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The Fifth Ward


IronTiger

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The HAIF is mostly urban Houston, and everyone loves their section of town. Montrose, The Heights, Midtown, and even SW Houston (to an extent) have been loved (or at least defended). Now what about...the Fifth Ward? Wikipedia kind of spins it to have some "community spirit" hope (at least to Japhet), but the overriding feel to it is a grim, crime-filled land.

What do you think? Do you like (or live in) the Fifth Ward?

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The HAIF is mostly urban Houston, and everyone loves their section of town. Montrose, The Heights, Midtown, and even SW Houston (to an extent) have been loved (or at least defended). Now what about...the Fifth Ward? Wikipedia kind of spins it to have some "community spirit" hope (at least to Japhet), but the overriding feel to it is a grim, crime-filled land.

What do you think? Do you like (or live in) the Fifth Ward?

The southern section (between I-10 and Buffalo Bayou) has a an interrupted present and a near-term future. The sections of it west of US 59 have a near-term future. Many of the sections north of I-10 and east of US 59 have an almost rural characteristic to them (but not in a good way) and will likely remain undesirable for the forseeable future.

The chief obstacles are poor quality and unattractiveness of the existing housing stock, lack of any political or monetary affluence, poor connectivity to downtown or other employment centers, low visibility (because nobody has to drive through it to get somewhere important), and fractured ownership of land often without clear title.

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A couple things I like in the Fifth Ward:

1. The bohemian Nance St. area (Last Concert Cafe, some art studios that will be featured in the upcoming Art Crawl, there's a new hot dog place I hear good things about)

2. The Emile Community Farm, which is part of The Last Organic Outpost http://www.lastorganicoutpost.com/ The guy who runs it is trying to create a Fifth Ward Farm Belt

Other than that I am pretty uninformed on stuff in the Fifth Ward and would like to learn more. It is, of course, a place with a lot of history that raised people like Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland, and George Foreman

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there's a new hot dog place I hear good things about

family owned place where the children were taught to have manners. make sure and take a peek at the munsters autographed cast pic.

i did notice a new place at mckee at nance that is an open air pool hall/ice house place. might be a good place for a haif gathering when the weather cools.

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family owned place where the children were taught to have manners. make sure and take a peek at the munsters autographed cast pic.

i did notice a new place at mckee at nance that is an open air pool hall/ice house place. might be a good place for a haif gathering when the weather cools.

This is the second time this had been suggested. I sense the beginnings of a movement.

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Ok thanks, you've more or less confirmed a rumor I heard from some friends. We have a couple places like that in NOLA too. Always an interesting story how it comes about, but I'll refrain from spoiling everyone's fun.

Cheers~

That can only last so long, though, especially since the Houston Press won't shut up about it.

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  • 1 year later...

I avoid the Fifth Ward as much as possible. When I think of that area I think of crime and decay, and they have earned that reputation. In the minds of many (if not most) people from Houston and the surrounding areas this is how it will stay for a long time. Sorry, but I don't think that image will ever be pushed out of my mind, no matter how much renovation they might do down there.

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Its the ward where people actually owned the land and unlike third, which is a shell of its former self, the average 5th ward resident won't leave

It has always been the toughest ward but it was the first to suffer as growth to the north and east hurt the area as 5th never had an industry (3rd ward has 2 colleges and better proximity) to fall back on.

Third Ward has benefited from location and beautification projects driven by the schools plus it has affluent areas that houses movers and shakers if the city. Outside of Brown and Root, 5th ward never had an economic engine to fall back on to keep the area from crumbling.

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  • 2 years later...

1509 Everett (the one on the right) for sale... nice highly detailed cottage. Somehow, I doubt this area will be untouched by the rapid gentrification of the Downtown periphery, even with all the noted isolating barriers.

 

HAR lists the house as yr. built. 1930. I'm guessing, older.

 

http://search.har.com/engine/1509-Everett-Houston-TX-77009_HAR83974894.htm

 

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post-5666-0-04107300-1403707608_thumb.jp

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1509 Everett (the one on the right) for sale... nice highly detailed cottage. Somehow, I doubt this area will be untouched by the rapid gentrification of the Downtown periphery, even with all the noted isolating barriers.

 

HAR lists the house as yr. built. 1930. I'm guessing, older.

 

http://search.har.com/engine/1509-Everett-Houston-TX-77009_HAR83974894.htm

 

With an asking price of $180,000 and already pending, I would say it has already  been touched by the rapid gentrification.  Great location; lots of appreciation to come for that neighborhood, I think.

 

Your guess as to the age appears to be correct.  According to the listing, the Appraisal District has it listed as being built in 1930.  But the description of the property says "around 1890".

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That house is not in 5th Ward.

 

 

 

 

http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/landmarks/10PL91_William_Shipp_House_1511_Everett.pdf

 

 

 

Everett Street - home owner history. This house sits right next to the one listed in my original post. 1509 Everett is visible (to the left of ) the restored home (in the photo) included in the Historical Designation report.

 

 

"Near Northside" - see Historical Significance... in link above.

 

Near Northside

Houston’s Near Northside neighborhood dates from the 1880s, when residential development began

to meet the expansion of the adjacent railyards. The Near Northside was once part of the Fifth

Ward that was formed in 1866 out of the First and Second wards north of Buffalo Bayou and east of

White Oak Bayou. Houston’s wards were established as political districts, each represented by

elected aldermen. When Houston adopted a commission form of government in 1905, the political

life of the wards ended yet their name continues to this day to describe geographic areas of the inner

city. Today, the western boundary of the Fifth Wad zigzags between Maury and Hwy 59, and the

area west of Maury to I-45 is known as the Near Northside.

 

1511 Everett - http://search.har.com/engine/1511-Everett-St-Houston-TX-77009_HAR9325696.htm

 

Houston's Wards - 1913 Map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Ward,_Houston#mediaviewer/File:MapHouston1913.jpg

 

This area has some really nice older homes. I really hope it manages to hold on to its railroad identity, in the coming gentrification years. 

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But it's not 5th Ward anymore, as stated it is Near Northside and has been for quite some time. Many of those houses are in danger though. That community is currently fighting to "protect" the area. They support an initiative for minimum lot size because they do not want townhomes being built. Fortunately they will lose.

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They don't like the idea of densification or gentrification. So it's not really just about townhouses. They don't want to see a high volume of traffic or rising taxes. That is beyond absurd considering they live right next to downtown in one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.

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How is fighting against townhomes a "bad" thing?  :angry2:

 

It's not.

 

They don't like the idea of densification or gentrification. So it's not really just about townhouses. They don't want to see a high volume of traffic or rising taxes. That is beyond absurd considering they live right next to downtown in one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.

 

They are probably trying to preserve their way of life and their home... I doubt they are against "gentrification"

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Many of them are against gentrification. They are going door to door warning us about rising taxes and increase in traffic from the potential addition of affluent neighbors. Their way of life and home is directly affected by gentrification.

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  • 2 weeks later...

They don't like the idea of densification or gentrification. So it's not really just about townhouses. They don't want to see a high volume of traffic or rising taxes. That is beyond absurd considering they live right next to downtown in one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.

I wouldn't consider it "beyond absurd", since so many people really don't want to see their neighborhood altered. It's not exactly "right next to downtown" either. Yeah, it's closer to downtown than say, Katy, but there's highways and the bayou separating it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

from Houston-Architectural Guide (1972) 

North Central area - nice candid photos included, but frustrating, no locations mentioned. 

 

Does anyone recognize this building? If it sat on Lyons, it's probably gone.

 

I'm guessing late 1920's, built - time period, Spanish style. It reminds me of a fire station, with that drive-thru feature. As far as I know, most stations sat on corners, and did not have canopies. Maybe early apartments, It's nice, whatever it was.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know this sounds a little morbid, but perhaps an old funeral home? Hearse goes in the tunnel, delivers to a side door within? With that canopy over the front door, that was my initial thought.

I'm probably way off, lol. It'd certainly make me think twice about eating at the barbecue joint next door if it was...

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That photo is either from the late '60's or early '70's. The building if from the 1920's when the Spanish style was popular. This is my conclusion, of course, from hints from the book, and what I've learned from research. I suspect this structure was an early apartment complex, with parking in the rear. It definitely sat somewhere in the Fifth Ward, on a busy street. I love the look of those canopies. Too bad so many have disappeared. So many buildings in Downtown had them.

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  • 3 months later...

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