From a distance, Le Promenade can look like a prison. Old balconies, crumbling and wrapped in sheets of meshed wire, form a rectangle around empty concrete courtyards. And when it rains, children hang inside, their faces pressed against the windows, their little hands wrapped around burglar bars.

Whole sections of the complex are abandoned, and gang graffiti - "7400,'' a reference to the gritty block of Bissonnet - proliferates on walls, windows and air conditioning units.

The name hints at what life used to be like here. Le Promenade was remodeled during Houston's oil boom of the late '70s and, like many of the apartments thrown up across the southwest side during that frenzied time, it targeted young oil workers with money to spend. Developers threw in arches and columns in abundance, marble-lined fountains and communal pools. The fancy French and Italian names were all part of a lifestyle.

But the oil workers moved out with the bust. The domains they left behind - on streets like Bissonnet, Bellfort and Bellaire - linger as testament to a city that is booming again, but in a much different way.

The new residents are more likely to be immigrants, from Latin America or Asia. They lack the affluence of their predecessors, and the living conditions reflect that. Gang members and others inhabit the darker recesses, and two years of official talk and police initiatives have linked "crime'' and "apartments'' and "southwest Houston'' in the public consciousness.

A closer look shows some stark contradictions to that image. A 40-foot banana tree teems with bunches of fruit. Barbecues and fish fries are common Sunday afternoon affairs. Children give Le Promenade a different kind of vibrancy.

Written by Eyder Peralta