Why is Houston so ghetto? (Dallas, Jacksonville: legal, safe, wealthy)

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

Houston is “so ghetto” to a lot of people because its population demographic is similar to third world cities. Take out the West half of the inner loop, galleria area, west side strip near I-10, Clear Lake and Kingwood (suburbs annexed by Houston), and what do you have? Roughly 400+ square miles of area that no one in here considers moving to and it is simply not talked about because it is “so ghetto”. A mixture of the bad parts of San Antonio and Beaumont. The majority of violent crime in the city happens in this giant area. The people make an area “ghetto”. Just my opinion from a lifelong native.

You're just another person completely writing off the inner and middle suburbs. How are these areas supposed to improve and attract middle class households if everyone keeps telling people not to move there? Especially when these areas offer not-that-old standard suburban housing that folks pay a lot more for in price and commute to live in the outer suburbs?

[CommonSenseHoustonian]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

How are these areas supposed to improve and attract middle class households if everyone keeps telling people not to move there?

Current citizens can deter crime and cooperate with police. They can also pick up the overflowing mounds of trash in their yards as they're usually sitting next to it all day anyway. Houstonians can also vote for politicians that will use their large tax base responsibly and efficiently.

No sensible family is going put themselves in danger, send their kids to awful schools, and live the third world life if they can simply drive 30-40 minutes more a day.

[AcresHomes44]

I love Houston, ghettos and all. Houston's ghettos have interesting history connected to them. Many of Houston's hoods are among the first black neighborhoods in the country: Acres Homes and 5th Ward come to mind. Near Northside is one of the hoods in Houston where Hispanics and Blacks live side by side with no problems. Every city has ghettos, big to mid-sized.

[Mistype]

Originally Posted by LisaMesa

Hello, so I recently got the chance to visit Houston and must say I was impressed with much of city in terms of entertainment, restaurants and coast of living. People are also really nice and approachable. I might have a job offer here, so moving to Houston may be in my future.

However the bad points of city, which make hesitant to move here is how trashy/ghetto many parts of the city are. There seems to be a large swarths of individuals in the city who don't seem to care about their surroundings or the maintance of the city. I saw tons of people throwing trash out their cars, many supposedly middle class neighborhoods look really ghetto/unkempt. Overall the city at times felt like one huge Walmart, with strip malls galore and suburban sprawl(I prefer more walkable neighborhoods).

I am not try to troll and be deliberately provactive, just giving my honest opinion. Of course there were many beautiful/decent areas in Houston but they do seem to be a minority. I am just curious as to why so many people choose treat this city and their neighborhoods like a dumping grounds? Houston has a lot potential as the fourth largest city in America, so many areas of the city be better if there were just fixes to their aesthetics.

This sums up Houston pretty well. One huge Walmart.

[jfre81]

lol. I was in Detroit when this thread was made. OP has no idea what she speaks of.

[kwr]

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...474670993.html

New York City, according to the report’s infographic, has a dirtiness index of 427.9, leading all 40 cities in the report. New York City topped the charts in the litter and pest factor category, the report said.

The next closest is Los Angeles, which has a dirtiness index of 317.8. The third dirtiest metro is also in California -- Riverside/Bernardino.

Pests weighed down LA's score and also affected Riverside/Bernardino, though the latter had more of a pollution problem.

[walker1962]

Compared to what big city (metro area over 2 million)?

[walker1962]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Older houses with owners who have better things to do with their money than paint. Lots of frame houses, which need more maintenance to look good - brick doesn't fade with age or peel.

You do realize that in terms of square miles, Houston is only surpassed by Jacksonville and Los Angeles? Go to Chicago, NYC, Boston, Philly, Atlanta, Cleveland. They all have close in neighborhoods like this AND wealthy areas CLOSE in.

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by walker1962

You do realize that in terms of square miles, Houston is only surpassed by Jacksonville and Los Angeles? Go to Chicago, NYC, Boston, Philly, Atlanta, Cleveland. They all have close in neighborhoods like this AND wealthy areas CLOSE in.

That's also true of Houston.

Honestly, having lived in some truly dirty cities, I don't really perceive Houston as ghetto. There's plenty of neighborhoods in that "400-mile swath where all the crimes happen" that are just full of minorities but are safe and pleasant neighborhoods.

This whole "Houston is ghetto" idea is either A) outdated or B) perpetuated by folks who equate non-white people with "ghetto". That's about it. Pre-2000 Houston I could maybe see it more, but still - not really.

Also interesting that "third-world demographics" is the new dog whistle.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by kwr

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...474670993.html

New York City, according to the report’s infographic, has a dirtiness index of 427.9, leading all 40 cities in the report. New York City topped the charts in the litter and pest factor category, the report said.

The next closest is Los Angeles, which has a dirtiness index of 317.8. The third dirtiest metro is also in California -- Riverside/Bernardino.

Pests weighed down LA's score and also affected Riverside/Bernardino, though the latter had more of a pollution problem.

NYC has no alleys, so the trash stays on the street for pickup. I don't know about the other cities listed, but Chicago has alleys for trash, so it is cleaner.