Westheimer Vs. Wilshire

[worldlyman]

Houston is a modified, more auto-friendly version of Los Angeles, which is something of a hybrid 1920's built city with modern sprawl that was added to its layers in the subsequent decades.

As far as I'm concerned, Westheimer and Wilshire are the two "main streets" of these two great cities, respectively. They are both the central thoroughfares to get to the other points of interest, more or less.

Wilshire is still probably my favorite street anywhere in the USA...even though I don't like driving up to L.A. to joyride like I used to. In the context of being a car city, Wilshire is very much a pedestrian's haven. I've always liked to park near the cross streets of Normandie or Western and just walk. It's loaded with all sorts of the obvious diversions. One time when my wife had to get her passport straightened out at the Philippine Consulate there on the 5400 block not far from Western, I had a fresh brew at some coffee house, a non-chain, just at the floor of that high rise. I was in urban heaven just walking and people watching.

Wilshire is like Main and Fannin in the Med Center that doesn't seem to end. (In perspective, I realize that Hermann Park is a great steel and concrete neutralizer or break or whatever...) Well, at least in the Med Center, just hop on the METRORAIL and go downtown to make the walking shoes happy some more and it's safe enough. In Wilshire, you have to be careful constantly where you tread but it's worth it exploring Koreatown. I've done it a couple of times and I've survived.

But Wilshire can be a claustrophobic place for an automobile driver. There is no such thing as a protected-left turn, really. The cars parked on the street add to that cramped feeling which I hate about driving in SoCal. Much of mid-LA is like that. Wilshire is also typically four lanes, two each way, with space for on-street parking.

Then there is the contrasting beauty of Westheimer. It is like the cosmopolitan and diverse commercial city scape of DIVERSIONS such as what Wilshire's got...but it is built for the automobile. The parking lots keep cars off the streets so that your driving vision is more clear. Protected left turns are practically in good supply. Sure there are sidewalks but they are utilitarian for those who catch buses or live nearby. I would not park at Fountainview just to joywalk up and down Westheimer. I've done Bellaire/Gessner...but Westheimer is too much. You can drive smoothly with your favorite music along those eight lanes.

Westheimer has that mix of high-rises and a motley collection of interesting strip centers/blocks from the Uptown area to the Kaleidoscope to the Carillion to those new "lifestyle" strips near Kirkwood. There's everything from Colombian to Persian to Japanese on Westheimer. Clubs for karaoke, clubs for 'tipping the G-strings...you got it.

If Westheimer and Wilshire are the yin and yang, which do you prefer for a Sun Belt sprawl-a-thon? Wilshire is a nice resource that lends a somewhat Outer-Borough vibe to a great Sun Belt city but since it's a car city primarily, perhaps the evolution of Westheimer is not so bad after all?

The new developments to be placed along Kirby and Post Oak/San Felipe should address the start of a Wilshire type thing anyway, eh?

[Guest danax]

Wilshire is truly a great boulevard, it's interesting from DT to Ocean. In 1983 I lived on the top floor of a 1929, 6 story apartment building with a pool on the roof at 7th and Irolo, a block from Wilshire and paid $450 mo. and can only imagine how much it would cost now. The area was semi-rough but the great architecture and city feel was worth it.

Westheimer is interesting too but it just doesn't have the architecture. Maybe in 50 years it will acquire a similar patina.

[The Great Hizzy!]

I would agree with that. Where Wilshire can seem claustrophobic, Westheimer, even in heavy traffic, seems less stiffling. However, Wilshire is indeed an urban thoroughfare, with lots of great contrasting architecture. The architecture is certainly not as varied on Westheimer, and for the obvious reasons.

If anything, Westheimer is akin to South Dixie Highway in southern Miami-Dade County, although South Dixie can be especially disconcerting, carrying the negatives of both Westheimer and Wilshire, being claustrophobic at times as well as choked with traffic. Nevertheless, the Kendall area is progressing nicely--not on the level of Uptown but a step up from Westchase, indeed.

The very tip of South Dixie Highway, once you leave DT Miami and just after the road changes monickers from Brickell to SDH, you have great views of all the lovely new condo towers going up (South Brickell area). That trumps both Wilshire and Westheimer in that regard, IMO.

Edited February 28, 2006 by The Great Hizzy!

[Guest Plastic]

LA has alot of Boulevards, There's Wilshire,Santa Monica,Hollywood,and Sunset.

While Westheimer is Housotn's biggest 1960 is our North side one and Spencer Highway is our Southeast side one.

I can't imagine a main street with 2 lanes and people parked out on it.

[worldlyman]

Wilshire is truly a great boulevard, it's interesting from DT to Ocean. In 1983 I lived on the top floor of a 1929, 6 story apartment building with a pool on the roof at 7th and Irolo, a block from Wilshire and paid $450 mo. and can only imagine how much it would cost now. The area was semi-rough but the great architecture and city feel was worth it.

Westheimer is interesting too but it just doesn't have the architecture. Maybe in 50 years it will acquire a similar patina.

One can still pay $450 a month along Wilshire...provided you live with about four or five other nice people.

The 1980s...when L.A. was spreading the hair spray look. It must have been an experience living in that area at that moment in time?

Westheimer has lots of goodies...it's just that the quite wider spacing of it makes them less apparent, unlike Wilshire where most things are practically shoulder to shoulder. But in 50 years, indeed, perhaps all that space will be filled in along much of upper Westheimer.

[Guest danax]

One can still pay $450 a month along Wilshire...provided you live with about four or five other nice people.

The 1980s...when L.A. was spreading the hair spray look. It must have been an experience living in that area at that moment in time?

Westheimer has lots of goodies...it's just that the quite wider spacing of it makes them less apparent, unlike Wilshire where most things are practically shoulder to shoulder. But in 50 years, indeed, perhaps all that space will be filled in along much of upper Westheimer.

It was the next year that I moved to West LA for another $450 apt and, when I left in '85, they had sold the place and, after very modest upgrades, raised the rent to $900. That was my first clue that things were about to get crazy price-wise.

The hair-spray look....are you talking about the spiked hair or the perfectly sculpted body look? The punks had started the hair and clothing but pop music turned it into New Wave and one possibly related effect was the sprouting of colorful "new wave" shops and clubs. I remember driving down Melrose and it seemed like overnight, all of these colorful oddball shops were popping up. In '84 the Olympics added more color with banners lining many boulevards. These may have been the beginnings of "urban culture" in L.A ie; the mainstreaming of living close to the heart of the city. It was still fairly underground, I think, then. The place off of Wilshire where I lived was ultra cool, at least I knew it was, but the typical reaction was "why are you living THERE?". There were artists and musicians that were spread around the inner city hoods like East Hollywood, Echo Park, Venice etc. mainly because it was fairly cheap still. I then moved to Silverlake, another one of those unusually cool settings that constantly melt into one another there.

Little did I realize then that the buildings and varied neighborhoods were impregnating me with seeds that eventually gave birth to a love for old architecture, big cities and Los Angeles in particular.

[dalparadise]

If Westheimer, west of Chimney Rock, were to ignite, burn to ashes and blow away in a frontal storm that carried the ashes and deposited them in the mountains of Mexico, I'd never miss it.

It is not a great boulevard. It is an embarassment.

Montrose is a nice boulevard. It's somewhat like Pico, in West LA., or maybe a little like Santa Monica Blvd. in some places.

Nothing in Houston compares to the East-West boulevards in LA. Often, that's not a bad thing. They can look a little run-down at times. We could use a Melrose or Sunset, for the variety of architecture and retail and varying density they have along their runs.

[Guest Plastic]

If Westheimer, west of Chimney Rock, were to ignite, burn to ashes and blow away in a frontal storm that carried the ashes and deposited them in the mountains of Mexico, I'd never miss it.

You kiding, that's the best part of it! Montrose looks liek ____.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Plastic,

This website and the majority of its posters don't condone strip malls. Westheimer is loaded with strip malls. Thus, don't expect a lot of posters to sing its praises.

I agree with Dal that Montrose is very attractive from W. Gray to the Meacom Fountain. Not that Montrose is free from strip malls either but it's a better mix, and you're not bombarded by large, overbearing signage. Westheimer's biggest demerit, particular after you leave Fountainview heading west, is that it is choked by large marquees and billboards. The strip malls wouldn't be so bad if there were more trees filling the lots, but alas...

[Guest Plastic]

That's the way I liek Westheimer, that's the way Houston is. We're a strip mall city. If you wantsomethng different go to NYC.

[Jeebus]

That's the way I liek Westheimer, that's the way Houston is. We're a strip mall city. If you wantsomethng different go to NYC.

That's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh uh-huh.

There should be no one out there that likes stripmalls.

[worldlyman]

It was the next year that I moved to West LA for another $450 apt and, when I left in '85, they had sold the place and, after very modest upgrades, raised the rent to $900. That was my first clue that things were about to get crazy price-wise.

The hair-spray look....are you talking about the spiked hair or the perfectly sculpted body look? The punks had started the hair and clothing but pop music turned it into New Wave and one possibly related effect was the sprouting of colorful "new wave" shops and clubs. I remember driving down Melrose and it seemed like overnight, all of these colorful oddball shops were popping up. In '84 the Olympics added more color with banners lining many boulevards. These may have been the beginnings of "urban culture" in L.A ie; the mainstreaming of living close to the heart of the city. It was still fairly underground, I think, then. The place off of Wilshire where I lived was ultra cool, at least I knew it was, but the typical reaction was "why are you living THERE?". There were artists and musicians that were spread around the inner city hoods like East Hollywood, Echo Park, Venice etc. mainly because it was fairly cheap still. I then moved to Silverlake, another one of those unusually cool settings that constantly melt into one another there.

Little did I realize then that the buildings and varied neighborhoods were impregnating me with seeds that eventually gave birth to a love for old architecture, big cities and Los Angeles in particular.

Regarding the hair, probably the spiked hair. A lot of those cheeseball movies set in L.A., action and comic, with the heavy synth pop beats still give me a hoot.

That's interesting from what you've experienced how the Melrose thing started, that interest in more urban mindsets in a sprawling Sun Belt context. Westheimer is so new, that it lacks some of the '20s era touches that we see in Wilshire. But then again, Westheimer is still in position to re-define and experiment with some new things, I suppose.

[Guest Plastic]

Westheimer is more liek 3 streets, Lower which came about in the early 20th century, mMiddle and Upper Westheimer.

Actually it's older. It was originally a dirt road on a farm for Mr.Weingarten. And if you're from Houston you might recognize that name.

[worldlyman]

If Westheimer, west of Chimney Rock, were to ignite, burn to ashes and blow away in a frontal storm that carried the ashes and deposited them in the mountains of Mexico, I'd never miss it.

It is not a great boulevard. It is an embarassment.

Montrose is a nice boulevard. It's somewhat like Pico, in West LA., or maybe a little like Santa Monica Blvd. in some places.

Nothing in Houston compares to the East-West boulevards in LA. Often, that's not a bad thing. They can look a little run-down at times. We could use a Melrose or Sunset, for the variety of architecture and retail and varying density they have along their runs.

To be quite honest, lots of visitors I entertained in Houston, from Florida and Chicago, felt excited by the cornucopia of shops and night colors of Westheimer; the street does have an energy to it that does favor the automobile. In terms of shops, eats and some entertainment, it does rival any of L.A.'s popular boulevards. It's just that upper Westheimer is newer and sterile because of its spacing, not walkable like L.A.'s streets. But nobody can deny that Westheimer is loaded with any commercial storefront one can want.

But I maintain, it's a yin and yang thing with Wilshire. Westheimer is simply the new Wilshire with parking lots, wider lane spacing and protected left turns. Sometimes I'm in the mood for one or the other type of boulevard so I don't believe Westheimer is inferior per se.

Westheimer is simply a natural evolution up on Wilshire, especially in the context of urban evolution. It is built for the automobile and no matter how many cool pedestrian districts or redevelopments happen there, Houston is the Car Capital.

I think Houston is more of a city of truly eclectic pockets compared to the same old relative template we see in crowded L.A. I mean, Santa Ana has the same old brick and concrete set-up as Pasadena. It's just different demographics and lifestyle. Burbank's cute little commercial district is very much the same thing as 3rd Street Promenade, just less intense. I feel as if I'm in one or the other when I'm in L.A.'s entertainment districts.

But the look and feel of metro Houston's stuff is another thing. When I'm in Old Town Spring, it really does feel like I'm in Mayberry...there's nothing else in H-town with that set-up and vibe. Rice Village does feel like a SoCal entertainment district, there's nothing else in H-town with that particular grid set-up (and I don't think any of the nouveaux "town centers" qualify). Montrose does not have a structural set-up that comes close to resembling Old Town Spring or Rice Village. Kemah, even if dominated by certain theme restaurants, has a set-up unlike anything else in the Houston area (and it's more a more interesting seaside diversion than San Diego's Seaport Village or Santa Monic Pier). W. Gray has a nice scattering of eats and spirits under nice shady trees and cool old houses that's hard to find. L.A.'s side streets generally look just like the major streets. You won't find a W. Gray type of setting off of Sunset or Melrose.

In L.A., I've found that driving from Pasadena then to top off in Santa Monica...there's not much of a change in vibe or pace when grabbing an iced mocha. But there is a huge difference in vibe and pace grabbing an iced mocha in the Montrose and then concluding in downtown H-town. And think of the proximity aspect too.

And downtown Houston's environs...the set-up as a nocturnal pedestrian panorama, even if it's still lacking everyday retail...are more urbane than L.A.'s streets which seem like US-versions of Tijuana's Revolucion in comparison. Once substantial retail hits downtown Houston, hopefully sparked by the Pavilions, gets going...it's over.

It's quite easier (or more convenient) to find an oddball mix of quaint, pastoral and rustic yet urbane and hectic in Houston than in Los Angeles.

Don't get me wrong...I'm in love with what L.A. offers, I go up there quite a bit. I just think that Houston's variation in its sprawl is simply different but certainly not inferior.

Westheimer is more liek 3 streets, Lower which came about in the early 20th century, mMiddle and Upper Westheimer.

Actually it's older. It was originally a dirt road on a farm for Mr.Weingarten. And if you're from Houston you might recognize that name.

That's what I love about Westheimer. It has intimate sidewalks in the lower area but west of 610...I like the mumbo jumbo of any shop or restaurant or club a person could want.

[DaTrain]

Westheimer is pretty much the suburban version of Wilshire, I have 2 admit, but I'm also guilty of liking Westheimer outside the loop as well for auto pleasure -- cruisin down the street. (no pun intended) Still it gets low marks for a lack of greenery between Gessner and Fountainview and yes, strip centers. Other than that, it does have variety to it, even if it is a bit dull somehwere between Uptown and Westchase.

[Vertigo58]

Houston is a modified, more auto-friendly version of Los Angeles, which is something of a hybrid 1920's built city with modern sprawl that was added to its layers in the subsequent decades.

As far as I'm concerned, Westheimer and Wilshire are the two "main streets" of these two great cities, respectively. They are both the central thoroughfares to get to the other points of interest, more or less.

Wilshire is still probably my favorite street anywhere in the USA...even though I don't like driving up to L.A. to joyride like I used to. In the context of being a car city, Wilshire is very much a pedestrian's haven. I've always liked to park near the cross streets of Normandie or Western and just walk. It's loaded with all sorts of the obvious diversions. One time when my wife had to get her passport straightened out at the Philippine Consulate there on the 5400 block not far from Western, I had a fresh brew at some coffee house, a non-chain, just at the floor of that high rise. I was in urban heaven just walking and people watching.

Wilshire is like Main and Fannin in the Med Center that doesn't seem to end. (In perspective, I realize that Hermann Park is a great steel and concrete neutralizer or break or whatever...) Well, at least in the Med Center, just hop on the METRORAIL and go downtown to make the walking shoes happy some more and it's safe enough. In Wilshire, you have to be careful constantly where you tread but it's worth it exploring Koreatown. I've done it a couple of times and I've survived.

But Wilshire can be a claustrophobic place for an automobile driver. There is no such thing as a protected-left turn, really. The cars parked on the street add to that cramped feeling which I hate about driving in SoCal. Much of mid-LA is like that. Wilshire is also typically four lanes, two each way, with space for on-street parking.

Then there is the contrasting beauty of Westheimer. It is like the cosmopolitan and diverse commercial city scape of DIVERSIONS such as what Wilshire's got...but it is built for the automobile. The parking lots keep cars off the streets so that your driving vision is more clear. Protected left turns are practically in good supply. Sure there are sidewalks but they are utilitarian for those who catch buses or live nearby. I would not park at Fountainview just to joywalk up and down Westheimer. I've done Bellaire/Gessner...but Westheimer is too much. You can drive smoothly with your favorite music along those eight lanes.

Westheimer has that mix of high-rises and a motley collection of interesting strip centers/blocks from the Uptown area to the Kaleidoscope to the Carillion to those new "lifestyle" strips near Kirkwood. There's everything from Colombian to Persian to Japanese on Westheimer. Clubs for karaoke, clubs for 'tipping the G-strings...you got it.

If Westheimer and Wilshire are the yin and yang, which do you prefer for a Sun Belt sprawl-a-thon? Wilshire is a nice resource that lends a somewhat Outer-Borough vibe to a great Sun Belt city but since it's a car city primarily, perhaps the evolution of Westheimer is not so bad after all?

The new developments to be placed along Kirby and Post Oak/San Felipe should address the start of a Wilshire type thing anyway, eh?

I used to live in West LA and worked right at Barrington Plaza/Wilshire Blvd. Boy do I miss the excitement. However I dont miss the traffic & high cost of living. Westheimer is really becoming much like Wilshire and I am glad to say I work on the Westchase side which is ever-growing. We need more high rise apts like LA. Anything is better than apts. People can knock LA all they want but I was so impressed with EX: Santa Monica Frwy with its wide lanes 8 on both side I think. Houston may as well get on the ball as our population is soaring and our freeways are somewhat of an embarassment as far as engineering feats is concerned.

[kw_uh97]

I've always liked to park near the cross streets of Normandie or Western and just walk.

Normadie and Western isn't that were they started or was very active during the riots. I'm not sure which riots but I think it was the one that broke out after the policemen were aquitted of beating Rodney King.

[Gary]

Having quite a bit of experience myself with Wilshire Blvd, it blows upper Westheimer (Chimney Rock to Wilcrest) out of the water visually. That being said, Westheimer with all of it's signage looks much better at night.

[Vertigo58]

Normadie and Western isn't that were they started or was very active during the riots. I'm not sure which riots but I think it was the one that broke out after the policemen were aquitted of beating Rodney King.

The spot where all that started was at the corner of Florence and Normandy Blvds in South Central LA a far distance from Wilshire Blvd. S Central LA by the way is a world away from The Wilshire business district which starts somewhere around near downtown and winds all the way west to the Pacific Ocean. People compare it to Westheimer becasue of the high-rise office bldgs, shopping strips etc. I found it to be a very cosmopolitan scene while living there especially when in the UCLA area (Westwood) you pass right under the 405 San Diego Frwy.

Being there was such a fantastic experience because I knew and worked with numerous people in the entertainment industry, movies, TV, music and so on.

[Jonah]

I love the diversity of driving down Wilshire, although it can get a little cramped around the 405 & UCLA. Driving from downtown LA to Santa Monica on a Saturday morning is such a pleasant experience. I love Westheimer but it really doesn't compare to Wilshire in terms of beauty. I just love the different districts driving down Wilshire, going from downtown to K-town, through Miracle Mile, into Beverly Hills, then through Westwood/UCLA, and on to Santa Monica. They each have a slightly different feel and I love the fact that in each district there's a center esplanade with beautiful landscaping that really adds to look of each area. I wish there was more of that in Houston. I can only think of certain sections of Main Street and Richmond Ave. around Greenway plaza that have the same look. Montrose Blvd. would be perfect if it had something like that from W. Dallas all the way to the Museum District.

[Montrose1100]

Wilshire a Claustrophobic nightmare? Then what is Westhiemer?

Westheimer from Midtown thru Montrose and into Upper Kirby is tight. The lanes are close together, and its near impossible to fit 2 SUVs comfortably in one direction. Also, the sharp turns in Montrose don't help either.

[desirous]

Hey now folks, don't be bashing Westheimer strip malls. They're as diverse, local, and worthy as strip malls get. Of course, that's not saying much, but vent the anger towards the suburban strip malls. Those are horrid marks on the face of civilization, especially the supposedly "beautified" ones out in Sugar Land with uniform styling - I swear, that's the low-density equivalent of Communist architecture. At least the unsightly messes on Westheimer are automotive versions of market bazaars.

Wilshire a Claustrophobic nightmare? Then what is Westhiemer?

Westheimer from Midtown thru Montrose and into Upper Kirby is tight. The lanes are close together, and its near impossible to fit 2 SUVs comfortably in one direction. Also, the sharp turns in Montrose don't help either.

Indeed, driving on Westheimer past Kirby feels like driving in Austin - that's never a good sign.