Chinatown, Houston
| Chinatown New Chinatown |
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|---|---|
| Neighborhood of Houston | |
Sign marking the Chinatown division of Greater Sharpstown
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| Coordinates: 29°42′18″N 95°32′42″W / 29.70500°N 95.54500°WCoordinates: 29°42′18″N 95°32′42″W / 29.70500°N 95.54500°W | |
| Country |
 United States
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| State | Texas |
| County | Harris County |
| City | Houston |
| ZIP Code | 77401 |
| Area code(s) | 713 |
Chinatown (Simplified Chinese: 中国城, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōngguóchéng) is a community in southwestern Houston, Texas, United States. It is roughly bounded by Fondren Road, Beechnut Street, State Highway 6, and Westpark Drive, and lies between Alief and the city of Bellaire. The naming of the new Chinatown is disputed, as various ethnic groups, especially Vietnamese, live within the community. Portions of Chinatown lie within the Southwest (formerly Greater Sharpstown), International, and Westchase management districts.
There is another Chinatown called "Old Chinatown" located within the East Downtown Houston district near the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The first businesses of the new Houston Chinatown opened in 1983. In the 1980s increasing numbers of Chinese were living in Southwest Houston and Fort Bend County and those residents were further away from the old Chinatown in what is now East Downtown. The new Chinatown began to expand in the 1990s when Houston-area Asian American entrepreneurs moved their businesses from older neighborhoods, especially the "Old Chinatown" on the eastern end of Downtown Houston (in the process of redevelopment), in a search for more inexpensive properties and lower crime rates (at the time).
In 2005 Christy Chang, a tour operator who operated tours into Chinatown, said "This area is not just Chinatown anymore. If anything, it's Asia Town" due to the presence of various ethnic groups that developed in the community. The Asian American Business Council estimated that between 2004 and 2008 the land values along Bellaire Boulevard in Chinatown increased between 25 and 50 percent. In 2008 the group estimated that 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2) in construction would appear in the following two-year period. The group estimated that the construction would include high end condominiums. Lisa Gray of the Houston Chronicle stated that the development of the remaining acreage would likely cause rents to increase and that, compared to many other Chinatowns in the United States, the Houston Chinatown is still relatively inexpensive.
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