Eastwood should be proud! (Houston, Austin: 2014, how much, houses)

[vegankris]

Uh... no... I was not the first to bring up race. I responded to it.

Drug house.... uh no. That wasn't on the wish list for a home.

[tstone]

Hispanic/Mexican is not a race.

Anyway it sounds like you'll be fine. Hopefully your sons will all graduate valedictorians so they can get some free college and come back home to pioneer some business ideas, considering amenities out there are pretty poor.

Honestly, that + the whole diamond in the rough, bubble neighborhood thing is what kept us away. It's an interesting area to watch and see what happens in 20 years though.

[texas7]

I could easily go for a transitional neighborhood if I didn't have any kids. And as far as people thinking they are going to some upper-class burb for schools - I think most people in Houston realize that the suburbs are not all white enclaves anymore. Houston is diverse and are it suburbs and schools. People from all ethnicities are doing well financially with an education, good job or serious drive behind their businesses and those same people are in the suburban schools.

[bluelion_ms3]

well i grew up in that area. i went to lantrip for elementary....didn't go to jackson since they didn't have magnet program, so i went to gregory lincoln middle school (4th ward)....then went to austin high school. and honestly i wish i had went to a better high school. a LOT of the teachers there let the kids run over them during class. and a lot of the students that went to jackson AND austin were trouble makers/druggies. granted, this was 14-15 years ago so i hope it's changed for your sake. i think txhustla MIGHT be over exaggerating, but he's pretty close. i lived closer to Gulf fwy but i was all around the area when i was living there, running around with my "friends".

from personal experience:
i got robbed at gun point on Dumble (around the corner from my house) for $26 and two earrings when i was a freshman in high school.

got tazed with a tazer gun just 5-6 houses down the street from my house, for no apparent reason.

although i never had my car broken into (thank god), several cars were broken into if they were parked on the street.

there used to be a "pimp" living behind my mom's house and would frequently ask my neighbors wife to be one of his "hoes". he stopped asking when my neighbor showed him his nice shotty.

a nearby bank was robbed and the robbers ran through my mom's backyard trying to stash the money in her bamboo area.

i can't recall the number of times i would hear gunshots followed by car burnouts, helicopters circling the neighborhood (and not just the traffic helicopter flying along gulf fwy)

lets just say that, my mom still lives in the house and when i go to visit her, i don't venture out into the neighborhood anymore. i personally don't care to see how it's developed or even if it has. the roads are still crappy and a lot of the houses still look the same if not worse because they weren't kept up (my mom's included, haha).....i too can try to post pics of my mom's neighborhood so we're not just going by hearsay.

[Watchful]

Vegankris, if a few more people approached things the way you do - actually all of our schools WOULD be much stronger - but I know that is a pipe dream.

All the best - and hope you will keep us posted after you have some more actual experience in the schools!

(Our son did K-2 at Roosevelt Elem in the Vanguard program - on the near north side of Houston - before I got a different job in a small town elsewhere. Of course that was a long time ago - he is 27 years old now haha - but the arts enrichment he received at Roosevelt was never matched in any other school he attended.)

[vegankris]

To all the positive responses... THANKS!

As to all the negative responses... maybe you should just keep in mind the context of my original post. I didn't post this to get into a pissing contest over neighborhoods or to debate whether or not Eastwood has "turned the corner". I wanted to let other parents know who either live in Eastwood or might be considering it, that our impressions of the schools were very good. My husband and I are both college educated intelligent people who approach things with our eyes wide open. I am almost obsessed with research, especially when it comes to my kids.

If it hadn't been for City Data Forum, I might never have found out about Eastwood. I probably would have ended up in the Heights or possibly Montrose. Nothing wrong with those areas, but I liked the schools much better in Eastwood. I wanted to give others who look at City Data for info about Eastwood my impressions of the schools because I did spend every extra moment I had this past week at the schools, talking to administrators, students, teachers, and walking the halls.

Obviously Eastwood isn't for everyone. But for those who live there or may be considering it, I wanted to give them the info I had gathered from my time at the schools.

Also, I think once you commit to living in close to the downtown of a large city, you accept that you can walk a block and be in a "bad" area, or walk the other direction and be in a "good" area. It's all part of the charm of the city.

[Dusty's Dad]

As a resident of the Eastwood area for over 10 years, I have followed the crime data and worked with the police. There were issues, but those began a dramatic improvement several years ago. For the last 6 years, we have had 1/2 the crime rate in all categories as Montrose or the Heights. Even taking the beats east and west of us and it still is considerably lower. The vast majority of crimes actually are domestic/non-stranger or from a handful of homes. We've targeted those and driven out many of them. We know our officer and people watch out for each other. Greater Eastwood includes 20 subdivisions. Eastwood has the lowest crime and higher home values, but the low crime rates are for the whole area and home values have increased and been stable throughout the community. We also have a active Super Neighborhood council and work with the ones all around us. The kids once recruited by youth gangs have a lot more to do and community support now. The Little League is massive, there are winning soccer and chess clubs, as well as scout troops. We have also worked for maintaining and improving our quality of life and preserving historic and community feel. With the new rail line on our border and many old and new recognized restaurants and the new museum district starting, I wouldn't want to be anyplace else. If you want to see it, there is a historic home tour October 15 and 16, noon to 5pm, tickets online at eastwoodcivicassociation.com and on tour days at Eastwood Park, Dumble at Harrisburg.

[vegankris]

Thanks Dusty's Dad! Awesome to hear positive input from an Eastwood resident!

City data is a great opportunity for people moving into the area to get information about different areas of Houston. Houston is so large and there are so many options that everyone can find their "perfect" place.

[DejaBlue]

Originally Posted by vegankris

To all the positive responses... THANKS!

As to all the negative responses... maybe you should just keep in mind the context of my original post. I didn't post this to get into a pissing contest over neighborhoods or to debate whether or not Eastwood has "turned the corner". I wanted to let other parents know who either live in Eastwood or might be considering it, that our impressions of the schools were very good. My husband and I are both college educated intelligent people who approach things with our eyes wide open. I am almost obsessed with research, especially when it comes to my kids.

If it hadn't been for City Data Forum, I might never have found out about Eastwood. I probably would have ended up in the Heights or possibly Montrose. Nothing wrong with those areas, but I liked the schools much better in Eastwood. I wanted to give others who look at City Data for info about Eastwood my impressions of the schools because I did spend every extra moment I had this past week at the schools, talking to administrators, students, teachers, and walking the halls.

Obviously Eastwood isn't for everyone. But for those who live there or may be considering it, I wanted to give them the info I had gathered from my time at the schools.

Also, I think once you commit to living in close to the downtown of a large city, you accept that you can walk a block and be in a "bad" area, or walk the other direction and be in a "good" area. It's all part of the charm of the city.

But that doesn't mean others don't either. People who still believe suburb Houston is "white flight" territory are seriously watching too much TV and aren't getting out more. The Woodlands is really the only area that's still a little on the low side on the color spectrum but the rest of the "burbs" outside of the Loop are very diverse. There's no "area" and that's nice because everyone is just right there together.

I believe for the most part suburb people are hardworking people who want the most BANG for their buck. I say if you're going to spend $200k on a house that better be some house and my neighbors shouldn't be able to stick a hand out the window and touch the brick on the side of my house because the houses are smack dab next to each other. I'd spend that to be able to walk out and step on the sand in some resort/beach city but not a place like Houston. If it was in NYC maybe. Houston? Not a chance.

It's just a comfort level. But that's a matter of choice. Some don't mind living in a smaller house/apartment/condo or whatever but get a new car ever 3 years and like expensive clothes and spend their money on the nightlife.

Some keep their cars for years and want a bigger house to relax and spread out. Not spread out in the exaggerated "McMansions" but in something that's not your mom and dad's or grandparents 1940-1960s, 1500 sq ft house of 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom and a one car garage.

But something 3000 with a downstairs so the parents can have their own space and their heathens (lovely angels) and all their friends who come over can have their own space upstairs.

[Vicman]

How many years ago was that? From my understanding, the area's gentrifying, and the area schools are getting smaller and smaller.

Austin was very overcrowded in the 1990s, but it is much smaller now.

Originally Posted by TxHustla

Good luck..i got tired of the police chases..and drug raids once or twice a month...got tired of the kids walking around breaking into houses and cars while all doped up on pills and weed. I got tired of the countless drug houses selling out the front door. Good luck with Jackson and Austin...talk is cheap...wait to you see what all really goes on there..gangs and drugs and idiot ass kids with even more idiotic parents who grew up there also but never actually GREW UP.

Good luck and just keep a watchful eye on your property and kids in school.