My early life reads like an outline of the screenplay for Wayne’s World. Community cable TV production, love of music, Queen…all of it. I developed a deep love of the technology of media and the arts. I spent my professional life oscillating between those two spaces. Along the way, I’ve done quite a lot of writing. Writing for magazines, newsletters, multiple websites, blogging, and most recently, this newsletter.
Further, I have a deep love of comedy. I’m drawn to the silly, with great admiration for the likes of Adams, Carlin, Python, and Yankovic. This naturally gives rise to an appreciation of the subtleties of language. And occasionally, despite my best efforts, I exhibit some amount of pedantry.
I joined the WHCA for the first time in January 2017 in the role of Director of Communications. In that role, I was responsible for the website and the newsletter. I did my best to address my responsibilities. One of the things I did was to create a modern version of the WHCA boundary map in Adobe Illustrator. This replaced a much older map (in a raster format) that didn’t have much detail. From this exercise, I think I have a reasonable grasp of where Woodland Heights begins and ends. At least generally, where it is and isn’t.
So, I was a bit surprised to recently find The Leader running a story promoting a new apartment building east of White Oak Music Hall. The story very clearly stated that the building was in "Woodland Heights." I think I can say with certainty that Woodland Heights does not extend east of I-45. Traveling east of I-45 along North Main, you enter Glen Park, which is part of The Near Northside. I have friends who live over there.
It's plain that "The Heights" holds much appeal for marketers. While a portion of the Houston Heights, as classically defined, was south of I-10, recent developments include "The Lower Heights," which pushes east to include the new Home Depot, on over to Sawyer Street. This is not in any way associated with "The Heights" from a historical perspective. That doesn't stop developers from leveraging proximity to "The Heights" when promoting their projects. The Heights is a very walkable neighborhood. The Lower Heights much less so.
A real estate developer seeking to promote a new multi-story apartment building on Keene Street attempts to add value by an association with Woodland Heights. Woodland Heights is a more recognizable brand than Glen Park or The Near Northside. It's worth mentioning that Glen Park is zoned to Travis Elementary School. There simply are no multi-story apartment buildings in Woodland Heights.
As president of WHCA, I felt uniquely positioned to see this erroneous claim corrected. So, I reported it to The Leader. To my surprise, the author responded promptly, promising to correct the error. It took them a couple weeks, but they eventually made good on that promise. The article now refers to the six-story building on Keene Street as part of the "emerging White Oak District," even though the article's URL still refers to Woodland Heights.
Even that language is amusing and familiar. Last year, when seeking sponsors for Lights in the Heights 2024, we used "White Oak Entertainment District" to describe the collection of bars, restaurants, and shops along White Oak Drive, from Michaux West to Heights Boulevard.
There are myriad neighborhoods in the vast city of Houston. We all love it here in Woodland Heights. We appreciate the character of the neighborhood. The charming, historic homes with front porches! The walkable streets, great green spaces, and schools with Spark Parks. People walk their dogs in the evening. As the sign says, it's our little hometown near downtown.