Looking for good areas in North Houston (Spring: low income, crime)

[crone]

Are you from Houston. Pedro?

Read up about how the guy got the land for The Summit.

[colcat]

Originally Posted by mingna

No zoning alone did not drive Sharpstown's decline; $500-$600k+ homes are selling briskly in The Heights that are located directly adjacent to car washes (literally, what would be your next door neighbor), beaten-down auto storage/repair shops and run down multi-unit rentals.

From what I gathered, it was the sudden prevalence of high density apartments that lead not to a "white flight" but instead a "white stampede" because unfortunately, those apts. are inhabited not only by decent poorer folks, but also by many criminal elements - and often crime begets crime. The sheer number of closely located apartment complexes next to single family homes and businesses is what sets Sharpstown apart from other similarly located areas i have seen of mostly immigrant business setting up shop in economically depressed areas and eventually revitalizing that area.

I often see young kids playing outside behind some of those gated apts., surrounded by shady looking people loitering both inside and outside those gates, and wonder what kind of chance do they have to "break out" ?

BTW, I believe there exists " truly middle middle class" families there in certain pockets.

This is a more accurate explanation.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by crone

Are you from Houston. Pedro?

Yes, I'm from Houston.

Originally Posted by crone

The developers of Texas have also owned the banks who loan folks the money to buy their builder's houses. They want you to move every 5 years. They can't make money unless they create demand. What better way to get people to move than rent the declining 10 year old apartments to drug dealers.

No, I'm not wearing a tin foil hat.

[LocalPlanner]

I have to wonder if an influx of poorer families into public schools that otherwise cater to middle class and affluent parents is what gets people to flee an area before crime ever becomes the issue. While security is obviously important to people, school demographics seem to be the main focus of home-buying or selling decisions, at least for anyone who has or will have school-age kids in the household and doesn't plan on sending them to private school.

[fnh]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[mingna]

Originally Posted by savvyRookie

Hello,

I'm new in Houston and will be working close to the area where the new Exxon Mobil building is being constructed (Springswood Village).

I will be moving to Houston with my family and kids (high school). My budget range is 250K - 300K and I'm looking for an area where the schools are safe, reputable. I'd like to live in an area where most people are professionals. It would be a major plus if the area is close to the main highway (not a strict requirement, though).

I know that the The Woodlands is the hot ticket in town, but I don't want to live there. Based on the information in this forum, I've ruled out Spring as well.

Could you please recommend any areas that would be within a 30 min commute to the ExxonMobil site mentioned above and meet my requirements?

I want to stay in the North part of Houston (have also considered magnolia but it seems a bit far away). I would really appreciate your advice.

Many thanks

How about Shepherd Park Plaza, and you can try enrolling your children into an HISD magnet school? They may have a bit of a commute, depending on where they attend, but they are in high school so should be able to better manage a longer school commute.

[BCEagles01]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

Is the wrist slitting due to the fact that you want acreage? Is it due to the fact that you only live in the penthouses of at least 28 story buildings? Do your homes require wheels? Do you have two 86 cameros on blocks that you can't think to part with? Do you run a RV repair shop out of your garage? Do you require a 200' bulkhead with at least 15' of depth to park your yacht?

Exactly what is the problem with TW?

I don't live there, but when I drive through, I see manicured lawns, no billboards, businesses that are forced to pass architectural specifications and upkeep, greenbelts, tons of parks, tons of ponds, tons of walking trails, lots of restaurants, bars, major employers, shopping, etc, etc, etc.

Now, if you hate the suburbs, please remember that the OP specifically was looking at the burbs up north. So once again, if you are looking in the price range between $250k and $300k in the northern burbs close to then new Exxon campus in a neighborhood with professionals, why exactly is the Woodlands so revolting to a few of you?

I'm chocolate and I have no problem out here. Nice neighbors,they speak,I speak. They work, I work. My fiancé and I go out with another 'non-chocolate' couple out here all the time. Hahaha. I get where he was coming from with the chocolate/vanilla comment. There are minorities out here. But myself and my fiancé are comfortable among most everybody.

I never understand why some may dislike it so much. No place is perfect,but speaking for myself I like it a great deal.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by BCEagles01

I'm chocolate and I have no problem out here. Nice neighbors,they speak,I speak. They work, I work. My fiancé and I go out with another 'non-chocolate' couple out here all the time. Hahaha. I get where he was coming from with the chocolate/vanilla comment. There are minorities out here. But myself and my fiancé are comfortable among most everybody.

I never understand why some may dislike it so much. No place is perfect,but speaking for myself I like it a great deal.

LOL, I didn't even catch the vanilla/chocolate racial/ethnic play there, I was just thinking he meant different people have different tastes in that some people prefer the taste of chocolate (my son) while others prefer vanilla (my daughter) and some people like the big master communities and other don't.

They need an emoticon with the guy pass his hand over his head (woosh went right past me).

[mingna]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I have to wonder if an influx of poorer families into public schools that otherwise cater to middle class and affluent parents is what gets people to flee an area before crime ever becomes the issue. While security is obviously important to people, school demographics seem to be the main focus of home-buying or selling decisions, at least for anyone who has or will have school-age kids in the household and doesn't plan on sending them to private school.

I think it boiled down to too many apartments introduced to a relatively homogenous suburban area too quickly, thus overwhelming the native population. This prompted panicked homeowner flight- whether or not based on real or perceived fears. In a way, I somewhat understand what happened because I have never seen such a large number of apartment complexes in such a relatively small area! I know from personal experience that low rent/ government subsidized apartment dwellers may often include those more likely to engage in criminal activity. So when you have so many such apartments together, well, the chances of criminals being among them increases significantly. Add to that many suburban people are not regularly exposed to a wide range of poor folks- or folks who look or appear different from them- on a regular basis in their daily lives, so they may be more prone to act based on perception/fear than reality.

As for the mixing of school demographics...Whether or not I agree with the sentiment, I somewhat understand how difficult it can be for some parents to accept any possible disruption to their kids' classroom learning from a sudden influx of possible "behavioral problem" kids coming from poorer districts. I have seen how a couple of disruptive children can greatly detract from classroom learning. It would have been ideal however, if people had waited to see if their fears were actually realized before they fled.

If blending of two drastically different demographics is to occur, I believe it is better if it is down gradually, in small "doses" so as not to overwhelm the status quo, thus decreasing the chance of this phenomenon ocurring.
My 2 cents.

And my apologies to OP for going off-topic.

[crone]

Go back in time. Minorities and Jews could not buy in River Oaks. If you had household help in Bellaire, Southside Place, etc. you had to drive them to the bus stop and wait till the bus came if they worked after dark.

Gentiles had River Oaks, Jewish had Riverside. Then after the war we got Tanglewood and Memorial for the WASP's and Meyerland for everybody else. The mayor of Houston lived in Garden Oaks or some place around there, by the country club. In the late 60's some oil company brought a bunch of folks down from NY and NJ, exactly like Exxon is doing now. The population explosion started. The civil rights act, plus the growth was the cause of white flight. Sharpstown and the southwest suburbs were for the people lower on the food chain. People went to jail due to the way Sharpstown was set up.

If all y'all love this place as much as you say you do, learn a little history about your town. Just because I understand how some guys with money want to make more, does not make me nuts. Kenneth Schnitzer wanted the Summit. He started buying houses and renting them to low life trash. It wasn't long until the folks who wanted good schools and neighborhoods moved on. That business plan happens all over the world.

Those apartment built in the 60's and 70's didn't have fire walls even in the attic. The were not taken care of when the oil bust happened in the 80's, hence the lower rents drew lower income people. There was a lot of hype about urban renewal, but you still could not give away a house in the Heights.

Now, most Houstonians do not give a tinker's damn what race or religion a person is. They sure don't want their kids to live among poor folks.