Meter Made

Rice Village revamps parking, adds meters at popular shopping and dining district

Courtesy rendering

Anyone who shops or dines at Rice Village regularly knows that parking is an issue. Now, officials are trying to to make the situation a little more bearable — though it's likely to cost you a little more for a prime space.

Beginning in February, storefront parking on streets in the heart of the Village —within the area bordered by Kirby Drive, Morningside Drive, Rice Boulevard, and University Boulevard — will be metered. Rates will be $1 for the first hour with payment by credit or debit card and the parking rules will enforced at all hours of the day and night.

Parking in the retail property’s central parking garage and rooftop parking area will be free for up to two hours (no validation is necessary). Officials for the Rice Village District and Lamesa Properties say the new plan will increase the number of free parking spaces in the area by 36 percent and the metered option will ensure turnover of spaces in front of stores.

“By optimizing the location and management of Rice Village’s free and paid parking areas, we have created convenient and cost-effective parking solutions for those looking to shop at a particular store as well as for those looking to shop, dine and stay for an extended period of time,” Jerry Marcus, president of The Parking Advisory Group and a consultant on the revamped parking, said in a statement.

Uniformed "parking ambassadors" will roam the area to assist shoppers with the operation of meters and additional signage will be installed to direct drivers to the garage and rooftop parking areas. A portion of income from the meters will benefit a community SPARK Park at nearby Roberts Elementary School and the Poe Elementary School PTO.

The parking changes come amid a multi-million dollar renovation and rebranding of the venerable shopping and dining district as such popular new tenants as Shake Shack and Hopdoddy make plans to open this year. Changes include updated exteriors, outdoor seating, sidewalk improvements to make the area more pedestrian friendly, and art projects.

Houston graffiti artist GONZO247 has painted a 30-foot-wide, 8-feet-tall mural and a modernist-looking on a building at Morningside Drive and Origami-based owl by sculpture artist Nathan Mabry is planned on Kelvin Drive just north of University Boulevard in tribute to the mascot of nearby Rice University.

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Bang for Buck

Surprising suburb unlocks biggest apartments in Houston for $1,500

Photo by Matt Halls on Unsplash

Pasadena has the 6th roomiest apartments on a budget in Texas.

Budget-conscious renters searching for the roomiest apartments in the region should look no further than Pasadena. According to a new study, the east Houston suburb has the biggest apartments on a budget in the metro.

In 2026, Pasadena residents can rent a 1,125-square-foot apartment for $1,500 per month. That's enough space for a two- or three-bedroom unit, and it's four square feet bigger than what renters could get with the same budget last year.

RentCafe's annual report analyzes the places where renters can find the largest apartment sizes across 200 of the most populous U.S. cities for a monthly budget of $1,500. The price per square foot was calculated using the average apartment rent and size per city based on "multifamily properties" containing 50 or more units.

Pasadena offers the 6th most spacious apartments in Texas for $1,500, and Houston ranks 11th statewide.

Renters in Houston proper will net a 976-square-foot apartment for the same price in 2026, a size that has shrunk by more than 20 square feet since 2023.

Apartment sizes across Texas
For the second year in a row, the Rio Grande Valley is the region that has the most spacious apartments for a $1,500 monthly budget, RentCafe found.

McAllen leads the nation with the biggest apartment size – at 1,378 square feet – which is large enough for a three- or four-bedroom unit.

"With rents averaging just $993 and the typical apartment measuring 912 square feet, McAllen renters get a lot more space for their money than most Americans do within that monthly budget," the report said. "Still, that figure is down slightly from last year’s 1,393 square feet — a sign that even the most affordable markets are starting to tighten."

Brownsville, another city on the border located an hour east of McAllen, ranks fourth statewide with apartments spanning 1,213 square feet for the same budget.

These are the top 10 Texas cities that offer the biggest apartments for $1,500 in 2026:

No. 1 – McAllen (1,378 square feet)
No. 2 – Amarillo (1,237 square feet)
No. 3 – Lubbock (1,217 square feet)
No. 4 – Brownsville (1,213 square feet)
No. 5 – El Paso (1,128 square feet)
No. 6 – Pasadena (1,125 square feet)
No. 7 – Corpus Christi (1,115 square feet)
No. 8 – Killeen (1,058 square feet)
No. 9 – San Antonio (1,023 square feet)
No. 10 – Mesquite (988 square feet)

real estate apartments housing rentcafe study houston pasadena