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The Recenter: Phase I & II At 3809 Main St.


DrLan34

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Having a differing opinion is naïve? To not jump to the same assumption that this is automatically going to be a bad area is naïve? No, you know what's actually naïve? To complain about the homeless issue in downtown, but making the group that wants to address the issue at the source move off of a street that can only be used by well-off people. Why should we reward the people who want to get off the streets, to fight and overcome their addiction, with an inconvenience?

I already addressed that in my comment responding to the person who claimed that this is going to make "drug addicts and bums" infest the area.

Just because they have an addiction or are not well-off does not mean they are lesser human beings and shouldn't have access to the same things we enjoy, especially if they are making all attempts to rid themselves of this stigma.

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Having a differing opinion is naïve? To not jump to the same assumption that this is automatically going to be a bad area is naïve? No, you know what's actually naïve? To complain about the homeless issue in downtown, but making the group that wants to address the issue at the source move off of a street that can only be used by well-off people. Why should we reward the people who want to get off the streets, to fight and overcome their addiction, with an inconvenience?

I already addressed that in my comment responding to the person who claimed that this is going to make "drug addicts and bums" infest the area.

Just because they have an addiction or are not well-off does not mean they are lesser human beings and shouldn't have access to the same things we enjoy, especially if they are making all attempts to rid themselves of this stigma.

Yes it is naive to believe that people other than you won't think that a homeless shelter and soup kitchen in the middle of a trendy part of town is an eyesore and/or dangerous.  

 

There are certain areas of town that I think we should be proud of, and we should not plop a magnet for homeless people down in those areas.  For example, I also don't think we should move the Greyhound station to the middle of the Galleria or line Discovery Green with nothing but halfway houses.   This part of midtown along the rail is becoming one of those areas that we could be proud of.  

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Other than misusing the word naïve, by accusing me of speaking in absolutes, which I already established was my opinion, you yourself are speaking in absolutes, which is hypocrisy. It's also hypocritical to complain about the homeless issue while also complaining about the services that are trying to fix this issue.

There's no way you can argue that these people, who are trying to fix their life, do not "deserve" to walk along Main Street by using Murphy's Law as your argument.

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https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/commercial-real-estate/recenter-plans-to-consolidate-into-new-building-53701

 

Recenter, a nonprofit that serves homeless men and women struggling with drug addiction, is tearing down its two 1960s-era buildings and will soon break ground on a new facility. The two buildings slated for demolition are at 3805 Main St and 3809 Main St in Midtown. The knock-down process will finish next week, according to the Houston Business Journal.

 

Recenter’s new 50k SF complex will include housing, a commercial kitchen and dining hall, a GED education space, and a nonmedical detox area. It'll be constructed on the footprints of the old buildings, as well as a vacant lot at 3815 Main that the charity owns. All told, that’s around half an acre, and the new address will be 3809 Main St.

 

The rebuild will cost about $12M. Groundbreaking will be in March 2016 and is projected to complete by Q2 2017. 
 

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  • 1 year later...
On 12/12/2015 at 2:29 AM, BigFootsSocks said:

So ignoring the fact that you couldn't read well enough to notice the differences between the two phases for just a second, I find it hilarious that you somehow think the needy and the less fortunate should be denied access to area simply because of their situation; that sweeping the issue under the rug, out of sight out of mind style, somehow solves the issue of homelessness.

Now, back to the reading comprehension, or lack thereof; you should know that the facility going up on the rail line is for the offices and for those who are already seeking help for their addictions. You get that, right? It's not for "drug addicts and bums" although I love the sweeping generalization. It's for the former drug addicts and bums.

It's hilarious that, on a forum that complains about the homeless issue in downtown, you would also complain about facilities that are trying desperately to solve this issue at "ground zero", if you would. The only other option I see is loading all the homeless drug addicts and bums into trucks and shipping them off to a camp devoted to these groups, and that, my friend, is why I would like to introduce to you a man who is this close to doing such a thing; Donald Trump. Make America Great Again!*

*by way of internment camps

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. The city is not a place to accept some while denying others. The city is an environment for everyone to have a chance to thrive both rich and poor.

 

On 12/15/2015 at 8:39 PM, htownproud said:

Yes it is naive to believe that people other than you won't think that a homeless shelter and soup kitchen in the middle of a trendy part of town is an eyesore and/or dangerous.  

 

There are certain areas of town that I think we should be proud of, and we should not plop a magnet for homeless people down in those areas.  For example, I also don't think we should move the Greyhound station to the middle of the Galleria or line Discovery Green with nothing but halfway houses.   This part of midtown along the rail is becoming one of those areas that we could be proud of.  

 

I partly side with you in the fact that BigFootsSocks comment might seem a bit wide eyed, but it comes from the right place. It should be something that is encouraged and not stomped on. His opinion has a place as well as yours. I too think that projects like this can be risky if proper precautions aren't taken into account. But lets remember that this isn't some startup organization dealing with this issue, but one that has 65 years of experience.

With that being said after agreeing with your first part I have to disagree with the second. This area had been run down for so long because we made these distinctions in the past. The inner city was the magnet for lower class, poor, and minorities and the suburbs were the place for the affluent, upper class, mostly white. What you are proposing would be the same thing but in reverse. The problems only got worse and worse the more we segmented populations into certain areas and restricting them from places we didn't want them to be seen. This is how ghettos and bad neighborhoods start. If you want a better community and one where people better communicate and build with others then the wealthy should be able to live side by side with those less fortunate. Many times its this direct look at the other side that motivates a few to make a difference for those people. Pushing them to the perimeter or aside doesn't solve the problem. Instead it simply magnifies it. The point is to start a process of assimilation rather than segregation.

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10 hours ago, BigFootsSocks said:

Year old bump/quote and I have absolutely no idea what I was arguing/who I was arguing with. I could go back a page and look, but that's just so much work. 

 

No need. You won that argument. Trump told me I can be the judge because I am completely unqualified for that title. 

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  • 10 months later...
21 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

We may not turn in to Brooklyn, Boston, or SF overnight, but I guarantee you will see a massive shift in the overall design and placement of new buildings in the next 5 to 10 years. Houston is going to change dramatically. We can complain how mass transit has not expanded westward but area's like Downtown, Midtown, East End, all the way towards the MedCenter will really densify with greater street presence. 

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  • 8 months later...

Thanks I was browsing through the condensed format and didn't pay attention to the title, The Men's Center has another recent addition completed about 5 years ago. Quite a building boom going on with them.

4 hours ago, rechlin said:

The address is on the top of this page.  3809 Main St.  Here is a link to the exact location where I was sitting when taking the photo:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/29°44'14.7"N+95°22'49.3"W/@29.73741,-95.3809012,284m/

 

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