Riverside Terrace, Houston
[8] Jewish families moved to Riverside Terrace in the 1920s and 1930s since they were not allowed to settle in other wealthy Houston neighborhoods,[5] including River Oaks.
[10] Allison Wollam of the Houston Business Journal stated that Riverside Terrace "was once on the same affluent level as the swanky River Oaks area.
[10] In 1959, land clearance began for the construction of the new Texas State Highway 288 freeway, destroying several Riverside Terrace houses.
It says that it placed the "not for sale" not because it was against African Americans moving in, but because it wanted to prevent block busting.
[14] The community gradually transitioned into being majority black and with both affluent African Americans and lower socioeconomic residents.
[10] Wealthy African-American doctors, lawyers, politicians, and university professors moved into Riverside Terrace.
"[15] Riverside continued to be shaped by forces including the departure of area businesses, the growth of UH and TSU campuses, construction of Highway 288, and the decision to locate a county psychiatric hospital in the neighborhood.
[10] Jon Schwartz, creator of the 1985 documentary, This Is Our Home It Is Not For Sale, a film documenting Riverside Terrace, states that the neighborhood stabilized after 1970.
[9] Circa 1981 the Houston Planning Commission, in Kaplan's words, gave Riverside Terrace a "fair" rating and stated that it continued to be a "viable community that is generally well maintained" although the northern portion was "in a stage of incipient decline" and that overall "continued decline was likely.
[11] The late 2000s has also seen couples and families moving into Riverside Terrace to improve formerly derelict mansions, though some houses remained neglected and abandoned.
[10] Recent improvements include re-development of hike and bike trails along Braes Bayou, aesthetic improvements to Almeda Road (including brick pavement and decorative street lighting), as well as renovation and modernization of some notable older homes.
[19] Erica Greider of the Houston Chronicle argued against trying to immediately make a concerted push for a historic district.
[21] Citing that there were not enough people in Riverside Terrace wanting the historic designation, in June 2022 Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner announced that he nixed the plan.
[22] Riverside Terrace is in proximity to the intersection of South MacGregor Way and Texas State Highway 288.
[9] It is east of the Texas Medical Center and Hermann Park,[12] and south of Interstate 45 (Gulf Freeway).
[11] Laura Michaelides of Houston House and Home stated that the boundaries were Almeda and Calhoun on the west and eastern ends, and that Riverside Terrace was on both sides of the Brays Bayou.
[25] Lawrence Wright of Texas Monthly, in 1982, described Macgregor Way, a major road through Riverside Terrace, as "the center of the Black moneyed elite, one of the wealthiest minority neighborhoods in the country" and that it has "central boulevards and bravura mansions" which means the road "recalls—in quite deliberate fashion—the shoulder-to-shoulder palaces of River Oaks.
[11] In 2002 Katherine Feser of the Houston Chronicle said "Today, the homes in Riverside Terrace are as diverse as the characters that shaped its history.
[10] In 2004 some properties in Riverside Terrace sold for below $200,000 ($320,000 in current money), but real estate listings were scarce.
[citation needed] Residents of Riverside Terrace include athletes, politicians, educators, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals.
Sheila Jackson Lee, a U.S. congressperson, said that Riverside Terrace has "a real potpourri of people that like inner city living in a beautiful neighborhood.
[27] Riverside Terrace, like The Heights and other inner-loop communities, is experiencing gentrification, with more white people moving into the neighborhood.
There are emerging issues of displacing African American residents due to rising property taxes and dismissing the rich culture of the community.
In 2017, The Houston Forward Times penned the article, "The Disrespect of Gentrification" Riverside Terrace had 7,635 residents in 1950.
[34] The Parkwood Drive Civic Club (PDCC), established in 1924,[37] serves a community in the Riverside Terrace area.
West MacGregor Home Owners Association also includes Riverside Terrace sections.
[52] The HISD board had approved the consolidation on November 12, 2008 despite the opposition of Sheila Jackson Lee and Sammye Prince Hughes, the head of the Turner parent-teacher organization and the president of the Southwood Civic Club.
[64] The original 1920s brochure emphasized the community's proximity to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Hermann Park.
