Washington Ave. Memorial Park, Houston, TX

Just 15 or so years ago, the neighborhood was home to many low-income families living in smaller rent houses that were in desperate need of repair. The neighborhood experienced a resurgence in popularity due to proximity to downtown and major freeways. Young professionals and a small bohemian class wanted to live in an upcoming neighborhood and began to settle here. By the early 2000s, most of the dilapidated rent houses and shotgun shacks were gone, replaced with high density townhome complexes and small apartment complex developments. Retail came after, which attracted even more young professionals looking to live in this neighborhood on the mend.

Alot of the population are young professionals, artists, gays and lesbians and a few older citizens who have stuck with the neighborhood. There are a few pockets of families still renting homes that weren't bought out by developers. There are also a few retirement communities, mostly on Memorial Drive.

This neighborhood is still lacking a bit in the restaurant business, but is quickly moving up. Here are a few that are here and very popular:

• Cyclone Anyas (Tex-Mex) - Durham
• Mardi Gras Grill (Cajun-Seafood) - Durham and Center, north of Washington Ave.
• Pizzitolas (BBQ-Italian) - Shepherd and I-10
• Saltgrass Steakhouse - Shepherd and I-10
• Cadillac Bar and Grill - Shepherd and I-10

There are also several taquirias and mobile restaurants to choose from, many of them in business since the neighborhood was built.

Bars are not hard to find at all and are mostly a pleasant experience. The highest concentration of bars are on Heights Blvd. and Washington. These are patronized by both locals and people just dropping in for a visit from other parts of town. Most offer a good jukebox and a spacious patio.

Clubs are not common in the neighborhood proper, but Walters on Washington often hosts small bands, usually of the metal type. Clubbing is not far away, being a 5-10 minute drive into Montrose or Midtown.

With the neighborhoods reputation improving and new construction going up everyday, you will be hard pressed to find the deals of 10 years ago today. Still, you are getting your moneys worth in this neighborhood. Most of the new construction comes with new appliances, washer and dryer in unit and other high end amenities. These homes do get expensive, with the cheapest being $800 and moving upwards from there. If you are looking to rent from an older complex, you will still pay a high price, but for less amenities. Older complexes start at $750 and go up from there. Homes are scarce in this neighborhood, with most people looking to buy instead of rent. If you happen across a rent home, expect to pay $1200 and up, with equal deposit.

Transportation is no problem, especially with a glut of main roads and access to I-10 and Loop 610 very close. I-10 tends to back up severely during rush hour, so you may want to take surface roads to get to where you need to go.

Public transportation is quite easy and plentiful, with these bus routes running through the neighborhood:

• 50 Heights
• 36 Kempwood
• 85 Antoine
• 26/27 Crosstown/Med Center
• 34 Studewood

Most of these buses go downtown, with the exception of the 26/27 and the 34.

Parking can be a bit of a pain, especially in an older shopping center that has been refurbished. Newer complexes have ample parking, but if you are looking into a house, you may have to park one car offstreet.

There are many apartments to choose from, so getting into one shouldn't be an issue. Most also have move in specials, be sure to ask your leasing agent. If you are lucky enough to find a rent home, you will have to have both rent and equal deposit. This will run quite high, often over $2000 at once. Ask the owner if you can pay the deposit in installments.

This neighborhood is extremely pet friendly, with many streets and parks to walk your pet.. The largest park is Memorial Park, which boasts a roughly 7 mile jogging trail to take the dog to. The homes are large enough to house a large pet or a couple smaller ones, but they will charge you a pet deposit and may have breed restrictions.

There are quite a number of things to do, with a few museums and points of interest in the neighborhood.

There is an Art Car Museum located on Heights Blvd and 1-10, which is home to several of the art cars featured in the annual parade, which runs down Allen Parkway, a short drive from the neighborhood.

The Marq-E entertainment complex is a short drive on 1-10 at Silber. The complex features a movie theater with IMAX, restaurants, a Dave and Busters and even a nightclub.

Laffstop is on Waugh and Dallas, a short drive from Rice Military.

If the outdoors is your thing, there is a 7 mile jogging trail at Memorial Park, and Buffalo Bayou is always interesting.

If you are into historical buildings, you will find no shortage in Rice Military. Several of the back streets and even the main ones boast impressive post war architecture.

There is a large cemetary located on Washington Avenue just pass Studemont called Glenwood. This is where you will find the graves of such stars as Howard Hughes and Gene Tierney, and interesting headstones of past Houston personalities. The cemetary also incorporated the old German Cemetary, now named Washington Cemetary.

Grocery stores are a bit spaced out, with the nearest Kroger being on West Gray, about a 10 minute drive from Rice Military. There is also a Randalls further up the road on Shepherd and Westheimer. In the neighborhood are several Hispanic markets, offering a meat market and bakery.

Banks are starting to develop, but you will still have to drive a bit to find them. There is a Washington Mutual on Washington at the moment, with more and varied branches to be built.

Gyms are not readily available, but there is a great smaller gym on Shepherd and Feagan called Houston Gym. There is also a FIT on West Gray.

Laundromats are few, but there are plenty of dry cleaners. Most of the homes come with a washer and dryer, so this shouldn't be an issue.

Residents are zoned to the following Houston ISD schools:

• Memorial Elementary School
• Hogg Middle School
• Lamar High School

St. Theresa School, a Roman Catholic K-8 School that is a part of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, is in the area.