Setting
It lies between the George R. Brown Convention Center and the East End district, and it is southwest of the Second Ward.
The East Downtown Management District manages the area. Its offices are headquartered at START Houston, a co-working space on Delano Street.
Old Chinatown
Old Chinatown is an area within East Downtown bounded by Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 59, Preston Street, St. Joseph Parkway and Emancipation Avenue, formerly Dowling Street. It is the older of Houston’s two Chinatowns and is distinct from the Chinatown in southwest Houston.
Cantonese immigrants moved into the former Houston Chinatown from Downtown Houston in the 1930s in search of less expensive land. Grocery stores, restaurants and Chinese New Year celebrations became part of the area, and immigrants from other East Asian countries, including Vietnam, also moved there.
Changing Name and Development
By the 1970s, many Asian immigrants, including Viet Hoa, were moving to Houston, and the East Downtown Chinatown became more established. By the 1980s, the area included a theater, supermarkets, warehouses, a bank and restaurants.
Many East Asian businesses later moved to the Chinatown in southwest Houston. By late 2009, the district authority had begun rebranding the area with that name, and by 2010 a community of artists had started to form there.
Cityscape
EaDo has been described through its mix of the George R. Brown Convention Center, downtown skyscrapers, angular new condominiums and low-slung warehouses, some still used for industrial storage. Historically, many Hispanic residents lived in small houses.
The opening of BBVA Compass Park and Daikin Park encouraged development in the district. By 2015, many older houses were being replaced by townhouses with wealthier occupants.
Venues and Cultural Sites
Shell Energy Stadium is in East Downtown on land bordered by Texas, Walker, Emancipation and Hutchins. It is home to the Houston Dynamo and the Texas Southern University football team, seats 22,039 and hosts soccer, football, concerts and boxing matches.
The Texas Guandi Temple is located in East Downtown and is open to followers of all religions. The Kim Sơn headquarters and restaurant is also in the district, and the former U.S. headquarters of Schlumberger, built in an Art Deco style, is in what is now EaDo.
Transit and Street Life
METRORail light rail has served the neighborhood since 2015 through EaDo/Stadium station on the Green and Purple lines and Leeland/Third Ward station on the Purple Line. METRO also operates bus service through the area.
East Downtown has long been known for having a relatively large homeless population. Nearby service agencies and groups providing food, clothing, toiletries and other items have drawn many homeless people in the Houston area to the district.
What it is like
EaDo, short for East Downtown, is near the George R. Brown Convention Center and Shell Energy Stadium. It was once home to Houston’s Chinatown, and the East Downtown Management District’s vision is for “a well-planned, high quality community” integrating regional and metropolitan commercial development with a stable, desirable residential neighborhood. EaDo and East End have a culturally diverse selection of places to dine, things to do and places to stay.
Sources: East Downtown Houston (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA); visithoustontexas.com