Pearland Crime

[12thManFan]

[ricco67]

This didn't happen in some darkly lit, late night parking lot. This happened in broad daylight at 10am on a Saturday in a Target parking lot. It could not have been busier. When you are in the parking lot, beware of your surroundings at all times. This can happen anywhere....

That's funny, we've been saying that to everyone who wants to live in a "low crime area" and wishes to not live in Houston BECAUSE of concerns of crime. Go fig.

[Vertigo58]

What confuses most long time Houstonian's is that some that live in Pearland keep referring to the OLD Pearland as another world from the NEW Pearland. A coworker of mine says he is in the new section and there is no crime. That sounds bizarre. He says the rough crowd is on the old section? Dream on.

From the recent vists to Pearland at least on the 288/518 side I noticed the same bad element at the shopping areas as you would see in SW Houston or the like. Most men looked like ex-cons, quite obvious.

What a bad or cruel luck-of-the-draw to invest your life savings and hard earned $ in to a beautiful home just to have the same thugs from Houston invade within months?

Depressing, There's something scary blowin in the wind for Pearland. Time to beef up police is NOW.

[brerrabbit]

I know of no one who feels that "old Pearland" has more crime than "new Pearland". I have friends who live on the west side and drive all the way to the Wal Mart at Dixie Farm road to do their shopping swearing they would never set foot in the Silverlake Wal Mart. I have no idea if it is true or not but several friends said they have seen a newsmagazine show on TV where Wal Mart senior executives claim that their worst store in the nation in terms of crimes is the one located in Silverlake. A large part of the problem is the rapid growth and the problems it brings. Part of it is that the city limits are so fragmented due to the MUDS and which has been annexed and which haven't is that law enforcement are not always sure who has responsibility to cover certain areas. The Police department has certainly increased its numbers and the city is in the process of building a new police station at Cullen and 518 but it will merely be a bigger and better one replacing the exsisiting one on Veterans. My wife and I kid about being jealous of all the eating places and stores being built on the westside while the east side gets very little new stuff, but both readily agree that we can always drive over to the west side but retreat home to relative peace and quiet when we get tired of it.

Old time Pearlanders fought for many many years to limit access into Pearland from the north (Houston). They felt that to many roads leading to Pearland only served to increase the possibility of Houston's problems with crime spilling over into their town. They fought the battle for many years until the push for growth got to big for them to handle. With the addition of Pearland Parkway, the opening of Scarsdale and the widening of Dixie Farm Road along with the growth of the westside the bad parts of Houston will continue to migrate south. As far as the blacks on the westside they have been there for many many years. Clyde Drexlers uncle had a bar-b-que place on Cullen as far back as the early seventies and black ranchers have had cattle in the area for even longer. Anyone who doesn't know that they have been there for a while doesn't know Pearland to well. Additionally the cemetary along Cullen near 518 is one of the larger Black cemetarys in the Houston area.

Also adding to the perception and unfortunatley some of the crime is that at least two large apartment complexs on the west side are designated as low income housing and still have numourous Katrina victems still living there. Add the retail growth to all the other factors and crime will inevitably follow. If you want to steal you go to where the money is.

[Trae]

If you all in Pearland are that concerned about crime, why not try to lobby for more exclusive housing, like Sugar Land, or South Katy. Maybe a big developer like Newland can come in and build a Cinco Ranch for Pearland.

[brerrabbit]

If you all in Pearland are that concerned about crime, why not try to lobby for more exclusive housing.

I don't understand exactly what you mean by this. More exclusive housing? How does that help crime? As I said in my earlier post, retail activity and growth leads to increased crime. Criminals regardless of race are attracted to where the money and goods are. It's a fact of life. Recently one of the new develpoments off of Pearland Parkway was plagued by a series of buglaries. Finally a silent alarm was reported as someone was breaking into a house and the police responded. The buglars unaware of the alarm were across the street robbing another house. Two were apprehended at the scene and two more were picked up later. All were hispanic and from South Houston. When asked why they came to Pearland one of the buglars answer was " rich people live in Pearland, so if you want to steal stuff you come here and steal the good stuff from them".

One example is certainly not conclusive but I am merely saying that growth, espcially in retail shopping venues attracts a criminal element. Doesn't mean they come there to live, but they certainly go there to ply their trade.

[Vertigo58]

I was just discussing this topic with the coworker that lives in the NEW Pearland side (here we go with dividing again) and he seems to have a snobbish, looking down attitude on the old side?

I assume it's the bigger wealthier subdivison's that look down their nose at the old side? Again, I am just quoting. Can't help whom I work with. He seemed to imply that the older side is attracting crime or low income housing. The snobbery is around here too people.

Just to note; when I mentioned I was at the Target area recently, I saw people of all races that seemed well....especially the men, grown men, not teens. Is it because the Rosharon prison is nearby? Recent parolee's may find this area convenient? Anyway, this was real, not imagined and no exagerrating. These men were well over 40 yrs old but appeared to be straight out of TDC or the like.

I may as well stay inside the loop if I'm going to see and be around that element. Where's Robocop 2007?

[Trae]

I don't understand exactly what you mean by this. More exclusive housing? How does that help crime? As I said in my earlier post, retail activity and growth leads to increased crime. Criminals regardless of race are attracted to where the money and goods are. It's a fact of life. Recently one of the new develpoments off of Pearland Parkway was plagued by a series of buglaries. Finally a silent alarm was reported as someone was breaking into a house and the police responded. The buglars unaware of the alarm were across the street robbing another house. Two were apprehended at the scene and two more were picked up later. All were hispanic and from South Houston. When asked why they came to Pearland one of the buglars answer was " rich people live in Pearland, so if you want to steal stuff you come here and steal the good stuff from them".

One example is certainly not conclusive but I am merely saying that growth, espcially in retail shopping venues attracts a criminal element. Doesn't mean they come there to live, but they certainly go there to ply their trade.

Yeah, I wasn't really thinking. Where the rich people are, is where you go and steal. I think I did say that because to me, the newer side of Pearland looks pretty tacky, and is mostly just hodge-podge development.

[brerrabbit]

I find it amussing that people who have recently moved to an area and have little or no knowledge about the history of an area make assumptions about the area. While there are certainly new expensive homes on the west side, the old money in Pearland still lives quite well on the other side of the tracks. Not to blame any body for any thing, but if you look at the historical demographics of the Pearland area you will find that the majority of the lowest income, and highest minority areas in Pearland and the unincorporated areas of Pearland have always come from the west side. As far as crime goes once again that has nothing to do with where the criminals live because as I tried so hard to explain in my last post criminals, regardless of where they live go to where the things that they want to steal are. Prior to westside development they went to the east side, as the west side grows they have more opportunity over there so thats where they go. When new, bigger and better things are built farther down 288 towards Highway 6 then they will move down there. Its just the way crime works.

[brerrabbit]

Yeah, I wasn't really thinking. Where the rich people are, is where you go and steal. I think I did say that because to me, the newer side of Pearland looks pretty tacky, and is mostly just hodge-podge development.

I totally agree that it is in fact a "hodge-podge" development strategy. But realistically all of Pearland is this way, even the older sections. Drive down 518 to just before Dixie Farm Road and drive through Wood Creek subdivision. It has two different areas built at two different times with completly different looks and values of homes. Then continue through Wood Creek until the look changes. You would not know the neighborhood changed except in the next area there are ditches instead of curbs and the house get better, keep going and the houses get worse, go some more and all of a sudden you find several nearly million dollar homes. This is one of the older parts of Pearland and the newer parts are no better. I find it completely amazing and get a good laugh everyother day when driving home into Pearland I see the signs saying Welcome to Pearland, a Master Planned Community. Who the hell are they trying to kid? Pearland just happened and if someone actually planned the whole thing the way it has turned out then they need to be taken out and horse whipped because they did a pretty piss poor job.

[Vertigo58]

What's hilarious is this same snotty resident I know told me there was a whole new subdivison built right on top of what used to be a landfill some years ago. Near some High School? I asked him if he's not sure if it was built on top of a cemetary?

Sounds like the Poltergeist film plot.

Maybe the next upscale homes have dining room chairs that mysteriously slides across the room by themselves? "They're here".

That new side is just too overcrowded anyway. BAD planning!

Only getting worse. I would not move there.

[VicMan]

The Houston section north of the Beltway in the Sunnyside area will develop with more apartment complexes since Pearland zones out apartments.

[neonurse97]

I agree with you Vicman that the Sunnyside area will build more apartments and also more low-income single family homes. Hopefully they will build more retail establishments along 288 north of the Beltway.

[westguy76]

Monroe Rd is also being widened, which is essentially right across the beltway from Pearland Parkway.

A Super Target is in planning at this intersection as well.

[VicMan]

Sunnyside needs its own Wal-Mart or Target. It could attract people from the Madison HS attendance zone. Perhaps we can re-establish chain retail in the southside and have it cater to the residents.

[musicman]

Monroe Rd is also being widened, which is essentially right across the beltway from Pearland Parkway.

A Super Target is in planning at this intersection as well.

Any more info on the Target?

[njvisitor]

Crime!? In the Greater Houston area!?!? That's unheard of!!

Seriously though, this incident isn't related to the "amount of blacks", it's very simply connected with the amount of new development.

The Sugarland Police Chief said it best:

"[robberies] will continue to be an issue because of new construction. Anytime we have a lot of new construction in the community, then we're going to see more home burglaries."

Anyways, lets briefly compare Sugarland and Pearland (with regards to some of the topics mentioned in this thread).

Avg. Household Income (Latest):

Sugarland: $101,00

Pearland: $79,000

*Incomes of the "newer" part of Pearland are slightly higher than older areas.

See: http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood/US/Te...y/Pearland.aspx

% African-Americans (U.S. Census)

Sugarland: 7.5%

Pearland: 5.2%

Incidents of Robbery (FBI, 2005)

Sugarland: 62

Pearland: 22

Incidents of Burglary (FBI, 2005)

Sugarland: 285

Pearland: 364

Incidents of Larceny Theft (FBI, 2005)

Sugarland: 1434

Pearland: 921

Source: http://sugarland.areaconnect.com/crime/com...land+&s2=TX

I think the numbers speak very clearly.

Race isn't what's causing crime. Income isn't what's causing crime.

The amount of "NEW" money entering a town that has a "small-town" security infrastructure is the reason behind this. Robbers know that they're more likely to score if they enter newly built area whose police force doesn't match the growing pop.

And one last thing, this is Houston. Crime is a given.

[Trae]

And one last thing, this is America. Crime is a given.

Fixed.

[editor]

This thread has been pruned. Seriously pruned.

One member used a topic about crime as an opportunity for race-baiting. At no time did the topic starter state the races of the people involved. Do not make assumptions that will veer a thread off topic. This is a thread about crime in Pearland, not a thread about race in Pearland.

If you think that after 3,000 years of arguments about the relation of race and crime that your 50-word opinion posted on the internet is going to sway opinions and make everything better, you are wrong.

[westguy76]

Any more info on the Target?

Just that their will likely be one built here. Still in early stages of planning

[pearlandgal2002]

Hi all, this is my first post and bear with me. I want to get some things out. I know the woman in question with the attempted car jacking, its very real and very scary.

With that said, My husband and I purchased a home in silverlake in 2002, we were full of happiness, excited about the future of the area, that a hospital was coming, mall is being built, only wonderful things in store for pearland. As alot of us thought.

That has sadly changed. The observations are quite accurate on this thread. Mo City continues to drive alot of people towards the west side, as does some parts of the airport area and naturally the ward that is very close to 288/518. These things none of us truly understood when we first moved to Pearland, you simply cannot "see" the cime and plith , it is hidden behind a few streets and off the main highway.

But when the retail developed, out came the crime, out came the hood, out came everything. Being African American, I feel like I can say these things and it's not a blow to my race either. Because there are all races here causing problems. But my husband is a VP for a oil company and frankly, we have worked way too hard to have to be surrounded by the hood.

And hood it is: the REAL deal is here in Pearland, gangs are starting to get organized, you have ALOT of AA's walking the streets who are in their mid 30's, middle of the day, up and down the street. Target is a scary experience. Everyone of my neighbors, church friends and the like have all noticed thugs and straight out STREET in pearland.

Since I grew up in the real hood in Chi-Town, I can see the hood, you know what I am getting at. I am scared. Our whole dream of Silverlake and our cute home and our cool friends has been totally destroyed. It is getting worse and worse daily.

That open aired mall that is being built in shadow creek? you could'nt pay me to shop there and then walk to my car with packages in THAT area. Especially not with my children.

There are many pearlanders/silverlakers who refuse to admit what is happening, and I don't blame them- who would want to SEE this, and your entire sense of your community and your home is simply and utterly in ruins?

We have decided to get out. We will be moving to the Katy area and just swallow the commute, at this point I have gone way to far in life to be pulled back into the hood and by GOD it won't happen now and it sure as he** won't happen to my children.

you see it all here, you see people of all races cracked out in their hood cars driving slowly at 2 pm on the west side, you see unemployed women running scams in the retail developments, you see real deal thugs.

There is a REASON why this guy who did this to my friend in Pearland- got away with it, because he BLENDED INTO THE SCENERY

SOME THUGGED OUT MAN, acting more than likely shady and CASING OUT the parking lot BLENDED IN TO THE SCENERY. There is more to his description than I am going to post, but he more than likely would have stood out in other areas of town. It's as simple as that.

I honestly feel that people who are raising families are foolish to stay in Pearland and I personally want something better and bigger for my kids.

We look forward to migrating to the west and thats where EVERYONE is talking about going- Katy/Rosen/etc

Crime of course is everywhere, trust me- I know that more than most people could possibly imagine. But the real deal hood is here in Pearland and more coming, add low income housing that is going to choke pearland parkway and then from 610 down to 288, you are adding thousands and THOUSANDS of low income individuals to ONE area.

It is going to be dangerous and I urge anyone who reads this to please move and take your family elsewhere. I grew up in the exact same dynamic and it's staggering to see how quickly a nice area on the "fringe" of the urban world can quickly become ghetto fabulous.

[njvisitor]

In response to "pearlandgal2002"

I think you're really overreacting...

Sugarland, which was rated by CNN/Money magazine as one of the best places to live in the U.S. went through the SAME EXACT crime cycle during its development stage that Pearland is now going through. In fact, certain types of crime (Larceny, Auto Theft, and Robberies) are more prevalent in Sugarland than in Pearland. As for Katy, if you think it's crime free, you're profoundly mistaken (look up the statistics yourself).

This is Houston. There is NO CITY in this metropolis that does not border a "lesser" area.

As for your comments about the rapidly encroaching hood, well, I think you're again, gravely mistaken. Please show me a single low-income development in the 518/288 area. All the current developments have an avg. sale price of around $200,000 and incomes averaging excess of $80,000. The Pearland Town Center is surrounded by Southern Trails (Prices from 250,000$ +), Shadow Creek Ranch (220,000$ +), and Southfork (avg. $200,000) - NONE OF THEM ARE "real deal hood".

you see it all here, you see people of all races cracked out in their hood cars driving slowly at 2 pm on the west side, you see unemployed women running scams in the retail developments, you see real deal thugs.

The robber in this incident was wearing a bandanna over his face. Now, for as long as I've been in Pearland, I've never seen anyone walking around with one on their face. Also, the Target shopping mall area is not populated by "real deal thugs". I was actually there Sat. morning (when the robbery took place) and I must have missed the army of "thugs" you keep referring to.

These crooks came to Pearland because they knew there would be victims there - unsuspecting people with money. If this area was as "thugged out" as you claim it to be, they wouldn't bother coming here.

*I grew up near Newark, NJ, so I know what ghetto is.

[hbcu]

running away solves nothing...........Katy ain't exactly hard to get in also as some of those older homes are begging for renters....then you got trailer parks dotted around you also....what's so great about that?

I grew up in a hood that changed over time close to Mo. City but my parents still remain...the house hasn't lost value by any means and most of the neighbors mind their own business....we have a bigger yard than what people get now and the house was well-built.

Yeah, we've had some riffraff come in and ome out over time but none of it was to the point where we upped and moved like these panicky folks are.

[ricco67]

Panicking is what people seem to do these days at the drop of a hat and it's quite infuriating. Just recently, KTRK (or KHOU, I don't remember) ran a piece about the playground that spontaneously caught on fire and on whether or not it's a DANGER? As a result, not only is the city reconsidering the surfaces to something more expensive on something that is exceedingly rare, but so are a number of other municipalities with our particular climate.

Getting back on topic, a particular area isn't going bad simply because there are a couple of bits of vandalism,tagging (which is mostly local bored kids), and the occasional robbery. There is a new invention that has been getting the attention of crooks as of late. You might have heard of it. It's called a CAR!

As much as the Afton Oak's and other bedroom communities would like to convince people, crooks are VERY mobile and don't use metro.

It might be a bit obvious for a guy to be carrying a big screen TV at a Metro stop. But that's just me.

[Beltway]

I was heading to Wal-Mart the other day in Pearland. A co-worker asked me which one I was going to; the black one(West), the hispanic one(Highway 35), or the white one(Dixie Farm). I was dumb-founded by her ignorance, but everyone has their opinion I guess.

[hbcu]

I understand the benefits but blacks had it better in some areas during segregation...we're still labeled now so what exactly have we accomplished...integration killed thriving black areas and blacks popped up in white areas only to see them move overnight and then those areas fall apart. Whites moved further out, blacks followed and same thing happened.

MLK and Bellfort streets are perfect examples of how white flight and black flight have killed those areas. Start in 3rd ward around griggs and continue to go south and it all looks the same. Once-thriving areas now abandoned or filled with businesses no way near what used to be there.

[musicman]

I was heading to Wal-Mart the other day in Pearland. A co-worker asked me which one I was going to; the black one(West), the hispanic one(Highway 35), or the white one(Dixie Farm). I was dumb-founded by her ignorance, but everyone has their opinion I guess.

this is actually quite insightful. while i haven't been to any of the 3 walmarts mentioned, the last time i was in the 288/518 area (christmas time) , i remember making a specific comment "i can't believe there's such a mix out here, i'm sure the long timers are upset"

[neonurse97]

I have to disagree with pearlandgal2002 also, west Pearland is not going to become "ghetto". I believe you're overreacting. You should give this area time to develop and things will eventually level off just like they did in Sugar Land . Yes, they are building a major mall in the area and there will be thousands of people coming into this area just to shop. Most of the "ghetto" type folks you're refering to don't even live in this area....they can't afford to. Anytime you develop new subdivisions along with new retail establishments, you're going to have people come into the area to shop. I shop at a lot of the major malls in the Houston metro area, and I am "careful" and aware of my surroundings at all times. You have to be careful shopping at First Colony Mall in Sugar Land, as well as the world renowned GALLERIA mall and these are some of the nicer malls in Houston. Moving to Katy will not solve your problem. IMO you're creating more headaches for yourself by moving to Katy.

[Vertigo58]

I shop at a lot of the major malls in the Houston metro area, and I am "careful" and aware of my surroundings at all times.

This is exactly what my family and I and hundreds of people do all over the city do. The main reason as I have said before is other malls offer better top of the line items and customer service. I have to drive about 20 miles each way but it's well worth it. There is no mall in the 610 loop that offers the great items you find at the burb malls.

I would not move to Pearland mainly due to the fact its to low level and the main drag (Broadway)is it? is too narrow and the traffic is ridiculous. I never see cops trying to keep the cars moving. The river is overflowing its banks basically. My cup runneth over...

Pearland is experiencing what OLD Pasadener went through.

[Beltway]

Pearland is experiencing what OLD Pasadener went through.

Now that comparison is just mean....