Anti-gentrification radicals are on the march in Los Angeles. Is Houston next ? (Spring: apartment, rent)

[texas7]

I think it's more about class than race. Poverty brings crime in any area. Most of these pushed out residents are living at or below poverty level and crime is going to come with that. Pushing them to suburbs doesn't increase their chances of beneficial life changes by benefit of a nicer neighborhood. It just spreads social issues across the city.

As a native Houstonian, I hate seeing everything gentrify. Things look better and there are more places to go and things to do but I see people pushed out of historic areas who really can't afford the suburbs and they get pushed into crime ridden section 8 apartments in the middle of suburbs where public transportation is lacking. Many need that public transportation to work and live. People can't better themselves or attempt to if they are too far away from amenities they need. I'd like to see inner city residents and those gentrifying be able to coexist. I tire of people who move into transitioning areas who cry about the view and the area as if that area wasn't already there when they bought. Or the person who cries about the noise from the railroad that's been there forever right behind their new home. Or the new homeowner who wants the 50 year old bar across the street to make Less noise as if it were newly opened.

Unfortunatley, I have no suggestions or solutions but gentrifying is fine if things are in place to address the social issues that go along with it. And if we don't destroy a city's history in the process.

[eqttrdr]

I don't know about you but I can't stand this gentrification stuff...

I prefer my neighborhoods full of crack vvhores, crime and miscreants ....


amazing

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Gentrification is something, that I think, people will not understand until you are a resident being pushed out of your own neighborhood. Ive never been in that situation so Im not going to pretend to understand.

People who say that "well they can get good money for their land so they arent affected", did you guys ever think that maybe they dont want that? Maybe they want their communities in tact? Maybe they dont want to leave their homes?

People who leave neighborhoods that have been gentrified very rarely move elsewhere in the center city, they almost always end up on the edge of the cities or in the suburbs. Maybe thats not the life they wanted?

It hasnt been as obvious in Houston or Dallas but Austin is your textbook case of gentrification and the effects it has on the communities.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by Cowboys fan in Houston

Gentrification is something, that I think, people will not understand until you are a resident being pushed out of your own neighborhood. Ive never been in that situation so Im not going to pretend to understand.

People who say that "well they can get good money for their land so they arent affected", did you guys ever think that maybe they dont want that? Maybe they want their communities in tact? Maybe they dont want to leave their homes?

People who leave neighborhoods that have been gentrified very rarely move elsewhere in the center city, they almost always end up on the edge of the cities or in the suburbs. Maybe thats not the life they wanted?

It hasnt been as obvious in Houston or Dallas but Austin is your textbook case of gentrification and the effects it has on the communities.

Wow. I didn't know Austin was that bad.

[detachable arm]

Austin and Houston were both 1/3rd black slave when Texas first became a state. So what happened? Austin has systematically pushed blacks out (to the east and not to the more desirable hill country) for the past several decades. What do you have now? What many people consider the most desirable city in Texas. Think about that.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

Austin and Houston were both 1/3rd black slave when Texas first became a state. So what happened? Austin has systematically pushed blacks out (to the east and not to the more desirable hill country) for the past several decades. What do you have now? What many people consider the most desirable city in Texas. Think about that.

Sounds like what happened to working class people in West University and to Hispanics in the Heights back in the 70's and 80's. Now that that process is complete those are two of the most desirable neighborhoods in Texas, coincidence ?

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by K LoLo

Don't forget the smell!

Probably on par with the Manchester neighborhood in SE Houston, especially back then. I can only imagine what it was in the 50s. It seems a little less so now, maybe after BP paid for Tony Buzbee's mansion in River Oaks.

Originally Posted by Cowboys fan in Houston

People who say that "well they can get good money for their land so they arent affected", did you guys ever think that maybe they dont want that? Maybe they want their communities in tact? Maybe they dont want to leave their homes?

Maybe my cold acknowledgement of economic reality comes easier because I don't particularly care to live in the neighborhood(s) where I grew up, and yet they're more or less the same as they were in the 80s.

K Lolo knows what "the Chelseas" are in Texas City. Its longform is "Chelsea Manor," a rather grand name for a cluster of mostly Section 8 duplexes. After Wayside Drive, I lived over there for awhile. More privilege. Our duplex was converted so we had the upstairs and downstairs! Practically a silver spoon in my mouth! Thankfully the Chelsea slumlords probably won't have to worry about gays and hipsters upsetting their apple cart, since there is no particularly compelling reason for anyone to live there. Even the old 7-Eleven that I used to walk to with some quarters to play arcade video games is vacant and rocking that Detroit look right now.

Now, if the Chelseas happened to be in Houston with the downtown skyline right behind, it would be different. I don't know that I'd cry for its transformation into something better.

[madrone2k]

Wow, it's remarkable how much interest this thread has generated in just a short time. A lot of good comments from different points of view.

One thing that I think of (that I don't think has been focussed on much so far) is the idea that people being displaced by gentrification are more often renters than owners. I can't cite statistics on that, but I think that issue is a big one.

Disclosure: I'm an old white dude and I think many of the people profiting from gentrification are other old white dudes who earlier-on bought properties in close-in neighborhoods, which they rent out. I don't want to be assigned guilt by having people assign me to the same social class, but a more important question is: what can we do to help people -- especially the elderly -- to avoid having people kicked out of their homes and neighborhoods that they want/need to stay in?

So ... the crux of the issue I've raised is: how do we balance the rights of one "class" (I hate that word) against another? I don't want to live in a society in which people can't make a wise investment that will yield a profit (not a dirty word). But ... neither do I want to live in a society in which elderly people are evicted from their homes and neighborhoods in their golden years. It's easy to shrug off some peoples' misfortunes by saying that they were too ignorant to plan for the future. However, that/s a pretty cold-hearted point of view that perhaps is easy to adopt when times are good for one. Times can change, though.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

Wow. I didn't know Austin was that bad.

Austin and San Francisco are well-known for gentrifying out their Black and Hispanic / Latino populations. East Austin historically was where those populations were confined to (by law), but the property value pressure and the continual search by hipsters to find lower-priced neighborhoods where they can establish their own businesses is quickly eliminating the legacy populations. Now large-scale denser development is also moving in. Many African-Americans have moved north to North Austin, Pflugerville, and Round Rock.

Did you know that much of Washington Corridor in Houston was heavily Hispanic and Black, not very long ago? In parts of the East End, Houston's most historically Hispanic area, the Hispanic population has actually dropped - which is saying a whole lot in a region where that population has otherwise been exploding.

[madrone2k]

A different subject that called my attention was the idea that people who identify a certain way can lay claim to a neighborhood. I am of two minds on that topic. First, I recognize that people have worthy reasons for having emotions on that issue. But, second, those emotions may or may not have a defensible basis. I can certainly see (and support) people who advocate for Houston's Fourth Ward.

I will admit that I criticize myself for not having studied enough of the history of the Fourth Ward and others. However, I can also say that my grandfather moved our family from Kansas to Harrisburg (now majority Hispanic) in 1922. My point being, I think that neighborhood was working-class "white" in those years, but evolved over time. So, my thought is that, at least for some neighborhoods, the idea of an ethnic identity can change over time. Which is OK, but it is just one more thing that makes me skeptical of the idea of one "ethnicity" owning a place.

Ultimately, 100 or 10,000 years from now, humans may be extinct. So, some of our arguments may be moot.