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North of downtown - No other name has managed to stick for this area, just north of the original downtown and formerly the site of warehouses and industry. (A short-lived attempt to market the area as NoHo - NOrth of HOuston, get it? - died a well-deserved death and no good, short, snappy name has yet to fully permeate the collective consciousness of Houston.) Loft conversions and trendy residents are the rule in this area, nowadays, but there's still some good eats and nightlife to be found. Both a street name and a neighborhood, Montrose is Houston's longtime home to a large portion of its gay and lesbian community, as well as host to the city's museums. An area that was once affordable and appealing for its 1920's bungalows, it has now given way to gentrification and high property taxes. Of note in the Montrose is the Menil Collection, a private family collection of 20th Century modern masterpieces, open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 11-7. It boasts a large group of surrealist works and includes a special room devoted to the objects that the Surrealists themselves collected, which inspired many of the works on view."