Brays Oaks, Houston

The area now known as Brays Oaks was originally the ranch property of Walter Fondren, an oil businessperson. In the late 1970s and early 1980s many apartments opened in an area then known as Fondren Southwest. The community was mostly White and Jewish. The newly established apartments attracted young, White professionals who were leaving Stella Link and other declining areas. The area economy benefited from the increase in population, and many expensive restaurants and strip malls opened in Fondren Southwest. At one time many members of the Houston Rockets and other sports teams resided in the Northfield subdivision, which was among the outermost parts of the city in 1974, in Fondren Southwest. In the mid-1980s the oil-based economy collapsed. Property values decreased and apartment complexes began to decline. The young professionals left the apartments. The expensive restaurants left the area, since the young professionals left. The owners of the apartments lowered rent rates and offered "free move-in" specials. Many poor African-American and Hispanic families moved into units originally designated for singles and couples. Apartment complexes failed and received foreclosure. By the mid-1990s property values in the area began to increase and several middle class minorities moved into Fondren Southwest. In June 2005 the 79th Texas Legislature created the Brays Oaks Management District in the area. In 2005 residents of an area at the intersection of Beltway 8 and West Bellfort Road protested against the construction of a proposed trash transfer station. The area sits on a landfill previously used by the cities of Bellaire and West University Place. In 2009 the district began a $250,000 master plan to increase identification of the area and to beautify esplanades. Ten boulders were placed in the district esplanades beginning on January 22, 2009. In 2011 the district expanded in size. ==Cityscape==

The district, entirely within the City of Houston and Harris County, has of territory, centered on the historical Fondren Southwest area. The district is bounded by Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59, Bissonnet Road, U.S. Route 90A/Main Street, and South Post Oak. As of 2011 it has about 73,000 residents in about 2,700 households. and Westbury are in Brays Oaks. The district expanded in size in 2011. In 2005 what would become the original boundaries include 37 neighborhoods with about 12,000 single-family houses. It also included about 76 apartment complexes with over 15,000 units. The original Fondren Southwest area has the boundaries of South Braeswood, U.S. 90A, Hillcroft, and I-69/U.S. 59. Most apartments in Fondren Southwest have between 300 and 400 units. Lori Rodriguez of the Houston Chronicle said that many of them "bear names evocative of more idyllic times: Sandpiper. Rainy Meadows." Originally the only residential establishments in Fondren Southwest were houses. Gessner Road was a dirt road, and the pavement along South Braeswood Boulevard ended at Fondren Road. Ruth Hurst, a resident quoted in the Houston Chronicle, said "It was like living in the middle of the city, but in the country". In 1990, of the housing facilities in Fondren Southwest community, 60% were multifamily facilities, and 40% were single family facilities. Of the housing units, 54% were occupied by renters, 31% were occupied by owners, and the remainder were vacant. In 1997 Fondren Southwest had about 60 apartment complexes. Many of the apartment complexes were not designed to house children. ==Economy==

As of 2005 the area that would become the original Brays Oaks district boundaries had between 200 and 300 businesses. State of Texas guidelines consider apartment complexes to be commercial businesses, so the figure includes apartment complexes. ==Demographics==

In 2015 the Brays Oaks Super Neighborhood, a City of Houston-defined area with different boundaries from the management district, had 64,548 people. 45% were non-Hispanic black, 33% were Hispanic or Latino, 13% were non-Hispanic White, 6% were non-Hispanic Asian, and 2% were non-Hispanic others. The per square mile population was 8.160. In 2000 the super neighborhood, then known as the Greater Fondren Southwest Super Neighborhood, had 49,436 residents. 53% were non-Hispanic black, 25% were Hispanic or Latino, 15% were non-Hispanic whites, 6% were non-Hispanic Asians, and 2% were non-Hispanic others. The number of persons per square mile was 6,250. Fondren Southwest is home to one of the centers of Orthodox Jewish life in Houston. The neighborhood is home to three Orthodox synagogues: Chabad Lubavitch Center of Houston, Young Israel of Houston, and Congregation Beth Rambam. The neighborhoods surrounding the synagogues have an eruv maintained by Young Israel of Houston. There are also two Orthodox Jewish day schools in the area: Torah Day School of Houston and Yeshivat Torat Emet. There is also an Orthodox Jewish girls' high school, Torah Girls Academy of Texas. ==Government and infrastructure==

The Brays Oaks Towers, located at 10101 and 10103 Fondren Road at Dumfries, contain various agencies and services for the community; the management district is headquartered in Suite 301 at 10103 Fondren. Most of Braes Oaks is within Houston City Council District K. Portions are within districts C and J. In the 2000s all of what is now Brays Oaks was in District C. In the 1990s almost all of it was in district C, with a small portion in District F. Most of Brays Oaks is served by the Houston Police Department's South Gessner Division (formerly Fondren Patrol Division), with headquarters at 11168 Fondren Road in Brays Oaks. In 1992 what is now the Fondren Patrol Division was a storefront under the jurisdiction of the Southwest Patrol Division, headquartered on Beechnut Street outside of Brays Oaks. In 1998 the Fondren Patrol division had been established. On September 13, 2010, the City of Houston held a groundbreaking for the new Fondren Police Station. The station, which will house 176 police officers and serve about 124,000 Houston residents, is scheduled to be completed by August 2011. The Houston City Council approved $6.3 million for the construction of the new police station. The Fondren Patrol Division operates the Braeburn Storefront Station at 10101 Fondren, also in Brays Oaks. A portion of Brays Oaks is served by the Southwest Patrol Division. The Westbury Storefront Station is a part of the Southwest Patrol District. The Houston Fire Department operates Station 82 Fondren Southwest at 11250 Braesridge; it is a part of Fire District 68. Station 82 was built in 1995. It also operates Fire Station 48 Westbury, located in Fire District 59. Harris Health System (formerly Harris County Hospital District) designated Valbona Health Center (formerly People's Health Center) for ZIP codes 77031, 77035, 77071, 77074, and 77096. The nearest public hospital is Ben Taub General Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. The Consulate General of Mexico was once housed at suite 555 of the 10103 tower from 1998 to early 2001. ==Crime==

Fondren Division was established in 1998, gaining its own anti-gang unit. This is the former police station. As of 2002 the crime in Fondren Southwest largely affected apartment complexes, with homeowner subdivisions largely unaffected. In 2006 the Brays Oaks district and the Fondren Patrol combined efforts to stop graffiti. Brays Oaks contracted the gang abatement crew of the East End Management District. Martin Chavez, the head of the gang abatement crew, said that La Primera and Sureños, Mexican-American gangs, tagged sites to promote their messages. During the same year, the Houstone Tango Blast surfaced in the Fondren Southwest area. In 2007 ten Texas Southern University students did a study on the Fondren Southwest area. They concluded that an excess supply of apartment complex units was the main cause of crime, a lack of pride in the community, and unsupervised children. They also concluded that the oversupply was the reason why many apartment units were of a low quality, poorly maintained, and/or vacant. ==Education==

Primary and secondary schools The Houston Independent School District serves most of Brays Oaks. Elementary schools within the Brays Oaks management district include Anderson, Bell, Elrod, Foerster, Gross, McNamara, Milne, Parker, Tinsley, Bonham Elementary School in Sharpstown serves a small section of Brays Oaks. Halpin Early Childhood Center has the Kindergarten classes feeding into Tinsley. Two middle schools in Brays Oaks, Fondren Middle School and Welch Middle School, serve sections of Brays Oaks. Other HISD middle schools serving sections of Brays Oaks include Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School (formerly Johnston Middle School) in Meyerland and Sugar Grove Middle School in Sharpstown. Persons in portions assigned to Meyerland Middle are eligible for Pin Oak Middle School. Areas south of West Bellfort Street and east of Fondren Road are zoned to Westbury High School in Brays Oaks, while most other areas are zoned to Sharpstown High School. A small portion is zoned to Bellaire High School. A small portion is within the Alief Independent School District. Klentzman Intermediate School, and Olle Middle School. High school attendance is chosen by a computer lottery, which can result in the student going to Alief Elsik High School, Alief Hastings High School or Alief Taylor High School. YES Prep Bray Oaks, a state charter school provider, operates 6-12 grade. It opened in 2009. Other charter schools include The Varnett Public School Southwest Campus, Meyerpark Elementary, Girls and Boys Prep, and La Amistad Academy. In the 1980s area schools became overcrowded as more students moved in. Enrollments in area schools increased when several adults-only apartments began allowing children to live in them. For instance, Elrod's enrollment had increased steadily from 1983 onwards. In 1986 Elrod served Maplewood South and ten apartment complexes; none of the complexes existed when Elrod was originally built. In 1986 the Elrod administration expected to receive 800 students for the upcoming school year; 974 appeared on the first day of school. In 1988 Gordon re-opened to take overflow students for Elrod and one other school. Argyle closed in May 2005. When the management district expanded in 2011, Tertiary education Houston Community College (HCC) operates the Brays Oaks Campus, a part of the Southwest College. Groundbreaking was scheduled for May 26, 2015. Public libraries Effective 2023, Dr. Shannon Walker Neighborhood Library of the Houston Public Library (HPL) is the library location for Fondren Southwest. Its namesake is Shannon Walker. Originally Brays Oaks had a standalone library. The original Frank Neighborhood Library opened in 1983. In 2005 about 2.5 million dollars in funds were approved to overhaul the branch. Shortly afterwards library officials found that the location was within a Harris County floodplain. Wendy Hegar, the assistant director for planning and facilities at the Houston Public Library, said that in order to keep using the original location, the library system would have had to spend millions of dollars to raise the floor of the facility by or to build a concrete flood wall. Jim Myers, the community services director of the Brays Oaks District, said that the building would have had to have been raised by in order for the library system to keep using it. Instead the city decided to relocate into the Brays Oaks Towers, spending around $3.9 million. By December 2009 the former Frank library facility was for sale. Morris Frank HPL Express Library was established in the Brays Oaks Towers. The branch was located in a section within one half of the first floor of 10103 Fondren Road. HPL Express Frank was scheduled to have around half of the 90,000 items in the standalone Frank Neighborhood Library. The standalone Frank library had about 105,000 visitors in the fiscal year 2007. In the Brays Oaks Towers location, contractors rebuilt the space to prepare the housing of a library branch, adding a separate air conditioning system, additional electrical infrastructure, additional toilets, and a redesign of the layout of the space. Etan Mirwis, president of Houston-based property management company Rockwell Management Corp, which owns the Brays Oaks Towers complex, said that he saw the addition of the library branch as a potential for his complex, as he believed several businesses considering whether to move into the complex would view the presence of the library as a benefit. This library became the Walker Branch. ==Parks and recreation==

The district gained more parks when it expanded in 2011. Other municipal parks include Braeburn Glen Park, Chimney Rock Park, Hagar Park, Haviland Park, Glenshire Park, Willow Waterhole, and Westbury Park. In addition, the Westbury Civi Club operates the Westbury Community Garden. In regards to Fondren Southwest, Lori Rodriguez said in 1997, "Green space is at a premium; free recreational facilities, almost nil. Hundreds of latch-key children of single, working mothers wander the streets with nothing to do; nowhere to go." ==District logo==

The logo adopted by the district includes an oak tree with several branches, water, and a yellow sun. The tree represents strength. Its branches represent the partners of the Brays Oaks community. The tree roots represent what the district says is the commitment to the community from its partners. The water represents the Brays Bayou. The sun represents what the district calls the "community’s commitment to its revitalization." ==Notable residents==

Notable residents of Fondren Southwest: • José Cruz (Northfield subdivision) • Rudy Tomjanovich (Northfield subdivision) • Don Wilson (Northfield subdivision) ==References==