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How Washington Ave. residents are leading the fight against nightclub mayhem

2 10
03.07.2025

Editor's Note: This is the third column in a three-part series reporting on problems with bar and club activity in Houston's neighborhoods. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

More than 20 years ago, Stacie and Mark Fairchild met in a Midtown bar and started their lives together in the Rice Military neighborhood off Washington Avenue near Memorial Drive.

It was an enticing community with a mix of residential and commercial real estate. There were only a handful of bars and clubs in the area then. Occasionally, things got a little noisy and rowdy. That was about it.

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As more bars and clubs opened, more problems arose with noise, trash, illegal parking, break-ins and other crimes. In 2018, the problem showed up in the Houston couple's driveway during an area club pub crawl.

Stacie Fairchild said party-goers were fighting, screaming and yelling in their driveway. That night, she slept with a gun under her pillow while her husband was away.

ANGER INTO ACTION: Third Ward residents are fed up with ‘turn-ups’ and street takeovers. The city needs a plan........

© Houston Chronicle