Crime On FM 1960

[mrfredmor_65]

Is it my imagination or has there been an armed crime on FM1960 reported on the local news nearly every day for the last week or so? This is getting completely ridiculous!! What's going on with law enforcement that criminals feel they can act with impunity in this corridor?! Something needs to be done!!

[Ross]

The usual role of law enforcement is to clean up the mess after an incident, not actually prevent crime.

[Specwriter]

When I was growing up in the Aldine area in the 1970's FM 1960 was considered up-scale. Subdivisions like Inverness Forest east of I-45 west to Greenwood Forest (1960 at Champions Forest Drive) were considered aspirational by many. What indeed did happen along the commercial corridor? It seems Richmond and Westheimer, for example, are not nearly so violent. Who primarily patrols the area; COH, county sheriffs, county constables? I really don't know.

 

Cruel dig with apologies to the local residents: Changing the name from FM 1960 to Cypress Creek Parkway didn't seem to help the situation did it?

[Fringe]

The problem is to many of them are arrested and then back on the streets after a while doing it again. Like cockroaches until they are totally eradicated they will keep returning. 

[Witch King]

Is it my imagination or has there been an armed crime on FM1960 reported on the local news nearly every day for the last week or so? This is getting completely ridiculous!! What's going on with law enforcement that criminals feel they can act with impunity in this corridor?! Something needs to be done!!

 

Not to mention beggars on every intersection between US-290 and I-45,they need to be removed.

[Ross]

Not to mention beggars on every intersection between US-290 and I-45,they need to be removed.

 

You object to freedom of speech for the poor?

 

[Tower26]

One root factor of the problem is apartment properties nearby . A big percentage of crimes comes from the complexes nearby and spill in nearby subdivisions . I went to Aldine/Stovall in Imperial Valley and know people that stay on FM1960. Streets like Northborough,Kykendhal , Rankin , Ella , Greens Rd . 249& Willowbrook today you have to be carerul . This is why they changed the name from Greenspoint/Gunspoint to Cityview . To give you a more partial understanding , if you have the time or get the chance , go on youtube and look up the National Geographic Channel for Drugs Inc. Season 4 Episode 13 or 14 High in Houston . Because where you're located is a high crime area . This will give you some insight on what is going on near FM 1960 , 290 , and I-45 .

[TechnoG]

A lot of people who migrated here from the New Orleans hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005 settled in the 1960 area.  And with them came some crime.

[Specwriter]

I left the Aldine/1960 area in the late 70's to go away to school. I wasn't trying to escape as things were still good then but the college I wanted to attend was in a different city.

 

By the time I moved back to Houston in the late 80's the banking fiasco had pretty much done its worst. The relatively nice apartments (those on Dyna for instance) had lost their young, up-and-coming tenants because so many jobs went away. Rents necessarily had to go lower and a drug haven was born.

 

I can't help but hold a depressing thought that this may repeat itself with some of the new apartments going up around town. It may not happen next year or the year after next. It will probably never happen in the Rice Village or even in Midtown (ironic that) but I would not be at all surprised if some of today's "lugg'zury" apartments become tomorrow's crack dens.

 

I believe these wood-framed buildings with their "stucco" exteriors will prove to be somewhat high maintenance over time and, if the owners are not diligent, they will begin to look shabby which will just kick off a vicious cycle of neglect and abuse by residence, leading to apathy by the owners, etc. etc. I'm sorry to be such a downer but we have only to look at the subject of this thread for precedent.

[H-Town Man]

I have to think that some of 1960's downfall is the result of lack of zoning. It's hard to think of any avenue in Dallas for instance that went from being a prime suburban thoroughfare in the 1970's/1980's to junky and scuzzy today. Roads like Preston south of the turnpike, Coit, Plano Parkway, etc. aren't hot real estate anymore but they don't look bad either.

Imagine if 1960 just had for example a 20% minimum green space regulation for development, and as a result there were islands of trees interspersed all through the built up areas. The risk is that it takes on a bland, sterile look (like most Dallas roads), but on the flip side, it places a brake on the downward spiral of ugliness that parts of it are caught in.

[Specwriter]

I have to think that some of 1960's downfall is the result of lack of zoning. It's hard to think of any avenue in Dallas for instance that went from being a prime suburban thoroughfare in the 1970's/1980's to junky and scuzzy today. Roads like Preston south of the turnpike, Coit, Plano Parkway, etc. aren't hot real estate anymore but they don't look bad either.

Imagine if 1960 just had for example a 20% minimum green space regulation for development, and as a result there were islands of trees interspersed all through the built up areas. The risk is that it takes on a bland, sterile look (like most Dallas roads), but on the flip side, it places a brake on the downward spiral of ugliness that parts of it are caught in.

 

I see the wisdom of that notion, H-Town. I do believe that ugly begets more ugly. Anything to mitigate that would help.

[Firebird65]

The relatively nice apartments (those on Dyna for instance) had lost their young, up-and-coming tenants because so many jobs went away. Rents necessarily had to go lower and a drug haven was born.

 

I had a girlfriend who lived in some apartments at Goodson and Airline in 1987, not long as the mid 1980s bust. At that time, those apartments were about 14 years old. Those places looked pretty scary then (and that's when they had started to go downhill) and I can only imagine how many times worse they look now 27 years later.

[mrfredmor_65]

Specwriter, you mentioned one thing that was a big reason for my post - you don't hear alot about Richmond or Westheimer lately. More ofteh than in the past, incidents are being reported along FM1960 (I've never acknowledged its new moniker!) It could very well be a lot of NOLA transplants responsible for this. Plus, I think its on the edge of HPD patrol zones, so it doesn't get a heavy dose of showing the badge. If you'll notice, you see alot more law enforcement (whether its Pct. 4, HCSO, etc.) on 2920, Kuykendahl, Louetta and Stuebner-Airline than on 1960; even Spring-Cypress is better patrolled.

[Specwriter]

Specwriter, you mentioned one thing that was a big reason for my post - you don't hear alot about Richmond or Westheimer lately. More ofteh than in the past, incidents are being reported along FM1960 (I've never acknowledged its new moniker!) It could very well be a lot of NOLA transplants responsible for this. Plus, I think its on the edge of HPD patrol zones, so it doesn't get a heavy dose of showing the badge. If you'll notice, you see alot more law enforcement (whether its Pct. 4, HCSO, etc.) on 2920, Kuykendahl, Louetta and Stuebner-Airline than on 1960; even Spring-Cypress is better patrolled.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head, mrfred. FM 1960 (I also avoid the new moniker) may be a bit under-patrolled and it may be difficult for the various agencies to work out a plan being that the area is fairly extensive if you consider it stretches essentially from just east of I-45 to U.S. 290. IIRC the thing that improved Richmond was increased patrolling by police.

[Tower26]

One solution would be is to have a sitdown with those apartment managers and question them on whether they do criminal background checks when screening for new tenants . Begin evicting those trouble tenants .According to the city , this is mandatory on some properties i.e Blue Star program (HPD). Businesses have to better protect themselves from smashn'grabs and gunfights i.e corner stores , restaurants , and shops in that area especially near I-45 .Neighborhoods can crackdown by neighbors knowing each other and looking out for each other . Before police ,sheriffs , and constables , It begins with people getting involved in their neighborhood and the area nearby . There has to be a major swat crackdown for that area because its way overdue .

[Fringe]

Nice idea but I'm afraid the slum lords in that area could care less about tenants backgrounds. 

[TGM]

Having lived a good percentage of my life there we started to notice changes in the late 1980s as more and more apartment complexes lowered their standards to maintain occupancy. Bammel Middleschool and Westfield High School were already known for drugs and trouble by 1983. Westador was not aging well, RoundTop never took off and the strip-centers between Ponderosa Forrest and I45 were starting to decline. Also, Metro started running bus service along FM 1960 in the 80's and whether true or not the rising crime rates were attributed to Metro riders by many of the older residents.

Today, I think would be a good time to invest in property from Ponderosa Forrest to Willowbrook, but you'd have to be crazy to dump money into anything east of Ella. I've heard the same things about crime since Katrina from LEO's, some stating that there are apartments that many don't want to take a call from. I don't know how true this is, but I do know that it's not the same place I grew up in. Sad.

Oh, and the idiots that changed the name from FM1960 deserve to be shot.