Houston's white flight reversal (Mart: sale, cheap apartments, rent)

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Gentrification may be occurring in areas south of Long Point, but the northern portion of the area doesn't seem to have yet become a place where Anglos are moving to instead of away from.

Because its all apartments.

[hbcu]

I mean you pay 500k to knock down a house but you build a fortress around you and conduct business outside your living environment on a daily basis

Why move in if your not contributing anything?

[979Texan]

Originally Posted by hbcu

Why move in if your not contributing anything?

Please cite examples of what contributing means to you.

[979Texan]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

For me, it's the issue that they could afford it when they purchased it, but no longer can due to skyrocketing taxes.

Personally, I feel that someone who has lived in a neighborhood for 25 years and has roots there shouldn't be forced out due to it being the newest "great location". It's one of the reasons why I'd like to see a consumption tax replace property taxes.

Everything appreciates over 25 years, so if you're a productive member of society your salary should also increase. Of course that is not always the case. I am completely against the property tax monster we've got going on in this city but Houston is not going to magically stop increasing taxes.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by 979Texan

Everything appreciates over 25 years, so if you're a productive member of society your salary should also increase. Of course that is not always the case. I am completely against the property tax monster we've got going on in this city but Houston is not going to magically stop increasing taxes.

In neighborhoods such as the Heights, it's essentially gone up 10 percent every year for a number of years. Inflation isn't 10 percent a year and neither have been most pay raises.

[979Texan]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

In neighborhoods such as the Heights, it's essentially gone up 10 percent every year for a number of years. Inflation isn't 10 percent a year and neither have been most pay raises.

I concede the insane tax increase point to you, but it's really only been going on a few short years in the big picture.

There are plenty pockets in the Heights, Timbergrove, Oak Forest, etc. where families are holding out and not selling despite high taxes. I'm still not really sympathetic when folks feel entitled to an old homestead that is no longer affordable (to them) due to the realities of our real estate market.

[jwtomt2day]

Originally Posted by 979Texan

I'm still not really sympathetic when folks feel entitled to an old homestead that is no longer affordable (to them) due to the realities of our real estate market.

So you are a fan of renting and never owning your home, even if you've paid off the mortgage.

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by 979Texan

Please cite examples of what contributing means to you.

This is an excellent question and it gets to the heart of what troubles a lot of people in Houston specifically about gentrification and more generally about the way space (both public and private) is viewed here. The answer could be small things like community gardens, walking down the streets in the neighborhood where you live or bigger things like sending your kids to the schools, or living in a place that welcomes interaction. Those 4 floor condos are like little "P-off" fortresses with their ugly locking gates and first floor garages--the rhetoric is clear: they are saying "No chance will I be using this space to socialize. I don't have to and I don't want to." And they are right, they don't have to if the don't want to. This is not a legal question, after all. But it is a question of morality and ethics. It is unethical and immoral to drive people out of their neighborhoods through high tax rates just because you can and you want to live closer to work. It is perfectly legal to do so, but that's not the point.

[hbcu]

school system, community civic club, little league baseball, scouts, etc.

I'm not talking about the heights where the demographics are different....I'm talking about the 4th ward folks, 3rd folks, etc...I see little difference in them being there as their kids aren't at Yates, Cullen, etc....ll baseball is non-existent there, etc.

[kel7]

979 Texan,
I hear what you're saying, but don't agree in the case of an elderly person being forced out of a home they have lived in for years and years and don't have the means or desire to move.