Neartown Houston

[3] Houston's urban real estate boom starting in the 1990s transformed Neartown and significantly increased property values.

The City of Houston's Planning Department refers to Neartown as a mixed-use community.

Montrose has "wound a tortuous course from Silk Stocking and Low Rent and back again.

"[4] In 1997 Katherine Feser of the Houston Chronicle stated that "Montrose [is] not for starving artists anymore".

[5] On June 6, 2006,[6] a teenage MS-13 gang member named Gabriel Granillo was stabbed to death at Ervan Chew Park.

Its design, with arcs of retail space on either side of West Gray Avenue, was considered a model for future development.

[8][10][11] Portions of the historic shopping center were demolished in September 2007 to redevelop the site for bookstore and a parking garage.

[14] The community is within the Houston Police Department's Central Patrol Division,[15] headquartered at 61 Riesner.

[16] The City of Houston purchased the building used for the storefront with federal community development funds.

[27] Since redistricting effective for the 2012 election, Neartown has been redrawn into the Texas 2nd Congressional District, served by Ted Poe.

[44][45][46] All Neartown area pupils are zoned to Lamar High School in Upper Kirby.

Will Jones, which formerly served a section of Neartown,[52] was consolidated into Blackshear Elementary School, a campus in the Third Ward.

[1] The administrative offices of the Houston Public Library are located in the Marston Building in Neartown.

[8][61][62] The City of Houston spent $1.3 million to renovate the Marston Building to accommodate HPL staff.

The River Oaks Examiner is a local newspaper distributed in the community [2][permanent dead link‍].

Legacy Community Health Services [3] and Montrose Counseling Center [4] are located in Neartown.

In February 2000 the park was renamed for Ervan Chew, a Chinese-American Eagle Scout who grew up in the area and won the Silver Beaver Award, which was delivered by Ronald Reagan, in 1986; Chew died at age 42,[67] on January 19, 1999.

The Friends of Ervan Chew Park funded the dog zone, which was dedicated in May 2004.