The Richmond Avenue Entertainment District, commonly known as the Richmond Strip, is an

entertainment district An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...

along Richmond Avenue in western/southwestern

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 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It was especially popular in the 1990s, but it later declined as a partygoing destination in favor of other areas of town, such as

Washington Avenue Washington Avenue may refer to: United States * Washington Avenue (Miami Beach) in Miami Beach, Florida * Washington Avenue (Milford Mill, Maryland) * Washington Avenue (Towson, Maryland) * Washington Avenue (Minneapolis), a major street in Minne ...

. Erin Mulvaney of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' stated that at its peak, it was "seen as the Houston's answer to Sixth Street,

Beale Street Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, th ...

and

Bourbon Street Bourbon Street (french: Rue Bourbon, es, Calle de Borbón) is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Extending thirteen blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, Bourbon Street is famous for its many bars an ...

."Mulvaney, Erin.
Crowds long gone, Richmond Strip a focus of revitalization efforts
" ''

''. February 24, 2015. Retrieved on March 9, 2015.

History

Marty Racine of the ''

'' said "At the dawn of the '90s, geographically dysfunctional Houston lacked anything resembling an "

."Racine, Marty.
Woodlands to add entertainment sites
" ''

''. Friday May 19, 1995. Houston Section, Page 1. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. Originally the Richmond Strip housed a few pickup joints and

pool halls A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

. After large chain establishments such as Billy Blues,

Dave & Buster's Dave & Buster's is an American restaurant and entertainment business headquartered in Dallas. Each Dave & Buster's has a full-service restaurant and a video arcade. As of October 2022, the company has 151 locations in the United States and two i ...

, and Fat Tuesday moved into the area, bars began to appear there.Milling, T.J.
Wants no more sound of music/Making noise over Richmond noise/ Residents say bars still way too loud
" ''

''. Tuesday January 24, 1995. A11. Retrieved on May 27, 2012.

Chuy's Chuy's is a Tex-Mex restaurant chain established in 1982 in Austin, Texas, by Mike Young and John Zapp. As of February 2022, Chuy's had close to 100 restaurants in 17 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Ke ...

Joe's Crab Shack Joe's Crab Shack is an American chain of beach-themed seafood casual dining restaurants. Founded in Houston, Texas, the restaurant now operates locations all across the United States. History Joe's Crab Shack opened its first location in Houst ...

, and

Taco Cabana A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican cuisine, Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn tortilla, corn- or Flour tortilla, wheat-based tortilla topped with a Stuffing, filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and fing ...

opened their first Houston locations in the Richmond Strip. In 1993 Brad Tyer of the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

'' said "The Richmond Strip has developed over the course of the past decade into a true entertainment district, a place to be and be seen, Houston's urban-sprawl equivalent of Sixth Street in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros ...

— part local destination and part tourist trap, offering sensory overload in exchange for dollars."Tyer, Brad. "On the edge in Edge City." ''

''. Thursday December 30, 1993
1
Retrieved on May 27, 2012. In 1995 Racine said "Elsewhere, Kirby Drive and especially Richmond Avenue are examples of strips where a

bandwagon effect The bandwagon effect is the tendency for people to adopt certain behaviors, styles, or attitudes simply because others are doing so. More specifically, it is a cognitive bias by which public opinion or behaviours can alter due to particular acti ...

has spurred the proliferation of restaurants and clubs." In 1994 Greg Hassell of the ''

'' said that the Richmond Strip was "the city's party strip."Hassell, Greg.
Something's brewing/Bottoms up, Houston: Local makers of beer are tapping into city's market
" ''

''. Tuesday April 26, 1994. A1. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. By 1997, the Richmond Strip became well known as a party destination in smaller communities outside of the Houston area. Jene Harper, the president of the Larchmont Civic Association, said "But I'll go out of town and people say, 'oh, the Richmond Strip. I know where that is. It's where all the bars are.' In the small towns, El Campo, Sealy and all that, it's, 'Oh, you're from Houston. You ever go to City Streets? Yeah.' They drive in all the way to go to City Streets."Rodriguez, Lori.
Sounds and fury / For entertainment quantity in Houston, Richmond Avenue is the place to be. But the economic strength generated by the myriad clubs is offset by the dismay of homeowners who say the neighborhood tranquility has been compromised.
''

''. Sunday November 16, 1997. A1. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. By 1995 residents of some surrounding residential communities, such as Glenhaven Estates, Lamar Terrace, and

Larchmont Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Larc ...

, began asking for improved noise ordinances; the noise ordinances had been revamped two years before. The clubs opposed the proposed noise ordinances. In 1997 Hobart Rowland of the ''

'' said that the Richmond Strip was "the city's most successful and flashy entertainment drag."Rowland, Hobart. "King of Richmond Strip." ''

''. Thursday March 27, 1997
1
Retrieved on May 27, 2012. At that time, the company Dennis Lange Promotions had an overwhelming majority of the live music setup business in the Richmond Strip. The company had exclusive arrangements with 45 Richmond Strip clubs, and the company gave occasional business to an additional 50 to 100 businesses. By November 1997, residents of surrounding neighborhoods continued protesting the strip. Some of the major businesses of the strip had gone out of business. The Richmond Area Management District had been created during the final

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

session before November 16, 1997. The Richmond Avenue Merchants Association (RAMA) had promoted the creation of the management district. Harper argued that the existence of the Richmond Strip was necessary. She said "As far as bringing conventions and other things, there needs to be an entertainment district and, right now, Richmond is the district. There's not one

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. You don't have a West End. There's no

Deep Ellum Deep Ellum is an American neighborhood composed largely of arts and entertainment venues near downtown in East Dallas, Texas. The name is based on a corruption of the area's principal thoroughfare, Elm Street. Older alternative uses include De ...

Decline and change

Mike McGuff of

KIAH-TV KIAH (channel 39) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, airing programming from The CW. Owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios adjacent to the Westpark Tollway on t ...

said "But things cooled off by the late 1990s. You probably also heard reports of shootings and other crime in the area that didn't help matters."McGuff, Mike.
Richmond Strip not dead yet
"

. October 8, 2010. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. By 2003, crime had been increasing in the Richmond Strip.Lomax, John Nova. "Richmond's Burning." ''

''. Thursday July 17, 2003
1
Retrieved on May 27, 2012. By 2008, the party scene had declined, with the new areas of the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

club scene being

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45, ...

Midtown Houston Midtown is a central neighborhood of Houston, located west-southwest of Downtown. Separated from Downtown by an elevated section of Interstate 45 (the Pierce Elevated), Midtown is characterized by a continuation of Downtown's square grid street ...

, and

. As of 2008,

1990s music Popular music in the 1990s saw the continuation of teen pop and dance-pop trends which had emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. Furthermore, hip hop music, hip hop grew and continued to be highly successful in the decade, with the continuation ...

plays in many area clubs, and many establishments use "z" in place of "s", such as "Dreamz" instead of "Dreams." John Nova Lomax of the ''Houston Press'' said "It’s a life of, as Wash Allen from

KCOH KCOH (1230 AM) is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas that airs an urban talk/urban contemporary format. It is a return to the heritage format that aired in Houston from 1953 to 2013 on 1430 KCOH, moving to this facility after 1430 wa ...

would put it, 'dealing with' strippers, or dealing with the kind of guys who are attracted to dealing with that sort of thing. As a philosophy. It’s full of apartment poolside parties, bad cocaine, the occasional dose of clap, tanning bedz, jello shotz, big ass beerz, and cold Jager machinez."Lomax, John Nova.
Sole of Houston: Richmond Avenue, Houston’s Street of Dreamz
" ''

''. Thursday May 1, 2008. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. Lomax concluded "And it seems that Houston no longer really wants the Richmond Strip. Sure, a few holdovers from the glory days remain, such as the Sam’s Boat empire, Centerfolds, La Bare (where “Cannon” from New Orleans is scheduled to appear), Dave and Buster’s and so on, but you think that all of these place would leap at any favorable lease they could get inside the loop." In 2010 Craig Hlavaty, Shea Serrano, and Mike Giglio of the ''

'' said that the Richmond Strip was "Houston's last real nightclub row" before the emergence of Washington Avenue. In 2010 some club owners in the area said that the Richmond Strip is rising as an entertainment destination; they cited the opening of Scott Gertner's Sports Bar Live. David Gertner, the father of Scott Gertner, owner of Sports Bar Live, said that geography was favorable. McGuff also said that many Houstonians had a nostalgia for the Richmond Strip. There was a 2015 community meeting to discuss how to redevelop the Richmond Strip that was attended by urban planners, landscape architects, and real estate figures.

Cityscape

The Richmond Strip is in western/southwestern Houston. Residential areas are not located directly on the strip.O'Hare, Peggy.
Police try to limit cruising on MLK / Some in area dislike the traffic; others say it fosters community
" ''

''. Monday April 16, 2001. A17. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. Brad Tyer of the ''

'' said in 1993 that the Richmond Strip is bordered by

Hillcroft Avenue Hillcroft Avenue is an arterial road in western Houston, Texas, United States. The street spans and is between Beltway 8 and Westheimer Road. To the south Hillcroft has a wide boulevard, and many single family homes surround Hillcroft; some subdivi ...

to the west and Chimney Rock Road to the east. John Nova Lomax said in 2003 that it extends "from Sage or Chimney Rock to Hillcroft, or Fondren, or Gessner, or wherever it finally peters out into a ramshackle succession of car repair shops and tire barns out by

Beltway 8 Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County. Beltway 8, a state highway maintained by the Texas ...

." In 2015 Mulvaney stated that it was bounded by Chimney Rock,

Westheimer Road Westheimer Road () is an arterial east–west road in Houston, Texas, United States. It runs from Bagby Street in Downtown and terminates at the Westpark Tollway on the southern edge of George Bush Park, stretching about long. The street was n ...

, Hillcroft Street, and Westpark Drive. The district has very large bars and clubs; some have over of space. Lomax said that Richmond Strip establishments were "spread out and huge," while most entertainment districts were "cozy and pedestrian," therefore "The Richmond Strip is a very Houstonian take on the concept of an entertainment district." The Richmond Strip was not designed as a walkable environment; bars and clubs may be separated by long distances ranging from hundreds and thousand feet, to even . Patrons were expected to drive to the area and drive to all area accommodations. Lomax said "The strip is designed so that you park and get out at one bar, or get the valet to do it for you, and do so again and again as the night wears on." In 1994 Greg Hassell of the ''

'' said that there were few old buildings in the Richmond Strip area. John Nova Lomax of the ''Houston Press'', as paraphrased by Mike McGuff of

, said that "a major problem with the area was the fact clubs were scattered down a long stretch of road and mixed in with non-entertainment businesses. That made it hard for folks to walk, especially after a few cold ones. It's also clear that having fun and traffic don't mix." David Gertner, the father of Scott Gertner, owner of Scott Gertner's Sports Bar Live, expressed a belief that the geography of the Richmond Strip was favorable for the area coming back; he said "Don't forget it is very convenient for all parts of the city and it's right off the freeway which makes it very good."

Demographics of business patrons

As of 2001 the majority of clubgoers in the Richmond Strip were white.

Culture

As of 1997 each year the St. Patrick's Day parade and the "Hou-Dah" parade occurred at the Richmond Strip and RAMA sponsored them. The Hou-Dah parade moved its street celebration to the Richmond Strip in 1995. Previously the Hou-Dah parade was held during the

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...

parade in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

Crime

In the 1990s, on Spring Break about 40 to 50 police officers patrolled the Richmond Strip as part of the Joint Richmond Club District Spring Break Initiative. The police also organized the Richmond Avenue traffic initiative, a patrol which occurred on Saturday nights.Warren, Mike.
Area police officer honored for patrol on Richmond strip / Business group salutes HPD sergeant
" ''

''. Wednesday September 20, 2000. ThisWeek 3. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. Lt. Doug Perry of 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 ...

(HPD) said that after 1996, crime on the Richmond Strip had decreased 90% after he installed a program to increase the presence of police officers and divert traffic.Crowe, Robert.
Police to increase Richmond patrol / Recent shootings prompt concern
" ''

''. Saturday July 12, 2003. A33. Retrieved on May 27, 2012. Sgt. Michael P. Kelly of the HPD Westside Division said in 2000 that every Saturday night on the Richmond strip, one shooting, stabbing, or killing occurred. In 2001 Lt. S.K. Boyce of the Houston Police Department said that there were more arrests occurring along the Richmond Strip than along Martin Luther King Boulevard in

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

, where a 10-

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

cruising scene occurred habitually on Sunday evenings. Boyce said that of those arrested on the Richmond Strip, most were white. By 2003, crime had been increasing along the Strip. From January 2003 to May 2003, 107 robberies, 73 aggravated assaults, 10 shootings, five rapes, several attempted vehicular homicides, and several successful vehicular homicides. In almost all of the violent crimes reported on the Richmond Strip, automobiles were a key aspect, while guns were not always a key aspect. John Nova Lomax of the ''

'' said "In other words, guns don't kill people, but people who keep guns in their cars kill people." William Martin, a sociologist from

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 ...

, said that he suspected that many of the perpetrators had consumed alcohol. By June 2003 multiple violent crimes had occurred in the Richmond Strip. Around July 2003, shootings occurred in three weekends in a row. This caused the HPD Westside Division to more strictly enforce laws against illegal

U-turns A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a m ...

at the intersection of Hillcroft Road and the 6300 and 6400 blocks of Richmond. In the year leading up to July 28, 2003, nine people were injured and five people were killed in violent attacks in the Richmond Strip. In 2011 Richard Connelly of the ''Houston Press'' said that the Richmond Strip was "not generally known for outright murder."Connelly, Richard.
Esvin Sabonluis, Killed Near Richmond Strip: Man Arrested, Charged
" ''

''. Thursday November 10, 2011. Retrieved on May 27, 2012.

References

External links

Richmond Strip Then And Now
" ''

''. February 24, 2015. *Brewer, Steve.
Crystal Beach the clear choice for Spring Break/Richmond Strip hopping with signs of the season
" ''

''. Monday March 24, 1997. A13. {{authority control Neighborhoods in Houston Entertainment districts in Texas