Southside Place is a city in west central Harris County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. The population was 1,835 at the 2020 census. As of the 2000 census, Southside Place is the 13th wealthiest location in Texas by per capita income. Southside Place functions as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for upper-middle- and upper-class families. Many businesses are located in Southside Place; all are along Bellaire Boulevard. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

uses "Houston" for all Southside Place addresses; "Southside Place, TX" is not an acceptable postal city name for mail addressed to locations in the city.

History

Southside Place opened on Easter Day in 1925. Edlo L. Crain, the developer, placed a pool and a park in a subdivision to attract residents to the townsite. The first section to open was south of the park. It was in proximity to Bellaire Boulevard and the streetcar line, which was nicknamed the "Toonerville Trolley". In 1926, development of the second section of Southside Place, which spanned from Harper Street to University Boulevard, began. The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

slowed development. The site of Southside Place previously housed the Harris County Poor Farm. The Haden and Austin company had purchased the poor farm and, after a period, sold it to the E. L. Crain and Company.The History of Southside Place
" ''City of Southside Place''. Retrieved on July 6, 2011. Southside Place incorporated in June 1931, with 600 residents. The city council first met on June 15 of that year. On August 3, 1934 the city council passed a resolution that declared Southside Place an incorporated city. Because of the incorporation, Houston did not incorporate Southside Place's territory into its city limits, while Houston annexed surrounding areas that were unincorporated.Lee, Renée C.
Annexed Kingwood split on effects
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, 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''. ...

''. Sunday October 8, 2006. A21. Retrieved on July 6, 2011. "Some of the area communities that incorporated as cities and escaped annexation by Houston:" Print version exclusively has the information cited; the information is ''not'' included in the online edition. A post office opened in 1940. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the population stabilized at approximately 1,400. In the 1960s, the city reached a high of 1,500 residents. By 1979, the number of residents fell to 1,263. In 1988, the city had 1,560 residents. In 1990 the city had 1,384 residents. In early 2009, Southside Place announced that it would demolish its previous municipal buildings and build a new multi-story municipal complex. Glenn "Pat" Patterson is to serve as mayor until May 2021. There will be a mayoral election on May 1, 2021; Patterson will not seek reelection. Savvas T. Stefanides and Andy Chan are the candidates; the latter moved to Southside Place in 2004.

Geography

Southside Place is located at (29.709629, –95.435442). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.6 km), all of it land. The city is surrounded by the cities of Bellaire,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and West University Place. The Blair House, a two-story, red-brick, 183-unit apartment complex, opened in 1963 and was on a site. As the value of land rose in Southside Place, pressure came to redevelop the land. The complex close on September 11, 2015 and was bulldozed in November of that year. Trammell Crow Residential built the four-story, 269-unit Sinclear Apartments Southside Place in its place. A portion of Braeswood Place, Blocks 1 and 2 of Braes Heights Section 1, is in Southside Place.Southside Place city, TX
"

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

. Retrieved on March 24, 2019. The rest is in the City of Houston.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,835 people, 537 households, and 402 families residing in the city. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,546 people, 618 households, and 370 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 647 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.72%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.03%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 4.14% Asian, 1.81% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 6.47% of the population. There were 618 households, out of which 40.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 38.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.44. In the city, the population was spread out, with 33.2% under the age of 18, 3.2% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $81,267, and the median income for a family was $163,303. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $48,654 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $57,021. About 3.3% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Southside Place's city council meets on the second Tuesday of each month. The mayor and the city council are elected for two-year terms. Two and three vacancies are on the council on alternate years. Elections are held during the first Saturday in each May. Any qualified voter may be placed on the ballot for Mayor or a city council position. The Mayor and each council member receive a one U.S. dollar per year salary in accordance with a Texas state law which requires all city officials to receive a salary. As of 2021 the mayor is Andy Chan. Glenn ‘Pat’ Patterson preceded him. Melissa Byers, Jennifer Anderson, Dr. Melissa Knop, Douglas Corbett and Brad Stollberg are the city council members. The Southside Place Police Department is a 24-hour police organization that provides police services to the City of Southside Place. The Chief of Police is D.H. McCall and employs 12 sworn Texas Peace Officers. The Southside Place Police and Fire Departments are headquartered along with the city administration at 6309 Edloe Avenue. The Fire Department is a two engine company house. All of its members are volunteers. The Fire Chief is Ulysses Serrano. It has a mutual aid agreement with the cities of West University Place and Bellaire. The nearest public hospital is Ben Taub General Hospital in the

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a List of neighborhoods in Houston, neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States. It is immediately south of the Houston Museum District, Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 6 ...

Federal and state representation

Southside Place is in Harris County Precinct 1. As of 2022, Rodney Ellis serves as the commissioner of the precincts. Southside Place is located in District 134 of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

. As of 2021 Ann Johnson represents the district. Southside Place is within District 17 of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

. Southside Place is in Texas's 7th congressional district; as of 2019 Lizzie Fletcher is the representative.

Economy

The Braes Heights Shopping Center, a two-story

mid-century modern Mid-century modern (MCM) is a movement in interior design, product design, graphic design, architecture and urban development that was present in all the world, but more popular in North America, Brazil and Europe from roughly 1945 to 197 ...

shopping center, is located in Southside Place.Braes Heights Shopping Center
" ''

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

''. Retrieved on October 13, 2012. "Braes Heights Shopping Center 3800 Bellaire Blvd. Houston, TX" In 2012 the ''

'' ranked the center the "Best Strip Mall - 2012" due to its abundance of small businesses that made the editors feel nostalgic. The editors said "In many ways, Braes Heights seems more like Rice Village than Rice Village" because many iconic small businesses had left Rice Village by 2012.

Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States–based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is among the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...

's Bellaire Technology Center had been located in Southside Place. The facility opened as a geophysical processing center in 1936. For decades many scientists and engineers discovered and studied facts related to oil and natural gas. In 2008 Shell announced that it would close the Bellaire facility and expand the Westhollow Technology Center in Houston to accommodate most of the staff employed by the Bellaire center, while some staff would go to the Woodcreek Technology Campus in western Houston. Shell said that it closed the Bellaire facility partly because two thirds of the land was leased, and the lease was set to expire in 2010. The move decreased tax revenue into the City of Southside Place; the city rezoned the parcel for various land uses. The Palace Bowling Lanes

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

, a two-story, structure that was built in 1955, was on a plot of land in Southside Place. In October 2016 the owners sold the alley, which had been renamed Bowl on Bellaire but still had signage reading "Palace Bowling Lanes", to Sparkle Frame, and that group closed the business later that month. In September 2018 the real estate firm Triple Crown Investments stated that it would remodel the building into the Southside Commons complex, and Arch-Con Construction will be the construction company. A bowling alley, restaurants, of retail space, and other entertainment facilities will be on the first floor; the restaurant and entertainment businesses would take up a total of of space. Offices, including medical and non-medical purposes, occupying are to go on the second floor. The building is scheduled to re-open around Summer 2020.

Education

Primary and secondary education

The city is served by

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest Public school (government funded), 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 ci ...

. The community is within Trustee District V. Pupils who live in Southside Place north of Bellaire Boulevard are zoned to West University Elementary School in West University Place, and people who live in Southside Place south of Bellaire Boulevard are zoned to Mark Twain Elementary School in the Braeswood Place neighborhood of Houston. All Southside Place pupils are zoned to Pershing Middle School in Braeswood Place in

; any student zoned to Pershing may apply to Pin Oak Middle School (in Bellaire)'s regular program. Pupils in Southside Place who are west of Stella Link and south of Bellaire Boulevard are zoned to Bellaire High School in Bellaire, while all other pupils in Southside Place are zoned to Mirabeau B. Lamar High School (in Upper Kirby), also in Houston. Gabriela Mistral Early Childhood Center is the closest early childhood center to the city of Southside Place. Since only poor students, homeless students, students who are not proficient in English, or children of active-duty members of the U.S. military or whose parent has been killed, injured, or missing in action while on active duty may be enrolled tuition-free in HISD preschools, most Southside Place residents rely on private preschools. Students who are eligible for HISD's preschools may attend any Early Childhood Center in Houston ISD. Nearby is the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

's St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School (K–8).

Community colleges

The

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. 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 p ...

designated Houston Community College System (HCC) as serving Houston ISD (including Southside Place).

Public libraries

Southside Place is near three public libraries. Harris County Public Library system operates a branch in West University Place. The

Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in ...

system operates the McGovern-Stella Link Branch in Braeswood Place and in Houston. The city of Bellaire also operates its own library.

Parks and recreation

file:Southside Place Historical Marker April 2025.jpg The park and pool facilities are operated by the Southside Place Park Association, which is not affiliated with the City of Southside Place. The SPPA is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors and managed by two paid employees. The park/pool area is located between Auden and Edloe on the streets of Garnet and Farbar. Facilities include a park, tennis courts, baseball field, basketball court, swimming pool and clubhouse. Only the park, field and basketball court are open for public use. Use of the tennis court, pool and clubhouse require a park membership. Annual membership is $425 and is open to residents of Southside Place. Approx. 80% of Southside Place residents are also park members. The clubhouse is home to a summer camp that is run by the Parks Department. The park staff consists of 1 full-time Parks/Recreation Director, 1 part-time clubhouse manager, 30+ camp staff members, 2 assistant pool managers, 2 swim lessons instructors and 35 Red Cross certified Life Guards. The pool is also home to a 150+ member swim team that competes with other pools in the Houston area. Swim team season runs from mid-May through the end of June. The Parks Director is Alysa Harrison. On April 12, 2025, The Texas Historical Commission unveiled a plaque honoring the 100th anniversary of Southside Place being a city. The Weekley Family YMCA is in the area. It opened in 1951 as the Southwest YMCA, in West University Place. The current facility in Braeswood Place, Houston broke ground in 2001.Stanton, Robert.
'Death Valley' coming back to life
" ''

''. Thursday July 19, 2001. Retrieved on January 7, 2012.

Media

The ''

'' is the area regional newspaper. On Thursdays, residents receive the Bellaire/West U/ River Oaks/ Meyerlandbr>
local section. The '' West University Examiner'' is a local newspaper distributed in the communit

The '' Village News and Southwest News'' is a local newspaper distributed in the community. The city government publishes ''Southside Place Today'', a community newsletter that is included with resident water bills. In the mid-20th century the community newspaper ''Southwestern Times'' served Southside Place and surrounding communities. The paper was headquartered in Rice Village, and it served as an official publication for the city.

Transportation

Southside Place is a member city of the

Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus rapid transit, HOV and HOT lanes, and paratransit service (under the n ...

(METRO). The city is served by bus lines 2 (Bellaire), 68 (Brays Bayou Crosstown), and 73 (Bellfort Crosstown).Schedules
" ''

''. Retrieved June 17, 2008.

References

External links

City of Southside Place official website
* {{authority control Cities in Harris County, Texas Cities in Texas Greater Houston