Westheimer Road

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highway_name= Westheimer Road
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starting_terminus= Bagby Street
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counties= Harris
Fort Bend
cities= Houston
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Westheimer Road is an arterial road in the western half of Houston, Texas, United States. It runs from Bagby Street west to the Westpark Tollway. Westheimer Road runs roughly parallel to and south of Buffalo Bayou throughout its course.

Westheimer Road's eastern terminus is at Bagby Street. At this point, traffic heading east on Westheimer either turns south or roughly north on Bagby or jogs right and southeasterly, continuing on Elgin Street into Midtown. From Bagby west, Westheimer jogs mostly westerly, through the heart of the Montrose district, forms the south boundary of the River Oaks neighborhood, and then passes under the west 610 Loop.

The portion spanning from Interstate 610 west to the Westpark Tollway is designated as a part of Farm to Market Road 1093. From the 610 Loop west, Westheimer Road runs through Uptown, along the north side of the Galleria, and then west-southwest to Chimney Rock. From Chimney Rock west, Westheimer is straight along a cardinal east-west line. Westheimer passes north of Westchase when passing under Beltway 8. After intersecting Highway 6 and passing west of West Oaks Mall, Westheimer Road and Westheimer Parkway split, with Westheimer "Parkway" continuing west through George Bush Park and Westheimer "Road" (a.k.a., "Old Westheimer Road") turning southwest. Westheimer Road terminates when it intersects with the WestPark Tollway, just west of South Barker Cypress Road and just inside Fort Bend County.

John Nova Lomax of the "Houston Press" said in a 2006 article that Westheimer Road, "more than any other thoroughfare, embodies Houston's car-enamored, zoning-free ethos, a damn-near 20-mile phantasmagoria of strip malls, storage facilities, restaurants, big-box retail, office parks, apartment complexes, strip clubs, malls, supermarkets and the occasional church." [Lomax, John Nova. "The Sole of Houston." "Houston Press". October 12, 2006. [http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-10-12/news/the-sole-of-houston/ 1] .]

In a post on the "Houston Press" website during the same year, he called the stretch of Westheimer west of Chimney Rock Road and east of Fondren Road, which he refers to as "Mid-Westheimer," "The Testosterone Zone." Referring to a photograph of a shopping center on that segment, Lomax added that "This strip center is the essence of that -- Evans Music City, an army surplus store, a titty bar and a liquor store within 100 yards of each other. Now that's one-stop shopping." [Lomax, John Nova. " [http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2006/12/re_the_adventures_of_john_loma.php Re: The Adventures of John Lomax and the Walk Down Westheimer] ." "Houston Press". December 6, 2006.] In "Houston Architectural Guide", Stephen Fox said the following about the stretch of Westheimer between Chimney Rock Road:

Lomax said that the segment of Westheimer in Westchase is "virtually all chains -- a "Geography of Nowhere" wasteland of Boston Market, Borders, Kroger, Randalls, Taco Bell, Citgo and Sonic. Several of the six CVS outlets we passed are there, as are a few of the uncountable Starbucks." He added that the segment of Westheimer Road in Westchase does not have "the sleaze of the Highway 6 area and the tacky exuberance of mid-Westheimer, the area between Chimney Rock and Fondren." [Lomax, John Nova. "The Sole of Houston." "Houston Press". October 12, 2006. [http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-10-12/news/the-sole-of-houston/3 3] .]

In 2007 Colliers International ranked Westheimer Road as the seventh most expensive retail streets in the United States by rent per square foot; the group calculated the rent per square foot as $120 United States dollars. [" [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-33400982_ITM THE MONEY STREETS; THE PRICIEST RETAIL STREETS IN THE U.S. RANKED BY RENT PER SQUARE FOOT.] "Women's Wear Daily".]

In 2007 Mimi Swartz of "Texas Monthly" referred to a stretch of Westheimer between Claremont Lane and Kirby Drive as "the socialite’s sector" due to the stores catering to residents of River Oaks and other nearby wealthy communities; in the article she describes several places along the stretch of Westheimer. [" [http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2007-08-01/streetsmarts Westheimer Road, Houston] ." "Texas Monthly".]

Westheimer Parkway

From its eastern terminus at Westheimer Road / FM 1093, Westheimer Parkway winds through George Bush Park and the Cinco Ranch neighborhood in Harris County and Fort Bend County. The Parkway then runs under Grand Parkway near Cinco Ranch High School. Westheimer Parkway's western terminus is in Fort Bend County, Texas approximately convert|2|mi|km northwest of Grand Parkway. At this point, traffic heading northwest on Westheimer Parkway continues on a northwest jog of Greenbusch Road in the general direction of Katy Mills Mall, located in Katy.

History

Westheimer Road and Westheimer Parkway are named after Michael Louis Westheimer, a prosperous German immigrant who had settled in Houston in 1859. He purchased a convert|640|acre|km2|sing=on farm west of Houston's city limits at the time, where Lamar High School and St. John's School are currently located. Having built a school on his land for his 16 children, other local children were invited to join the school, as a public school system was not established in the area. The road that lead to his property was known as "the road to Westheimer's place" and winded through what would later be Montrose and River Oaks. [" [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2008_4492846 Westheimer was a place for learning] ." "Houston Chronicle".] Handbook of Texas|id=WW/fwets|name=Westheimer, Mitchell Louis]

In 1895 Westheimer allowed Harris County to build a right-of-way for a road stretching from from Houston to Columbus and Sealy; this road became Westheimer Road.

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