Sharpstown Mall Closing? (Houston: middle-class, luxury, tax)

[texan_176]

$10 a gallon fuel would cause Fondren and Sharpstown to be redeveloped. Large corporations would buy the apartments on Fondren between S. Braeswood and W. Airport as well as the ones on Bellaire from Chimney Rock to US 59. They would be raized and new apartments or even single family homes would be built and sold for $250-350K. People in the burbs are already spending over a grand on fuel these days. If gasoline doubles in price it would be a fair tradeoff.

Question is, where will the people in the low rent and high crime apartments go?

I still say Sharpstown mall should be demolished and a gated community with an off duty HPD officer working the security booth at the only entry should be built. Make it kind of like how the Rice University President's house is isolated from the outside world but price the homes in the low $300Ks with a monthly $300-400 maintenance fee that covers security and even lawn service (everyone gets mowed on the same day).

The location is excellent. Downtown and the med center are not very far away and there are plently of good private schools left in Sharpstown; or Bunker Hill/Memorial for the snooty types.

[texan_176]

Originally Posted by icon7

I would like to know where that was...if it was in any of the master planned communities in Sugar Land... A call to the local police office on deed violations would have solved that issue.

Where I live now, there were 3 families living in the same house. Lots of cars, Lots of people. I think someone reported it to the HOA, then they reported it to the cops and in 3 months they moved out. I know that there are famiies that have Elderly parents living with them, i.e. My neighbor across the street had his father living in the guest quarters of his house until he passed away a few years back. He did not trust the nursing homes.

I don't know exactly but it was a part developed in the mid 1990s near Clements High.

I have a friend in nearby Mo. City who says "guests" of his neighbor show up on the weekends and they have like 15-20 cars parked all over the street. Sometimes they have loud pool parties but at other times they roll a basketball goal into the street and play ball yelling, screaming, and cursing in the evening hours after the heat of the day has broken.

Calling the police would solve the problem in the short term but these "guests" are thug like people so the residents fear retaliation later in the form of property damage (trash in the yard, slashed tires, etc...) or maybe violent crime.

It has never escalated to that yet....they play and wrap up the stuff sometime between 1 and 2 am on a Sunday morning.

[uhgradstudent]

Hi all,
I'm a U of H grad student. I'm writing a paper about Sharpstown's demographic change in the past 30 or so years. I was hoping you all might answer a few questions about your knowledge of Sharpstown for my paper.

1. If you live in Sharpstown, when did you move and how long have you lived there?
2. If you used to live in Sharpstown, but have since moved, why did you move?
3. What do you think caused the demographic shift in Sharpstown in the 1980s (i.e. what caused more minorities move to Sharpstown)?
4. Is Sharpstown a suburb? Why or why not?

Thanks for all who reply!

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by uhgradstudent

4. Is Sharpstown a suburb? Why or why not?

This really depends on what you term as a "suburb."

Just about everything outside of downtown is or was "suburban" at one point or another.

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by uhgradstudent

Hi all,
I'm a U of H grad student. I'm writing a paper about Sharpstown's demographic change in the past 30 or so years. I was hoping you all might answer a few questions about your knowledge of Sharpstown for my paper.

3. What do you think caused the demographic shift in Sharpstown in the 1980s

Have you studied the oil bust?

[texan_176]

Originally Posted by uhgradstudent

Hi all,
I'm a U of H grad student. I'm writing a paper about Sharpstown's demographic change in the past 30 or so years. I was hoping you all might answer a few questions about your knowledge of Sharpstown for my paper.

1. If you live in Sharpstown, when did you move and how long have you lived there?
2. If you used to live in Sharpstown, but have since moved, why did you move?
3. What do you think caused the demographic shift in Sharpstown in the 1980s (i.e. what caused more minorities move to Sharpstown)?
4. Is Sharpstown a suburb? Why or why not?

Thanks for all who reply!

1. NA
2. Never lived there but was always at the mall with family when I was a kid. It used to be a nice place to go but declined hard in the late 80s.
3. It is not minorities that triggered the change. In fact, more minorities are in all parts of the US now than there were when Sharpstown was a nice place. It is the type of people of any race that have destroyed all areas of Sharpstown except single family residential areas.

In the late 70s to early 80s home prices were rising fast cause the energy industry was thriving and people kept buying because the idea was "if you don't get in now you will be priced out forever". The whole area of Sharpstown was built in the 50s and 60s but this boom still impacted it. When the bubble popped the prices crashed; ditto on the rents for apartments and townhomes.

This was equally timed with changes in the laws that govern apartment rentals. Even if someone came in drunk, smelling of weed, etc....but they met the income requirement and passed the background check you had to lease to them or they could sue you. As it got more competitive the rental standards were further lowered. Stuff like legititmate employment did not matter so long as the rent got paid.

After all of these changes the apartment/townhome and commerical areas became warzones.

4. Sharpstown was a suburb at first and built around the concept or taking Hwy 59 into downtown. It was a brand new concept and very cutting edge at the time. Most of the areas just west of where loop 610 and HWY 59 meet near the Galleria area were put open land with nothing on them. I suppose when the population was that low it was a fun and fast drive then. With so much growth and sprawl I don't consider it a suburb these days.

[waunda49]

Originally Posted by johnherrera305

Heard that the closing of Sharpstown Mall is coming sooner than most thought. With the mall being 25% vacant and with the news the Finger Furniture and Macy's is moving out, is Sharpstown Mall finally coming to a close?

The mall is just plain ghetto. It's ashame because of it's prime location just off Hwy 59.

What should become of Sharpstown? Should it be torn down and developed or turned into a park?

Anyone familiar with Sharpstown have any word on what they think?

I worked at Sharpstown Center for over 12 years several years ago!! and really enjoyed it , however, I will not set foot in there now. You are right about it being just plain ghetto. The current owner or maybe the former owner now, didn't give a hoot about anything but the almighty dollar. I think they should just tear it down and start over. Maybe, with a strong Managament Company, like Ed Wolf did with Meyerland, Sharpstown Center could become a nice place to shop again or maybe put in an Office Park.

There is no way you can succesfully have a Mall without nationally recognized stores and I can't for the life of me think of any that would be willing to open any store at Sharpstown with the current conditions.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by texan_176

Calling the police would solve the problem in the short term but these "guests" are thug like people so the residents fear retaliation later in the form of property damage (trash in the yard, slashed tires, etc...) or maybe violent crime.

It has never escalated to that yet....they play and wrap up the stuff sometime between 1 and 2 am on a Sunday morning.

Well, first I would call the police.

Then buy some CCTV units and plant them around. If people do property damage, send the videos to police and then upload copies of the videos to YouTube when it is okay to do so.

Make it clear that the "thug" people cannot win in this game. If they try retaliation, they will be exposed and they will feel like they put their hands in mousetraps.

[ZeroTX]

Totally. I just bought a house, and after last year's Christmas yard decoration vandalism, this year I'm pointing a webcam out front and recording it to my computer. I'm looking into the wireless ones that I can mount up under the eaves for a better perspective. Anyone know of any low-cost software to do this based on motion, but with good timestamps and video compression?

[Wysiwyg]

my neighborhood in Alief has no real issues. nice to have an 'asian HOA lady'