Hear Our Houston

Microcosm

20 minutes

1 mile

From 6200 Bellaire Blvd to Bayland Park at Bissonnet and Hillcroft

Visual Artist Stephanie Toppin echoes Bob Stein, the dean of the School of Social Sciences of Rice University: “Hillcroft is disorganized but not necessarily unorganized development. It is what Houston is all about. When you go from one end of Hillcroft to the other end, you cross every ethnic and racial group in our city. As a result, I want to say it is a microcosm.” In Toppin’s words: “This one mile stretch of Hillcroft provides everything you need but wins you over through your stomach. Your destination is Bayland Park, always bustling with a game of soccer, families relaxing after a long day, and children unphased by the summer sun. I grew up here for my elementary school life and my mother always chanted that perhaps we would not have money for some things but we would never, ever go hungry. There was always food, ‘our food,’ as well as the education of sampling tastes from many different cultures. ”