Your Expert Guide
Garden Oaks + Shepherd Park Plaza: Beautiful trees with easy city access
Agent Dawn Smith.
There are so many great places to live in Houston that it helps to have an expert on your side. The Neighborhood Guide presented by Martha Turner Sotheby's International Realty gives you insider access from the agents who live and work there, providing in-the-know info about your possible new community.
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When it comes to the neighboring communities of Garden Oaks and Shepherd Park Plaza, you can expect beautiful, treed lots in a suburban-style environment that’s still minutes from downtown Houston.
Indeed, both the trees and the location did the talking for Dawn Smith when she moved to the area more than 10 years ago.
“We're close to local breweries, parks, and restaurants, and within five minutes of grocery stores, shops and highways,” she says. “Plus, it’s under a 30-minute drive to both airports.”
When she’s not celebrating these neighborhoods and helping buyers land their dream homes there, you’ll probably find Smith spending time in the great outdoors. She enjoys camping, biking, and water activities — and also owns an RV repair shop!
Smith shared a few of her personal favorites about life in Garden Oaks and Shepherd Park Plaza. Here's her guide:
Where to eat & drink
Plonk Beer & Wine Bistro has a good wine selection, according to Smith. She also loves the Firecracker Pizza there, which packs a punch with prosciutto, habanero, and locally grown arugula.
For coffee, it’s Common Bond, and for happy hour and light bites, she heads to d’Alba. Try the balloon bread with pesto, garlic, and truffle honey.
Valencia's Tex-Mex Garage is the place for Mexican food in Smith’s book. And Cajun hotspot BB’s Tex-Orleans is always on her list during crawfish season.
Where to play
Smith mentions that both neighborhoods have their own small parks. Also, the larger T.C. Jester Park, with its disc golf course, biking and jogging trails, enclosed dog park, pool, and playground, is close by.
“We also have a feed store right outside the neighborhood — Wabash Feed & Garden — with live animals and plants, if you ever need to feel like you’re in the country,” she adds.
Where to live
“Garden Oaks has a variety of home styles, including new construction, that make the neighborhood unique, while the Shepherd Park Plaza area has more of the one- and two-story traditional brick homes,” says Smith.
It’s also good to keep in mind that both neighborhoods have elementary schools in them: Garden Oaks Elementary in Garden Oaks and Durham Elementary in Shepherd Park Plaza.
“Both neighborhoods also have large, wooded lots and are in zone X on the flood map, which means they are not in a flood zone!” she adds.
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Dawn Smith works and plays in Garden Oaks and Shepherd Park Plaza. For more information on buying and selling a home in the area, click here, email dawn.smith@sothebys.realty, or call 713-705-4984.
