The City of Houston maintains a newsletter for information of interest to citizens. Any number of issues might be announced through this medium, such as public meeting soliciting comments about street or drainage improvement projects under consideration. If you would like to sign up to receive these announcements, click  on the link above. Click here to go to the archive.

The City has a 311 system for reporting of various problems around the city. Representatives of the Public Works Department recently attended our Homeowners meeting (2015, after the floods) and told us that they use this system to evaluate where problems need to be fixed, and they use volume of issues reported as an indicator of priority. This means that it is to our benefit to report every occurrence of a particular problem through this system!

 

For example, several residents commented on sewage problems in their homes. This should be reported to 311 every time there is a problem, and neighbors having the same problem should also register issues to increase the visibility of the problem and accelerate a response from the City.

 

Note that these problems can be reported by phone or web (at this link), and there is also a smart phone app available, described elsewhere on this website. This makes reporting issues very easy! Click here for a full description of the service.

For reasons unknown, the City seems to change the location of this information periodically. For example, this link used to go to a map showing our service area and the schedule. Now, it takes you to a page where you have to enter more information and search to find the information! It is available here, just harder to get to.

If the link does not work, please let me know so I can repair it. Thanks, your webmaster.

Garbage DAY: TUESDAY
Heavy Trash/Tree waste DAY: 2nd Wednesday
Recycling DAY: TUESDAY-B

The City of Houston has an office whose mission "...is to improve the quality of life for all Houstonians by promoting efficient and effective city services, encouraging community involvement and participation, handling individual citizens’ concerns, and supporting neighborhood revitalization efforts throughout the City of Houston." This is a good place to start if you have a problem in the neighborhood that you don't know exactly how to handle. This could include dangerous buildings, weeded lots, abandoned vehicles and criminal activity.

Glass waste is not currently part of the city recycling program, but the city has provided a list of locations where glass can be dropped off for recycling. For locations nearest to Barkley Square, see this article.

Do you have a problem with a vehicle abandoned in your area? You can call 311 or report it online at the link.

The drop off center nearest to Barkley Square is on the Southwest Freeway (enter on Westpark).

This facility that accepts Junk Waste, Tree Waste and Recyclables at no additional charge to City of Houston residents.

Citizens may use the depositories four times per month.  Citizens are encouraged to arrive at least 30 minutes before closing time to allow adequate time to unload.  Each user must provide the following as proof of residency:

This center accepts batteries and electronic items, in addition to a long list of other things. Check their site for details, hours, and directions. The Westpark Consumer Recycling Center at 5900 Westpark is a drive-through facility where citizens of Houston can drop off their recyclables.

An interactive map shows cumulative rainfall figures in the area.

On this voter information page, you can find the latest news about the delayed mailing of voter ID cards due to issues surrounding the revised re-districting maps. This page is also the "gateway" to other information regarding voter registration matters.

This website comes from the Harris County Clerk and provides information about voting. You can look up your own information to see where and when to vote, and can even get a sample ballot to see in advance who and what you will be able to vote on.

With new maps  under development, it is important to be aware of voter registration issues. Click on this link to get the latest status reort!

This is a link to the Harris County Appraisal District site where you can look up values for homes in Harris County.

The Harris County Flood Control District maintains a website with information about this project that is of great interest and significance to our neighborhood. There is also a group on FaceBook (not part of HCFCD) for Citizens Solutions to Houston Flooding that may be of interest to residents. Going to the FaceBook page will provide an opportunity to sign up for the group.

Link to the official City of Houston website.

This is the official source of current information about the status of water restrictions in our neighborhood!

The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston sits at the north boundary of Barkley Square South at the corner of South Braeswood and Atwell Street and is the "landmark" facility for the neighborhood.

Houston is doing a lot toward encouraging and supporting bicycling in the city. This site offers information about that effort, as well as providing maps of cycling routes. If you bicycle, this may be of interest to you!

This is a service that provides a means of allowing residents to vote on-line on issues that the Association is resolving through resident votes. It is not presently offered by BSCC, but this entry is established to make the option readily available should the Board decide that there is a need for this option. This service is offered by subscription, but currently (5/2016) has a "one-time use" option available.

Our smallest near neighbor, with 132 homes, just north and east of us.

Our third largest neighbor, "next door" to our west. Maplewood Civic Club, PMB 280, Houston, TX 77096-3307

Located north and west of us with 524 homes.

Our "next door" neighbors, located on the east side of Atwell, with 436 homes. Marilyn Estates, P.O. Box 35144, Houston Texas 77235

Our second largest neighbor, with 2,307 homes. Meyerland Community Improvement Association, 4999 W. Bellfort. Houston, TX  77035   Phone  713-729-2167  Fax 713-729-0048

Largest near neighborhood south and west of us with 5,000 homes. Westbury Civic Club Office, 5322 W. Bellfort, Suite 107, Houston, TX 77035

We now have a FaceBook page for the neighborhood. We hope to see this grow over time and become a useful and informative resource for all our residents. Join us and make your contribution!

Our neighborhood is located in District C. This link provides information about the district and our council member.

This is the website for the Constables that protect our neighborhood. There is a lot of information here that might be helpful or of interest to residents. In particular, they have made it possible to submit vacation watches online, to set up special watches online, or to report "crime tips" online. It is worth your time to take a look at this page and familiarize yoursefl with its offerings.

There are two special programs offered by the Constables. These are Home Security Inspections and Operation Safe Child. Click the links for more information.

HomeServe, a City of Houston registered repair management company, has developed Water Service Line Coverage to manage the cost and inconvenience of an exterior water line emergency.

HomeServe is an independent company separate from your local utility or community.

A good source of information about the characteristics of the neighborhood. This link takes you directly to Barkley Square. See the other link in this section that goes to "77096". I am disappointed that the map function does not show boundaries of the subdivision named. So far, I have not been able to find that kind of resource on the web. If anyone finds that, I would appreciate getting the reference.

This is a rich site, with lots of information in different forms. You can look up maps of zip codes, neighborhood information (statistics, demographics, etc.), representation at the State or National level and more. It takes a little exploration to learn about the features, but is a great resource! For example, go to this page and enter your address to find out who represents you in Congress and a map of the district you are in.

Go here to look up information about your State of Texas representation, as well as your US Congressional representation.

Tax information about the neighborhood. Clicking on an address in the list will bring up additional information of interest such as appraised value, schools, demographics, and political representation.

Houston Association of Realtors provides a good resource for finding information about specific neighborhoods, The link takes you directly to a search for neighborhoods in the 77096 zip code. While very handy. I note that the data does not seem to be current, as I know of a number of homes in Barkley Square that exceed the price range quoted for our neighborhood. As with all data, be skeptical and cross-check anything that is really important to you!

This is a site that reports crimes by location so you can see where incidents have been reported geographically. The site supports email registration so you can sign up and receive regular notification about what has been reported within a specified distance from your home.

Guidebook on all Texas and Federal laws governing the administration and operation of Texas Homeowners Associations.