Sharpstown Mall Closing? (Houston, Dallas, Sugar Land: city hall, new home, neighborhood)

[ohmanon]

Well, I'm scratching my head. That neighborhood where your dad lives was my neighborhood also and my townhome on a very nice residential street *was* lovely (except for the slum apartments up the street).

I don't want my surroundings to consist of viewing property defaced by graffiti, or hearing gunshots right outside my back door. Having idiots (and I don't care what the heck color they are) jumping our fence, breaking into our hard-earned cars, dumping their trash (beer cans/ashtrays/etc. etc.) over our gates was not OK. Having a gang war that spilled over onto our hard-earned property with, yes, THUGS, climbing over our fence to evade the flying bullets while innocent residents were having a Christmas party on a patio ended up with 4 people shot to death. A similar incident happened less than 3 years ago. Couple of streets down from Bellerive on Clarewood a man made the mistake of going out to his own garage - he got clobbered with a machete...almost 2 years later he is still not ok. Some may want to be a part of that, I don't and I feel sorry for those who think it's acceptable, no apologies. ..and I'm just trying to survive too - rising fuel/food prices and rent-gouging landlords don't discriminate.

By the way, many of those successful business owners live elsewhere - like Sugar Land.

[crimefighter]

A lively African-American environment? Just what does that mean? That sounds like a PC way to say crime infested ghetto. Sharpstown was mainly white but I went to school with Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Salvadoran, Mexican, and many other students from around the world. The issue is not race but class. The lower class brings more violent street crime, period. Violent street crime is what affects our quality of life, not Jeff Skilling and Enron. Katrina really set the area back. Facts are facts no matter how the idealogues try to sugarcoat them.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by crimefighter

The lower class brings more violent street crime, period.

I'm poor and low-class, and I still manage not to rob or kill anyone.

While we're riffing on Sharpstown crime, has anyone paid attention lately to the crime stats around Montrose and such? There are a lot of places in the city where crime happens.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by jfre81

10 years from now, Sharpstown is Uptown South.

Print it.

Like the US dollar, not worth the paper it's printed on


Maybe slightly more liveable in 15 years.......Uptown, never. Remember what TODAY's Uptown grew out of. A Safe, Pretty and affluent neighborhood.
It never had to fight it's way up from crime ridden and low income. Uptown will densify and grow verticle rather than spread.
Sorry.

[crimefighter]

Most lower class people don't commit crimes and want to live in peace like everyone else. It still does not change the fact that lower class brings more crime. Would you feel safer walking through River Oaks at night or 3rd Ward? I still say big Chinese business will keep Sharpstown afloat and eventually help revive it. Location, location, location.

[KerrTown]

The closure of the mall will make Sharpstown harder to revitalize once that piece of infrastructure is gone. First Colony Mall is starting to decline--look at the retailers at the Macy's wing. Ever since that lifestyle addition was built, some of the middle/upper-middle retailers moved from the mall to there leaving empty spaces that ended up filled with lower-middle class stores. That JC Penney at Brazos Town Center looks like JC Penney at FCM could consolidate as the population is shifting towards Greatwood-Richmond-Rosenberg. With high gas prices, that area could be the next slum.

[jfre81]

To be fair, is there a mall other than maybe the Galleria that isn't declining?

Malls like Sharpstown, First Colony et. Al are very last century at this point. They could probably all use either the Gulfgate/Meyerland treatment (or the TNT/C4 treatment).

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by jfre81

To be fair, is there a mall other than maybe the Galleria that isn't declining?

Malls like Sharpstown, First Colony et. Al are very last century at this point. They could probably all use either the Gulfgate/Meyerland treatment (or the TNT/C4 treatment).

First Colony seems to be the current incarnation of Sharpstown. To be fair it must be caused by GGP, the owner of the mall. Willowbrook looked outdated but the storefronts caused one's eyes to look at it instead of the outdated tile floor. Same with The Woodlands mall. But Willowbrook is more outdated with the pay-phone/drinking water fountain fixture and ornamental fountains. Even the map in front of the Courtesy Booth was seriously outdated with the brass rail.

And yes there is a mall other than the Galleria that's propsering--it's Memorial City Mall. West Oaks could join it soon.

[Lakewooder]

I lived in the townhomes on Sands Point (north side of the golf course) until the oil crash. What are those like these days?

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

I lived in the townhomes on Sands Point (north side of the golf course) until the oil crash. What are those like these days?

Houston Crime Map - Midwest Patrol Division - 18F60 Beat

This is the April crime map for that area.

You will note that in a lot of the SW side that most of the blips on the crime maps will be along the main thoroughfares, and in apartment complexes and commercial developments along those roads. A lot of the single-family neighborhoods are relatively quiet with a burglary or car theft here or there - nothing you won't have in the suburbs.

Houston Crime Map - Midwest Patrol Division - 18F50 Beat

And just to throw it out there, here's the most recent map for the area around the mall.

It's been a lot worse before.

If the momentum keeps going, whoever owns your old townhouse now probably bought it on the cheap and could have an opportunity to come out ahead in the future.