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:''For the community near Tampa, see Westchase, Florida.'' Westchase is a business management district, with some residential and retail elements, located in western Houston, Texas, United States. The district is bounded roughly by Westheimer Road on the north, Gessner Road on the east, Wilcrest Drive on the west, and the Westpark Tollway on the south (although some portions extend as far north as Briar Forest Lane and as far south as Bellaire Boulevard). The Sam Houston Tollway and Richmond Avenue also connect the district to the rest of Houston. Westchase is considered a "Special district" under Texas law; the district has its own board of directors (composed of key leaders from businesses in the immediate area) and provides supplementary marketing, planning and public safety functions for local residents and business. Westchase is adjacent to the Sharpstown, International (which includes part of Chinatown) and Energy Corridor management districts, as well as the master-planned Royal Oaks Country Club subdivision; Westchase is immediately north and east of the Alief community, a largely residential and commercial district, and is sometimes considered part of Alief. More than 1,500 businesses reside in Westchase. Several are associated with the petroleum industry, of which Houston is considered a major capital. Major employers that have offices in Westchase include ABB Group, BMC Software, Chevron, Phillips 66, Dow Chemical, Halliburton, and Jacobs Engineering.〔"(About Westchase )." ''Westchase''. Retrieved on February 5, 2009.〕 John Nova Lomax of the ''Houston Press'' said in a 2006 article that the segment of Westheimer in Westchase contains "virtually all chains -- a ''Geography of Nowhere'' wasteland of Boston Market, Borders, Kroger, Randalls, Taco Bell, Citgo and Sonic. Several of the six CVS outlets we passed are there, as are a few of the uncountable Starbucks." He added that the segment of Westheimer Road in Westchase does not have "the sleaze of the Highway 6 area and the tacky exuberance of mid-Westheimer, the area between Chimney Rock and Fondren."〔Lomax, John Nova. "The Sole of Houston." ''Houston Press''. October 12, 2006. (3 ).〕 The Westchase district is approximately 2,700 acres in size, with 16.3 million square feet of office space contained in 118 office buildings.〔http://westchasedistrict.com/pdf/2014_Westchase_District_Land_Use_Map.pdf〕 ==History== What is now Westchase was land under the family of R.E. "Bob" Smith, a Houston rancher and philanthropist (best known for partnering with Judge Roy Hofheinz, among others, in the early 1960s to create what would become the Houston Astros Major League Baseball franchise). In 1969 Friendswood Development Company purchased a section of Smith's land to form what is now Woodlake, an upper-middle-class residential subdivision off Gessner Road between Briar Forest Lane and Westheimer Road. In 1973 the Westchase Corporation purchased of Smith family land. As development expanded, Chevron and Western Geophysical were some of the first companies to establish operations in Westchase. The section of Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway) serving the area opened in 1988, increasing road access. It became clear that some sort of "master plan" was needed to provide for orderly development and marketing of the area. Legislation creating the Westchase District was passed by the 73rd Texas State Legislature and became law on August 28, 1995.〔"(History of Westchase )." ''Westchase''. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.〕 From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many African-Americans left traditional African-American neighborhoods and entered parts of Westchase 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Westchase, Houston」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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