| Transcript |
June 11, 1982/MONTROSE VOICE 19
Neighborhood
Montrose address not just a number but a way of life
PhotoBtory by Ed Martinez
Newcomers to Houston are faced with a
bewildering range of choices. One of the
most perplexing is where to live.
There are so many different types of
housing available, in such a wide latitude
of prices, locations, and lifestyles that it
truly boggles the mind.
Even when the specific location is pinpointed, there are still many choices to
make.
In Montrose, which is still a large neighborhood, there are many types and styles
of dwellings to consider. One of these is the
large apartment complex, and while obvi-
osly desirable, it too poses certain drawbacks. Nevertheless, such complexes are
plainly attracting thousands of new residents flocking to Houston each month.
One such complex is named, simply,
1400 Richmond.
This large apartment community, numbering in the hundreds of units, features
apartments on three levels, thus qualifying as garden, rather than high rise,
apartments. Handsome balconies overlook inner courtyards that provide off
street parking as well as pools and green
spaces for lolling about in good weather, of
which Houston has an abundance.
There are many apartment complexes
in Houston that can match these features,
however. Were 1400 Richmond no more
than this, it would hardly offer any particular advantages over competing apartment communities. The special attitude
that sets these apartments apart is something else, something more subtle and difficult to isolate. That something is what
makes 1400 Richmond much more than
just an address. Call it ambience, flavor,
or just plain pizazz, 1400 Richmond has it.
One of the things that gives these apartments their uniqueness is the convivial air
that competing lifestyles enjoy. In a
neighborhood heavily populated by gay
people, almost any large apartment house
in Montrose will have some gay people
living there. At 1400 Richmond, however,
there is a large percentage of tenants who
are gay. At the same time, the community
is so large that there is also a large number
of non-gay people in residence.
The beauty of the place, however, is that
everyone seems to coexist so well and with
such an absence of friction. In a city long
noted for conservatism in its attitudes,
such tolerance and permissiveness comes
as somewhat of a shock. Closer inspection,
however, reveals what more and more
Americans have finally come to accept:
gay people do not wear horns, are not child
molesters, are not hopeless social misfits,
and can be, and usually are, welcome
neighbors and very desirable ones too.
1400 Richmond is living proof of the
changing mores in even the most conservative of American cities. While Houston
may not necessarily qualify as extremely
conservative, it does have a history of
reactionary attitudes and politics. All that
seems to be changing, however, if this
large and very friendly apartment community is typical. And it does seem to be
typical of more and more complexes in the
inner city.
Houston in general, and Montrose in
particular, are living proof that "the times
they are a-changing," hopefully for the
better, at least as far as social awareness
and better understanding and tolerance of
different lifestyles and attitudes are concerned.
WHEN YOU'RE
TIRED
OF GAMES
CLUB HOUSTON
2205 fannin
659-4998
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