UPPER KIRBY is a one-of-a-kind, forward thinking community dedicated to preserving quality of life in the heart of Houston.
In the late 1980s, the area filling out Buffalo Speedway and Shepherd, Westheimer and Highway 59 was a neighborhood with no name, no sense of community and nothing to distinguish its unique character. So in January 1988, property and business owners in the area came together with a focus: to identify and unify themselves. The result: The Upper Kirby District.
Residents and local interests further came together in 1996, creating the Upper Kirby District Foundation focused on public programs, outreach and education to ensure the dynamic quality of life so specific to Upper
Kirby. And in 2002, the Upper Kirby District Merchant’s Association strove to expand the innovative thinking that had created the thriving community and reorganized to form the Houston Intown Chamber of Commerce that
now serves a number of the communities inside the city.
More than the foundation and a Chamber of Commerce, Upper Kirby continues to institute firsts for the community and the city. In 2003, the Levy Garden became the first of its kind in the city to offer rental
plots available for growing produce and flowers. Located behind the Upper Kirby Center on Richmond Avenue, this urban nature center features a pond and wetlands, an orchard, and outdoor theatre.
The Upper Kirby Center is also the location of one of the largest solar electricity facilities in the city, a product of a partnership between the Upper Kirby District Foundation and Green Mountain Energy Company;
another example of how Upper Kirby is changing the way communities influence their city and provide for their residents.
With a name reminiscent of a village in Essex, England, the Upper Kirby District is freckled with signature red phone booths centrally located to take
advantage of all the city has to offer.
Between River Oaks and the Rice Village, Upper Kirby is rich with unique shops and showrooms, antiques and fine dining. The home of Gallery Row, Houstonians come to Upper Kirby to take in local and world-renowned artists. With Kirby Drive bisecting the neighborhood, residents have easy access to all of Houston from the Texas Medical Center and Reliant Park to Uptown and the Galleria, and throughout Midtown and Downtown.
The Upper Kirby District offers an eclectic mix of homes from charming bungalows built in the 1920s and 30s to more contemporary homes and townhomes with exquisite details.
