Rice Military

A neighborhood that I am unfairly partial to! I am fortunate enough to call Rice Military home, and I absolutely love it here. Much like Shady Acres, regentrification started about 25 years ago but precedes Shady Acres by about a decade. Early redevelopment began in the early 1990’s so again, we see slightly larger building square footage here because of the lower cost of land during that time period.

Rice Military is definitely walkable, but only really within the area for a stroll through the neighborhood or a dog walk. If you want to go outside the neighborhood then you’ll probably want to drive or Uber (remember Houston is not really a pedestrian friendly city, so any relative walkability is notable). Since it was redeveloped a little earlier than Cottage Grove and Shady Acres, we have many more trees that are older and larger. I compare Rice Military with Cottage Grove and Shady Acres (and not to The Heights or Timbergrove) because the streets are similarly laid out in a semi-grid system. Yes, The Heights is also laid in a grid, but the feel between Rice Military and The Heights is much different.

What I love most about my neighborhood: 

1. Super duper close to Memorial Park, where I am a regular walking the 3mi loop and the loop around the lake. 
2. Pretty trees
3. Depending on exactly where you are in Rice Military (close to Washington Ave) it can be loud because of the clubby bars on Washington, but most of the neighborhood is very chill and quiet. I rarely hear sirens and there is no road noise from large freeways. 
4. The location is literally perfect. You are in the middle of nearly every road you could need. Memorial Drive that takes you straight into downtown (but also turns into Woodway if you go West), Shepherd/Durham, Washington/Westcott, loop 610, I-10, 290, 59, and Kirby. 

Things to keep in mind when looking to buy here:

1. Stucco. Omg. Let me apologize on behalf of my neighborhood, but there is a heck of a lot of stucco over here & it’s just a fact of life. 
2. Stucco inspection is a must. 
3. There is a wide variety of housing product to choose from here. Small gated townhome communities, houses with driveways and no HOAs, single family homes, and multiple story homes. 
4. If the home is 3+ stories, it’s highly preferable for the house to have an elevator
5. If there is a rooftop patio, you need to pay close attention to possible leaks or improper grading and drainage. 
6. Your daily parking situation and guest parking 
7. Is the house located next to commercial or some type of business?

What you can expect living here:

1. Some areas are much more tight-knit than others, your community is what you make it
2. A few of the streets are more narrow or busier than others, this can be super annoying because some roads are blocked by moving trucks or daily garbage pick up
3. With the narrow-ish streets, sometimes there are a lot of garbage cans to dodge on trash day (I have been known to periodically hit one with my side mirrors.. oopsie!)
4. Perfect proximity to everywhere you’ll ever want to eat! 
5. A little bit more mature crowd because of a higher frequency of elevators and a little higher price point.