The Ugly Streets of Houston

[Subdude]

There was another topic about ugly freeway intersections, but I got to wondering, what are Houston's ugliest streets?

My nomination is Dunlavy in the Montrose, with power lines on both sides. No matter what the quality of the buildings, all the wires give it a bit of a third world look.

[nativehou]

I have to nominate Broadway, from the Gulf Freeway to Hobby. Every time I'm there I cringe at what visitors are thinking as they head out of the airport. Let's hope it gets better.

[sevfiv]

well, in a so-ugly-it's-charming sort of way, i'd say Airline Dr. from end to end

i am doing a mini project on it, though, and there are some interesting places to see

[2fatcats]

There was another topic about ugly freeway intersections, but I got to wondering, what are Houston's ugliest streets?<<Subdude

Jensen Drive and also Hardy Street between downtown and 610.

[musicman]

Jensen Drive and also Hardy Street between downtown and 610.

now we're talkin.

[sevfiv]

There was another topic about ugly freeway intersections, but I got to wondering, what are Houston's ugliest streets?<<Subdude

Jensen Drive and also Hardy Street between downtown and 610.

Jensen is another one i consider to be like Airline - there are some neat places (in horrible condition, of course...)

[Guest danax]

Maybe not the ugliest in town but one I have to drive on every day entering my nabe; Myrtle St., which is the continuation of Broad.

Multiple cars in the yard and on the sidewalk, junk scattered, tree stumps, canvas carports..... a tacky mess.

[DaTrain]

Harrisburg Boulevard and Westheimer from outside DT to Upper Kirby. The curbside lanes have that Austin effect. And I base this on street width but that's too obvious.

There was another topic about ugly freeway intersections, but I got to wondering, what are Houston's ugliest streets?<<Subdude

Jensen Drive and also Hardy Street between downtown and 610.

What about Elysian?

[MexAmerican_Moose]

well, in a so-ugly-it's-charming sort of way, i'd say Airline Dr. from end to end

i am doing a mini project on it, though, and there are some interesting places to see

ugh, that street is ugly, potholes everywhere, you'd think you were in a warzone

[Guest Marty]

Aldine Westfield

[Vertigo58]

There was another topic about ugly freeway intersections, but I got to wondering, what are Houston's ugliest streets?

1960 Biggest embarassment to our city. Bad lighting, horrible well... no zoning, ditches on both sides? What?! Business and neon signs elbow to elbow.

At night its even more horrific, big intersection signs cannot be seen and if you can see them they are tiny. It is also too narrow, can shake hands with other drivers as you wait for light to change. Flooding a whole other story!

This area is so crammed with cars, people you get "vertigo" (hee hee) as you pass through it.

Houston really has so many terrible thoughroughfares we couldnt possibly name them all. Now I'm nautious.

[Dan the Man]

I nominate Westpark between Kirby and Gessner. I have yet to find anything aesthetically pleasing in this stretch.

[DaTrain]

^^^Transmission lines was Westpark's only problem. Now the elevated bridge columns from the Tollway of the same name made it worse.

[desirous]

1960 Biggest embarassment to our city. Bad lighting, horrible well... no zoning, ditches on both sides? What?! Business and neon signs elbow to elbow.

At night its even more horrific, big intersection signs cannot be seen and if you can see them they are tiny. It is also too narrow, can shake hands with other drivers as you wait for light to change. Flooding a whole other story!

This area is so crammed with cars, people you get "vertigo" (hee hee) as you pass through it.

Houston really has so many terrible thoughroughfares we couldnt possibly name them all. Now I'm nautious.

1960 looks like a street from the 1960's - pun not intended. All it needs is a few humongous "GULF" gas station signs.

[SunKing]

I grew up in the 1960 area (Huntwick). When we moved there in 1969, they had just changed the name from Jackrabbit Road to 1960. It was still a one lane road, and in many parts the trees from each side would still touch - providing a nice canopy effect. When I was in Jr. High I remember sneaking out with a friend one night. We thought it was cool to lay in the middle of 1960 and look at the stars. ....yikes - it's changed a lot since then. Amazingly, my parents still live in that same house. Going home is like steppoing back in time ...until I see how 1960 has grown. I guess you could say it has OVER grown to he point of being very ugly - I would agree with that. But 1960 will always hold a special place in my heart. Too bad they can't figure out a way to clean up that road - it's dangerous as hell now.

[sevfiv]

1960 Biggest embarassment to our city.

i'll agree on that one - i don't get out to those parts very often (krystal, anyone? ) but damn, 1960 is horrible, imo

i'll add certain (most) stretches of bellfort to the list, too, and maybe some hempstead for good measure

[djrage]

i'll agree on that one - i don't get out to those parts very often (krystal, anyone? ) but damn, 1960 is horrible, imo

i'll add certain (most) stretches of bellfort to the list, too, and maybe some hempstead for good measure

OOH Krystal! Thats my only reason to go out to 1960 these days. It used to because of Shelter nightclub at 3403 FM 1960 W. During my serious clubbing days.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Streets that particuarly don't look appealing to me:

- Airline Drive, pretty much all of it, including the small stretch inside the loop.

- Aldine-Westfield... not only does it go through some of the poorer sections of the city, which generally suggests that you'll see more urban decay there than you would other places, but the drainage ditches suck, there's hardly any sidewalk, and it's still at two-lane rural highway for most of the journey--the newer section just completed not withstanding.

- Little York Road from Airline Drive to the Eastex Freeway -- See A-W.

- Parker Road - east of Airline Drive -- although the neighborhoods are more working class than poor, the design issues are still the same as Aldine Westfield and Little York.

- Telephone Road - north of Park Place to Wayside -- reminds me of stretches of US 441 in Broward County (Hollywood, etc). The road could use some landscaping, curbsides and better sidewalks. I like that it has some old age business from the 40s and 50s still thriving (or at least the buildings that once housed them still are) but it would stand out better if the road didn't look like it belonged in some small town in Alabama rather than the fourth largest city in the country.

- I-45 the North Freeway - an enduring testament to the wildcat days of the 60s and 70s. Although not nearly as bad with signage and buildings as it was during those days, it's still an eyesore for roughly 75% of the trip.

- Wallisville Road and Liberty Road - the industrial zones that these two streets run through don't bother me in and of themselves. It's the utter lack of care and concern about the quality of these roads in particular that makes me gag. The road bumps, the overgrown sand lots that have stretched out into the roadways and the complete lack of landscaping make these two roads look as rural and as blue collar as you're gonna ever see in a large city. Reminds me of the roads in Medley, Florida, a suburb just outside of Miami and right next to Hialeah. Also reminds me of roads you see in southern Dallas, especially east of I-45. Must be a Texas thing.

- Almeda Road, pretty much everything south of Holly Hall. Nothing to see here, as it goes through the notorious "Black Hole" of Houston. At least there's new development coming aboard in sporadic points along your trip south to Fresno--heh--but it'll be quite a while before this road has anything really going for it.

- Hempstead Highway - a pretty bland, featureless corridor that has a nice, long rail road track next to it. Nothing really offensive takes place here but then again, NOTHING takes place here. Sure, it slips past Northwest Mall, but after that, a good seven mile stretch of some nondescript businesess that seem to just sit off to the side, as if just chilling out for the day. On the other hand, better lighting, some landscaping and--once again--the presense of curbsides would do wonders in sprucing things up, despite all the blandness.

- Galveston Road - see Hempstead Highway--verbatim!!

- Long Point Road - where do I begin?

[WesternGulf]

A lot of the roads east of 288 between 610 and the beltway. Developed and rural at the same time.

[Vertigo58]

- Wallisville Road and Liberty Road - the industrial zones that these two streets run through don't bother me in and of themselves. It's the utter lack of care and concern about the quality of these roads in particular that makes me gag. The road bumps, the overgrown sand lots that have stretched out into the roadways and the complete lack of landscaping make these two roads look as rural and as blue collar as you're gonna ever see in a large city. Reminds me of the roads in Medley, Florida, a suburb just outside of Miami and right next to Hialeah. Also reminds me of roads you see in southern Dallas, especially east of I-45. Must be a Texas thing.

You hit em all with one fell swoop!

These 2 in particular Wallisville Road and Liberty Road. There is another thread on "Frenchtown" that refers to this desolate land. I also refer to it as The land That Time Forgot. I haven't been there in a long time (dont want to either) but if you do go you will feel as if you are in circa 1932. Like a scene from The Grapes of Wrath or The Last Picture Show, tumble weed dust blowing.

Hee-bee-jee-bees are kicking in!

[Original Timmy Chan's]

A lot of the roads east of 288 between 610 and the beltway. Developed and rural at the same time.

I love this part of town...of course I grew up in Beverly Hills/Sagemont, and I have many pleasant childhood memories of driving through Easthaven, Almeda-Genoa, and around Hobby Airport.

I like the semi-rural aspect of the area. I much prefer it to the clutter of strip centers that most of Houston is...

[DaTrain]

Streets that particuarly don't look appealing to me:

- Airline Drive, pretty much all of it, including the small stretch inside the loop.

- Aldine-Westfield... not only does it go through some of the poorer sections of the city, which generally suggests that you'll see more urban decay there than you would other places, but the drainage ditches suck, there's hardly any sidewalk, and it's still at two-lane rural highway for most of the journey--the newer section just completed not withstanding.

- Little York Road from Airline Drive to the Eastex Freeway -- See A-W.

- Parker Road - east of Airline Drive -- although the neighborhoods are more working class than poor, the design issues are still the same as Aldine Westfield and Little York.

- Telephone Road - north of Park Place to Wayside -- reminds me of stretches of US 441 in Broward County (Hollywood, etc). The road could use some landscaping, curbsides and better sidewalks. I like that it has some old age business from the 40s and 50s still thriving (or at least the buildings that once housed them still are) but it would stand out better if the road didn't look like it belonged in some small town in Alabama rather than the fourth largest city in the country.

- I-45 the North Freeway - an enduring testament to the wildcat days of the 60s and 70s. Although not nearly as bad with signage and buildings as it was during those days, it's still an eyesore for roughly 75% of the trip.

- Wallisville Road and Liberty Road - the industrial zones that these two streets run through don't bother me in and of themselves. It's the utter lack of care and concern about the quality of these roads in particular that makes me gag. The road bumps, the overgrown sand lots that have stretched out into the roadways and the complete lack of landscaping make these two roads look as rural and as blue collar as you're gonna ever see in a large city. Reminds me of the roads in Medley, Florida, a suburb just outside of Miami and right next to Hialeah. Also reminds me of roads you see in southern Dallas, especially east of I-45. Must be a Texas thing.

- Almeda Road, pretty much everything south of Holly Hall. Nothing to see here, as it goes through the notorious "Black Hole" of Houston. At least there's new development coming aboard in sporadic points along your trip south to Fresno--heh--but it'll be quite a while before this road has anything really going for it.

- Hempstead Highway - a pretty bland, featureless corridor that has a nice, long rail road track next to it. Nothing really offensive takes place here but then again, NOTHING takes place here. Sure, it slips past Northwest Mall, but after that, a good seven mile stretch of some nondescript businesess that seem to just sit off to the side, as if just chilling out for the day. On the other hand, better lighting, some landscaping and--once again--the presense of curbsides would do wonders in sprucing things up, despite all the blandness.

- Galveston Road - see Hempstead Highway--verbatim!!

- Long Point Road - where do I begin?

I see that U don't care for streets that run along railroad tracks in addition to two-lane streets with rural influence to em. Adding to the lists:

*East Houston Road -- the only thing new along it is the former Lakewood Church building. Everything else is two lane rural, with residential rural streets leading to rough parts of Settegast.

*Ley Road -- same as above street. Makes Wayside Drive north of the North Loop look decent.

*All of Highway 6 between 290 and 59. Six lanes is well thought of but it traffic is rushing its obsoleteness as a street/highway with stoplights. And TxDot is too slow to do anything about it (overpasses, anyone).

*Westheimer west of Wilcrest somewhere beyond there. A complete lack of street lighting all the way out to Highway 6.

*Holmes Road. **zzzzz**

*Fondren Road. Four words for you: Apartments of Killing Alley.

Hempstead Highway and Galveston Road are the way they are because 290 and 45 parallel these two. They were former routes of them. So in example, it is all the Northwest Freeway's fault that Hempstead Road looks like crap.

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Holman St in 3rd Ward. Horrible bumpy road that should have been repaired years ago. Its a major avenue to get to UofH.

Ugly because its dangerous.........Intersection of FM 1960 and HWY 249. Constanly covered with wrecks.

[2fatcats]

Jensen is another one i consider to be like Airline - there are some neat places (in horrible condition, of course...)<<sevfiv

I have to agree with you on that. Whenever I go photographing, I usually wind up in the seedier parts of town because for one thing they have a lot of character and I happen to be drawn to abandoned buildings or rundown businesses as subjects.

[Vertigo58]

Jensen is another one i consider to be like Airline - there are some neat places (in horrible condition, of course...)<<sevfiv

I have to agree with you on that. Whenever I go photographing, I usually wind up in the seedier parts of town because for one thing they have a lot of character and I happen to be drawn to abandoned buildings or rundown businesses as subjects.

You need to check out the much unaligned Lyons Ave start at beginning (under 59S.) to end in Denver Harbor.

Not sure what the city had in mind when they created this avenue.

The part under 59 must have been a small little downtown because for years you could see many businesses lined up on both sides of the street like a mini town USA. Seemed so mysterious as they remained boarded up for decades. Whole other thread I guess,

but topic / Lyons Avenue is quite zig-zag and wide then gets very narrow, simply put... its bad. Even though there is a big project/construction on the Denver Harbor section it will remain tight and more crammed with traffic. Sad Claustrophobia city!

[gnu]

You need to check out the much unaligned Lyons Ave start at beginning (under 59S.) to end in Denver Harbor.

Not sure what the city had in mind when they created this avenue.

The part under 59 must have been a small little downtown because for years you could see many businesses lined up on both sides of the street like a mini town USA. Seemed so mysterious as they remained boarded up for decades. Whole other thread I guess,

but topic / Lyons Avenue is quite zig-zag and wide then gets very narrow, simply put... its bad. Even though there is a big project/construction on the Denver Harbor section it will remain tight and more crammed with traffic. Sad Claustrophobia city!

If anything, the city of houston is probably more responsible for its neglect than its creation.

The streetcars and the interurban both ran down Lyons (pre-war)

also, i think Lyons was part of the main highway coming in from baytown and north shore (pre-50's).

Take Market St. Road to McCarty then jog up to Lyons and come on into town maybe turning left on Jensen.

In general, it was probably considered the main business avenue of the fifth ward (ala harrisburg in the east end)

An excerpt from the Handbook of Texas:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online...s/FF/hpfhk.html

Black-owned businesses, including a pharmacy, a dentist's office, an undertaking parlor, a theater, and several barbershops, operated after 1900 on Lyons Avenue and numbered forty by 1925.

[Vertigo58]

The streetcars and the interurban both ran down Lyons (pre-war)

Black-owned businesses, including a pharmacy, a dentist's office, an undertaking parlor, a theater, and several barbershops, operated after 1900 on Lyons Avenue and numbered forty by 1925.

Thank you so much for sharing and solving a life long mystery. See how great this forum can be.

We had a family doctor named Kaminsky he was quite well known in the Medical Field here. I heard his sons followed in his footsteps. Dr. Kaminsky had his clinic at the Denver Harbor end of Lyons Ave. This person would be (if still living) have tons of knowledge of early Houston & people.

As a serious question would anyone know how to find if area doctors are still living or in practice here? Sorry to stray from topic but gotta know.

[2fatcats]

You need to check out the much unaligned Lyons Ave start at beginning (under 59S.) to end in Denver Harbor.<<Vertigo58

I have traveled Lyons a few times and the one thing I noticed about it was the abundance of small funeral homes about every half mile. Also if you stand at the intersection of Lyons and Jensen and look west you will see the Skyline rising up out of the slums. It's a great photo op. I recall several years ago driving through that same intersection and seeing some people standing around a barrel that was burning to keep warm. Not the best parts of town, but definitely interesting.

[2fatcats]

What about Elysian?<<DaTrain

Yes Elysian is another eyesore. It was even worse after that last big flood when most of the things in the houses were out on the street waiting to be hauled away.

[banking214]

Airport is just a horrid sight. It is all about first impressions for so many people, you can only imagine what visitors must think. But then we just take them for a quick spin down Memorial or Allen Parkway (but tell them to close their eyes as you pass the federal reserve).

Long Point is not as bad as it once was. We used to call it Gun Point when it was really infested with crime. I think all of the higher end construction north of I-10 in Spring Valley is starting to slowly move towards Long Point. Give it another 5 years and I think it will have cleaned up nicely.

I see that U don't care for streets that run along railroad tracks in addition to two-lane streets with rural influence to em. Adding to the lists:

*East Houston Road -- the only thing new along it is the former Lakewood Church building. Everything else is two lane rural, with residential rural streets leading to rough parts of Settegast.

*Ley Road -- same as above street. Makes Wayside Drive north of the North Loop look decent.

*All of Highway 6 between 290 and 59. Six lanes is well thought of but it traffic is rushing its obsoleteness as a street/highway with stoplights. And TxDot is too slow to do anything about it (overpasses, anyone).

*Westheimer west of Wilcrest somewhere beyond there. A complete lack of street lighting all the way out to Highway 6.

*Holmes Road. **zzzzz**

*Fondren Road. Four words for you: Apartments of Killing Alley.

Hempstead Highway and Galveston Road are the way they are because 290 and 45 parallel these two. They were former routes of them. So in example, it is all the Northwest Freeway's fault that Hempstead Road looks like crap.

*Fondren Road. Four words for you: Apartments of Killing Alley.

Or, to take from a movie "New Jack City"