Does anyone live near Rice U in Houston?

Question

I'm looking at possibly moving to the area (more specifically Main at Braesmain).

Can you tell me about the area? (residential, business, ect)
Demographics? (professionals, young, old, hispanic, ect)
What points of interest are near there?
and how do you like it?

Thanks, for the feedback

Answer 1

I live a couple of miles from there,

At first I thought you meant BRAESWOOD, my mistake.

Braesmain is a little dicer. I don't know the apartments there, but they aren't upscale.

You are just south of both the Medical Center and the Museum District. Bottom line up front, you are just south of one of the nicest and best neighborhoods in Houston. The apartments are not upscale, but I've never been afraid of people just because they were poor. (Besides your a guy and one assumes that a guy can take care of himself better than, say, a single mom.)

Your neighborhood is in a bit of a transition. Just south of you are some more low income Hispanic areas, but moving in from the north are trendy condos for doctors. Braesmain is right on the border.

Go to http://www.houstontx.gov/police/stats2.htm
and check out the area police stats.

If I look at the Google maps for Main Street at Braesmain you will see the Bayou to the north of you. That's Braes Bayou, it runs through the area. There are jogging and biking trails along it. Perfectly safe during the day, lots of people jog and bike it, but but don't run after dark because sometimes homeless folks live under the bridges, and nobody going past can see down into the bayou.

The Bayou hasn't flooded since Tropical Storm Allison in June of 2001, and that was a freak storm... it just moved in over the metro area and hung there, raining in the exact same spot, for several hours, so we got more rainfall than we would have in a serious hurricane. I've been here since 1992 and that was the only time I've seen it flood. We keep an eye on it, but I wouldn't be worried about a flood.

As you go north up Main street on the photo you will see a mess of large skyscrapers. Sort of looks like downtown. It's not.
Those buildings, ALL OF THEM, are the Texas Medical Center. There are 1,000 Acres in the TMC 100+
Permanent buildings (Not including Rice University)

http://www.texmedctr.tmc.edu/root/en

Here are some stats.
45 Member Institutions - Includes 13 hospitals and 2 specialized patient facilities and 11 Educational Institutions:
Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Houston System
Rice University, Texas A&M University System, Texas Woman's University, Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, Houston Community College System,
Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions
(part of the Houston Independent School District)

5.2 Million Patient visits in 2004, including 10,456 International patients in 2004
6,344 Beds; 373 bassinets
4,000+ Physicians, 73,600, Employees in 2006, 11,000+ Registered Nurses, and another 15,000 serve as LVN's, clinical caregivers, technicians, and support staff
22,000+ Students

So that is what all the parking lots and big buildings are about. Traffic can be a real challenge at rush hour, (you learn to drive AROUND medical center) but they are doing a lot of construction around here to try and fix that. The area is ALWAYS under construction. ( $1 Billion
Approximate cost of buildings under active construction).

Obviously something this big is going to pretty much dominate the neighborhood. Those apartments you see are all full of interns, med students, and research scientists from overseas. (I used to live in a wonderful apartment complex where my family was the only one that wasn't either Chinese or Indian. They were great neighbors, except when the Indian lady made really STINKY food on Saturday mornings.) I remember the family from Bangladesh that got really tight with my neighbors from Estonia... it was a neat place to live and the rent was really cheap. (Like I said, I've never been scared of people just because they were poor).

The houses you see on the photo directly to the north of the Bayou are all full of doctors and hospital adminstrators and research scientists. This makes for a nice, albeit expensive, neighborhood. In most other towns the place where the doctors all live is the ritzy part of town. (That's not true in Houston. Oh don't get me wrong, it is mighty nice, but we have River Oaks further north of here, and the people who live there... well their granddaddy helped found EXXON back in 1906. THAT is Houston's nicest neighborhood. )

SOME of these houses will have a garage apartment or maids quarters that they will rent out to med students. These normally aren't advertised beyond a sign in the front yard. You may want to check the area out.

In any case those houses are full of professional achievers, and their kids, and the occasional trophy wife. This means the local schools are really good. I am not a fan of public schools, but the one we are zoned for, Roberts Elementary, is excellent. I can't say enough good things about it. High academic standards. This is not true of all Houston Public Schools, not by a long shot, but the parental involvement there is dramatic.

Houston does NOT have zoning, so there is some retail mixed in to this area, (not as much as there used to be). Some is specialty medical supplies, scrubs, medical books, etc. Some are resturants that med center people eat at, (lots of places to do lunch). Lots of drug stores too. Grocery stores as well. When I lived in the apartments I could walk to the grocery store, now I can walk to McDonalds (my kids LOVE that) or Taco bell, or the liquor store (SPEC'S) or the pharmacy, or Southwell's burgers, Jimmy Wok Chinese food, New York Pizza, Taco Bell, Fred's Italian Corner (one of the best places I have ever been too... try their Alfredo/Pesto Sacuce) and my daughter's pre-school.

Your apartments are across from Target, a Sonic, a Fiesta grocery store, and a mess of retail traffic. There is an Olive Garden, and a Post Office near you.

Once you get up to Rice you will see Herman Park across from it. http://www.hermannpark.org/ It has a golf course, jogging trails, a pond with paddle boats, the zoo, and Miller Outdoor Theater It is a free outdoor theater, really nice. If the link doesn't work just Google "Miller Outdoor theater"

http://www.milleroutdoortheatre.com/default.asp?Mode=DirectoryDisplay&id=1&DirectoryUseAbsoluteOnSearch=True

I have no problem going to Miller Outdoor Theater with my family at night. I often see people jogging around the perimeter of the Rice Campus during the day. I even see some young women jogging it alone at night, but I would NOT advise that. In pairs maybe, with a guy, yeah I wouldn't worry, Palmer Church has a large homeless ministry and the feed them breakfast in the morning, so sometimes the homeless will congregate there... though there seems to have been a clean up of late.

In between Rice and Herman Park is Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church. I used to go there (now I do to St. John the Divine) and it is not a bad place at all. Folks are very nice, will welcome you in, and they have GREAT dinners every Wed. Night. Fantastic food!

http://www.palmerchurch.org/default.asp?Mode=DirectoryDisplay&id=1&DirectoryUseAbsoluteOnSearch=True

If you are Catholic then I can recomend St. Vincent De Paul
http://www.stvincentcatholicchurch.org/ where I was married,

And there is also Temple Emanuel where my son went to preschool.
http://www.emanuelhouston.org/

North of Herman Park is the Houston Museum District. I don't have time to tell you all about that.
http://www.hmns.org/
http://www.mfah.org/main.asp?target=home
http://www.houstonareaweb.com/museums/

Also nearby (north and west of you) you will find Rice Village

http://www.ricevillageonline.com/

full of upscale shopping and food. Really nice, we hang out there a lot (especially at Half Price Books). Lots of good bars and resturants. The Ginger Man was an institution when I was in law school. If you want to meet a cute law student or med student this is an excellent place to do so.

To the south of you is the Astrodome complex. We don't use the dome anymore, we have Reliant Stadium where what is laughingly called a "professional" football team, the Houston Texans, plays. Traffic can be difficult around the stadium on football Sundays, during the first part of the season when the fans still hold out hope that the Texan's won't be a total disaster. After it sinks in that yes, they are STILL total loosers, traffic gets less. The largest Rodeo on Earth is there every February.

South of Reliant Stadium is where AstroWorld used to be. It's gone now, and the neighborhood south of there can get spotty. Some parts good, others not so good.

There are parts of Houston that are pretty trashy, these tend to be the areas where all the Hurricane Katrina people congrigated. We had a major spike in crime right after Katrina (went up by 33%) but it has calmed down now. Katrina people do not have a good reputation in this town.That being said, most of the horrible crime stories you hear tend to be confined to those areas.

e-mail me if you have any other questions.

Answer 2

Larry pretty much answered all your questions. I wanted to add that no matter what your interests are, you can find a group with similar tastes. You'll never be bored because there's so much to do and see. Do steer clear of the junky areas of town. Check abchouston.com for events and local info. Welcome to Houston.

Answer 3

houston doesnt have zoning so its a mix mostly commercial
mostly african american
professionals
close to med center, astrodome, reliant stadium
i wouldnt live in that area because there are too many apt complexes and above average crime

Answer 4

To put it in the vernacular, "Don't go there!"

It isn't that close to Rice, compared to other properties, and crime is higher. I'd be looking... elsewhere.