Rice Village is a shopping district in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, United States. Rice Village is a collection of shops, restaurants and pubs, situated about a half-mile west of the center of

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

's campus. The core "Rice Village" extends over several city blocks, bounded by University Boulevard, Kirby Drive, Tangley Street, Morningside Drive, Rice Boulevard, and Greenbriar Drive, though spillover has expanded the retail area to encompass businesses as far north as Bissonnet Street.

History

Rice Village has been one of Houston's oldest shopping destinations since 1938. It is an unplanned, high density hodge-podge of old and new retail stores. David Kaplan of ''

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'' wrote that during the 1950s and 1960s Rice Village "filled up and prospered" but the economic boom in Greater Houston in the 1970s caused development to come elsewhere.Kaplan, p. 18. He credited the influx of young families in

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and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and the

City of West University Place West University Place, often called West University or West U for short, is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area and southwestern Harris County, Texas, Harris County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. ...

, beginning in the 1980s, to revitalizing Rice Village. In the mid-1980s

began buying land in the Rice Village area. Scott Wise, the university's vice president for investments, stated in 1996 that Rice Village is "strategically located" and allows possible growth and flexibility.Kaplan, p. 19. "While the buildings on the Arcade property are owned by Weingarten, the land itself belongs to a wholly owned subsidiary of Rice University. Rice owns several other pieces of Village property as well: on University Boulevard, the site of the West University Bank and the Train Store; the Beautique mini-block between Times and Amherst along Kelvin; several houses on Chaucer; and two office buildings on Greenbriar. Rice treasurer and vice-president for investments Scott Wise says Rice decided to purchase Village property beginning in the mid-1980s." The first minutes of the 1994 film '' The Chase'' were filmed in the Rice Village.

Cityscape

The Village Arcade occupies an area bounded by

Kirby Drive Kirby may refer to: Buildings * Kirby Building, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, United States * Kirby Hall, an Elizabethan country house near Corby, Northamptonshire, England * Kirby House (disambiguation), various houses in England and the Unite ...

, Amherst, Morningside, and University. The development also occupies most of the block bounded by Kelvin, Amherst, Times, and Morningside.

Business and shopping

From its origins in the 1930s an ad hoc cluster of retail stores, the Rice Village has grown to become one of Houston's shopping destinations. Host to over 300 shops in a 16-block area, Rice Village is known for its many small and eclectic shops and boutiques. Recent expansion in the area has also brought in high-end clothing stores and the nationwide retail venues. As Village retail became denser in the 1990s, limited parking finally led to the closure of Rice Food Market, the last surviving Rice Village grocery store. Residential real estate has recently re-entered the area with the opening of the Hanover Rice Village Luxury Apartments.

Government

Rice Village is a part of the West University Place Super Neighborhood Council. Rice Village is in

Texas's 7th congressional district Texas's 7th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives comprises a small area of western Harris County. As of the 2000 census, the 7th district comprises 651,620 people. Since 2019, it has been represented by Democrat ...

Police service

The neighborhood is within the

Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest ...

's South Central Patrol Division.

Education

The complex is zoned to the following

Houston ISD The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

schools: * Poe Elementary School * Lanier Middle School * Lamar High School

Media

In the mid-20th century the community newspaper ''Southwestern Times'' was headquartered in Rice Village.''Southwestern Times'' (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 22, 1948
Page: 2 of 20
Posted at the

Portal to Texas History The University of North Texas Libraries is an American academic research library system that serves the constituent colleges and schools of University of North Texas in Denton. The phrase "University of North Texas Libraries" encompasses three ...

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

. Retrieved on March 2, 2017. "2510 Times Boulevard, Houston 5, Texas (In The Village)"

References

* Kaplan, David.
The Village

Archive

Archive
. ''

''. Rice Design Alliance, Winter (Northern Hemisphere) 1996. p. 16-21.

Notes

External links

RiceVillageOnline.comRiceVillageShops.com
{{coord, 29.716, -95.416, region:US-TX_type:landmark, display=title Neighborhoods in Houston Economy of Houston