend boasts of 28 rooms of some of the most impressive pieces of Americana art. It is a must see for anyone who lives in or visits the Rice Military area of Houston.

Recently, Rice Military has enjoyed a growth in new construction with the small, older homes being torn down and replaced with beautiful town homes, condominiums, and unique metal construction buildings that are quickly becoming the visual idea of what makes Rice Military a wonderful place to live.

Consisting mostly of rich farmland in the early 1960s, the area known as Memorial Villages, began developing in 1968. Widespread building and developing of suburban homes lead to the area’s attraction of a large amount of commercial entities wanting to get in on the fresh market opportunities.

Memorial Villages is a compilation of several villages; Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village, Spring Valley Village, Hillshire Village, Piney Point Village, and Hunters Creek Village. Although each Memorial Village maintains its autonomy, independent from the city of Houston, they enjoy joined police and fire district coverage with Houston.

This bustling suburb was incorporated as part of the city of Houston by 1919. The years between the Height’s annexation as part of the city of Houston and the end of World War II left the Houston Heights homes tired and decrepit. By 1970, the neighborhood had decayed immensely and was considered to be a low-income, high-crime part of the city. The oil bust of the early to mid 1980s brought a huge decline in population. Today, the Houston Heights is what you could call a highly successful revitalization project. In less than thirty years, this neighborhood developed from a largely abandoned high crime region into what is today one of the most premiere Houston neighborhoods. This transformation can be contributed to the efforts by the Houston Heights Association, which was form in 1973, in obtaining historic district designation.

Downtown Houston is very unique when compared to the Downtown centers of other cities. For example, there are underground tunnels lined with retail shops and restaurants, as well as the wide streets that help prevent gridlock that you see in other places. The wide streets of Downtown Houston were laid out by Gail Border Jr. This early Houston surveyor did so not in anticipation of Houston becoming the massive metropolitan city it is today, but rather to make room for cattle drives coming into town.

Houston began as a land purchase made by two brothers from New York, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen. These gentlemen purchased 6,642 acres at the point where White Oak Bayou and Buffalo Bayou meet, known as Allen’s Landing today, in August of 1836. The Allen brothers envisioned it to become a major city one day. When deciding what to name their land purchase, the Allen brothers selected to honor one of their heroes, Sam Houston, for his participation in the San Jacinto battle which was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution.

The term Uptown Houston is a rebranding effort started a few years back for the greater Galleria area. Once the original developer of the Houston Galleria, Gerald D. Hines, left active involvement with the Galleria, the area business owners who did not have a true Galleria address but did have addresses nearby decided it would be best to rebrand the area. Uptown Houston does include a slightly larger area than what many would consider the Galleria area, making it fit the typical Houston neighborhood size. So, the efforts of the local business community along with declaring the area Uptown making sense with the most current Houston neighborhood naming scheme has lead to the name sticking.

Uptown is Houston’s best example of a mixed use neighborhood. It does a good job mixing office space, residential highrises, hotels, an upscale mall, single family subdivisions, and strip centers. The close proximity makes the Uptown district one of the most walkable neighborhoods in the Houston metro area. The neighborhood is centered around Post Oak Boulevard and the Galleria mall with its borders being Woodway Dr. on the north, I-610 on the east, U.S. 59 on the south, and Chimney Rock Rd. on the west side. In most cases when people are talking about residential options in the Galleria or Uptown area, they are referring to places of residence in the 77056, 77057, and 77027 zip codes. Read more about the Uptown neighborhood.

Uptown Houston is a Tax Increment Reinvestmant Zone (TIRZ), which is a self-imposed taxing entity created by property owners in order to fund improvements and encourage development within the zone. 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. The neighborhoods average per capita income is about $65,000 higher than that of Beverly Hills in California, Buckhead in Atlanta, or Highland Park in Dallas. With the Uptown District being the center of Houston’s high fashion scene, you will find many trendy strip malls, restaurants and other types of entertainment. As home to many upscale boutiques and high fashion designer stores, the area is home to Houston’s largest hotel revenue source of nearly 20 million visitors each year. With the Galleria being the heart of the Uptown district, it houses the A list of Uptown’s luxury stores, but there are a number of other upscale strip malls such as Highland Village, Uptown Park, Centre at Post Oak, and Pavillion on Post Oak.

Students living in the Uptown area are zoned to schools in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Elementary students are zoned to either Briargrove Elementary or St. George Place Elementary. Prior to the spring scholastic session of 2006, the St. George Place portion of elementary students were zoned to Pilgrim Elementary. The middle school aged children were zoned to Grady Middle School and the students of high school age were zoned to Lee High School with the option of attending Lamar High School or Westside High School.

Midtown was the second residential neighborhood founded in Houston and became a very popular place to live for employees of the Humble Oil and Refinery Company. At the turn of the century, the neighborhood was known as Southside Place and made up of mainly Victorian style homes built on lots between 4,000-6,000 square feet. The neighborhood grew rapidly and thrived through the 1940s, as home to many of the well-known Houston families such as Kirby, Weingarden, and Finger until the great migration of families to the suburbs during the 1950s. By the 1970s, the area had declined nearly to ruin. During the 1970s, a large number of Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans headed the revitalization of the Midtown area with what became known as Little Saigon. This effort turned Travis and Milam streets into what has been called a mirror image of the 1970’s ERA Saigon. Despite the efforts of the Vietnamese community, the neighborhood lost population and continued to decay during the oil bust of the 1980s that was economically devastating for the Houston area economy.

In 1995, the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone(TIRZ) was set up by the city of Houston. This rejuvenated the revitalization that the Vietnamese community started. Funds from the TIRZ were used to encourage the building of a number of townhome communities and high-income, luxury apartments on the west side abutting Montrose. In just a ten year span, the area’s population exploded growing from 3,070 people to 5,311, which is just under 73%. Today, Midtown is one of the most popular locations for those who seek an Urban lifestyle. The neighborhood mixes multiple residential options with restaurants and bars, making it one of Houston’s most walker friendly neighborhoods.