Originating Streets

I have started to see an interesting pattern in Houston. It is probably not accidental, but I have not been able to find a name for this practice otherwise, so I am just going to call it the Origin Street practice for schools.

When I started exploring the neighborhood when I moved to Houston Heights, I was awestruck by Hogg Middle School’s front façade. The school splits the neighborhood’s grid and Norhill Boulevard. Throughout its length, the Boulevard opens up to create beautiful esplanades that make way for greenspaces popular with the neighborhood. These esplanades are also the site of the popular celebrations of Lights in the Heights.

I then noticed that what makes the Jacobian façade of the middle school stand out so much is that the entrance is placed exactly where the street would end. In other words, Norhill Blvd ends/or starts at the front door of the school.

I then later recalled that Hamilton Middle School on 20th Street is also situated at the end of a much longer and continuous Heights Blvd. And the same happens with Heights High School (fka Reagan High School), but this time with Columbia St.

Further down south near the Montrose neighborhood, I also noticed that at the intersection of Woodhead St and Hawthorne St, Lanier Middle School similarly ends at Hawthorne.

And as I started moving around the city, I’ve noticed it even more. For example, the other day I was riding in the backseat as a passenger along Highway 288 and I noticed it for the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy on Cleburne St.

It adds such an element of grandeur to coming into the school. What seems like such a missed opportunity is that the intersections at the Origin Street are not more inviting. For example, these spaces could be ceremonial flex spaces, serving as places to host a variety of events from farmers markets to commencement ceremonies. Recently, the Montrose Redevelopment Authority undertook a bicycle boulevard project along Hawthorne St and Woodhead St, and the two meet right at the entrance of Lanier Middle School. The project involved creating raised intersections and I think even just that creates more of a sense of place.

It is quite ironic because when it comes to urban design and movement, I am all for uninterrupted grids, but this Origin Streets practice does create a sense of variety and sense of place. I only wish that we could live in a society where schools don’t have to be all locked down and fenced, and instead the community around them could freely walk through their paths, etc. similar to college campuses.

There is something so urbanist about this practice, and it is so widespread around the city that I am beginning to wonder how often is this done in other places?