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Old 04-03-2013, 03:25 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, Canada
3,715 posts, read 5,270,098 times
Reputation: 1180

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Western houston looks great so does south west and "Greater Heights" but 90% of hispanic and black neighborhoods look absolutely horrible, one of the ugliest areas i have ever seen in United States (well, philadelphia is worse) why is that? it really seems like only about 30% of Houston looks nice and decent and the rest is just poverty...

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...330.76,,0,3.47

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...292.75,,0,6.21

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...,58.44,,0,2.19

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...,25.68,,0,3.02

With such low cost of living that Houston has I really dont understand how and why anyone would live like this? I mean you can really find some nice apts and houses in nice neighborhoods that are affordable. What is it, drug problems? illegal immigration?

I know there are some predominently black and hispanic neighborhoods that look nice but really not a lot of them...

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...84.44,,0,-0.64 (hispanic)

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...1,60.3,,0,1.74 (black)

I also know there are tons of nice suburbs but Im focusing on city itself

 
Old 04-03-2013, 03:35 PM
 
Location: League City
3,842 posts, read 8,273,096 times
Reputation: 5364
And you have determined this solely through google maps?
 
Old 04-03-2013, 03:53 PM
cla
 
898 posts, read 3,309,036 times
Reputation: 568
If this is the worse that you have ever seen, then you haven't seen much.

There are poor communities in every city, particularly in large metropolitan areas. Houston is not the land of milk and honey for everyone - if you have in-demand skills/education, then yes - you can live an excellent life in Houston. But that is not the case for many residents. In fact, the poverty level for most large metros is higher than the state average. A few years ago the poverty level for Texas was around 22%-23%. Houston and Dallas had poverty rates of 27% and 30% respectively.

Some of the homes in the links provided look neglected, but if you are poor and you have to choose between feeding your family and maintaining your home, you will likely choose to feed your family. If homes are rentals, the tenants aren't going to put money into fixing up the home and there are too many landlords out there who don't care about the condition of the homes they are renting out.

But the problem is too complex to be answered in a forum. Do some research on blight and urban decay. Here are a couple of links to get you started.

The stranglehold of neighborhood blight | Sacramento Appraisal Blog | Real Estate Appraiser
Urban decay - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Old 04-03-2013, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, Canada
3,715 posts, read 5,270,098 times
Reputation: 1180
Quote:
Originally Posted by cla View Post
If this is the worse that you have ever seen, then you haven't seen much.

There are poor communities in every city, particularly in large metropolitan areas. Houston is not the land of milk and honey for everyone - if you have in-demand skills/education, then yes - you can live an excellent life in Houston. But that is not the case for many residents. In fact, the poverty level for most large metros is higher than the state average. A few years ago the poverty level for Texas was around 22%-23%. Houston and Dallas had poverty rates of 27% and 30% respectively.

Some of the homes in the links provided look neglected, but if you are poor and you have to choose between feeding your family and maintaining your home, you will likely choose to feed your family. If homes are rentals, the tenants aren't going to put money into fixing up the home and there are too many landlords out there who don't care about the condition of the homes they are renting out.

But the problem is too complex to be answered in a forum. Do some research on blight and urban decay. Here are a couple of links to get you started.

The stranglehold of neighborhood blight | Sacramento Appraisal Blog | Real Estate Appraiser
Urban decay - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
i know but even if you're on minimum wage and work full time you dont need to live like this and houston is not losing population so its not like these neighborhoods are abandoned or something.
 
Old 04-03-2013, 04:17 PM
 
Location: The Greater Houston Metro Area
9,053 posts, read 17,204,558 times
Reputation: 15226
Ghetto America
 
Old 04-03-2013, 04:21 PM
 
Location: Upper East Side of Texas
12,498 posts, read 27,004,055 times
Reputation: 4890
The no zoning is what really messes everything up for Houston. Its both a blessing & a curse. You can literally have multi-million dollar homes in predominately White neighborhoods a block down the street from poor minority neighborhoods like these. Its a mixed bag of nuts in Houston.

Nothing is "sorted out" its just all kinda thrown in a pot like gumbo & stirred around & what ever comes out is what you get. Build what you want where ever you want & we won't bother you mentality. Your grass is knee high so what as long as you're paying your property taxes to Harris County we don't care.
 
Old 04-03-2013, 04:34 PM
 
Location: Hell's Kitchen, NYC
2,271 posts, read 5,149,528 times
Reputation: 1613
Uh...it's Houston. Cheap city, cheap housing, and cheap people. It's where you save money so you can move somewhere nice. And I like Houston.
 
Old 04-03-2013, 04:37 PM
 
536 posts, read 1,063,427 times
Reputation: 326
Quote:
Originally Posted by patrix542 View Post
Western houston looks great so does south west and "Greater Heights" but 90% of hispanic and black neighborhoods look absolutely horrible, one of the ugliest areas i have ever seen in United States (well, philadelphia is worse) why is that? it really seems like only about 30% of Houston looks nice and decent and the rest is just poverty...

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...330.76,,0,3.47

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...292.75,,0,6.21

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...,58.44,,0,2.19

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...,25.68,,0,3.02

With such low cost of living that Houston has I really dont understand how and why anyone would live like this? I mean you can really find some nice apts and houses in nice neighborhoods that are affordable. What is it, drug problems? illegal immigration?

I know there are some predominently black and hispanic neighborhoods that look nice but really not a lot of them...

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...84.44,,0,-0.64 (hispanic)

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hou...1,60.3,,0,1.74 (black)

I also know there are tons of nice suburbs but Im focusing on city itself
Can't help but notice all the links are from google UK...

Are you in Houston?
There are always places to avoid in any city. Houston is no different. I wouldn't classify Houston as poor.
 
Old 04-03-2013, 04:37 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, Canada
3,715 posts, read 5,270,098 times
Reputation: 1180
only because you have rich folks in the city that live in cerain neighborhoods in the city doesnt mean that Houston doesnt have poverty problem.
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