Picture of the Uptown Houston Skyline.
The Williams Tower stands out in this picture.

Picture of Uptown Houston looking down Westheimer Road

Picture of Uptown Houston looking north on Post Oak
Boulevard during the Christmas season.

Uptown Houston, or the Uptown District, is mainly centered around the Houston Galleria, the largest and most prestigious mall in Houston. In its role as a high-end fashion and hotel district, it is approximately the Houston equivalent of San Francisco's Union Square and Los Angeles' Beverly Hills.

At 23.6 million square feet (2,193,000 m²) of office space, Uptown is also known for its skyline - it's Houston's second largest business district, and the nation's 14th largest, about the size of downtown Atlanta, Denver and Los Angeles.

The Uptown District has about 5 million square feet (500,000 m²) of retail space, and is the center of Houston's high-fashion scene. Around the Galleria, many trendy strip malls, eateries, and other sorts of entertainment exist in the area, including Houston's only F.A.O. Schwarz. Uptown is home to many upscale boutiques, as well as many Houston-based and local high-fashion designers and stores. Though the Galleria houses the prime of Uptown's luxury stores, there are many other upscale strip malls in this area. Stores outside of the Galleria but in the immediate area include:

Uptown is home to the 64 story Williams Tower, which was built in 1983 as the Transco Tower. It is the disputed tallest building in the world outside of a central business district. While the Houston Chase Tower is the tallest building in Houston, the Williams Tower is the tallest building in the city outside of downtown. The Uptown district is also home to other landmark buildings, designed by architects such as Cesar Pelli and Philip Johnson.

This area is also home to many of Houston's high-rises apartment buildings and lofts. There are at least 30 high-rise apartment buildings in the immediate Uptown area. The average per capita income of this area and a 3 mile (5 km) radius around it is about $65,000, higher than Beverly Hills and Costa Mesa, California.

Uptown, which is the area with Houston's largest hotel renevue, hosts about 20 million visitors a year.

External links

• Uptown Houston Homepage