August 12, 2009 – 3:12 pm
It’s a Wednesday, about 3 o’clock, which means it’s time for Houston’s newest — and probably smallest — “farmer’s” market, in a corner of the parking lot at the School of the Woods Montessori school, 1321 Wirt Rd. at Westview, in Hilshire Village. It’ll last until 6. Yelper Aeryk P. says the market started out pretty small a few weeks ago. He found:
Village Botanica’s produce and meat, Quick-n-ezee’s Indian food, Shirley Ann’s pies and [quiche], Barky Dogz natural dog treats, Katz’s Coffee, Trentino’s Gelato and CareKindly’s environmentally friendly cleaning products.
Photo: School of the Woods
Read more about: 77055, Farmers Markets, Hilshire-Village, Retail, Spring-Branch
“Inspired by the birth of our first baby” and the idea that there might be some deals out there, a reader writes in to ask for help with a home search: “We started off looking to be zoned Spring Branch - Memorial HS or HISD - Bellaire high school and are looking for a single family home (no townhome or patio homes). Generally speaking range house price expectations $400 - $600k, so we are expecting to end up in a lower to maybe lower mid range value of homes in the applicable neighborhoods. Recently discovered area code 77055 (had been focused on 77024 for Memorial). We are wondering what people’s opinions of Hillshire Village / Spring Valley / Hedwig in terms of long term appreciation / ability to resale / quality of neighborhood? Seems from an outsiders perspective Memorial and Bellaire area have generally hung in there, not sure of the perception of 77055 among Houstonians. Of course, high school for a little one is a long ways off - where would people target in this price range to squeeze into the best neighborhood (qualitatively based on long term appreciation and quality of neighborhood for a family) in the current market?” [Swamplot inbox]
Read more about: 77055, Hedwig Village, Hilshire-Village, Homebuying, Real Estate Investing, Schools, Spring Valley
January 18, 2008 – 9:05 am
What makes Hilshire Village and Spring Valley different from the rest of the Memorial Villages?
Both these Villages are north of I-10, which for Memorialites is sort of the wrong side of the tracks. Indeed, if you look at the household income of 77055 in the year 2000, the zip code that encompasses Hilshire Village and Spring Valley, it is $36.7 thousand. The average household income in 77024, which consists mainly of the southern Villages, is $82.6 thousand. The two northern Villages, however, are probably far closer to the Southern Villages in terms of wealth. It’s simply that as you go north and east from Spring Valley and Hilshire Village, you enter more working class neighborhoods, with lots of Hispanic and Korean immigrants. They may not be rich, but they are strivers, and the area North of I-10 on the Westside is, I think, getting wealthier and more middle class.
Robert Boyd returns from his latest bicycle tour — through Memorial’s northern outposts — with photos of his finds: wobbly Metro bike racks, shed-roof seventies Modern Memorial classics, ivy art, creekside barbecue, Tae Kwon Do parking-lot attendants, low-calorie McMansions, plus a couple of misplaced Victorians and a faux Adobe.
Photo of house on Winningham Ln.: Robert W. Boyd
Read more about: 77024, 77055, Hilshire-Village, Home Design, Memorial Villages, Spring Valley, Streets, Tours
