This results primarily from its most prized possession, its street trees. Yet the fabric is that of an urban neighborhood, not suburbia or the country. The street trees form geometric architectural patterns, and sidewalks connect the houses. The feeling is always urban, although the mood is one of charm, civility, grace and quietness. Boulevard Oaks is not just a neighborhood of mansions, however.
Residences range from duplex apartments to modest bungalows to mansions.
By culture, here we do not mean the opera or the symphony, although they are nearby. Rather we mean the quality of neighborliness and commitment to family and home which characterize its residents and the variety and diversity of the talents and interests of its residents. Boulevard Oaks is not a showplace neighborhood. Its large stock of modest housing is both home to many residents of more modest means, and avoids an image of an enclave for the rich, especially those who have just arrived. Proximity to Rice University, probably the outstanding university of the South, has always been an important shaping characteristic of the neighborhood.